A Message From Father Kyrillos
Having entered into the period of August 15, with the various services chanted in honour of our Lady Theotokos, our beloved Mother of God, as well as the Despotic Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, held around the world on August 6, we cannot but wonder of how to make sense of the difficulties we are experiencing over the past seven weeks of lockdown with the constant fear of rising COVID-19 infections and significant, sometimes nasty, debates over vaccination. We know everyone is suffering, sometimes silently, just eagerly awaiting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
It is precisely the light of the Transfiguration of our Lord on Mt Tabor that our Church celebrates today (August 6), commemorating the event in which the Holy Spirit was present in the form of a cloud whilst God the Father spoke the following words:
This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him!
The splendour and brilliance of this light is nothing like any other light in this world. It emanated from the person of the Lord Himself, who was seen by the three disciples (Apostles James, John and Peter) speaking to a couple of prophets (Moses and Elijah) marking our Lord’s theandric manifestation: being truly and perfectly divine and human.
It is therefore to Him that today, and every day, we make our plea and our prayer known in order that He looks with mercy upon our sinfulness and eradicates our darkness, enlightening in the process our minds, souls and bodies with patience and loving humility as we move forward, in solidarity with one another (for we all suffer the unfathomable consequences of these lockdowns), towards the day when we are free again, fully restored and wholesome.
That is also our humble ‘request’ every afternoon when we chant the Great Paraklesis to our Lady Theotokos:
Look graciously upon your servants, all-praiseworthy Theotokos,
and upon our painful physical suffering, and remedy our anguish of spirit.
We entreat our Most Holy Theotokos to intercede for us to her son of glory whilst we remain firm in our conviction that we are not alone; because she will be there to comfort and protect us from every danger; she will be there to listen to our cries for assistance; she will be there to help dissipate our disappointment and stand resolute towards our impasses; for she is the tenderly loving Mother of All, embracing everyone who wishes to know her:
No one who runs to you for help
comes back from you ever frustrated in his cause,
O Virgin Theotokos. But he asks for the favour
and receives the bestowal which is appropriate for his request.
Wishing the Head of School, Heads of Campus, Staff, Teachers, Parents and Guardians and all Students of our All Saints Grammar every best wish and blessing from above, I join my prayer with yours for a spiritually fruitful period during «Δεκαπενταύγουστο» (15 day period of August) and beyond with patience, renewed strength and hope for a better tomorrow.
Father Kyrillos
School Chaplain
