Commemoration of the 159th Anniversary of the Arkadi Monastery Holocaust
With due ecclesiastical splendour and the participation of many people, the 159th Anniversary of the Arcadian Self-Sacrifice of 1866 was celebrated at the historic Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Arkadi in Rethymno.
On the morning of Saturday, 8 November 2025, His Eminence Metropolitan Prodromos of Rethymno and Avlopotamos presided over Matins and celebrated the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy in the katholikon of the monastery, assisted by clergy from the Metropolis of Rethymno and other ecclesiastical regions, with the participation of the monastery’s abbot, Archimandrite Titus Vamvakas.
Before the dismissal, His Eminence reflected on the enduring and timely message of the Arkadi holocaust, stressing the need “for all of us together to serve and uphold the true nobility of Crete, in contrast to what, in recent times, presents our island for the wrong reasons.”
After the Divine Liturgy, all present moved to the monastery’s gunpowder magazine, where a Trisagion was offered for the repose of those who were immolated and fell at Arkadi for the Faith and the Homeland.
An official Doxology followed in the monastery’s katholikon, attended by a large crowd and all local civil, military, and police authorities. The Hellenic Government was represented by the Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection and Member of Parliament for Rethymno, Mr. Ioannis Kefalogiannis. The keynote address was delivered with eloquence and emotion by Professor Nektarios Papadogiannis, Deputy Mayor for Education, Youth, and Lifelong Learning of the Municipality of Rethymno.
Afterwards, a memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony took place at the Mausoleum of the Holy Monastery of Arkadi, before the relics and remains of the heroes of the Arcadian Self-Sacrifice.
Finally, the monastery hosted a monastic meal for all officials and the many pilgrims who had gathered from every part of Crete.
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