Arsenios of Austria: The penance of Saints Cosmas and Damian shows deep freedomtranslated

On Sunday, November 1, 2026, the feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian, the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Austria and Exarch of Hungary Mr. Arsenios presided over the Biarchate Divine Liturgy at the celebrating Parish of Saints Cosmas and Damian in Graz. The Theophilus Bishop Aristis Mr. Maximos, the Vicar of the Parish Archpriest Dimitrios Makris and the Vicar of the Ukrainian-speaking Orthodox Parish of St. Apostle Andrew the Protoclete of Graz Archpriest Anatolios Slynkos collaborated with him.

In his sermon, His Holiness referred to the closed gate and the two open hands: the rich man's gate, outside of which Lazarus suffers, and the hands of Saints Cosmas and Damian, who offer themselves to the suffering of man. In the evangelical parable, he noted, we see life when it is imprisoned in self-sufficiency, while in the celebrated Saints life is when it is donated. From this meeting the deepest question of our salvation is revealed: what do we do with the presence of the other in life...