Record attendance at annual Holy Cross feast
www.thesuburban.com
Perfect summer weather
drew nearly half of Laval’s
large Greek community out
in force for a series of liturgical celebrations at Holy Cross Church last week.
Police closed du Souvenir
street, Sept 14, to permit
more than 4,000 members of
the Greek Orthodox
Community of Laval to attend
an evening vespers service.
Afterward, the faithful
paraded the congregation’s
icons through Chomedey
night-time streets, led by
Canada’s Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Sotiros and a
dozen priests, including the
parish’s spiritual leader, the
Very Reverend Neatarios
Mostratos.
The following day, another
celebration, at noon, Sept 15,
drew an additional 6,000
adherents to a standing-room only service that spilled out of the church—which can only seat 600 parishioners—and was followed by another procession.
Many members of the congregation volunteered to supplement Laval police to ensure that the event proceeded safely and securely.
who ever attended,” Father
Mostratos told The Suburban.
“It was a very special liturgy.”
Each year, the end-of-summer ceremony, which celebrates the church’s eponymous feast of the holy cross,
attracts increasing numbers
of people from Laval’s thriving Greek community.
Laval’s other Greek
Orthodox congregation, St.
Nicholas, also on du Souvenir
about 2 km away, conducts
its annual feast day in
December, when typically
inclement Canadian weather
makes outdoor activity less
appealing.
Holy Cross Church’s festivities continued through
Sunday, Sept. 16, when the
ladies benevolent society
hosted a luncheon celebration for more than 400 people.
the spiritual leader of Canada’s Greek Orthodox Church, led more
than 4,000 parishioners in a procession through Chomedey streets,
Sept. 14.