On Cheesefare Sunday, 17 March 2024, the forty-day Memorial Service of the Late Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne Father Nicolaos Bozikis was held at the Cathedral of the Annunciation of Our Lady, in Sydney. The memorial service was presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, who previously presided over the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, joined by the Chancellor of the Holy Archdiocese, Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne Christophoros Krikelis, and by other clergymen of the city of Sydney.
His Eminence, outlining the personality and work of the late clergyman, underlined his dedicated and sacrificial ministry in the Holy Archdiocese of Australia for more than half a century. “He served the Church,” he noted, “not with the philosophy of an employee, but with the philosophy that the priesthood is a way of life. That it is giving totally of ones self, emptying and love, so that through these you can teach people what Christ and the Church mean”. He also recalled that the late clergyman began his priestly journey at a very difficult time for the local Church and for the emigrant Greeks of the fifth continent.
The Archbishop’s emotion was clearly evident when he referred to the reverence that the late Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne had especially for the Services of the Vespers of Forgiveness and the Second Resurrection, the Vespers of Love, on Easter Sunday. “We miss Father Nicolaos and especially tonight when we will conduct the Vespers of Forgiveness”, he said clearly moved, and continued: “He was the first to come to all the functions and events of our Church. But in this service that takes place tonight, as in the Vespers of Love, he had a special reverence. And when the days were approaching, he often called the priests and told them “come tonight so we can be forgiven”. He voluntarily communicated with the younger clergy and urged them to keep the traditions of the Church. It happened that today is his memorial service and I remember all this and I am moved, but at the same time I am taught by his courage and by the zeal he had, to always be present. I think that our Archdiocese will have a hard time finding clergymen like Father Nicolaos.”
Concluding, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios expressed the gratitude of the Orthodox Church and in particular of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia for the many years of service and contribution of the late Father Nicolaos Bozikis, and prayed, in the presence of Presvytera Chryse, his relatives and friends, for God to rest his soul among the Saints and the Righteous.
