In a live-stream from St. Paul Chapel inside the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Archbishop Elpidophoros held a memorial service for the country’s Greek Orthodox victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A day earlier he had requested names of the deceased to be submitted so that the memorial prayer can include all victims.

During the traditional Orthodox Christian memorial, he listed more than 100 names of the deceased.

The pandemic has hit dozens of Greek Orthodox communities throughout the nation.

In Chicago, Fr. Chrysanthos Kerkeres has already performed three coronavirus-related funerals and judging from the numbers of parishioners from St. George Church that are in the hospital, he expects to conduct many more.

Fr. David Bissias of St. Demetrios in Hammond, Indiana has also performed two funerals of Coronavirus victims, an experience he called “compounded in sadness” not only for the departed loved one but for the fact that so many family and friends aren’t able to participate due to health regulations.

In New York, Fr. Evagoras Constantinides from Saints Constantine and Helen Cathedral in Brooklyn Tweeted that he had to perform a Trisagion, or memorial prayer, using FaceTime.

Archbishop Elpidophoros holds memorial service for deceased Orthodox Christians