Before a packed house on Sunday, November 10, 2024, Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, National Commander of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, made a presentation at Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church in Somerville, Massachusetts. At the festive event, Archon Bill Galatis was honored as the first Archon to be invested from the Somerville parish in 58 years, and one of only 28 across the country to be invested in 2024.
Dr. Limberakis gave a special media presentation on the global διακονία (diakonia) of the Archons of Ecumenical Patriarchate in supporting and defending the Holy Mother Church of Constantinople. He gave an historical overview of the meaning of the Archon title, its roots in ancient Athens, and its significance in denoting a leader. He explained that as an organization, the AEP had a “laser focus on the wellbeing and religious freedom of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.”
Over 140 people attended the luncheon following the Divine Liturgy, including several Archons of New England and many of Dr. Limberakis’ family members. Among the latter was Dr. Limberakis’ brother, Archon Dr. Cary J. Limberakis, a Regional Commander for the Metropolis of New Jersey. The Presiding Priest of Dormition parish, Fr Anthony Tandilyan, presided over the Divine Liturgy. He had also attended the investiture of Bill Galatis as an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York City on Sunday, October 20, 2024.
Archon Galatis, who generously underwrote the entire event along with the Dormition Church parish council, was honored as the first Dormition parishioner to be invested as an Archon since Archon James Levanos of blessed memory was invested as part of the first Archon class of 1966.
The parishioners presented both Commander Limberakis and Archon Galatis with icons of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary.
In a deeply moving and very personal moment, Dr. Limberakis was also presented with a hand-stitched embroidered cross that his grandmother had made many decades ago. The cross was beautifully framed as a lasting commemoration of the fact that Dr. Limberakis and Archon Galatis, like many families in Somerville, trace their roots to the coastal Asia Minor city of Alatsata, outside of Smyrna; their grandparents came from Asia Minor, settled in Somerville, and played a prominent role in the life of the parish. Dr. Limberakis expressed his profound gratitude that “the owners of that beautiful embroidered piece felt it would be appropriate to give it to me after so many decades.”
The event took place in George A. Dilboy Banquet Hall, Dormition of the Virgin Mary parish’s newly constructed church hall, which was part of a major seven-million-dollar renovation. The renovation effort included the interior of the church, which was adorned with magnificent new iconography. The hall is named for George Dilboy, who was the first Greek-American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor during World War I. General John J. Pershing, commander of all the U.S. forces in France during the war, listed George Dilboy as “one of the ten great heroes” who “died in the battlefield of France with superhuman heroism and valor.”
In further commemoration of this special event and in gratitude to Dr. Limberakis for his many decades of selfless service to the Holy Mother Church, the parish created a George Dilboy medal and presented it to Dr. Limberakis.
The parishioners even presented Dr. Limberakis with a birthday cake in anticipation of his 72nd birthday, which is coming on November 21.
Archons James Speros and Constantine Sideridis, Regional Commanders for the Metropolis of Boston, served as masters of ceremonies; they expressed their immense gratitude for the parish’s hospitality.
