Father Christodoulos Papaioannou gave an interview to RadioChristoitat on the occasion of the completion of one year since the tragedy in Tempi.
Father Christodoulos described how Kyprianos was like a child, stating that "Kyprianos, like the other children, when we decided with Papadia to start a family, we thought that we are not worthy to raise children who belong to God, who can name God Father. Because our faith is a faith that leads man to adoption, to God the Father through Jesus Christ. We know very well that when a person decides to live a Christian life, the goal is to reach adoption. We had this thing ingrained, so one thing we kept is to have the children united with God, as much as possible. Through the sacraments we decided to baptize all our children quickly, that is, shortly after 40 days, and we tried to have them united with God through the sacrament of the Eucharist. We as humans have many weaknesses, and I and all humans but God is strong."
He added that "Kiprianos, like the other children, had this option but I noticed that since he was a small child he had a special attraction. In other words, without us teaching him, he had an attraction to God, that's why when I made a small church there at home, from eight years old Kyprianos, I had him as my church minister. That is, I allowed him to enter the sanctuary of the small church dedicated to Saint Nektarios. He cleaned the candlesticks, the Holy Altar in the little church and he did it with great pleasure, without me telling him anything. Many times I would come home and find him in the little church chanting, cleaning, that is, spending time alone. I never made any remark to him."
He pointed out that Cyprian was thinking of becoming a priest. "In the last year he had talked with his fiancee that he could become a priest, he said "I have it in my soul, I don't want to prejudge it, I don't know if I'm worthy". He could easily become a good priest who would help many. He had a gift for communicating what was in his soul."
Father Christodoulos spoke about an old woman from Greece who contacted him and told him that "I had prayed a lot for Kyprian, I don't know why I singled him out from those who died there but it made an impression on me and my soul wanted me to pray and God informed me of who Cyprian was and how he died. It was shocking to me and comforting. Because I when the accident happened, I went back and said I can't interpret anything, I was in such shock that I couldn't articulate a word. And I said "God, you as a good Father, that I need to hear and give me the medicine I need. I was really amazed how God works. We are one year later. In that time I got more answers than I wanted to get. Which covers a veil of ignorance about how the accident happened. At least for my own son who was my own agony. This old woman told me "I prayed and saw. Tell me, did your son wake up at night in his sleep and get scared?" Kyprianos had a sensitivity with sleep and it was something personal, I didn't say it. And this old lady told me she used to scare him in his sleep because he was too sensitive. And when he heard that someone had something, at night he was restless, he wanted to find a solution. The old lady told me details about Kyprian that only I knew. God did not leave us uninformed about the life of Cyprian in this difficult time. Because when someone dies we all want to be near them. When someone leaves suddenly, we are left with a great void. And all this information came and filled a gap to comfort me and the daisy's soul."
Watch the full interview: