Here’s my article in Israel21C. A story of inspiration, spiritual, faith and hope.

He calls himself Father Philotheos, meaning “a friend of God” in Greek.

As the priest of the Greek Orthodox St. George Church in the Old City of Acre (Akko) in northern Israel, he serves 600 Greek Orthodox residents of the city as well as 30,000 people in 14 surrounding villages in the Western Galilee.

Among his congregants are also a growing number of immigrants from Russia. And when Father Philotheos isn’t leading prayer services, blessing newborn infants or giving last rites to the dying, he is busy restoring the outside of the church himself, adding decorative mosaics, shells and designs in the ancient stone walls.

St. George Church, probably the first Christian house of worship built in Akko, dates back to 1631. A physician from Marseilles who visited the church in 1666 declared it was the most beautiful church in the Middle East.

That is where Father Philotheos has served for the past five years. The story of his journey from the island of Crete, where he was born in 1962, to Israel is his own personal pilgrimage.

Heaven on earth

When he was a young boy, he said, a bishop came from Jerusalem to visit his family’s church in Crete. After the services, the bishop asked Philotheos if he wanted to come with him to Jerusalem.

“I immediately said yes,” Philotheos said, “but my father said, ‘How can you go alone?’ I was about 11 or 12. He wanted me to stay in Crete and marry, and carry on the family name. But I was stubborn and I left.”

Showing a book of Byzantine music. Photo by Cathy Raff.

For the rest of this uplifting story, read here.