By Dr. Alexandros Kokkinidis

The Hellenic Education and Culture Committee of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, with the blessings of His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos, organized the Third Annual Greek Letters’ Day Celebration honoring the feast of the Three Hierarchs Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory the Theologian and Saint John Chrysostom. This celebration was held on Sunday, January 26, 2014 at the Ascension Greek Orthodox Cathedral  in Oakland, California. In addition to Greek language educators from northern California, the program was also attended by the new Consul General in San Francisco, Ambassador Dimitrios Xenitellis, and the Honorary Consul of Cyprus, Nicolaos Theophanous. Greek Educators from throughout northern California gathered in worship for a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy celebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos, following which an Artoklasia service was offered for the founders, teachers, administrators and students of the Metropolis Greek Language Schools. Following Liturgy, the celebration continued with a luncheon and program in the fellowship hall which was decorated with artwork from students of three local Greek schools – Ascension Cathedral in Oakland, Holy Cross in Belmont, and Saint Nicholas in San Jose. Leading the program as Master of Ceremonies was HECC Vice Chair Dr. Alexandros Kokkinidis. Parish priest, Father Tom Zaferes also welcomed the students, teachers and parents to the Ascension Cathedral which was honored to host this annual event for the Metropolis. A special presentation was offered by Dr. John Klentos, professor at the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute in Berkeley, CA, who spoke on “Theology for a New Generation: The Modern Challenge Posted by the Three Hierarchs”. This presentation was very enlightening to all the participants and provided insight into how the lives of the Three Hierarchs should inspire our work and studies today. Theodora Kounalais, chair of HECC, provided an overview of the work of the Greek school students through the display of their artwork, photographs and essays. Students from the Annuncation Greek School in Sacramento also participated in a writing contest on the subject “The Philanthropy of Three Hierarchs as an Example in our Lives”. Students then publicly presented their essays which were of a very high caliber and demonstrated their proficiency in their studies in both written and spoken Greek. Four students received awards for their essays: Maria Andreadis (Holy Cross – Belmont), Sevastiani Paraskevaides (Saint Nicholas – San Jose), Eleni Paschalidis (Holy Cross – Belmont) and Eugnosia Eleftheriadis (Ascension Cathedral – Oakland). Ambassador Xenitellis offered his congratulations to these students and shared his joy and pride in attending this event for the first time since his assignment to San Francisco in November 2013. The festivities concluded with an inspirational address by His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos who also spoke about the importance and relevance of the Three Hierarchs both in our faith and as examples of scholarly excellence. Metropolitan Gerasimos congratulated all the students on their accomplishments and extended his gratitude to the leadership of the Greek Schools for their commitment to the education of our youth. The program concluded with the traditional cutting of the Vasiloptia, and the chanting of the hymn of the Three Hierarchs and great lumanaries of the One Divinity. Special thanks was extended to Mrs. Eftychia Kokkinidis, Director of the Ascension Cathedral Greek School, for hosting this event, and for the kind hospitality extended to all those in attendance.