The medicine against the spiritual plague is faith in Christ
On Saturday, November 3rd, 2018, at the Holy Church of Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker a panegyrical Episcopal Vesper took place on the remembrance of Saint’s miracle and the exemption of the island of Corfu from the plague in 1673. His Eminence the Bishop of Vrestheni Mr. Theoklitos did the Vesper along with the Bishops of Nazareth, Mr. Kyriakos and the local one, Bishop of Corfu, Paxoi and Diapontian Islands, Mr. Nektarios.
In his greeting, Mr. Nektarios welcomed the two Bishops and referred to the brotherly links connecting him to Mr. Theoklitos, since they both were spiritual children of the late Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Christodoulos, a powerful personality attracting basically young people in the Church. Moreover, the speeches of the late Christodoulos awakened Greeks and proved eventually to be prophetic.
Furthermore, his Eminence underlined that the Protector of Corfu is an ecumenical Saint. He never stopped making miracles and declaring the Lord of Glory even after death. Corfu was hit for the second time in 1673 by the deathly plague. People turned their hearts to Saint Spyridon resulting in its stopping. Since then, every year, remembering this miracle, the graceful relic of Saint Spyridon is litanised every first Sunday of November.
In his closing, his Eminence wished that our island will always be protected by Saint Spyridon and his grace to help everyone.
Following talked Mr. Theoklitos, having thanked the Bishop of Corfu, characterized the situation going on in Greece as a spiritual plague, because it leads people to spiritual death, the stopping of the interaction with God. This effort of the ones in power to de-Christianize our country cannot be characterized otherwise, only as a spiritual death. We belong to the West, however, this does not imply getting rid of our faith, our Greekness, our history and the traditions of our fathers, qualities that kept us alive throughout centuries.
With great sadness, we see the new generation not believing in ideals and turning away from the Church. This is the responsibility of the bigger ones. What example will the young people take when they observe the degradation and the decline?
In conclusion, Mr. Theoklitos stressed that the medicine against the spiritual plague we experience is faith in Christ and the return to the Church. Our fathers have experienced worse situations, war, occupation, and deep poverty, yet they have recovered, because their hearts have been kindled in love with Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and the Saints.
