We have been informed that because of the urgent measures that were announced by the State, and that have been taken to protect human life, our Church, not wanting to seem disobedient to these orders, has postponed the faith based homilies and the other gatherings which were scheduled in each parish of our Metropolis. Therefore, the spiritual homily that used to take place after the Vespers services has been cancelled.

I just wanted to share with you a few words, since God blessed us to meet. Of course, we will do as much as it is possible from the human side of things. We thank the officials and the scientists, the politicians and those in governing power, who teach us and direct us to how we should face this difficult situation. We are not denying the reality of the difficult times. But for sure, as people of the Church, we have also our own way to analyze and to be critical in thinking and to evaluate the events that come through our life.

So, in this instance as well, in this difficult moment, we will deal with everything with all possible human means, scientific means and other. But for sure, and above all, we will deal with this situation with our faith: to Christ, our Panaghia, and the Saints of the Church.

The Church in difficult times has always taught us and directed us to pray. This crisis will be dealt—and can only be dealt—with prayer. We need much prayer, very much prayer. We need people who have such great strong prayer, such that can turn the events of the world around. Because in truth, only prayer can turn around the development of events. Everything else is human. Of course, it is good to have the human approach and it is beneficial. But prayer can, in reality and in short time, turn around everything and can end this difficulty. However, this difficulty has a beneficial side to it. It teaches us many things. It shows us our weakness, the temporary nature of human things. It teaches that everything around us is ephemeral. Therefore, we must understand that our first need and our first longing should be the Kingdom of God. Just as the Lord says in the Holy Gospel, Seek first the Kingdom of God and everything else will be given to you. We will be given everything from Our Lord, the Lord of Glory; we just need to seek the Kingdom of God.

This is our true necessity and need, this is what we truly need. Of course, all other things are necessary too, but God knows our needs and provides. The Church is calling us to struggle and pray, to struggle to gain more prayer—prayer that streams from repentance and humility. We must repent for our personal sins, for the sins of our brethren and for the sins of the whole world. We need to offer God strong prayer, gushing out of our humble and repentant heart; so that God can have mercy on us and overturn the difficult events. If we pray, everything will be overturned. If we do not pray, then the events will take the human course of things; and we do not know how things will be and how things will develop.

Our Churches will remain open. The Worship of God will never stop. The priests and we [i.e., the hierarch himself] will be in the position that God placed us. And as shepherds of the Church, we offer our prayers and the services for the Worship of God and for Holy Communion and Thanksgiving. We offer these for the whole world, for the whole Adam. Whoever wants to attend may approach. Whoever feels difficulty and weak or anything else, they can act as their conscience directs them. We cannot judge any man. We are called to pray for the whole world, the whole Adam, for all the human race.

Maybe someone can question themselves and say, “We that come to the Church, we will not ever get ill?” We will get ill and one day we will die. Who told us that we would remain immortal in this world? We needed the coronavirus to remind us that one day we will die? We needed the coronavirus to tell us that we can fall ill? What did the forty martyrs say? “Our actions are in philotimo (good honor).” Since one day we will die, let us die honorably and being pleasing to God. Let us also remember our Saint Neophytos who said, what other thing exists above all but the fear of God and the remembrance of death?— to remind us of our exodus from this world and our presence in front of God.

What does the Church offer us? The strength to NOT fear; the victory against the fear of death. We will all go through biological death, without exceptions. However, the spiritual death is a death that a faithful person who believes in God will not undergo. He who believes in Me will have life eternal, says our Lord. He who believes in Me will never taste death, meaning spiritual death, because the biological death we all go through. And this is death that we fear—the spiritual death—the eternal separation from God. We do not want this separation, it terrifies us, because this is eternal separation, eternal death—the eternal separation from our Lord Christ. The biological death is human nature and will arrive one day. Even if we are saints, even if we are sinners, we will all go through the gate of the biological death.

We walk towards Pascha, the Resurrection of Christ, Who was victorious over death and Who destroyed the fear of death, and then we shall hear the night of the Resurrection: No one fears death, because we are freed from death by our Savior. No one should fear death because our Savior released us from the fear of biological death, and we move on to live the Resurrection. Death is conquered. There is no death. There is only life eternal. Christ is alive, the Kingdom of God is real, and will be to the ages.

With this type of faith, we will walk through this difficult time that we currently face—without fears, without panic, without human reasoning. We will walk crying out the Love of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know that our life here has an end. We know that this life is just passing through, a journey through, from the temporary to the eternal—to the eternal Kingdom of God.

In these times of crisis, our faith is tested, our way of life matters, our thoughts are evaluated, and the quality of our relationship with our Father, our God, is measured: our life, our strength, our time in works of repentance, our time in prayer and in worship offered to God. The Church will remain in prayer, giving glory and worship to the Living God, without any human selfish act. With the wisdom of the Church, we will be given hope that God is above all things. I am not saying that we ignore the human side of things. Not at all. But we need to be victorious over fear, victorious over death which destroys love—the true Love, Who is Christ, the One Who destroys fears. He who loves God fears nothing. Nothing darkens his life, not even the most difficult moment. For God’s love is victorious over the fear and gives us the taste of eternal life.

In our Metropolis, in our Metropolis’ Church and in other Churches and on every Thursday, before or after the Apodeipnon [Compline] (depending on what is best for the schedule), we will conduct the Sacrament of Holy Unction for the healing of body and soul. The Church will offer us a medicine of eternal life that will heal our body and soul. Together with the chemical and biological, human-made medications, the Church offers us the Holy Sacrament of Holy Unction, to give us strength of body and soul, so we can have peace, and deal with whatever we encounter in front of us. Life and death are both in front of us, and with faith in God and with the presence of Christ in our heart, we will take advantage of our time here on earth, and we will use this life towards the benefit of our soul and also see death as eternal life.

Death is conquered. Christ conquered death. As the fathers of the Church teach us. Let us have hope in Christ. Let us call upon the Holy Theotokos, our Mother, and our Holy Saints, and let us walk our path in faith and peace. We should give comfort to our brethren. Just think of how much despair and fear exists; how much lack of courage and feeling unsafe exists in the hearts of men that do not have the Light of God in their lives. Our life is like a tragedy without the presence of God. It is a life of tragedy if we are without our Holy Church. Without Christ man cannot live. Without the Light of God, darkness is unbearable. This is why we are all called, all of us who believe in Christ and call upon his All Holy Name, to become instruments of God who bring messages of hope and joy, peace, calmness and stillness, courage in the hearts of our brethren calling upon the presence and the Love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen!