Marrickville’s Greek community amazed on Sunday, May 30, with their special celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution this year.
The celebrations were held at St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Marrickville under the auspices of the National Committee of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia for the Bicentenary of the Greek Revolution.
At the start of the day, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia officiated a special Divine Liturgy at the church where parish priest, Father Nicholas Bozikis, was ordained as a First Elder of the Ecumenical Throne.
A cultural program later unfolded outside on church grounds, with many Greek youth dressed in traditional costumes performing to Greek music. Young boys were also seen proudly playing the bouzouki, while poems were recited about the Greek struggle for independence.
The National Metropolitan Choir of Australia, under the direction of conductor Themos Mexis, also flawlessly performed the national anthems of Greece and Australia.
This was followed by a number of small speeches from Peter Poulos MLC, representing NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, the Inner West Council Mayor, Darcy Byrne, and Konstantinos Giannakodimos, representing the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Christos Karras.
In his speech, His Eminence urged attendees to never forget that the blood of martyrs runs through their veins and then focused on the youth.
“I am proud of you. You are real Greeks, because you have in your heart the Greek passion and the Greek Orthodox Christian faith,” His Eminence said.
In fact, this Greek pride is so strong in Marrickville that according to The Greek Herald’s sources, a small part of the suburb will be officially named, ‘Little Greece,’ by the Inner West Council in the next few weeks.
