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More than thirty-five years ago, in one of his final acts as head of the Private Patriarchal Office before assuming the Ecumenical Throne himself, then-Metropolitan Bartholomew of Chalcedon commissioned the renowned hymnographer, Fr. Gerasimos Mikrayannanitis (since canonized as St. Gerasimos of Mt. Athos), to compose a special vesperal service for September 1st. Known formally as the Office of Vespers for the Preservation of Creation, this service wonderfully exemplifies the cosmic character and essential continuity of Orthodox worship and witness as participation in the ongoing incarnation in space and time of the eternal Logos of God, the divine-human person of Jesus Christ at the very heart of our faith.
