High priest Vespers at the celebrating Episcopal Chapel of Saint John the Hermit of Ierapetratranslated

With splendor and sanctity, and with the participation of many believers, the Great High Priestly Vespers of the commemoration of St. John the Hermit and the 98 Holy God-bearing Fathers with him was celebrated on the evening of Tuesday, October 6, 2026, in the eponymous and registered Episcopal Chapel of the Holy Metropolis of Ierapytni and Sitia, in Ierapetra. The service was officiated by the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Ierapytni and Sitia Mr. Kyrillos, who blessed the breads and preached the divine word on time, and the Holy Clergy of the city participated. Throughout the High Priestly Vespers, a fragment from the Holy Chariot of St. John the Hermit, which is kept in the celebrating church, was placed for worship by the congregation.

In his speech, His Holiness referred to the wonderful life of Saint John and his ninety-eight co-practitioners, underlining the bond of love between them in Christ, as they started from Egypt, were joined by others in Cyprus and the last Fathers in Antalya in Asia Minor, ending up through Gavdos in the south of the Prefecture of Chania, in the cave of Azogire Selinos, where they slept all together on October 6, day...