Over 400 people attended a special Palm Sunday liturgy and luncheon on Sunday, April 25, hosted by St Basil’s Homes NSW/ACT.
The luncheon was held at Nick Manettas’ restaurant, Cyren Bar Grill Seafood at Darling Harbour, and a number of official guests were also present.
This included, but is not limited to, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Christos Karras, Trade Commissioner of Greece, Katia Gkikza, and Chairman of St Basil’s Homes NSW/ACT, James Jordan.
“We were fortunate to have His Eminence Archbishop Makarios provide the blessing of our meal to begin proceedings at our Luncheon, with Palm Sunday being a special day for the Greek Orthodox faithful who traditionally enjoy eating seafood on this day,” Spiro Stavis, CEO of St. Basil’s Homes NSW/ACT, said in a press release.
After the blessing, children were given chocolate eggs and lucky door prizes, donated by Mr & Mrs Satouris from Peters of Kensington, were handed out.
“At St. Basil’s it’s important to us that we keep our cultural connection alive for our residents and community…” Mr Stavis said.
“We are always looking at ways to grow our values and the wonderful people that make St. Basil’s a special home, which is what we’ll be doing through our newly developed Strategic Plan to be released next month.”
Father John Kapetas, the initial CEO of St Basil’s, started the luncheon tradition back in 1975 and now most parishes around Australia host their own Palm Sunday Lunch.
