Words of Thanks during the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Resurrection

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, the one God. Amen.
Your Eminence Metropolitan Joachim, the Most Venerable,
Your Eminences,
Reverend fathers, monks and nuns,
My beloved wife, my family and my loved ones,

God has fulfilled the calling I had awaited for so many years past: to draw nearer to the holy altar of the Lord, so that the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate, may be my portion and I may be wholly His. Here I stand today at the place where our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was crucified, in all contrition of heart, like John the Beloved gazing upon my Master and contemplating His saving work, and rejoicing, like the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, in the Resurrection of Christ that awaits us there in the empty tomb. Contrition of heart and the Resurrection have burned together within my being ever since I came to know the love of the Lord Jesus Christ for me in my election as an Evangelist Deacon, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit made manifest through His Beatitude Kyrios Kyrios Theophilos III and the members of the Holy Synod of our holy Orthodox Church of Jerusalem.

My Master, Your Eminence Metropolitan Joachim, the Most Reverend: I ask for your prayers and your fatherly blessing, and I thank you for the condescension of your love in granting me this holy degree. I pledge to you that, just as the oil before the Holy Sepulchre here is kept burning night and day in honour of the Resurrection of Christ, so I offer myself, my wife and my small family to Christ, and we make ourselves a service to Him, fulfilling the words of Christ: “You are the light of the world.” For I know the nature of my calling and its holy importance: that I shall burn and melt like a candle to give light, by the light of Christ risen from the dead, to those who walk in the darkness of this world; and that I shall be a faithful soldier of our holy Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, obedient to the canons of the Church inspired by the Holy Spirit, to our father His Beatitude, who sits upon the throne of James the Brother of the Lord, and to the Holy Synod.

My Master, Your Eminence: David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.”

This is the very thing I have heard from my wife, my family, my fathers the priests and my friends. The cross is very heavy: so pray for me, my Master, to the Lord Jesus Christ, that He may strengthen my steps and increase my humility and my love for the children of my Church, for I am unworthy of this divine grace that will come upon me in a little while. The beating of my heart rings like a bell and reminds me that the holy things are for the holy alone, unworthy of them though I am.

Allow me, my Master, to thank first of all His Beatitude the Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem, Kyrios Kyrios Theophilos III, and the members of the Holy Synod for granting me this trust to accomplish the work of the Lord. I also extend my heartfelt thanks to my beloved wife for standing beside me and supporting me throughout this time, and I am fully confident that her love for me will also support me in my future ministry. The cross is great upon my small family; but remember, my wife, that on the day we were married we drank from the same cup and became one body in Christ Jesus. My cross is your cross: so encourage me and pray for me always, that the Lord may bless our small family.

I also thank my parents for their cooperation with me, though I know that the burden is heavy upon them; but let them know that their son has chosen the good portion. I thank, too, all the fathers, the priests, who endured the hardship of the road to rejoice with me on this blessed day. I mention in particular my father, the Very Reverend Archimandrite Philotheos, who has been my steadfast support; my father, the Very Reverend Oikonomos Atallah Makhouli, whose confidence in my worthiness of divine grace has surrounded me since my childhood; and my father, the Very Reverend Oikonomos Nikolaos, who has been my wise guide, and whose labour with me and company since yesterday I shall not forget. As for my father, the Very Reverend Archimandrite Meletios: I give you my word that you will be my guide in the Church and my teacher in accomplishing the work of the Lord in the liturgical services.

Finally, I must thank all my friends and acquaintances who have come from every part of the country, and recall with them the hymn of Fr. Michel Saba from the day he became a servant of God Most High:

Companions of my youth, strengthen me; I have been called to the struggle: follow me.

If our meeting lives on in our hearts, then I shall remain for as long as you wish me.

The sweetest thing in all of time is a meeting that I lived, happy, in your care.

Whenever it passes through my mind, its passing is a feast for me.

If Christ calls us, it is ours to answer the hidden call.

His voice calls out in our hearts: “You shall be an apostle of Mine.”

In closing, I ask for your blessing, Your Eminence, and your prayers for me, the unworthy one; and now I am ready for grace.