The Holy Metropolis of Kythera and Antikythera announced the beginning of the new Spiritual and Catechetical year, on the occasion of the Sunday of Sporeos and the Holy Fathers of the Second Ecumenical Council. In an encyclical of Metropolitan Seraphim, the importance of spiritual sowing, especially for the youth, is underlined, with the wish that the year be blessed and fruitful.
Activities will include Sunday Schools, evening sermons, Parent and Guardian Schools, and Byzantine Music classes. Parent School begins on Saturday, October 12 at the River Spiritual Center and Sunday, October 13 at the Keramoto Leoncinio, at 7:00 p.m.
In Kytheri on the 10th of October 2024
No. Prot..: 392
PASTORAL CIRCULAR
(No 239/2024)
To
The Holy Clergy and Christonymos Laon of our Holy Metropolis Kythira and Antikythira
«.... and another fell upon the good land, and the plant yielded a hundredfold.»
(Luke 8, 8)
My dear brothers and fellow ministers,
My Christian brothers, my beloved children in the Lord,
Dear Parents and Guardians of our children,
May the new Spiritual and Catechetical year be blessed, joyful and peaceful according to God!
Today's Feast Sunday and at the same time the Sunday of the Holy and Divine Fathers of the Second Ecumenical Council means the official opening of the Spiritual and Catechetical Feast of the Christian George of our Holy Orthodox Catholic Church. In particular, the attention, care, love and interest of the Mother Church is directed towards our youth, our children, our pupils, our young men and women, our young men and women, our pupils and students, the golden hope of the future of our island and our Fatherland.
Certainly, the spiritual cultivation of our reasonable flock, and primarily of our youth, is not limited to this period of the Sunday School year, but must be carried out throughout the ecclesiastical year, with the celebration of the festivals of the Apostolic, Theotokos and Holy Days of our Orthodox Church.
Our unstoppable and unceasing spiritual and pastoral concern is and must be the spiritual sowing of the Divine Word in the hearts of our fellow men and women.
The great spiritual sower and farmer, Saint John Chrysostom, writes about it:
«While we have time, let us sow, that we may reap... Now is the time of sowing, then will be the time of reaping and the reward... If, therefore, the present time is for sowing, then why do we gather?To scatter with alms, that is what the present time demands.» (E.P.C. 12, 126).
«I am very anxious and afraid,» Holy Chrysostom emphasizes elsewhere, "lest your cultivation be in vain. Although I am not going to be harmed as far as my reward for the effort of preaching is concerned. The position of preachers is not the same as that of farmers. The farmer, on the other hand, often does not see fruit after so much toil and sweat. And from no one else can he find comfort worthy of his labors. He returns sad and gloomy from the threshing floor to his house and to his wife and children, unable to demand a reward for his great toil. But it is not the same with us. And even if the word does not bear fruit, since we preachers have made every effort, the Lord of the seed and our Lord will not let us lose our hopes and remain unrewarded." (S.E.C. 12, 664).
«He (Uncle George of today's sower's parable) sowed everywhere. Of course, not all the seed yielded, but he did his work ... For even if not all the seed was saved, it was impossible for all of it to be lost.’ (E.P.C. 189, 24).
«You are crawling in the sky, where there is no frost, no bad weather, no nothing. You sow in souls with love, where no one steals what you have, but keeps it well, with care and study. You sow. Why should you deprive yourself of a magnificent salary? »Great is the wages of him who provides for the needs of others." (S.E.C. 23, 362).
«It's not enough to sow once and think you're done. It takes a lot of care and great attention from the farmer who wants to gather fruit. To chase the birds (Luke 15-22), to cut the thorns, to fill the stony ground with earth, to remove and block out every obstacle.’ (S.E.C. 23, 56).
My dear brothers,
The seed, which here in our parable is the Word of God, did not come to fruition when «He fell by the way, and was trampled down.», Nor when it fell on stony ground and through the thorns. It yielded only a hundredfold when it fell «in the good land», that is, to the good, pure and clean heart. When man strives for the good spiritual struggle, when he repents sincerely, when he worships truly, «in spirit and in truth» to our Holy Triune God and when he participates «in all my heart» in the Holy Sacraments of our Church, then the Word of God regenerates man spiritually, as he finds «a good and kind heart».
This is what the workers of the Vineyard of our Lord and God aim at. The spiritual seed of God to change and transform the hearts of people, and even young people.
Special pastoral care is also being taken this Church year with our Sunday Schools, Evening Sermons, Bible Study Groups, informal Parent and Guardian Schools, Byzantine Music classes and the operation of traditional groups.
All of the above, and above all our participation in the Divine Worship of the Blessed God and in the sacramental life of our Church, and especially in the Holy Sacraments of Penance and Confession and the Holy Eucharist and Divine Liturgy. Communion, they give us the supreme good of Divine Grace.
My brothers,
The opening of the Sunday School classes will take place on Saturday 12 or Sunday 13 October. The Parents and Guardians School will begin on Saturday 12/10 at the Potamos Spiritual Centre and on Sunday 13/10 at the Leontsinion Spiritual Centre of Keramotos, at 7pm respectively.
The days and hours of operation of our Sunday Schools, which will be held in Chora, Livadi, Kalamos, Fratsia, Avlemonas, Karvounades, Potamos, Agia Pelagia and Karavas will be informed by the Rev. You will be informed by your Chaplains. Likewise, for the Holy Bible Study Groups, the Byzantine Music School and the traditional dance groups.
I wish you good health of body and soul and every biological and spiritual blessing. Good progress to our children, and good strength in your work,
With fatherly wishes and the love of Christ
The Metropolitan
†Seraphim of Kythira and Antikythira
