2026 Pan-Orthodox Vespers at Panagia – Toronto!
On the evening of March 1st , the Annual Pan-Orthodox Vespers for the Sunday of Orthodoxy was celebrated at Panagia – Toronto! The Host Pastor, Protopresbyter Fr. Panagiotis Avgeropoulos, welcomed His Grace Bishop Athenagoras of Patara, who presided at the Service along with the 28 Orthodox Priests and Deacons from the Orthodox Churches of the Greater Toronto area. In attendance were also His Grace Bishop Andriy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada; Mrs. Betty Skoutakis, the President of the Greek Community of Toronto; and Mrs. Zoe Veroutis, the President of the Archdiocesan Philoptochos Board of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada. The Pan-Orthodox Vespers Service was beautifully and reverently chanted by the five participating Choirs, which were: the Byzantine Greek Cantors of Panagia; the Antiochian Choir from St. George’s Antiochian Orthodox Church; the Russian Choir from Christ the Saviour Russian Orthodox Cathedral; the Choir of St. Silouan the Athonite Carpatho-Russian Church; and the Romanian Cantors from the Patriarchal Romanian Parishes. During the Great Entrance in the Vespers Service, the Clergy processed with their Icons around the Church and assembled around the Bishop on the Soleas. They all read together the Nicene Creed and excerpts of the Synodikon of Orthodoxy, culminating in His Grace’s exclamation of "This is the faith of the Apostles. This is the faith of the fathers. This is the faith of the Orthodox. This is the faith on which the world is established." The Host Pastor, Fr. Panagiotis Avgeropoulos, was blessed to offer the Homily, in which he spoke about the restoration of the Icons to all the Churches on the 1st Sunday of Lent in the year 843 A.D. He also stressed that the best way to commemorate this historic celebration is to strive to restore the Icon of God that is in each one of us, through the prayers of the Theotokos and all the Saints whom we venerate in the Icons, so that we may allow Christ to renew in us, that image that had been darkened through disobedience. Great Lent provides us with the opportunity to once again return to God and to renew and restore His image in us. At the end of the Service, the Ladies Philoptochos-Pronia of Panagia hosted a wonderful Reception for the Bishops, the Clergy, all the Choir Members and the entire Congregation in the Church Hall, serving a delicious Lenten Supper for everyone in attendance. The Closing Prayer of Thanksgiving was offered by His Grace Bishop Andriy, who thanked the Ladies for their wonderful hospitality and the Parish Leadership for a well-organized event! The Ceremony was Live Streamed and can be accessed at the following link: https://youtu.be/JjP7TvRyaEw
