Palm Sunday Appeal for the Patriarchate of Antioch
ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA
Prot. no.: PV118/2023
Palm Sunday, 2023
To be read from the pulpit and printed in the bulletin.
Beloved Brother Hierarchs, Reverend Clergy, and Christ-loving Faithful,
Joyous festal greetings to you in the Name of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ!
Today the Lord enters triumphantly into Jerusalem, striding forward as humanity’s champion in order to do battle with our greatest enemies: sin, death, and the devil. By enduring the Cross, He will defeat them all and inaugurate a new and transcendent life of “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). Therefore, He is praised in churches throughout the world with the joyous words of this hymn: “We also, like the children, bearing the symbols of victory, cry to Thee, the Vanquisher of death: Hosanna in the highest; blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord!”
As is the custom in our archdiocese, we remember today our Father in Christ, Patriarch JOHN X, and all our brothers and sisters of the Patriarchate of Antioch in its historic homeland of the Middle East. As we wave our palm branches and shout, “Hosanna!” they are doing the same. As we proclaim this ancient Faith in the New World, they are keeping it alive in the apostolic and historic places of its advent. We are one with them, and they are one with us—one Body stretching across an ocean yet beating with one heart.
Sadly, however, as we worship in peace and prosperity, our brothers and sisters overseas are suffering disaster after disaster. For this reason, we again ask you to give in support of the patriarchate and its humanitarian work. Through your donations you can provide some comfort to our brothers and sisters in need and also stand with them as they provide love and help to so many others. Please give generously.
Wishing you all a deeply meaningful Holy Week and a glorious Pascha, I remain, Yours in Christ,
+ Metropolitan ANTONIOS
Metropolitan of Zahle, Baalbek, and Dependencies
Patriarchal Vicar of New York and All North America