Pentecost, the feast marking the birth of the Church, was celebrated with reverence throughout the Orthodox Church of Albania.
Archbishop Ioannis of Albania presided over the Divine Liturgy at the Resurrection of Christ Cathedral in Tirana and later led the Kneeling Vespers service.
In his homily, he emphasized that attempts to build an earthly paradise without God have ultimately led to disaster.
“All efforts to build an earthly paradise without God have ended in hell,” he said. “This happened under communism, and it often happens in consumerist capitalism, where people think only of themselves and not of others. We cannot build a society founded on justice unless God is present within it. Nor can we become like God unless God Himself and His Holy Grace are with us.”
The Archbishop added that the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at Pentecost is the reversal of the pride represented by the Tower of Babel.
“When we say ‘without God,’ we also mean all the values that stem from God’s teaching. Every society that destroys these values will destroy itself. Pentecost reminds us that we cannot become like God without God.”
Archbishop Ioannis also stressed that Pentecost is not merely a remembrance of a historical event but an opportunity to reflect on the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.
“If we do not have love in our soul, we do not have the Holy Spirit,” he said, recalling the words of Saint Silouan the Athonite: “If you love all your enemies, then you have acquired the Holy Spirit.”
He warned that responding to hostility with hostility drives the Holy Spirit away and opens the door to hatred.
“Our duty is to open our hearts and cleanse them of every form of malice and anger,” he said. “If we do not purify our hearts, the Holy Spirit will not dwell within us. And if the Holy Spirit is not within us, even if we gain the whole world, we have gained nothing.”
The Archbishop concluded by stressing that true faith is not merely believing that God exists, but obeying Him and striving to apply His teachings in daily life.
Elsewhere in Albania, Metropolitan Nikolaos of Apollonia and Fier celebrated the feast at Saint George Church in Fier and offered prayers for all Albanian high school graduates taking state examinations. Metropolitan Anastasios of Korçë presided at the Resurrection Cathedral in Korçë, while Metropolitan Antonios of Elbasan celebrated at Saint Nicholas Church in Elbasan.
Text and photos: Fr. Ilias Makos
