The Church and Neolaia by Rev. Anastasios D. Salapatas

It is great honour and privilege for me to be given the opportunity to greet you all in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and to wich your organisation a successful year, full of the grace of our Lord and filled with the blessings of our Patron Saint Panteleimon, the Great Martyr and Healer.

Our Church (and Community) is very consious of your presence within her bosoms and we always remember you in our prayers. We all knwo very well the you live, study and work in times of great technological progress, while the moral standarts of the surrounding society are quite low. It is encouraging to know though that our Church Traditions are kept very strictly and are applied in their original form, in such a way that makes the young people (and indeed everybody) get the important feeling of stability in their lives.

A modern Greek song says "the goverments are falling but love stays". Our Orthodox Church and her Bridegroom Jesus Christ are the original sources of Love. It is there where we find the real meaning of love. And love is the basic element of our spiritoual life. Loving one another is not just a commandment that has to be observed. It is the basis of our snctifies human nature.

Our Church operates in a traditional way which makes us aware of the 2000 years long ecclesiastical history. Throughout this period many problems arose, many heresies started, many spiritual wars were fought. But our Divine Protector, the Holy Spirit, the Bountiful Giver of Life, who is in all places and fills all things, was always supporting and quiding us in our spiritual endeavours. The same happens today.

Let us pray, that our Holy, Mighty and Immortal God will be with us, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

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