Archbishop Iakovos

Published by The National Herald, November 4, 2005

Archbishop Iakovos: Model of a True Servant of God

I was a newcomer to the United States and a freshman at Holy Cross Theological School. I had come from Greece with a desire to attend and finish the school, become a priest and hopefully serve our Archdiocese in one of its communities.

This desire soon began to weaken, however, as homesickness started to set in and take control of my emotions and my whole psyche. I wanted to go back home to my family, to my friends, to my lifestyle. I was feeling lonely and unhappy.

I vividly remember one rainy evening in mid-September, after vespers and before supper, being in my room all alone; lying in bed; my pillow wet with tears; feeling abandoned even by God when, in my emotional impasse, stretching my arm toward no particular direction, I touched the radio on my end table. Absentmindedly, I had turned on the radio. I suddenly heard someone speaking Greek on the radio. His voice was crystal clear; his message thought-provoking, yet comforting. His theme was the Cross.
It happened to be the eve of the feast of the Elevation of the Cross. He was saying that the Cross was the meeting point of a man and an event. The man was Jesus, and the event was Golgotha. There, he was saying, the Lord had laid His life down for His friends, and His friends included one who had betrayed Him, one who had denied Him, and several who, having pledged loyalty to the end, forsook Him and fled.

At one point, he asked the question: "Who is he or she who does not have a Cross to bear? Even the very young students, at the beginning of the school year, have the cross of their new school curriculum and discipline. Many of those who have all the worldly goods will be burdened by the cross of sickness; family problems; greed; hard-heartedness. And if this isn’t enough, a wooden or marble cross is usually placed at the head of many graves."

Life without a cross can not be conceived, he said, and if there is such life, it can not be worth living, for it is a life without love. It was out of love, he concluded, that Christ took up His cross so that He may demonstrate to us that the cross of love is the only way to a victorious life.

After his homily, he offered a closing prayer, asking God to give him strength to perform his priestly duties to the best of his ability, prudence and wisdom in his daily relationships with his fellow men; a wide-open heart to love all and forgive all; courage to always tell the truth; to see only what is good and beautiful in every person; and last, but not least, to give him a friend with whom to share quietly his joys and his tears. The title of that program was, "The Echo of the Greek Cathedral of Boston." The Director/Speaker was Archimandrite Iakovos Coucouzis.

For me, that rainy night in September of 1947 became my personal road to Damascus. I realized the foolishness of my predicament. I asked God’s forgiveness and resolved to finish school and become a priest with one goal: not to attain the height of the speaker’s eloquence, but at least to be able, during my ministry, to help someone the way this man supported me during that first ethereal meeting, and who has not ceased to do so to this day, as my spiritual father, noble hierarch and model of a true servant of God and His people.

I shall always treasure, with deep reverence; his fatherly counsel and friendship; and his stalwart stature, which was but the fitting tabernacle for a personality radiating kindness and courtesy and an unfaltering fidelity "to whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report (Philippians 4.8)."

I shall always remember him as one whose gentleness made him great; whose rare qualities of heart and mind endeared him to friends and opponents, but whose very countenance was a parchment of peace, reconciliation, understanding and forgiveness. I shall never forget the glow in his face every time he was praying in the simple chapel of his home always filled with the sweet smell of incense, color and warmth.

He was one of the few among many lifted to high pedestals of influence and responsibility without compromises, but with candor to the very end, living an enduring record of accomplishments and a great legacy to be bequeathed for the many generations which will follow.

And now, as aged Simeon of old, he has fallen asleep with the parting benediction, "Lord lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation (Luke 2.29-30)."

Father Kyriakos is a graduate of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Class of 1950) and Pastor Emeritus of Holy Trinity Church in New Rochelle, New York. He wrote the above as a memorial tribute to the late Archbishop Iakovos, formerly of North & South America, who passed away on April 10 of this year, a little over six months ago, after a lifetime of service to the Church in America.



Volume 7 Number 44 - Saturday, November 5, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY