Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Marks His Name Day on 11 June

The feast day of the Holy Apostles Barnabas and Bartholomew is the name day of His All-Holiness Ecumencial Patriarch Bartholomew.In observance,he will first preside at Vespers on 10 June at the Patriarchal Church of St.George.Then he will go next door to perform an agiasmos,a blessing by water,for the completion of renovations at the Phanar Greek Orthodox College (High School),the oldest and most prestigious Greek Orthodox school in Istanbul.Also called the Great School of the Nation,it was founded in 1454 by Patriarch Gennadios Scholarios.Phanar means "lantern" and refers to the patriarchate environs.After the blessing,he will receive the regards of the clerics and faithful for his name day.The current building dates from the 19th century and has the appearance of a red castle.The turret on top contains an observatory dome.The observatory hosts astronomy classes which use its large antique telescope.The private school teaches the required Turkish curriculum as well as Greek language,literature and religion.It has six Turkish teachers and fifteen Greek teachers.*The next day,His All-Holiness will preside at the Divine Liturgy in the Patriarchal Church of St.George.Concelebrating will be clerics from Constantinople and abroad.Following the dismissal,Patriarch Bartholomew will be addressed by the dean of the Phanar,His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon,and will respond to the good wishes.