Parish Feast in the Cathedral

July 3, 2024

Last weekend, the Cathedral Parish of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Melbourne celebrated its parish feast day. On this occasion, the clergy, parishioners, and guests gathered in large numbers to pray together.

Parish Feast in the Cathedral

According to Church tradition, the day begins in the evening, so the celebration of the parish feast began on Saturday evening with the Great Vespers with the Litiya. Then, on Sunday morning, the prayerful celebration continued with a solemn Divine Liturgy. The prayers were led by the Very Rev. Archpriest Simon Ckuj, Protosynkellos of Eparchy who arrived from Sydney.

Reflecting on the personalities of the Apostles Peter and Paul during his homily, Fr. Simon noted that they were two very different people, but they both responded to the call of Jesus Christ to follow him despite their weakness. “Weakness is what makes us human. But the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul show us that human weakness is not an obstacle when we open our hearts and our lives to fully embrace the Gospel that Jesus preaches to us. Our weakness is transformed into something strong when we live in Christ and allow Christ to live in us,” said Fr. Simon. He also stressed that for the entire Melbourne Eparchy, the Cathedral Church is the centre of church and spiritual life, so this parish should be a model for all our other parishes.

The Divine Liturgy was followed by a water blessing. At the end of the service, the administrator of the Cathedral church, Fr. Andriy Mykytyuk, thanked all the clergy, parishioners, guests, and choir for the good prayerful spirit throughout the celebration.

After the prayer, the participants had the opportunity to gather in the parish hall for a festive lunch. On the eve of the parish feast, the long-time head of the Cathedral parish council, Mr Stefan Romaniw, passed away, so it was a time when everyone could share their fond memories about him.

During the festive meal, there were also many sincere greetings from representatives of various organisations and parishes.

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