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Crowd of believers at the solemn High Priestly Vespers at Agia Kyriaki Monemvasiatranslated

July 7, 2026 · 1 min read

On Tuesday, July 7, 2026, our Church commemorated the great martyr Agia Kyriaki. On the evening of the eve of the feast, in the forecourt of the eponymous Holy Church in Monemvasia, the solemn High Priestly Vespers was celebrated with a congregation of the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Sparta, Mr. Efstathios, and with the participation of several priests from the wider area. The Reverend Pastor Mr. Efstathios, addressing the pious Christians who had flooded the surrounding area, first spoke about the central importance of the Saints of our Church, who are bright spiritual signposts with their wonderful lives, their deep faith in the Triune God and their sacrificial love for their fellow man.

Focusing on the venerated Saint Kyriaki, His Eminence glorified her unshakable faith, which was not broken even by the repeated horrible martyrdoms she suffered. Concluding, he wished all those who venerate Holy Sunday to have her grace and protection.

Photos: Dimitrios Skiadas

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Ксения Соловьёва

It’s good that so many people gathered for the all-night vigil. I especially liked how Bishop Eustathius said about the saints as “photτεινούς πνευματικούς οδοδείκτες” - accurately noted. I wonder how many priests there were in the end, they didn’t write.

Юлія Шевченко

Glad that so many people came. I especially liked how Bishop Eustafius spoke of the saints as "fotteinous spiritual odes" - really apt. But how many priests there were, it is also interesting, you could write.

Δήμητρα Αθανασίου

It was a good thing that so many gathered, it could be seen from Skiadas' photos. I liked that His Holiness spoke of the steadfast faith of Saint Kyriaki in the midst of martyrdom – that remains. They didn't write down how many priests there were, too bad.

Ζωή Λαμπροπούλου

I agree, the photo of Skiadas clearly shows how many people had gathered in the forecourt. His phrase about the Saints as "bright spiritual signposts" stuck with me, I re-read it twice. Maybe there were around 8-9 priests, from what I could see from behind.

Ελένη Οικονόμου

It's good that so many people gathered in the courtyard, it could also be seen from Skiadas' photos. It struck me that His Holiness emphasized the steadfast faith of Saint Kyriaki amid the martyrdoms – that is what counts. They didn't write down how many priests there were, but from what Zoe says it was probably around 8-9.

Галина Панченко

I'm glad you liked it, Yulia. I also remembered this image "фоттеινούς πνευματικός οδοδείκτες" - it accurately conveys how the saints show us the way. As for the priests, at least seven were visible from the photo, all of them came from the surrounding villages.

Δέσποινα Χατζή

I agree, the Skiadas photos did look packed to the brim. I liked what he said about the Saints as spiritual guides, I kept that. Zoe, how many did you finally count?

Екатерина Белова

I agree, there were a lot of people, even everyone was standing on the street. About “photτεινούς πνευματικούς οδοδείκτες” he really said it well, I remember it. And I think there were about eight priests, I didn’t count them exactly, but they came from neighboring parishes.

Анна Бондаренко

I'm glad you liked that image too, Julia. I especially remembered how the Bishop spoke about "θυσιαστική αγάπη" for one's neighbor - this is exactly what we all lack in our daily lives. And exactly how many priests there were, the photo showed more, but definitely not less than seven, as Galina wrote.