St. Steven’s Cathedral’s Seventy-Fifth Anniversary

On Sunday, October 10, 2021, the parish community of Saint Steven Cathedral, the Diocesan See and “Cathedral of the Pacific,” celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary on a most memorable day! 

As the morning sun rose in a clear blue sky, an unexpected electrical power outage necessitated some changes in preparing for the festive banquet, but Matins and the Divine Liturgy were celebrated by His Grace, Bishop Maxim, along with the Cathedral clergy, Very Reverend Stavrophor Nicholas Ceko, Dean, and Reverend Norman Kosanovich, and the Diocesan Deacon Vladan Radovanovic. 

At the Little Entrance, Bishop Maxim elevated Fr. Norman from Presbyter to Protopresbyter and presented him the palitsa, the diamond-shaped cloth that is part of the priestly vestments. 

Following that, the Epistle reading was done by Steven Christoforou, Director of the Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and special guest speaker for the day.  At the conclusion of the Liturgy, Bishop Maxim blessed the Kolach and Zito, and everyone proceeded to the social hall and pavilion. 

The volunteers preparing and serving the luncheon without electricity couldn’t have been more patient and skillful and the slight delay wasn’t noticed because everyone was enjoying each other’s company, some for the first time in almost two years!  Children from the Cathedral Sunday school sang “Dobro Doshli” to welcome everyone and the Sokoli folklore group presented a beautiful dance routine. 

Due to the speaking challenge in such a large, festive gathering without a microphone, the remarks by Fr. Nicholas Ceko, special guest Steven Christoforou, and Executive Board President Vaso Adzich, were brief but witnessed to the love for God and each other that this community has shown for seventy-five years. 

Considering both the past nineteen months as well as the particular challenges of this day, Fr. Nicholas summed it up most appropriately with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ that filled the hall: “With God, all things are possible!”

Source: Western American Diocese