The Ecclesiastical New Year

The Ecclesiastical New Year

September 1 marks the beginning of the Ecclesiastical Year, and it was on this day in 1989 that His All-Holiness, the late Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios I, issued a message on the environment marking the first annual “Day of Prayer for Creation.”

Ecclesiastical New Year 1 September our Orthodox Christian New Year it’s a special service.

You can watch the live service here: https://youtu.be/E6qsBqBXT3o

Since that time, messages on the care of God’s creation have been issued each year by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.  In this year’s message was recently released by His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

Every year at Oakleigh Grammar we have an annual Orthodox Day to celebrate our Orthodox Christian Faith. This year it was planned to be on September 1 to come in line with the Church New Year and the day of Environment and care for creation. So although we cannot be together here are some small things you can do at home;

  • Take a moment to say a prayer

O Loving One, safeguard the earth unharmed and all its encompassing elements, in which, by Your will, we dwell, live, move and exist, that we, Your un- worthy supplicants, may be delivered from ruin and destruction.

Vespers for the Protection of the Environment 

  • Connect with nature
    • Go for a walk and observe the different plants and animals
    • Sit in your garden and draw something you see
    • Plant a seed

Most honorable brothers and dearly beloved children,

 The ecofriendly values of the Orthodox tradition, the precious legacy of the Fathers, constitute an embankment against the culture, whose axiological foundation is the domination of man over nature. Faith in Christ inspires and strengthens the human endeavour even before the immense challenges. From the perspective of faith, we are able to discover and assess not only the problematic dimensions, but also the positive possibilities and prospects of contemporary civilization. We call upon Orthodox young men and women to realize the significance of living as faithful Christians and contemporary people. Faith in the eternal destiny of man strengthens our witness in the world. – HIS ALL HOLINESS PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW’S ENCYCLICAL FOR THE NEW ECCLESIASTICAL YEAR, 2020

Regards,
George Adamakis
School Chaplain

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