Memorial of the Asian Catastrophe in Aitolia-Acarnaniatranslated

At the Holy Church of Saints Constantine and Helen Agriniou, the Divine Liturgy followed Morning Prayer on Saturday before the Veneration of the Honorable Cross of Christ, September 13, 2026. The Very Reverend Metropolitan of Aitolia and Acarnania, Damaskenos, officiated.

On this day, our Church commemorates the memory of the Holy Martyrs of the Asian Catastrophe, Chrysostom Bishop of Smyrna, and those with him who were exiled.

Preaching the holy Gospel, the Very Reverend said: "Great is the mystery of the Cross, which we celebrate tomorrow! The spiritual depth of it is inaccessible to human reason. Its theological dimensions transcend every measure of this world. Its message calls the human mind to be encompassed by the divine and to turn towards the heavens, seeking the Triune God of infinite philanthropy.

What words can describe the Divine Economy? The All-High, the Inhabitant of the unapproachable heights of absolutely transcendent Divinity, descends to the depths of human tragedy, becomes a man, bears all the consequences of human failure and is raised up again. Not, however,…