Dear friends of the Mission,
We are writing these lines to share with you the joyful events in Malawi. We all know how important it is for our Orthodox Church to consecrate a church. How holy and how sacred it is. And this holy event took place a few days ago here in this third world country of Malawi. It is a historic event, momentous and of great spiritual benefit to us all. When you consider that for almost 2000 years there had not been an Orthodox church consecration in this country, you can understand what an honour we deserve. The blessings are many. The Holy Spirit richly comes and now dwells here permanently. It is true that in the last 5 years churches have started to be consecrated here in Malawi.
So, the time has come to inaugurate the great temple of Saints Constantine and Helen in Butanyama. What a blessing, my God! The people gathered and together with their energetic priest, the native Fr. Joachim, awaited our arrival. And we were there first thing in the morning several Malawian priests along with the many materials needed for the inauguration.
The service began and everyone, full of joy, sang. The bishop put the holy relics into the holy table, washed it, consecrated it. The procession outside and around the church precedes. The people follow. Unusual things for them! In the jungle, among their mud huts, a Holy Temple has been built and is now being consecrated. They watch in awe, excitement and curiosity. The hours are ticking by!
We put many names of the living and the deceased together with the holy relics in the holy table. Powerful moments! Eternal memory of those who built it. And after the bishop seals the holy relics, he anoints it with the Holy Myrrh. All the priests together, with great care and love, wash and perfume it. And after the vestments are put on, the Divine Liturgy slowly begins. But the blessings don’t stop there…
On the same day, the ordination of the native catechist Basil as a deacon is scheduled. How much joy we all have is beyond description. So Basil is also ordained and the Christians shout: Worthy! Worthy!
We all know how charismatic and dedicated our new deacon is. He loved Christ and the Church with all his heart and immediately wanted to serve her. The sacrifice he made was great, for while he had a good job, he gave up so that he could be given wholeheartedly to the service of Christ and his neighbor. He wants the Orthodox faith to spread to every village, town and every corner of this country. For this he is trying hard. And above all, he has understood that it is prayer that will draw the Holy Spirit to enlighten people to know our holy faith. He has learned to say the blessing, to do penances, to do the liturgy, the vespers, to make a petition to the Virgin Mary. He enjoys saying the blessing of Jesus, and we constantly see him with a cosmos rope in his hand.
The bishop then blessed the cauldrons of food, which was enough for the whole parish to eat. There was great joy in the village. There was a feast. How could we let them starve? And after the food was blessed, they all sat down and ate and discussed again and again the joyful events of the day.
The feeling that comes out very strongly from all our hearts is gratitude to the Triune God. Our hearts cry out. Thank you, God. Thank you that here in far-off Malawi, too, faith is being taught, temples are being built, multitudes of our African brothers and sisters are being sanctified. There is no higher good than the Orthodox faith. And it flourishes and bears fruit here in Malawi, thanks also to the constant support of the Brotherhood of Orthodox Foreign Missionaries. May we soon have more such events and experience similar moments of joy and thanksgiving. Amen!
Fr. Hermolaus Iatrou
