LOCAL GREEK ORTHODOX PARISH TO CELEBRATE
GOOD FRIDAY SERVICES
GREEK ORTHODOX REGIONAL HIERARCH TO VISIT DES MOINES
DES MOINES, IOWA: Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, Chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, visited St George Greek Orthodox Church in Des Moines on Friday, April 14, to preside at Good Friday services, part of Holy Week for Eastern Orthodox followers worldwide.
This year, Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter on Sunday, April 16. Good Friday, as in other Christian traditions, is a commemoration of the Crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus Christ. Easter, or Pascha as it is commonly named in Orthodox traditions, is the remembrance of his resurrection from the dead. Good Friday is marked by several elaborate ceremonies and rituals beginning the evening prior.
The service in Des Moines will specifically focus on the death and burial of Jesus. The service includes a procession outside and around the church building with an icon of the Entombed Christ (Epitafios) and a decorated canopy, recalling the descent of Christ into the realm of the dead (Hades).
Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos serves as the Chancellor of the Metropolis of Chicago, under the leadership of Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago. In his position, he travels throughout the Metropolis of Chicago to visit most of the parishes annually. He has received nationwide recognition for his human rights activities and interfaith outreach, including his leadership in ending the death penalty in Illinois, state resolutions calling for Religious Freedom for the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and just recently last year official recognition by the United States of the Genocide by ISIS against the Christian minority population of Syria and Iraq.
Eastern Orthodox Christians are the second largest Christian denomination worldwide. The Metropolis of Chicago oversees all Greek Orthodox Parishes within Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, as well as large portions of Missouri and Indiana. You can find more information on His Grace Bishop Demetrios and the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago on our website: www.chicago.goarch.org.
