Famagusta: Divine Liturgy to the Occupied Apostle Barnabas (IMAGES)

Message of hope from the Holy Monastery of the Apostle Barnabas

With enthusiasm, hope and in an emotionally charged atmosphere, the Divine Liturgy was performed on the Sunday before Christ Nativity, December 19, 2021, in the Holy Basilica and Stavropegian Monastery of the Apostle Barnabas in occupied Salamina, occupied for 47 years today.

The Divine Liturgy at the kind invitation of this Professor Archim. Ioannou, was presided over by the Most Venerable Metropolitan of Constantia and Famagusta, Mr. Vassilios, a spiritual stature of the aged elders, a member of the excommunicated fraternity of the Monastery.

After the evangelical reading and instead of a divine sermon, a relevant circular of the Most Venerable was read (as in all the churches of our free metropolitan area), bearing the general title “The genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our own genealogy ". In his circular, Metropolitan Constantia states, among other things, that "the Birth of Jesus Christ, consequently, includes us in his own Genealogy, uniting us by grace with the Triune God. We are deified with our rebirth, which comes with our Baptism, with our Anointing through Saint Myrrh and with the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ of the divine Eucharist θηκε He wished Christmas to sound and resound in hearts and souls this year as well of all of us and the hymn of the angels, "glory in the Most High God, and in peace" to be a balm of mental and physical healing, to nest and direct the thoughts and actions of our lives. And the new Unity 2022 to be the bearer of the goods of the omnipotent and omnipotent God ".

Prior to the dismissal, the annual memorial service was held for the late Archbishop of Cyprus, the venerable Chrysostom I, the Elders of the Monastery, as well as other beloved persons.

In his short speech, Panierotatos thanked the Holy Professor for the invitation and referred to his elders and spiritual guides, who had begun their monastic life around 1930, when the then Archbishop granted them the Monastery so that it could be revived. Around 1960, Panierotatos himself, as he mentioned, joined the Monastery from where he continued his studies abroad.

"Unfortunately, life in the Monastery was violently interrupted, due to the Turkish invasion in 1974. And with pain, we commemorated the elders today, with the memories I have from when I was a brother of the Monastery. Every Sunday and big holiday this majestic church was suffocatingly full of the faithful who came from the surrounding area, Famagusta, Agios Sergios, Engomi and even further. Because always, the monastic spirituality and the performance of the Liturgies in an all-night atmosphere elevates the person, and so the preference of the people to come here was a given.

Of course, many people came to the Monastery to confess to the spiritual fathers, who are also my fathers, which is why I always mention them first in the Holy Intent.

Concerning today's Gospel, I want to add to what we have already heard that I wish the cessation of the continuation of this life here in the Monastery, to be temporary and for the monastic life to continue here again. Because, from here we received the lights of the Gospel of Christ from the Apostles Barnabas, Paul and Mark and from them we joined the genealogy of Christ as Christians. In the same way, and the genealogy we had with the fathers here, I hope God will soon give it to start again, because here is the Christian lung of the Church of Cyprus, as next to us in Salamis is the Greek lung of the Cypriot people.

We wish, therefore, with God's help, to have a Christian Christmas, free from the various trials; from generation to generation.

"All the blessing of Apostle Barnabas to be with all the Cypriot people, since Apostle Barnabas is our protector, the protector of the homeland and the whole world", he concluded characteristically.

. Photo by Andreas Flokkas