Patriarch to Visit Florida

Published by The National Herald, October 14, 2005

Patriarch to Visit Florida for 100th Epiphany

NEW YORK – Preparations for the reception of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople are underway in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The spiritual leader of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians will visit on January 4-8 in order to participate in the centennial Epiphany celebrations of the historic Saint Nicholas Church community there.

During his visit stateside, His All Holiness is also expected to make a brief visit to New Orleans to visit the Holy Trinity Cathedral, which was sustained extensive damage from Hurricane Katrina.

"Our organizing committees for the upcoming Epiphany celebrations have been working around the clock, and our community members are very excited and are eagerly anticipating His All Holiness," Saint Nicholas Pastor Sevastianos Skordallos told the National Herald.

This will mark the first time that an Ecumenical Patriarch visits the Tarpon Springs area for the festivities associated with the celebration of Epiphany. He will preside over the centennial Epiphany celebration in Tarpon Springs and will also commemorate the Epiphany feats at Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Tarpon Springs during a Patriarchal Divine Liturgy.

The Patriarch is expected to be flown to the United States on the private jet of California real estate magnate Alex Spanos. He is scheduled to arrive at the St. Petersburg airport on the afternoon of January 4, for which a warm welcome reception is in the works. His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta as well as the students of the Saint Nicholas Cathedral School will be present, among others.

On January 5, he will offer a prayer at the Divine Liturgy and will then attend the festivities commemorating the church centennial. He will then attend a banquet in his honor with the Florida community’s clergy and laity.

On January 6, the Epiphany celebrations will begin with Orthros and Liturgy services, over which the Patriarch will preside. The Archbishop and members of the Holy Eparchial Synod are also expected to participate.

The Blessing of the Waters ceremony will follow, starting with a large procession in the streets of Tarpon Springs, which will conclude at the nearby Spring Bayou, where the annual Cross-Diving ceremony, in which the young men of Tarpon Springs and surrounding communities compete, will be held.

Epiphany commemorates the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan by the Forerunner, Saint John the Baptist. The annual service in Tarpon Springs, a historical Greek sponge diving center, is one on the largest Epiphany celebrations in the world and attracts tens of thousands of people.

The annual Greek glendi will follow the ceremony with traditional Greek folk dancing, with a special dinner to be held the same evening.

His All Holiness is then scheduled to make his brief visit to the historic Holy Trinity Cathedral in New Orleans on January 7, the feastday of the Forerunner. The church in New Orleans was the first Greek Orthodox community established in America, founded toward the end of the Civil War in 1864. The Patriarch Bartholomew will return to Tarpon Springs that afternoon to attend an evening concert in his honor featuring Greek pop tenor Mario Frangoulis.

On Sunday, January 8, the Patriarch will officiate the Divine Liturgy commemorating the centennial of the Saint Nicholas Cathedral. A banquet will follow at the community’s new cultural center, located near the church. The Patriarch will bid farewell to the community on Sunday afternoon and to Constantinople.

Chairing the Saint Nicholas community’s organizing committee for the Patriarchal visit and Epiphany celebrations are Bill Planes and Emmanuel Kombos.

Last Sunday, October 9, a delegation including Metropolitan Alexios and Archimandrite Skordallos headed for Constantinople where, along with Archbishop Demetrios, who was already at the Phanar, they will present the Ecumenical Patriarch with the proposed itinerary for his visit and details on the Tarpon Springs celebrations.

"The visit of His All Holiness is of great importance to all of us," the Very Rev. Skordallos said. "This time, he is coming to see a holy shrine of the Greek American community, and we are expecting him in order to receive his blessing. The Omogeneia eagerly awaits his arrival with great respect."



Volume 7 Number 42 - Tuesday, October 18, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY