ACOY Annual State Conference 2016 (NSW)
Sat Nov 19th

In celebration of the feast day of St John Chrysostom, the patron Saint of ACOY Sydney (Antiochian Christian Orthodox Youth), and under the patronage and presence of His Eminence Paul Saliba, the youth of ACOY attended a full day retreat at the monastery of St. Michael Goulburn (the Antiochian village). The day began with morning prayers and was followed by two lectures. The first lecture by Mr Melehem was about the life and teachings on prayer of the great Hierarch St John. Mr Melehem touched on the theologies of St John on maintaining a spiritual life whilst living in the city.
The second one was titled “Prayer in today's society” and was delivered by Fr Sergi, Abbot of the Russian Monastery of the Transfiguration. Fr Sergi talked about the importance of mindfulness and prayer as the ultimate means to achieve that as well as the importance of nature and recognizing we are victims of the material world.
These were followed by the lovely gesture of planting a cedar in the garden of the monastery as a symbol of the ever growing faith of our youth. The tree was planted by His Eminence, a number of parish priests and some youth.
After lunch, the youth attended a workshop and some group activities that aimed to start discussions about important spiritual topics relevant to them. 45 ACOY youth were registered and were accompanied by Fr Nabil Kachab and Fr Basilios Kodseie.