On Sunday, March 6, 2022, at the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Seoul, the Service of Orthros of the Cheese-Fare Sunday followed by the Divine Liturgy were presided over by the Metropolitan of Korea Ambrosios, assisted by Fr. Antonios Lim and Deacon Johan Park.
After the Biblical Readings, the Catechitical Homily of HAH the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was read in Korean.
After the Divine Liturgy, the Metropolitan appealed to the faithful to pray for a ceasefire in Ukraine and for peace in the wider region. “We unequivocally condemn,” he said, “the war against Ukraine, because this war, like any war, is against the will of God. There is no greater sin than war.”
He then blessed the members of the new Ecclesiastical Council of the Parish of St. Nicholas. He congratulated them on behalf of all the members of the Parish for their election and stressed that they undertake sacred service to help the spiritual and social work of the Church, at a time when the wider area around the Cathedral is being reconstructed from the ground up. He called on everyone to work together with love and unity in order to respond in the best way to the invitation of the new developments.
Then a short prayer was offered for the beginning of the new School Year, during which gifts were given to the students who graduated from Elementary, Middle and High School.
For technical reasons, the Vespers of Forgiveness were celebrated shortly after the Divine Liturgy. At the end of the Service, the Metropolitan spoke on the topic: “The condition of forgiveness”, based on the fifth request of the Lord’s Prayer: “and leave us our debts, as we leave our debtors”. All those who participated in the Vespers of Forgiveness had the opportunity to ask and offer forgiveness to each other, as a necessary preparation to enter the «Stadium of Virtues» of the Great Lent.