Fr. Polycarpos of Agia Anna

Wherever one serves the Lord and the Church, it is there that he finds joy and rest. This is the law and the criterion. The

This is the miracle of Faith. Two worlds of strangers. Two worlds so far away. Yet united under the umbrella of God’s Love. They witness and confess daily the miracle of our living Faith. Here in Athos. Here at the mission…

I came in the evening to the beloved town of Sakaraha in Toulear. I came, even though yesterday the fever and exhaustion from my illness,

The sight I saw before me was tragic: an 8-month-old infant with skin that looked 70 years old. Soft and wrinkled. I asked the father what the child was eating and he replied mostly rice. A Catholic nun sparingly gives him milk. I told them that the child definitely needs milk. In the afternoon I went to a pharmacy and bought him special milk for infants…

We sit with Him near the sea, where the famous Mozambique Channel unites with its wild waves our world, the land of Madagascar with the other related and troubled world of Mozambique, the land of Africa…

But the mission is not only a beautiful and joyful series of events but a reality that is often harsh and which often hides unexpected sadness for those who experience its truth…

I’m not promising you bars of gold and embossing. I have nothing like that to give you. I will give you a rod in your hands to carry and support you on your long marches through the dust and mud. Like the simple reed the Lord bore before that supreme sacrifice on the cross…

His moist eyes make out a black figure walking up and down the corridor. The walk is mechanical. He stoops forward to the door of the operating room for a moment. He leaves, he comes. But who pays attention. Through the pain and wonderment, the young man’s voice can slowly be heard asking: “Who are you?”

Fr. Polycarp Mikrajananitis speaks about the orphanage being built in Antananarivo, Madagascar