On the Sunday of the Forefathers (11.12.2022), after the end of the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Seoul, a Memorial Service was held on the completion of six months since the passing away of the blessed Metropolitan of Pisidia, formerly of Korea, Soterios. Before the Memorial Service, the Metropolitan of Korea and Exarch of Japan Ambrosios delivered a short speech on the occasion mentioning the following:
My Sisters and Brothers in the Lord,
Six months plus one day have already passed, since the falling asleep of our highly respected spiritual Father, Metropolitan Soterios, yet we have the feeling that a century has gone by! At the same time, we feel as though not a single day has passed, because, mentally, our late Father is constantly among us. We strongly feel His presence, His grace, and His blessing.
From the throne of God where he is, he vigilantly watches over the progress of our Church in Korea, for which he worked so hard, shedding so much sweat and so many tears, and he prays for the spiritual progress of all of us, who he loved so much.
In return for His favors to us, He asks each one of us to offer him a gift. You will surely wonder: When he was among us, he never asked for anything. After all, how can we, who live on earth, give any gift to Him, who is already in Heaven? Yet, now he wants us all to give him a gift. And the gift he longs for is to see us walk the path of holiness.
Since this gift may sound somewhat abstract, let’s see how we can offer it to Him in a more tangible manner:
Firstly, let us try to imitate him. He repeats to all of us what the apostle Paul said: “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). Imitate me, as I also imitated Christ in my life on earth, he tells us.
Secondly, to follow in His footsteps.
Thirdly, to love Christ and His Church all the more every day.
Fourthly, to never be absent from the Church without a serious health reason, and to participate with love and the fear of God in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.
And, fifth, to love one another, so that we may have peace within us and around us.
My beloved brethren, let us offer this gift to our spiritual Father, who begat most of us in the Lord, so that we may experience the joy of Heaven from this earthly life, and so that our blessed spiritual Father may rejoice in Heaven for His spiritual children. Amen.