International Buy a Priest a Beer Day!

Did you know that September 9 is International Buy a Priest a Beer Day? On this festive day, faithful Catholics all over the world take their priests out for a beer and get to know them better. It’s a beautiful Catholic tradition that goes back to the time of St. Hopswald of Aleyard, the first man to take his priest out for a beer.

Okay, if you’re getting suspicious by now, there’s a good reason. Buy a Priest a Beer Day is not a real holiday. But I would argue that it should be!

Believe it or not, priests are real people, and they enjoy socializing over good food and drink as much as anyone. They also have a thankless and difficult job, a job that we couldn’t get to heaven without. Priests are the lifeblood of the Church, and they deserve some appreciation.

So with that in mind, I would challenge you to do something concrete to show appreciation to your priest in the month ahead. Yes, it could be taking him out for a beer, or it could be inviting him over to share dinner with your family. Be creative if you want, but give back to your priest somehow, and let him know that his ministry is making a difference.

Of course, your priest may be insanely busy and unable to schedule a time for a lengthier visit. That’s okay. You could offer a rosary or a holy hour for him and his intentions (or better yet, more than one), and let him know that you are regularly praying for him. At the very least, express to him your gratitude, in person or via a note, for his faithful ministry and his answering God’s call to the priesthood.

I fully expect there to be a lot of happy, encouraged priests by the end of the month. If you want to participate, leave a comment saying, “I’m in!” Ready, set, go.

Source: The Catholic Gentleman

20 years in Harrow

Our Parish Priest, The Very Reverend Protopresbyter Fr. Anastasios D. Salapatas, and his family, celebrate today their 20^th Anniversary of Service in our Sacred Parish of St. Panteleimon. They arrived here on 14^th June 1993.

They had previously served at the historic Hellenic Community of St. Nicholas in Cardiff of South Wales, which had been established in 1873 by Greek sailors.

The Leaders and the people of St. Panteleimon had embraced Fr. Anastasios and his family from the very beginning, establishing with them good communication and excellent co-operation.

In the first hours of their being in our Community many people, both male and female, had visited the new Priest and his young family, offering flowers, smiles and sincere love, on which they had built a very successful and fruitful relationship. Some of those people are no longer with us, having been moved to the Triumphant Church in the Heavens.

From the very next day Fr. Anastasios and his family started their dedicated Service in our Community, in the Church, at our Greek School, visiting the sick at the local hospitals… Our Community hadn’t acquired at the time its own Ecclesiastical and Community premises. Today it has! We worked all together very hard over the next years in order to purchase and secure them for our own use.

With the help, the blessing, the enlightenment and the inspiration from our Holy God we will continue our way forward and we are certain that we will succeed even greater targets, reaching high aims, to the glory of our Great Poet and Maker and to the spiritual benefit of all the members and friends of our progressive Community!