This post was originally published on this site
We have chosen this day to bring you into the brotherhood of the clergy, because it is the day when my ordained name found its way into the mind and heart of our Ecumenical Patriarch. My baptismal name was Ioannis, so I feel a certain solidarity with you at this moment. You shall retain your name, as is the tradition for married clergy. But in doing so, I exhort you to consider carefully the great Forerunner and Baptizer of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose name you bear.
