Archbishop of America celebrated his name day

On November 1, 2026, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America presided over a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy for his name day at Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Merrick, NY.

Also present at the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy were other hierarchs, including Metropolitan Sevastianos of Atlanta, Metropolitan Athenagoras of New Jersey, Bishop Nektarios of Diokleia, clergy, Holy Cross Seminarians, and the Byzantine Choir of Fr. Cherouvim Tsinoglou.

There, Archbishop Elpidophoros spoke about the importance of having a name before God: “As Saint Cyril of Alexandria knows, in one of his homilies, the rich man has no name even before God,” Archbishop Elpidophoros said. “If you have no name before God, how can you be called by God, how can you be summoned? How can you be known, even to yourself? Your name before God is key to your sacred identity… The rich man, as wealthy with material goods as he was, was really a pauper, poorer than Lazarus, without even a name.”

At the Divine Liturgy, Archbishop Elpidophoros also told the story of his own name, the seed of which was inspired by his predecessor, Archbishop Iakovos of blessed memory, and given to him by His All-Holiness Ecumenical…