His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America presided today at a memorial prayer service for the victims of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and a prayer for the health and well being of their families and the survivors.

The Memorial was held following the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Chicago with the participation of many members of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America, who are meeting this week in Chicago. The Assembly meetings continue through Wednesday.

NEW YORK – His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit, representing Archbishop Demetrios of America delivered today, shortly after 5 p.m. (EDT), the invocation at the official opening of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.  Originally,  Archbishop Demetrios was scheduled to offer the opening prayer, at the invitation of President Barack Obama, but was unable to do so due to his travel schedule.

While in Charlotte, Metropolitan Nicholas met with several officials of the Democratic Party.  The text of the uplifting prayer as delivered by Metropolitan Nicholas follows:

O God most pure and Author of all creation; As you spoke to us of old, Speak to our hearts anew;

You who had fellowship with Abraham and Sarah, Come and stay in our midst;

As You led your people through the wilderness, Lead us now, as the Democratic National Convention opens its deliberations  for the benefit of the people and the land of these United States;

You have brought us here from every place on earth, that Native Americans and Immigrant Americans, People of Color and of every Tongue, might find not just hope, but a land which seeks life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Grant to all here a deep and abiding respect for the task at hand, so that our common efforts will perfect our desire that law and government be for, by and of the people.

Assist us to set aside personal differences, so that our unity of purpose will be rise above us all as an enduring symbol of freedom.

Let freedom reign in our hearts so that we would never fear to lead the oppressed to freedom; never fear to give shelter to the homeless and displaced; never fear to treat our neighbor as our selves; to give dignity and opportunity, as in Detroit and elsewhere in America, to the struggling unemployed and less fortunate brothers and sisters in this great land.

Let us never be afraid.

While our prayers and assistance are with those affected by Hurricane Isaac, we trust in You, O Lord, that your gracious love will be with our President, Barack Obama, with our Vice-President, Joseph Biden; with all of our public officials and those who serve the good of this Nation.

We ask also that You preserve and protect those who stand in harm’s way, as they defend and serve for the benefit of all.

Come and be with us, O Mighty God, as fortress and deliverer, so that through You, and by the faithful and strong leadership of our government, we shall rejoice knowing that our children and our children’s children will know peace and every blessing.

To You be glory forever. 

AMEN.
 

+ BARTHOLOMEW

By the Mercy of God

Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome

And Ecumenical Patriarch

To the Fullness of the Church

Grace and Peace from the Creator

and Sustainer of All Creation

Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ

*   *   *

Beloved brothers and children in the Lord,

Our God, who created the universe and formed the earth as a perfect dwelling place for humanity, granted us the commandment and possibility to increase, multiply and fulfill creation, with dominion over all animals and plants.
The world that surrounds us was thus offered to us as a gift by our Creator as an arena of social activity but also of spiritual sanctification in order that we might inherit the creation to be renewed in the future age. Such has always been the theological position of the Holy Great Church of Christ, which is the reason why we have pioneered an ecological effort on behalf of the sacred Ecumenical Throne for the protection of our planet, which has long suffered from us both knowingly and unknowingly.

Of course, biodiversity is the work of divine wisdom and was not granted to humanity for its unruly control. By the same token, dominion over the earth and its environs implies rational use and enjoyment of its benefits, and not destructive acquisition of its resources out of a sense of greed. Nevertheless, especially in our times, we observe an excessive abuse of natural resources, resulting in the destruction of the environmental balance of the planet’s ecosystems and generally of ecological conditions, so that the divinely-ordained regulations of human existence on earth are increasingly transgressed. For instance, all of us – scientists, as well as religious and political leaders, indeed all people – are witnessing a rise in the atmosphere’s temperature, extreme weather conditions, the pollution of ecosystems both on land and in the sea, and an overall disturbance – sometimes to the point of utter destruction – of the potential for life in some regions of the world.

Inasmuch as the Mother Church perceives and evaluates the ensuing dangers of such ecological conditions for humanity, already from the time of our blessed predecessor, Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios, established September 1st of each year as a day of prayer for the natural environment. Yet, we are obliged to admit that the causes of the aforementioned ecological changes are not inspired by God but initiated by humans. Thus, the invocation and supplication of the Church and us all to God as the Lord of lords and Ruler of all for the restoration of creation are essentially a petition of repentance for our sinfulness in destroying the world instead of working to preserve and sustain its ever-flourishing resources reasonably and carefully.

When we pray to and entreat God for the preservation of the natural environment, we are ultimately imploring God to change with mindset of the powerful in the world, enlightening them not to destroy the planet’s ecosystem for reasons of financial profit and ephemeral interest. This in turn, however, also concerns each one of us inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage in our individual capacity and ignorance. Therefore, in praying for the natural environment, we are praying for personal repentance for our contribution – smaller or greater – to the disfigurement and destruction of creation, which we collectively experience regionally and occasionally through the immense phenomena of our time.
In addressing this appeal, petition and exhortation from the sacred Center For the rest of this News Release, visit the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America website

Metropolitan Methodios, representing Archbishop Demetrios, offers prayer at Republican National Convention
August 29, 2012

On August 29, 2012, His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios of Boston, who represented His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America on behalf of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, offered the Orthodox Christian prayer at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FL.