Feast of the Presentation of our Lord and Blessing of Saint George’s Sunday School – Cape Town

Archbishopric of Good Hope

On Sunday 2 February 2014 His Eminence, Archbishop Sergios, officiated at the Service of the Holy Eucharist which included the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Temple.  During his address to the congregation after the service, His Eminence encouraged parents and grandparents to bring their offspring to Church to engender in them an appreciation of the Orthodox Faith and to share and to pass on to their children and grandchildren the traditions that are central to the core of the Church and every Orthodox person.
To encourage our interaction with the Church and clergy on a day-to-day basis, His Eminence explained that in addition to the Great Blessing of Water, there is a Lesser Blessing of Water service which can take place at any time. Usually, it is celebrated when a home is blessed, on the first day of the month, the beginning of the school year, and when one takes on new responsibilities or faces difficult challenges. He also made mention of the current difficulty being experienced in the administration of the Greek School in Cape Town.
The Three Hierarchs, Saint Basil The Great, Saint Gregory The Theologian and Saint Chrysostom are the accredited patrons of Greek education, and our Greek schools should continue the Holy tradition of having a celebration to honour these important Saints of our Church.  His Eminence stressed that it is also the responsibility of the Church and the clergy to care about the progress of our Greek schools and to impart in their youth a sense of what being Greek and Orthodox is about. Young members of the Church should be able to read Greek to not only participate in the services as chanters but also to possibly become part of the clergy. 
After the service, His Eminence, Archbishop Sergios, visited the Sunday School with Reverend Fr. Nikolaos Giamouridis and Deacon Fr. Michael Simos for the annual blessing of the Sunday School. His Eminence thanked the teachers who continue to give generously of their time to run the Sunday School and wished them every success for 2014 and that the prayers of the clergy are always with them.






http://www.goarch.co.za/feast-of-the-presentation-of-our-lord-and-blessing-of-saint-georges-sunday-school-cape-town/#more-2707