Page 49 - AECA.org.uk ¦ Koinonia 68

buildings such as the present, but also more profoundly in the
invisible building formed from the living stones of the faithful.
So, as we consecrate this visible temple, let us also, each one of
us, rededicate to our Lord the inner temple that is our own true
self.
May the congregation of this Cathedral, and all the members of
the Syriac Orthodox Church, wherever they may be, be blessed
with the kind of courage and faith that can ultimately transcend
the unbearable misery and anguish that have been so cruelly
inflicted upon you, your loved ones and your brethren.

This remarkable speech was met with rapturous applause, as his arrival only
moments earlier had been greeted with enthusiastic ululating from the women
present. Such ululation we were to hear again each time the walls of the
cathedral church were anointed with holy chrism during the rite of
consecration.

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