BOSTON – The new academic year began at Hellenic College – Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA in the presence of the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA) on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which is the School’s feast day.

On the evening of Friday, September 13, a celebratory Vespers Service was held in HC/HC’s chapel, during which the investiture of the theology students with their clerical cassocks and pectoral crosses took place. Additionally, Lay Readers (male and female) were tonsured, and the students of Hellenic College received a blessing.

Archbishop Elpidophoros, who presided over the Vespers, referred to the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at the end of his sermon, which he delivered only in English. He emphasized the need for love, highlighting the biblical verse: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

On Saturday, September 14, a hierarchical Divine Liturgy was celebrated with the participation of the Metropolitans of the Eparchial Synod, as well as Auxiliary Bishops. At the conclusion of the Service, the procession and exaltation of the cross ceremony took place.

A luncheon followed at the Maliotis Cultural Center, along with an academic convocation, attended by approximately eighty people, including students, professors, and members of the Greek-American community from Boston. All the Metropolitans then departed for their respective Metropolises.

All speeches, including that of Archbishop Elpidophoros, were delivered in English, with the exception of the Consul General of Greece in Boston, Symeon Tegos, who also spoke in Greek, reminding everyone that it is a Hellenic college and a Greek Orthodox School of Theology.

Archbishop Elpidophoros once again mentioned the financial aid given by Greece to the School in the amount of two million euros ($2.3) million, expressing thanks to the ‘motherland’, as he put it. However, he did not specify how the two million euros, which were intended specifically for the promotion and teaching of the Greek language and the Hellenic identity of the School, were allocated.

Among the remarks made by the School’s president, Dr. Demetrios Katos, he presented as an achievement the fact that several students are attending classes remotely via electronic means, and that seven students from India are also attending classes online.

According to Dr. Katos, there is an increase this year in the number of students at both Hellenic College and the School of Theology, with the total number of students at both institutions reaching 194, marking a 21% increase. Hellenic College has 74 students this year, including 29 new entrants. The School of Theology has a total of 120 students, 50 of whom are seminarians preparing for priesthood in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, including 56 new students, 26 of whom come from the GOA and are preparing to become clergy.