Patras, Greece, November 17, 2017
Photo: fap.ru Thousands of residents of the Greek city of Patras greeted a portion of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov yesterday, which were brought to Greece for the beginning of the international conference “The Voice of the Apostle Andrew in the Modern World,” which is being held by the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation together with the Diocese of Patras today and tomorrow, according to the foundation’s press service.
A moleben was served yesterday morning at the Zhukovsky International Airport in Moscow, after which the foundation delegation departed for Patras.
Photo: fap.ru Clergy of the Patras Diocese, headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos, met the relics at the Araxos Airport. Airport employees and border guards were able to come and venerate the relics. After another moleben, the relics of St. Seraphim were taken to the Church of St. Andrew the First-Called, one of the largest churches in the Balkans.
Photo: fap.ru The relics were festively greeted at the entrance of the church by a band and thousands of people. The reliquary was placed at the center of the church and hundreds lined up to venerate the relics of the great Russian ascetic. The entire church was filled with believers.
Photo: fap.ru Met. Chrysostmos addressed the crowd, noting the importance of the presence of the relics of St. Seraphim, and thanking His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and the St. Andrew Foundation for bringing the relics, giving the chairman of the foundation’s board of trustees, Vladimir Yakunin, an icon of St. Andrew the Apostle as a sign of his great gratitude.
Photo: fap.ru For his part, Yakunin said, “We are grateful to the residents of Patras the representatives of the Patras Diocese for the feeling of home, friendship, and unity of faith… For 25 years we have carried out our mission. We serve the idea of the unity of the Orthodox peoples of the world, of the Orthodox world.” He also presented Met. Chrysostomos an icon of St. Seraphim.
The St. Andrew’s delegation also included the Serbian politician Dragomir Karic who spoke of his great joy in participating in the event: “This event is of great importance for our Orthodox peoples. We are united by faith in the one God, our Orthodox faith. For Serbs, Russians, and Greeks there is nothing higher than faith in God. Believing in God, we fear no one but God. We can overcome any obstacle by faith in God.”
Photo: fap.ru
Photo: fap.ru With the blessing of Pat. Kirill, the relics of St. Seraphim will remain in the Diocese of Patras from November 16 to 26. St. Seraphim is greatly venerated by the Greek people. It is expected that faithful will come from all over Greece, beyond Patras.
Photo: fap.ru
Photo: fap.ru The delegation of the Russian Church is headed by Bishop Elijah of Balakhna, vicar of Nizhny Novgorod, and also includes Abbess Sergia of the Diveyevo Convent, where the full relics of St. Seraphim repose, along with sisters of the convent and clerics of the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese.
Photo: fap.ru 
