The Holy Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas of Myra gained a second Priest on the Feast of The Circumcision of the Lord and Saint Basil, on January 1/14. His Eminence Metropolitan Demetrius of America ordained Deacon John V. Psaromatis to the Holy Priesthood during the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy.
Fr. John, the son of Vasilios and Margaret Psaromatis, was born on May 1, 1986 (n.s.), in Gloversville, NY. He is the eighth of nine children and has five brothers and three sisters. One of Fr. John’s older brothers, Fr. George V. Psaromatis, also serves the St. Nicholas community. The Psaromatis grandparents, Panagiotis and Maria, had 14 children and over 50 grandchildren, and were among the small, persecuted group in Greece that remained faithful to the patristic “Old Calendar” since the 1924 calendar change. The Psaromatis children learned from their pious grandparents the importance of staying in “the Fold of Christ”—the True Orthodox Church. They also learned from them the power of the Sign of the Cross, as Pappou Panagiotis would always say, «Όποιος κάνει τον Σταυρό του, Όπλο έχει στο πλευρό του» which means, “Whoever makes the Sign of the Cross, has a Weapon at his side.” For her part, Yaya Maria always counseled her many children and grandchildren to make the Sign of the Cross over all of their comings and goings throughout each day, as well as over their pillow before going to sleep each night.
Fr. John’s maternal grandparents, Elmer and Nancy Page, were of Irish-Scottish and Native American-Iroquois descent, from upstate New York. Fr. John was baptized as a baby at the Holy Trinity Monastery, in Jordanville, NY.
While visiting his brother and sister-in-law, Fr. George and Presbytera Mary, in Oregon, Fr. John met Catherine Parr, the daughter of Fr. Constantine and Presbytera Deborah Parr. The two wed in 2010, at the Holy Orthodox Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos. They moved to Maryland and now have five children, Margarita-Irene, age 9, Vasili, age 8, Constantine, age 5, Panagiotis, age 3, and Devorah, age 1.
In early 2018, Fr. John and Presbytera Catherine reflected deeply on their roles in this life, on their trust in our Savior, and on the seriousness of answering the need to serve the Holy Church of God and accepted ordination to the Diaconate.
Fr. George had been the only presbyter serving St. Nicholas’s large parish, and Fr. John, after serving as Deacon for four years, was ordained to the Priesthood. He will be assisting Fr. George and ministering to the flock of St. Nicholas of Myra Orthodox Church in Maryland. Fr. John will also be visiting the Parish of Sts. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Mt. Union PA and will be assisting Fr. Christos Patitsas.
“And unto one He gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to each one according to his strength… For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have in abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” (Matt: 14-16; 28-29) When a person is baptized into the body of Christ, he enters into our Savior’s army and wages war against the evil one. Some are called to the front. May the Theotokos strengthen and support Fr. John and all our Deacons, Priests, and especially our holy Hierarchs, the icons of Christ, for they are all struggling at the front lines of this war.
Glory be to God for all things!
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