His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece offered a Trisagion on Sunday morning in memory of the two pilots who lost their lives in the line of duty in Tanagra. The memorial prayer was offered following the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Hesychasterion of the Transfiguration of the Saviour – Saint Porphyrios in Milesi, Attica.
The Divine Eucharist was celebrated by the Proistamenos of the Holy Hesychasterion and General Hierarchical Vicar of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, Protopresbyter Fr Emmanouil Papamikroulis.
Referring to the tragic incident, His Beatitude expressed his profound sorrow and emphasised the need to support the families of the deceased through prayer.
“Two young men have departed this life. They had set out on their journey with noble hopes and dreams, with their future before them and surrounded by the love of their families. Yet they lost their lives in the service of duty, with profound devotion to their homeland.
At this hour, our thoughts are with their families, their parents and all those who loved them.
Their colleagues also stand beside them, people who lived alongside them, flew alongside them, and shared the anxieties, joys and difficulties of daily life. Today, they mourn two of their own. Each will carry within them a personal memory, a moment, a conversation, a smile. And that memory will remain with them.
There are no words in the face of such sorrow.
We pray that God may grant rest to their souls and bestow upon their relatives His consolation, courage and the strength they need to endure this great loss.
May their memory be eternal.”
