His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presided over the Service of the Ceremony of the Signing of the Patriarchal and Synodal Act of Canonization of the new Saint in the calendar of the Orthodox Church, Father Demetrios Gagastathis, which took place on the afternoon of Saturday, August 30, 2025, in the Patriarchal Church of Saint George in the Phanar. At that time he addressed the following words to the people present, among whom was Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Trikki, who also addressed the congregation, and a number of faithful with him from Trikala, who had originally proposed his canonization.
Address of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Signing of the Synodal Act of Canonization
We heartily welcome all of you, the most honorable and beloved brother Hierarchs, the most revered clergy and monastics, and all the Christ-loving children of the Church, to this sacred and devout synaxis in the Phanar.
The Holy Great Church of Christ has preserved in the City of Cities, immovably for long centuries, the place and way of life of the Orthodox, our faith, ethos and culture, ministering from this spiritual Acropolis of Orthodoxy to its Christian flock, the Lord's dominion here and abroad, liturgically and spiritually, pastorally and lovingly, preaching the word of truth, striving for the stability of Orthodoxy and praying "for the unity of all," caring for peace, justice, solidarity and the protection of creation, in firm conviction, in accordance with the following decision of the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church (Crete 2016): “The fact that ‘our citizenship is in heaven’ (Phil. 3:20) does not negate, but rather strengthens our witness in the world” (Encyclical, Preface).
At the core of ecclesiastical life belongs the demonstration of the presence of the Saints, as their participation in the holiness of the “only Holy” God, in the “community of saints,” the “community of theosis,” which is the Church, whose life has been permeated from the beginning by the presence of the Saints. This also happens in the present. And towards the future the people of God walk “in the footsteps of the Saints.”
The Saints work miracles and support the faithful, offering not only “help,” but “Truth,” which transforms the life of the world. The Saint is the man par excellence free in Christ. He embodies the truth that ecclesial life is an experience of “true freedom,” as life in Christ and according to Christ, as the fulfillment of His divine commandments. “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me” (John 14:21).
According to Saint Maximus the Confessor, Christ “is mysteriously present in each of the familiar commandments… He who receives a divine commandment and does it, receives the Word of God in it” (Chapters on Theology and the Economy, 2, 70, PG 90, 1156-1157).
In the tradition of Orthodoxy, holiness is not understood as a human achievement, but is experienced as a gift of Divine grace. Every Saint is a living and eloquent testimony that only God saves and sanctifies. “Man accepts holiness as a gift from God. And the contribution to the work of his sanctification lies in making himself suitable to accept the sanctification that God offers him,” notes the Honorable Professor George Mantzaridis (Travelogue of Theological Anthropology, Sacred Monastery of Vatopaidi – Mount Athos, 2005, p. 307).
This truth, these most precious traditions, are represented by the blessed priest of the Most High, Demetrios Gagastathis, the charismatic rector of the Sacred Church of Saint Nicholas in Platanos, Trikala, in whose honorable person God’s love for man becomes tangible and accessible.
The newly canonized Saint is a living image of a God who does not remain closed in His inaccessible transcendence, but is “God with us,” “God of relationships,” God glorified in His Saints, who calls us to become partakers of His holiness.
He was distinguished for his simplicity and humility, "counting himself among the last," in vigils and prayers, virtuous and ascetic, a strong-minded confessor of Orthodoxy, with a prescient charisma, sanctifying, working miracles and healing the faithful even after his death.
Even before his official inscription in the registry of Saints, his name was engraved in golden letters in the souls of the faithful.
The blessed priest of Trikala increased through his blessed life of love for God and humanity the gift he received from God, and he is a priceless gift from heaven to the Christ-loving people of Trikala, to the Orthodox world and to the entire universe, proclaiming “to the ends of the earth” that “there is salvation in no one else” (Acts 4:12), except in Christ, who has freed us from the slavery of the enemy.
The inclusion of a new Saint in the Church’s Hagiologion is a pivotal event for the people of God. At the same time, it calls each of us to reflect on what holiness means for our lives as members of the Church of Christ.
The late Metropolitan John of Pergamum, a world-renowned theologian, emphasizes that holiness, as it is understood and experienced in the Orthodox Church, includes “a great variety of gifts.” “There is not just one kind of holiness in the Church,” he writes. “There are many forms of holiness, because there are many gifts of the Holy Spirit and holiness is not our own achievement, it is not the result of our moral and other efforts, it is not a matter of virtue, it is a matter of the gift of the Holy Spirit… It is characteristic that the choir of saints includes prophets, apostles, hierarchs, martyrs, unmercenaries, venerables, righteous, neomartyrs; a wide range of forms of holiness. For the Holy Spirit divides the gifts and gives to each the gift that, according to the will of the holy God, will build up the Church. …And the Church is built up with a multitude of gifts” (One Hundred Sermons, Artos Zoes, Athens 2023, pp. 262-263).
This variety of forms of expression of holiness not only does not negate, but rather highlights its common root and eschatological reference, from which it is nourished. The fire of holiness is its ecclesiastical relevance, humility, the cutting off of one's own will and the overcoming of individualism, complete dedication to God and the implementation of His commandments, participation in the sacramental life of the Church, with the Divine Eucharist as its epicenter.
In closing, I thank you all for your pilgrimage to the Sacred Center of Orthodoxy, on this joyful day as an occasion.
We particularly welcome the presence of His Eminence brother Metropolitan of Trikki, Gardiki and Pyli, Mr. Chrysostomos, those around him and all the pious pilgrims from Trikala.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
