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40 days since the death of the Metropolitan of Gjirokastra/ Archbishop Joan: In service to God and the flock that the Holy Church entrusted to him

2025-08-03 17:47:00, Aktualitet CNA

40 days since the death of the Metropolitan of Gjirokastra/ Archbishop Joan: In

Today marks 40 days since the death of His Grace, Metropolitan of Gjirokastra, Dhimitri.

On this very day, Holy Services and Requiem were held in his memory at the "Resurrection of Christ" Cathedral in Gjirokastra. Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania, His Eminence Joani, led these Services together with the Members of the Holy Synod of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania.

40 days since the death of the Metropolitan of Gjirokastra/ Archbishop Joan: In

At the Divine Liturgy, Archbishop Joan emphasized the Metropolitan's work over the years, the devotion and sacrifice with which he served God and the flock of the Church.

"Today we gather for the 40th anniversary of our deceased brother and co-priest, Archpriest Dhimitër, and the reason the Church gathers and prays is very important. Every time we hold a Memorial, we pause and remember again why we gather."

First of all, we gather because we love them. We love and pray for the people we have had close to us, and we know that people are communal beings, with God there are no dead, everyone is alive. They pray for us and we pray for them.

We pray and remember them because we know that God is all-forgiving, whatever mistakes they may have made in deeds and words, intentionally or unintentionally, the prayer of the Church has great power. The history of our Church is filled with thousands of such cases. It is the case of the Great Martyr Perpetua that her brother Democritus had died and had appeared to her that he was not at peace where he was standing and the saint prayed fervently, so much so that God showed her that all the sins he had committed were forgiven. Therefore, we also pray.

We pray to God to be merciful.

We also have another very beautiful story about Saint Athanasius of Aegina, who lived in a very famous monastery, miracles were performed while she was still alive and many miracles were performed after her death.

Before she passed away, she had warned her sisters that when I pass away, you will hold 40 days of mass and distribute alms to everyone, and I will ask the priests to pray for me.

The sisters forgot. They prayed for 9 days and then stopped. The saint also appeared to them and said why you have not kept my trust. Do you not know that the prayers of the priests and the alms you give to the poor have a very great power with God, who can forgive even the great sins of many people. She planted the stick she had in the ground and disappeared from them. The next day the sisters saw that the stick had sprouted and had also borne fruit, as a sign of a miracle to confirm her words. And she also says these very important words that are also for us today:

Pray for those who have fallen asleep, even if they do not need your prayers, your prayers will return for your blessing, if they need it they will return for their blessing, that is why we also pray constantly.

And the other important point is that it shows us that we have another dimension, we also have eternity. In God there is no death, which is why the Resurrection of Christ changed the relationship with death. We are no longer afraid, nor does death create great sorrow. That is why Saint Paul advises us: 'Do not be like those who have no hope'. We believe that those who have separated from us are not dead but alive in God and this is the greatest faith. And this is the greatest victory that Christianity has.

Saint Nicholas of Ohrid rightly said these words: Every other victory is partial. One nation wins, another nation grieves. One party wins, another party grieves. The only victory that is for all people is the victory of Christ over death. Because death is the common enemy of all people, that is why we gather. We also remember death, as the fathers of the church said, that death is the best teacher, because a person who considers that one day he will end this life cannot commit many great sins and will turn away from many other things, because our life does not end with death. Even life is a prelude.

The real life is behind, this is the hope we have and this is the hope of all Christians. We pray today for the soul of our brother, the late co-priest, the high priest Dimitar, that God may feel him and place him in the tents of the righteous. We believe that he is close to God and prays for us. Slowly, many people have joined us who pray for us; The repose of Archbishop Anastasios, Metropolitan Ignatius and all these people who served with sacrifices in this difficult time, are a hope and courage for us too, because they pray to God for us, and we pray constantly for them”, said Archbishop Joan. /CNA

 

 





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