NEW YORK, NY –
On Palm Sunday evening, the community of Holy Cross Church in Whitestone, NY and parish priest Fr. Nicholas Paros welcomed Archbishop Elpidophoros for the service of Orthros of Holy Monday. The name of the service is from the figure of the Bridegroom in the parable of the Ten Virgins found in Matthew 25:1-13.
In his Homily, the Archbishop said, “The challenge of Holy Week is to recognize in the Bridegroom, the very God Who created us and loves us just as we are. It is hard for us to admit that His humiliation, His torture, and His death were accomplished for our sake. Why do we need such a Bridegroom:? Why do we need such a Divine Lover? Because through sin, through resentment, through envy, through pride, and through our lack of love and generosity toward others, we are dwelling in darkness. That is why He comes to us in the middle of the night, ἐν τῷ μέσῳ τῆς νυκτός, in the middle of our dark night of the soul, to find us just as we are, that we may discover who we really are.”
