On Sunday, 11 August, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia liturgised at the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, in the suburb of Kogarah in Sydney, where he also performed the ordination of the Parish Deacon Fr. Socrates Dokos as a Presbyter, who is an Associate Professor and Deputy Head of the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
Serving in concelebration with His Eminence were, His Grace Bishop Christodoulos of Magnesia, Hierarchical Proistamenos of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, Achimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne Father Eusebios, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Panagia Pantanassa and Spiritual Father to the newly ordained Presbyter, as well as other clergymen from the city of Sydney. Present in the church which was filled with many believers were, among others, the Director of the Greek Welfare Centre of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia, Mr. Steve Magdas, the President of the Greek Orthodox Christian Society, Dr. John Psarommatis, the President of the Kogarah Parish – Community, Mr. Nickolas Varvaris, and relatives and friends of Father Socrates, including his wife, now Presbytera Anna.
Before entering the Holy of Holies, the ordinand heard from his Chief Shepherd paternal words of edification and admonition. Right from the beginning, His Eminence emphasised that ordination constitutes a transition for the person who receives the gift of priesthood. “From today”, His Eminence emphasised to Father Socrates, “your life becomes completely different, even though you are a person who lived all your years in the Church, close to your good spiritual father, Fr. Eusebios, close to the Holy Pantanassa monastery, close to the former Abbot Father Stephanos and with many years of participation in the Greek Orthodox Christian Society”.
“Now we are moving into a next page,” His Eminence added, “into a new stage that is blessed, sanctifying, graceful and spiritual, but also challenging and difficult. For you must know that the devil does not fight any human person so much as he does the clergy.”
Asking of the new Presbyter to meet the expectations of the Church and to honour his cassock with his dedicated and virtuous ministry, he advised him first of all to maintain the spirit of humility that distinguishes him: “Soon we will hear the acclamation “Axios” from the holy clergy and the people. This “Axios / He is Worthy” in the ordinations of deacons, presbyters and bishops does not indicate that we are really “worthy”. It is however a desire and a wish to become worthy; always keep in mind that this is the final destination of the journey of the priesthood: for us to become worthy!
Moreover, in every Divine Liturgy you will confess that “No one bound by carnal desires and pleasures is worthy to approach, draw near, or minister to You, the King of Glory”. Do not forget that every good thing, every progress, every advancement, everything starts from the fact that God made everything “very well”. And if we do something good, it comes from entrusting it to God. So we begin with God and end with God. And all good things belong to God who made everything “very well”.
Concluding his address, the Archbishop referred the new Presbyter to the words of the Lord: “According to your faith let it be done to you”, from the Gospel passage of the day which presented the healing of the two blind men by Christ. “The subject of faith is a very big chapter in the spiritual life of humankind and in the life of the Church”, His Eminence underlined. “Orthodox spirituality is not a philosophy or a theory, but it is a matter of faith, and faith means experience”, he pointed out, among other things, reminding of the danger, even for the clergy, of becoming familiar with the divine and liturgising without having an awareness of the greatness of this act, which they perform. Concluding, however, Archbishop Makarios declared being convinced that Father Socrates will maintain the warm faith that he possesses, but will also increase it during his ministry for the glory of Christ and the salvation of all people.
