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Help Us Fly the Fathers to Constantinople and back to DC by Friday, May 29th!

Registration Closed
July 4

Virtual Flights Aren’t Grounded!

Help Us Fly the Fathers to Constantinople and back to DC by Friday, May 29th!


Dearest Parishioners & Friends of Saint Sophia Cathedral,

Our annual Spring Festival, our major fundraiser, is canceled.  To compensate the revenue loss, Father Steve and Father Dimitri, our “Father Flyboys,” have decided to make a “virtual pilgrimage” to our Mother Cathedral in Constantinople (Istanbul), Haghia Sophia, the “Holy Wisdom of God,” built by the Emperor Justinian in 537 AD, and universally esteemed as the most beautiful of all Byzantine churches.

Why virtually fly to Haghia Sophia? Because our own Saint Sophia Cathedral, Washington, DC, in addition to being the seventh oldest Greek Orthodox community in the United States, is the very FIRST to be named after Justinian’s Haghia Sophia, thus qualifying her as First Daughter of the Mother Cathedral. And so, the “Father Flyboys” head to Constantinople to both affirm, and to honor, this historic relationship.

However, they must fly back to DC in time to celebrate the Divine Liturgy on Friday, May 29, marking the 567-year anniversary of the last Divine Liturgy ever celebrated in Justinian’s Haghia Sophia, which was Tuesday, May 29, 1453. An Artoclasia “Blessing of the Loaves” service will also be celebrated on behalf of the health and well-being of our beloved parishioners, as well as our friends throughout the world.

The total distance between the two great Cathedrals is 5,220 miles one way, or 10,440 miles, round trip. Our goal is to retrieve $104,400 of lost Festival income. The virtual airplane fuel cost is $10 per mile. Please feel free to donate individually, or pool your resources with others and donate to a Ministry team. You may even create your own team! The individual, or team, that donates the most will receive 2 free tickets to our upcoming Annual Raffle, a $40,000 cash payout to the winner!

So let’s help our “Father Flyboys” fulfill their pilgrimage as quickly as possible! We have only 21 days, or from Friday, May 8th, to Friday, May 29th, to complete the roundtrip. And all along the way let’s also have some fun. Look for daily updates on their flight progress. And PLEASE help insure they don’t run out of fuel mid-flight. Father Steve doesn’t know how to operate a parachute and Father Dimitri flies without one!

For more information, please call your Saint Sophia Cathedral Airline Customer Service Representative at: 1-202-838-1553. 


CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE "FATHER FLYBOYS" TRAILER


CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR UPDATED VIDEO AND TEAM SPONSORS!



When:
FLIGHT DEPARTS ON MAY 8th and RETURNS on May 29th
Where:
Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral
2815 36th Street NW
Washington, DC 20007
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