ASTORIA – With four days of religious services and cultural events, the Sacred Patriarchal and Stavropegial Orthodox Monastery of St. Irene Chrysovalantou in Astoria will celebrate its Feast Day again this year, along with the emblematic festival in the heart of the Greek community.

As Archimandrite Fr. Meletios Bougas, who is in charge of administration until the appointment of a new abbot, spoke with The National Herald about the celebrations which begin on Thursday, July 25 and culminate on Sunday, July 28 with the traditional prayer services and the procession of the icon of St. Irene Chrysovalantou, and the faithful from far and wide expected to participate as they do every year.

“With the grace of God, we are celebrating again this year the memory of our Blessed Mother Irene, Abbess of the Chrysovalantou Monastery, and as is known, the Holy Patriarchal Monastery celebrates here in Astoria, with a great pilgrimage of Greek expatriates, not only from Astoria, but also from other regions,” Fr. Bougas said. “We will also have buses bringing in the faithful from other States for the procession of the icon of St. Irene on Sunday.”

“This year’s celebration begins on July 25 with the Great Vespers in the afternoon and the consecration of the Festival,” he noted.

According to the program, on Saturday morning the Divine Liturgy will be celebrated, in the afternoon of the same day the Great Vespers is planned, while on Sunday morning the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, during which the Patriarchal Message will be read, before the procession. The services will be officiated by His Grace Bishop Nektarios of Diokleia, representative of His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Archdiocese of America, as designated by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

“There will be a procession of the icon of St. Irene here in the streets of Astoria,” Fr. Bougas said. “The truth is that it is a unique sight. In terms of America, I don’t know if there is another church that makes a procession of an icon in the way we know it from our country. There are many people who will follow her icon and then we will make a phalanx here in front, to pass the icon over the people for help and support.”

Fr. Bougas then focused on the multifaceted significance of the festival for the Sacred Patriarchal and Stavropegial Orthodox Monastery of St. Irene Chrysovalantou.

“First of all, it is important from an economic point of view,” he said. “After all, St. Irene is not a church that has other financial resources other than the festival. It collects no rents, it has no big donors or big benefactors, it has no dues-paying members. Only the pilgrimage, with this money the expenses are paid. The festival is a big breath of air for the Holy Monastery. At the same time, however, it also has a cultural character that is important, especially in this country.”

“We highlight things that the foreigners who might come here also see, there is dancing, they listen to Greek traditional music, they try Greek dishes and thus we give a testimony of both faith and Hellenism,” Fr. Bougas concluded.

It should be noted that this year’s festival takes place in the shadow of the loss of the blessed Bishop Ierotheos of Efkarpia, who served the Holy Monastery of St. Irene Chrysovalantou for more than a decade and fell asleep in the Lord a few months ago, after battling a serious health problem.