 The new graduates of the Theological Academy “Resurrection of Christ” at St. Vlasios in Durrës celebrated within a festive atmosphere the end of the scholastic year. On 16 June, they let their turn to the newcomers in order to continue their own mission at other ecclesiastical endeavours. Archbishop Anastasios took part at this ceremony together with the others members of the Holy Synod: the Metropolitan of Berati, His Grace Ignatios, the Dean of the Academy, Bishop Ilia Ketri, also Bishop Nikolla, Bishop Andoni, Protopresbyterian Fr. Jani Trebicka and other clergy. There were present also the relatives of the graduates, faculty and students.
The Dean of the Academy, his Grace Ilia conveyed the greeting speech. He welcomed the students to become the carriers of the Good News according to the knowledge they had gained, their spiritual growth, and their assistance in the Church activities. He highlighted the value of determination, which should characterise their devoted life to Christ and by which they should contribute in the establishment of the Church of Christ in Albania. Then His Grace Ilia stated that they must be a good model of behaviour in our society; as such they must clean out the dirty stains of the environment and transmit the hope of God in a society poisoned by wars, hatred and injustices.
 The best students of the 2009 graduating class, Ms. Parashqevi Gega and Ms. Elisabeta Shqau delivered a special speech. Ms. Shqau read an extract by Saint Agustine titled: “Can any type of glorification be as worthy for the magnification of God? The valedictorian student, Ms. Parashqevi Gega emphasised in her speech that ‘we already know and have experienced the fact that His calling is not to live a comfortable life with no difficulties and pain, but on the contrary, He commanded us to hold His cross and to follow Him, maintaining the strong belief that He will be with us till the end of times. And the end of this ceremony Archbishop Anastasios greeted all the partakers with the following words: “We dare to hope, and the foundation of this hope is not the absence of optimism. We base our beliefs for the future on the Person of Jesus Christ. A cloud of despair falls upon people’s hearts, but nonetheless we firmly face the cloud and dare to hope. Such a reality might be present even in our Church today. But we do not stand slumber when climbing a mountain; we look forward to reach its highest peak. We must move forward with great encouragement to give hope to the others. And we must convey this hope in all the places we go guided by the Holy Spirit. God will help us to continue the mission for which we are called.
 Part of the commencement celebration were the hymns and psalms chanted by the choir of the Academy. Also Archbishop Anastasios handed out the degrees to the graduates. Later on during the lunch, His Grace Ignatios said the following: “This is a remarkable day in which we are harvesting the fruit of the excellent job done at this school. We thank God for such prosperity. You are invited to put into practice whatever you have learned. Our Lord chooses us all; He sends us all over the world as apostles and missionaries of His perfect mission”.
At the end of the day, the graduates took with them the heartily wishes of their professors, class-mates and all the other guests.
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Isidori Koti
Translated by Juljana Pici
