Christ is Risen! Truly, He is Risen!
On Sunday, May 12, 2024 at the new Holy Virgin Cathedral in San Francisco, his eminence Archbishop Kyrill, Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America elevated the rector of ASONA, Priest John A. Peck to the rank of Archpriest.
Archpriest, (Greek: πρωτοπαπᾶς, protopapas) or protopresbyter (Greek: πρωτοπρεσβύτερος, protopresbyteros), is a clerical rank, a title of honor given to non-monastic priests and is conferred by a bishop with the laying on of hands and prayer.
The ceremony for making an archpriest is analogous to other clerical promotions bestowed with cheirothesia: at the Little Entrance of the Divine Liturgy, the candidate is conducted to the ambo in the middle of the church where the bishop is at the time, and the bishop blesses him and says a prayer addressed to Christ asking to
“… endue our brother (name) with Thy Grace, and adorn him with virtue to stand at the head of the Presbyters of Thy people, and make him to be a good example to them that are with him …”
And for those of you who scrolled down far enough, here is the announcement at ASONA with thanks to Fr. Michael Vallecillo.
