On Friday, August 9th, Bishop Maximus of Pelagonia made a pastoral trip to St. Irene Chrysovalantou Parish in Detroit Michigan to lead the faithful in celebrating the patronal feast of the church. That evening, he presided at Vespers. The next day – the feastday itself – he served the Hierarchical Liturgy together with Fr. Steven Allen (the parish rector), a group of chanters, and many faithful both from the area and from other churches; and he gave a sermon about St. Irene, the abbess of the monastery of Chrysovalantou in Constantinople who lived and struggled during the 9th century, and who continues to work many miracles even in our days. In the evening Vespers were served again, and afterwards the faithful had an informal talk with His Grace about Christology and other theological matters. On Sunday he again served the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, which was followed by a formal dinner at the hall of a nearby university. There Bishop Maximus gave a talk about missionary work in Guatemala and Latin America. The next morning His Grace returned to Guatemala where he lives.
Click here to see a photo gallery of Bishop Maximus’s visit to Detroit.
On Friday, August 23, Bishop Maximus made another pastoral visit, this time to Koimisis (Dormition) Parish in Clearwater, Florida. On Sunday he celebrated the Hierachical Divine Liturgy with Fr. Dimitrios Adamopoloulos, who had recently been assigned to the parish. On Tuesday evening, he served the All-night Vigil for the Dormition of the Theotokos, finishing the Liturgy at about 3:00 in the morning. All the faithful were joyous with the experience of the exhausting but grace-filled vigil. The next Sunday he served the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy again. During the course of the week he performed other services as well, including Holy Unction, and spent time with a great number of parishioners, speaking to them about the spiritual life and encouraging them in their recent difficulties. Additionally, he visited the missionary parish of St. John of Kronstadt under Fr. George Liadis, and performed a holy water service there, taking advantage of the opportunity to converse with the mostly English-speaking converts about Ecumenism and the necessity of severing communion with bishops who do not rightly divide the word of truth. By God’s providence, his return flight to Guatemala was delayed due to Hurricane Dorian, but this turned to the best because it allowed His Grace to spend more time with the faithful. Finally, on September 4 he returned to Guatemala, having spent almost 2 weeks in Florida.
A photo gallery from Florida will be posted soon.
