This evening, the great Forerunner and Baptist of God, St. John, began pouring forth abundant blessings upon his glorious, thousand-year-old Monastery above the Radika River, in honor of his wondrous and venerable Nativity. Befitting his divine grandeur, the festal celebration of St. John commenced with the solemn reception of His Grace Bishop Nikephoros of Amorion, Abbot of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery of Vlatades in Thessaloniki, a hierarch of the sacred hierarchy of the First-Throned Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Bishop Nikephoros and his honorable entourage were greeted with an official monastic reception, which included a procession with the Holy Gospel, a prayer service, the chanting of Many Years, and appropriate welcoming words.
In his address to the esteemed guests, our Elder and Abbot, His Grace Bishop Parthenius of Antania, expressed profound gratitude to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and to Bishop Nikephoros personally for their selfless care in receiving our Church into Eucharistic and canonical unity with the entire Orthodox world.
Your Grace, Bishop Nikephoros of Amorion and Holy Abbot of the Sacred Patriarchal Stavropegial Monastery of Vlatades in Thessaloniki,
Your Reverence, esteemed Archimandrite Matthew,
Venerable and esteemed fathers,
Brothers monks and sisters nuns,
Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord,
I offer my heartfelt thanks to you, God-loving and holy Vladyka, for graciously adorning our monastic celebration, in honor of the Nativity of the Honorable Forerunner, with your precious presence and with your participation in our joy, both in prayer and in the Divine Liturgy.
Your coming here, to this thousand-year-old Sanctuary of the Lord’s Baptist, is no mere coincidence. It is, in fact, a radiant beam from the Phanar, the Light of Orthodoxy, a sign of grace and care from the Mother Church in Constantinople, a witness to the unity in Christ through the Great Church of Christ, the Ecumenical Patriarchate. By coming here, you have brought us the fragrance of Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane: “That they may all be one” (John 17:21), and the fulfillment of His words: “Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).
Moreover, you are the first hierarch to come and serve with us here in our Monastery following the historic decision of the First-Throned Ecumenical Patriarchate on May 9th of this year, by which the Archdiocese of Ohrid was received into liturgical and canonical unity with the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. This was followed by our reconciliation with the Orthodox Church of Serbia and her recommendation for autocephaly. It is no coincidence that the Honorable Forerunner has chosen you for this occasion, for in the past years, while we were still in deep isolation from the other local Orthodox Churches, you showed compassion and love toward us. You shared in our suffering and proved your sincere care for the unity of the Church of Christ, helping in every way to heal our decades-long wound. You, beloved brother, selflessly dedicated yourself to this holy work, opening your heart full of love and generously sharing your rich experience with us. With the blessing of His All-Holiness, the Archbishop of New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, you mediated for meetings and the establishment of good relations between representatives of our local Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Furthermore, you opened the doors of your Holy Patriarchal Monastery in the historic center of Thessaloniki for the education and training of our monks and students.
Your Grace, our great benefactor, you come to us from the city of the mighty wonderworker St. Demetrios, from Thessaloniki, the city from which our spiritual fathers and enlighteners, the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, also came. You come from the Monastery of the other holy Thessalonian Brothers, the hesychasts Dorotheos and Markos Vlatades, the venerable founders of your Holy Monastery and disciples of our greatly beloved St. Gregory Palamas. Thus, you come to us with a heart wide and full of blessings, with spiritual wealth, wisdom, and sacred tradition.
For all of this, we express our deep gratitude and thank you for kindly and brotherly responding to our invitation and coming to this Holy Monastery, bringing us the blessing from the Father of all Orthodox, His All-Holiness the great Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. We are especially joyful that among your honorable companions is our much-beloved brother in the Lord, the Venerable Archimandrite Matthew Psomas, a long-time and cherished friend of the Bigorski Monastery. True friends reveal themselves in times of need and difficulty, and you have been with us throughout, as a true brotherly comfort in our most trying moments. Your sacrificial love will remain indelibly imprinted deep in our hearts, and we believe, also before the face of God, Who desires us all to be one in Him, and Who, through love, will recognize us as His own: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).
On this festive evening, I would like to inform this sacred assembly that tomorrow we are expecting the arrival of our esteemed and monastic-loving hierarch, the ruling bishop of this God-protected Diocese of Debar and Kichevo, His Eminence Timothy, by whose blessing our Monastery is upheld and continues to flourish.
To all of you, beloved Fathers and brothers from the sacred clergy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Orthodox Church of Greece, on behalf of myself and my monastic brotherhood, I warmly welcome you to our Holy Monastery, which rejoices and celebrates, for on this sacred day it is honored by your brotherly presence. May you feel here as if in your own home!
Thank you, and many years to you all!In response to this address, Bishop Nikephoros of Amorion expressed his heartfelt gratitude for the warm reception, conveyed the paternal blessing of His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and did not hide his immense love for the Bigorski Monastery:
“This is truly a great joy and blessing for me and my honorable companions: the Venerable Father Matthew and my deacon, Father Panteleimon. We have come to this beautiful and beloved Monastery, bringing with us the blessing from the city of St. Demetrios, of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, as you, Holy Antaniski, already mentioned, and also of the great hesychast, from whom our Monastery draws its roots, St. Gregory Palamas, who continually prays to the Most Holy Theotokos for the monks of Bigorski.
We have hastened here, to this Holy Monastery of the Honorable Forerunner, with heartfelt joy, and we consider all of this to be a great honor and blessing, especially after the miracle we experienced during the Paschal period: to confess the Lord Christ who appeared in the flesh, through the shared Chalice of Life, and thus truly become one. Indeed, we are one, for Christ is one. And as you know, Holy Antaniski, from the moment I met you, my heart was captivated by your love, as well as by the love of these good children here, so much so that I could not help but become your companion in the heavy cross you have borne. And if by chance I have done anything good, it was only my obedience, my duty, which I had to fulfill. I sincerely prayed to the Holy Brothers Vlatades and to St. Gregory Palamas, to guide our steps toward salvation. For the truth must come to the surface and be accepted.
Glory be to God that today we are gathered together and are living this. We will begin with prayer and conclude with the common Chalice of Life, with a shared confession of faith in love. With these thoughts, and again expressing my gratitude for the honor with which you have received us, I believe that this honor is truly given to the great leader and guide of the Orthodox, the Ecumenical Patriarch. For from the first moment I relayed to him our conversations, he received everything with his blessed mind, feeling the weight of the division in his heart, and always interceding in his prayers for the resolution of this matter. I believe he has conveyed the same to you as well. Therefore, to that man, whose entire life has been one of self-sacrifice for the Church, we offer all celebrations and honors. Indeed, last week while I was in the Phanar, when I informed him that I would be coming to visit you, he joyfully said: ‘Convey my paternal blessing and prayers to Holy Antaniski, to his brotherhood, to the monastic communities, the sisterhoods in the women’s monasteries, and to all the spiritual children who have entrusted their hearts into his hands.’
In conclusion, I once again express my heartfelt gratitude. To God be the glory!”
Bishop Nikephoros of Amorion will preside over the festive all-night vigil and will co-serve the Divine Eucharist. In addition to his esteemed presence, this year’s monastery feast is also spiritually enriched by the arrival of numerous archimandrites, priests, monks, and faithful from the neighboring Orthodox Churches of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia, and Orthodox Christians have traveled from as far as France to join the celebration at Bigorski.
May the blessing and prayers of the Honorable Forerunner for true repentance and love in Christ be with all of us!
