28 OCTOBER 1940 DAY CELEBRATED AT ST SION PATRIARCHAL SCHOOL
On the afternoon of Thursday, the 16th/29th of October 2015, the 28th of October national day was celebrated at the Patriarchal School of St Sion.
The modest ceremony was graced by the presence of H.B. Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Patriarch was accompanied by Metropolitan Isychios of Kapitolias, Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, the President of the School Board, Archbishop Isidoros of Hierapolis, His Excellency the Greek Consul-General to Jerusalem, Mr Georgios Zacharoudiakis, and Consul Vasileios Koinis. In attendance were members of the Greek Parish, Hagiotaphite Fathers, nuns and Greek pilgrims.
The celebrations included opening remarks by the Principal, Mr Demetrios Lykoudes, the panegyric of the day by f. Nikolaos Zervis, advisor to the Patriarch on matters of Education and former Principal, recitations of poems and prose pieces by students, music performances and video projections.
The poems and prose pieces were chosen by Mr Demetrios Lykoudes, whilst Mr Nikolaos Souliotis compiled and presented the audiovisual material.
Both the teachers’ speeches and the students’ performances were focused on the sufferings of the Greek people during the 1940-1944 German and Italian occupation, as well as on the heroic resistance of the Greeks that, by the help of God and Theotokos, resulted in the liberation of Greece and the preservation of its territorial integrity and Christian heritage.
On the conclusion of the ceremony, the Patriarch and the Consul-General praised the teachers and students for their performance and thanked them for arousing national pride amongst their souls for the country’s glorious past which to this day marks the path of the Greek people towards the present and the future.
From the Secretariat-General
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2NMsymlTC8