Case Code: 577
The title is curious. Many will wonder and, I am sure, will be troubled. I had wanted to write this text for a long time. But I did not succeed. God willed to call him to Himself and grant him rest.
For years, he was involved in foreign missions. He prioritized the work of evangelizing the tribes. He dedicated himself and his life to the service of our wronged and suffering brethren. From afar, he loved them and established them in his heart, giving them a special place.
Once, a few years ago, I found myself in Athens. I wanted to visit him there, at the mission center, where he himself dedicated his life to his least brethren. I was much younger than him and felt a deep respect and gratitude for all he offered to the Church of Christ. God gave him the gift of humility, self-offering, pure love, and complete devotion to others.
So, there I was, with him, before the audience of his collaborators and the people who helped him in the fulfillment of this mission. This first and only meeting was enough. It seems he had a prophetic intuition. He wanted us to maintain this communication.
Once, two of his spiritual children and collaborators in the foreign mission work arrived in Nairobi for professional reasons. They did not know me. They called me, and we met. They gave me his letter of recommendation and a gift: a small brown suitcase with various presents. This gesture deeply moved and strengthened me. From then on, I understood even more how deeply and dynamically this man lived the issue of foreign missions.
Since then, this small suitcase became my inseparable companion, because it was so practical and convenient that I never parted with it on any of my missionary journeys. In it, I placed my vestments, my personal belongings, crosses, and small icons. Each time I opened it, used it, or carried it, I did so with special care, because it came from someone who had understood the magnitude and depth of foreign missions on the threshold of the next century.
The late Metropolitan knew that this small suitcase would serve me and accompany me on all my travels; it became my permanent companion. From many journeys, it eventually grew tired. One time, as I was preparing to travel, and after I had packed it for the journey, its handle broke. My immediate reaction was to empty it and take another one. However, the seminarian, my subdeacon, who always accompanies me on my missionary expeditions, knowing its history, reacted negatively, telling me: “This small suitcase, all these years that I have accompanied you, you have not parted with it. I know you will be sad if you part with it now. I will, therefore, undertake to carry it, even if it lacks a handle.” Thus, even in its damaged state, we did not part with it, at least not on this missionary journey. And, as the seminarian told me, the suitcase had historical significance, and if we left it behind, we might lose the blessing and prayer of the Elder.
Every time I carry this small suitcase and use the code he indicated to me, I remember his great offering to our brethren, whom he loved so much and wished to offer a little joy and hope, and who, by his example, enlightens all of us who work for the fulfillment of the Lord’s command: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”
The person referred to is none other than the late Metropolitan Konstantinos of Thessaliotis. May we have his blessing.
The Church of Christ rarely encounters such hierarchs, devoted and dedicated to the will of God. With humble spirit, prudence, and wisdom, he kept himself bound to the missionary work of our Church. His passage through the field of missions will give younger generations a strong impetus for greater struggle, continuous self-sacrifice, and an exemplary model of a person of endurance, spiritual tolerance, and reconciliation.
† The Nairobi Blessed Sacrament
