Bolivar, Pennsylvania, July 18, 2023
Photo: antiochian.org
His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East visited the Antiochian Archdiocese’s Antiochian Village in Bolivar, Pennsylvania, over the weekend.
He addressed the annual Sacred Music Institute that was being held at the Village and visited with the summer campers.
His Beatitude arrived in America on July 13. The main purpose of his visit is to attend the Archdiocese’s 56th Biennial Convention, which will be hosted by St. George Antiochian Church in Phoenix July 23-30.
On Saturday, July 15, the Patriarch, together with Metropolitan Saba and Bishops Thomas and Anthony, spoke to the Sacred Music Institute about the importance of praising God in song, reports the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.
“The Holy Fathers teach that prayer comes out from the mouth, ascends to the mind to understand it, and goes down to the heart where it should sanctify us and call us to live Christian lives,” His Beatitude said.
Photo: antiochian.org
Pat. John attended Great Vespers that evening and celebrated the Divine Liturgy the next morning. The services were sung by the more than 100 participants in the Institute.
The Patriarchate published short videos from Great Vespers:
And from Orthros and Liturgy:
The Antiochian primate preached during the Divine Liturgy:
You are the light of the world. It is your mission, or your responsibility, to let your light shine. You are called to be the light of the world, the light of Christ.
We should have Christ in our life and our heart, so we can transfer it to our life and this world. Like the Apostle Paul said, let everything you do be in the name of Christ. In this way, the person is transformed.
That evening, the Patriarch visited the Antiochian Village campers during dinner and asked for their prayers.
Photo: antiochian.org
The next day, Pat. John, Met. Saba, Bp. Thomas, and Mother Macrina of Dormition Monastery in Blemmana, Syria, spent several hours with the campers, “sharing their love, wisdom, and guidance for growing their lives in Jesus Christ.”
The Patriarch taught the campers the Jesus Prayer and spoke about how to love each other as brothers and sisters. He also answered their questions on a number of topics and offered them gifts.
Met. Saba spent time with the staff, sharing lessons he learned from meeting St. Paisios the Athonite, and Mother Macrina spoke with the campers about the monastic life and about how she grew her monastery to 33 nuns.
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