SYDNEY – His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia officiated at the celebratory Divine Liturgy at the Holy Monastery of St George at Yellow Rock in New South Wales. Due to the social restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, the monastery was not open to pilgrims.

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, the Archbishop thanked Abbot, Fr Kyriakos for his contributions to the monastery and continued by saying that St George’s feast day is always celebrated during the Paschal period because his life is a witness to the historical truth of the Resurrection. His Eminence characteristically said, “St George, and all the martyrs of our Church, did not shed their blood for a lie.”

He also mentioned that the saint’s father, Gerontios, also suffered martyrdom for the love of Christ in front of St George and, in this way, became an inspiring example for Saint George to follow the same path. “Our life teaches us either to do good or to do evil,” said His Eminence. “If we do the right thing, then we instil in our children and all those around us how to become better people. In this manner, St George’s father taught his child to desire Christ at all cost, to the point of even giving his life for Him. And he taught this, not with many words, but by his martyric death, that is, by his example.”

His Eminence also made reference to the celebration of the Holy Monastery of St George at Phanar, which is home of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and noted that the Abbot of that monastery is the Ecumenical Patriarch. “With gratitude, we remember the Great Monastery and the Patriarch of our people and the Abbot of Orthodoxy and we beseech St George to intercede for our Patriarch and for all those who labour in the Patriarchal quarters.”

Finally, Archbishop Makarios wished that the monastery’s next feast day be filled with pilgrims, as it has been every previous year, with the many Orthodox faithful who revere St George and who eagerly attend to venerate his miraculous icon.