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On the day of St. Parthenios of Lampsaky in Bigorski Monastery ( 22.02.2009 )

What’s more precious than the salvation of human soul which is an image of the immortal God?

This was precisely the most important aim of the Holy Apostles in their mission for the salvation of human souls. Fulfilling this mission as faithful disciples of the Good Shepherd – our Lord Jesus Christ, and having as an example the Saviour Himself, the Apostles presented a true image of what the spiritual guide should be like. The true goal of the spiritual father is exactly the salvation of human souls, redeemed by the Holy Blood of the Son of God and protected by his caring fatherly love, so that they could freely exclaim like St. David the psalm-writer: "The Lord is my Shepherd and i shall not want..."

On the day of St. Parthenios of Lampsaky, a great number of spiritual children of fr. Parthenios, the abbot of the Bigorsky monastery, gathered in this sanctuary in order to celebrate the nameday of their spiritual father. Thanking them with great love and blessing, fr. Parthenios addressed them several times, saying that their love will always inspire him to increase his efforts as a spiritual father in order to improve himself spiritualy so that he could assist them in a better way and guide them on their way to salvation. And that was exactly his wish: to see God living in their hearts and to see them grow in their love towards God.

After the compline, fr. Parthenios was given a very especial gift for his nameday, namely a simple but unusual booklet, made by a group of spiritual children from Skopje, through which in words and pictures they expressed their huge love and gratitude towards their spiritual father. Upon this occasion, fr. Parthenios, deeply touched, addressed them with these words: 'This gift of yours would be like the Arc of the Covenant for me, reminding me what kind of spiritual father I should be.

The next day, the day dedicated to St. Parthenios, a Divine Liturgy was served in the presence of numerous faithful and spiritual children of the Abbot. The Liturgy was headed by Mr. Thimothy, the Debar-kichevo and Plaoshnik Metropoliten, with the assistance of the Abbot and the fraternity of the Bigorski Monastery.

After the Divine Liturgy, while presenting fr. Parthenios with their gift, a bigger group of spiritual children from Ohrid read a letter of gratitude towards him, expressing its honest love and huge respect because of his yers long sacrifice and fatherly love, grateful to God for dignifying them with such spiritual guide.

By the prayers of St Parthenios of Lampsaky, may our Lord always protect and give strength to our elder, enabling him for even greater spiritual achievements and even more sacrificial fatherly care and love towards his children.