The Great Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lady, the Theotokos, was celebrated with due ecclesiastical splendour at the Cathedral of the Annunciation of Our Lady in Sydney.
On the day of the Feast, a large number of believers made their way to the celebrating Church, where a Poly-Hierarchical Divine Liturgy was celebrated, presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, and was concelebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Sevasteia and Their Graces, Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis, Bishop Christodoulos of Magnesia and Bishop Bartholomew of Charioupolis. Also present for the feast day, among others, were the Deputy Minister of the Interior of Greece, Mr. Theodoros Livanios, the Ambassador of Greece to Australia, His Excellency Mr. Stavros Venizelos and the Consul General in Sydney, Mr. Yannis Mallikourtis.
During the Divine Liturgy, the Message of the Archbishop of Australia for the double feast day, both religious and national, of the 25th March, was read in Greek and English.
This was followed, in an emotional atmosphere, by the conducting of the five-year Memorial Service of the late Archbishop Stylianos of Australia. His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia spoke with words of gratitude about the personality and contribution of his late predecessor. “He led the local Church for 44 years with a lot of effort and self-sacrifice, with a great love for Christ and the people of God,” His Eminence pointed out.
“I had the great blessing from God to succeed him,” he pointed out, “to sit in the position that he also sat in, and to know, perhaps more than anyone else, that it is not an easy task to be in this position and to strive every day to keep balances for the unity and salvation of the people”. “That’s why”, he added, “I personally can understand the labours and struggles of the Late Primate, as well as his contribution to our local Church, for which I am grateful and indebted”.
His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Sevasteia, who collaborated and was spiritually connected with him for almost three decades, also spoke about the personality of the late Archbishop Stylianos. Metropolitan Seraphim referred to the difficult circumstances in which the Late Hierarch undertook to shepherd the local Church, while he underlined the strength of soul with which he worked during his long pastorate and the vigour with which he defended the rights of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
