Palm Sunday

Α). Palm Sunday Procession

On Palm Sunday we had in our Church of St. Panteleimon & St. Paraskevi the Divine Liturgy, in accordance with the Order of our Holy Orthodox Church.

A huge crowd of people had attended the Holy Service and we also had a great number of communicants, both young and old, from different nationalities.

At the end of the Church Service we had a Procession around the Church, in accordance with the Cypriot Liturgical Order.

The Altar Boys were holding the Holy Cross, the candles, the sacred icon of the glorious Entry of our Lord into the Holy City of Jerusalem.

They were followed by Chanters, the Priest, the Leaders of the Community and all the people. The faithful were holding olive branches, as it the custom in Cyprus.

When we came back to Church the Priest read the Gospel Reading and then he blessed the Palm Crosses. After that he distributed the Crosses to all people.

Β). Palm Sunday Lunch

On Palm Sunday we are allowed in the Orthodox Tradition to eat fish. Thus, after the completion of the Holy Services many people went for Lunch to the Golden Kitchen Fish Restaurant in North Harrow, which is owned by the Vice President of our Community Mr. Petros Christofi and his wife Anastasia. Their son Yiannakis was also there in order to assist them.

The Lunch was very generous and delicious and the hospitality could only be compared in Biblical terms with that of Patriarch Abraham himself.

The food was well cooked, the service was excellent, and everyone was very happy and joyful.

The President of our Community Mr. Pantelis Demosthenous thanked the welcoming Christofi family and offered them a present, with the assistance of the other Vice President Mr. Christos Orthodoxou and the Treasurer Mr. Soteris Constantinou, on behalf of the Community.

The Parish Priest Fr. Anastasios thanked the Christofi family and spoke briefly about the importance of the personal communication between people and God, and in particular the Bridegroom, whose icon was to be place at the centre of the Church in the evening of the same day. Also he referred to the relationship developed among people and underlined the significance of meeting like the Palm Sunday Lunch.

The money collected from this Lunch was £1300. This was offered towards the fund-raising of the newly built Church.