SWITZERLAND: March 10, 2009
The Triumph of Orthodoxy Celebrated in Orthodox Churches 

Divine services celebrated on the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, March 8, 2009, in the Orthodox churches of Switzerland once again bore witness to the unity of Orthodox Christians of various Local Churches. 

That morning, in the Church of Apostle Paul in the Orthodox Center of the Contantinople Patriarchate in Chambessy, near Geneva, Divine Liturgy was led jointly by His Eminence Metropolitan Jeremiah of Switzerland (Constantinople Patriarchate); His Grace Bishop Michael of Geneva and Western Europe (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia); and His Grace Bishop Macarius of Lampsaque (Constantinople Patriarchate). They were joined by ten priests and two deacons representing the Constantinople, Antiochian, Russian (including ROCOR) and Rumanian Churches.

The choir sang in Greek, Church Slavonic (by two of Geneva’s Russian parishes), French and Rumanian. Divine Liturgy was followed by a procession of the cross with icons.

Metropolitan Jeremiah delivered a sermon on the importance of standing firmly in the Orthodox faith. Vladyka Michael reminded everyone that despite the recent persecutions of the last century, the Orthodox Church always stood unshaken.

That evening, an inter-Orthodox vigil was served by Orthodox clergymen from the Canton of Vaud in the Church of St Barbara in Vevey. His Grace Bishop Ambroise officiated, and was joined by five priests and two deacons of the Constantinople, Russian, Serbian and Rumanian Churches.