Pat. Bartholomew Celebrates Divine Liturgy in the Hamptons

Photo: Aaron Hickman/UOJ

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — This past Sunday, Orthos and a Patriarchal Divine Liturgy were celebrated at the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons, with Pat. Bartholomew serving alongside members of the patriarchal delegation from Constantinople and the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Hierarchs present from the Eparchial Synod included His Eminence Abp. Elpidophoros of America; Their Eminences Metropolitans Savas of Pittsburgh, Gerasimos of San Francisco, Sevastianos of Atlanta, Nathanael of Chicago, Apostolos of New Jersey, and Constantine of Denver; and Their Graces Bishops Joachim of Amissos, Ioannis of Phocaea, Athenagoras of Nazianzos, Nektarios of Diokleia,and  Anthony of Synada. His Grace Bishop Theophan of Philomelion of the Albanian Diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the U.S. and Canada was also present, as well as Their Eminences Metropolitans Theodoritos of Laodicea and Maximos of Selyvria from the patriarchal entourage. Met. Maximos presided over Vespers the previous evening.

Following the service, His Holiness gave a brief homily where he exhorted the “faithful children of the Mother Church” to meditate on the words heard in the reading from the Holy Gospel on the Sunday following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

“Whoever wishes to follow Me, you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me,” the Patriarch quoted before continuing. “Dear children in the Lord, we see in this single sentence the depth and breadth of all it means to live as a Christian, as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Pat. Bartholomew laid out three important steps to live up to this task: first, we must want to follow Him; second, the denial of self; and third, we must pick up and carry our crosses, just as the Lord carried His – at least as far as He could.

“The witness of the Lord’s path to Golgotha is very clear. He was carrying the instrument of His own death, at least until He collapsed and Simon of Cyrene was forced by the soldiers to complete that painful journey. We carry our cross on that same road that our Lord traversed, but He asks only that we carry our willingness to die to ourselves so that we might live for others, based in unconditional love for all creation, and for all the creatures who inhabit it. Thus, the cross that we are called to carry is not a cross of self-pity, or a cross of shame, or a cross of guilt – it is a cross of choice, one that places others before ourselves. It can be heavy and at times unbearable, but we have a mighty friend, Who will always repay the kindness of Simon of Cyrene by helping us carry our own crosses when we find ourselves stumbling along the way.”

After completing these three steps, His Holiness said, we reach the point of actually following the Lord.

Following his homily, Pat. Bartholomew surprised Protopresbyter Alexander Karloutsos, more commonly known as Fr. Alex, be elevating him to the rank of Megas Protopresbyteros of the Holy and Great Church of Christ. More simply put, he is now the Grand Archpriest of all jurisdictions under the Patriarchate of Constantinople. This title can only be held by one priest at a time, and was most recently held by Fr. George Tsetsis, who reposed in 2023.

The surprises didn’t end there, though, as Pat. Bartholomew also announced to Fr. Alex and his son-in-law and fellow parish priest, Fr. Constantine Lazarakis, that their church would be elevated to the status of cathedral. Fr. Alex was then named dean of the cathedral.

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