In Harmony with United Nations World Bee Day, May 20, 2021, the distinguished Hieromonk Father George Alevras of Mt. Athos, Greece Blesses the Beekeepers of the World

    WASHINGTON, DC/TRIKALA, GREECE, May 20, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The world's ecosystem depends on the fundamental process of pollination for survival. To raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, the threats they face and their contribution to sustainable development, the United Nations has designated May 20th as World Bee Day. According to the UN, "The goal is to strengthen measures aimed at protecting bees and other pollinators, which would significantly contribute to solving problems related to the global food supply and eliminate hunger in developing countries. We all depend on the survival of bees and pollinators and it is crucial to monitor their decline and halt the loss of biodiversity." The call is for global cooperation and solidarity to counter the threats, raise awareness to support, restore, and enhance the role of pollinators.

In unison with this message, across the oceans and mountains in the town of Trikala, Greece, Father George Alevras (Elder George),a beloved, distinguished, and charismatic hieromonk, and spiritual child of saint Porphyrios, blesses the Beekeepers of the whole world, on the 20th of May 2021, in celebration of the fourth UN World Bee Day!

"The Holy Icon of Virgin Mary of the Bees, Panagia Melissou was inspired from a miraculous event. I realized the importance that bees have in our own lives and I decided to raise worldwide awareness about this issue. I started to envision a place becoming a Byzantine Cultural Center with the Bee as its center." Says Elder George, "Many important people and scientists embrace our Virgin Mary who gave birth to our Savior. We implore her to take the bees under her protection because the honeybee colony is a prototype for God's community." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlNR8rL_fW0

Elder George had learned about the United States commitment to saving the Honeybees, when back in 2014 then President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators. In that memorandum, President Obama outlined how pollinators contribute substantially to the economy of the United States and that Honeybee pollination alone adds more than $15 billion in value to agricultural crops each year in the United States. The memorandum pointed out the seriousness of the problem and that immediate attention was necessary to ensure the sustainability of our food production systems, avoid additional economic impact on the agricultural sector, and protect the health of the environment.

"It is a great honor to bless the Beekeepers on World Bee Day because the Greeks have connected bees with life, religion and nature. This celebration was set in the most crucial moment of human history." Elder George continues, "Several years ago, I settled into the Holy Monastery of the Birth of the Virgin Mary. The priests told me about the bees that lived in the sanctuary and, that every year on September 8, the Feast Day, honoring the Nativity of the Virgin Mary when the priests would give "antidoro" or "blessed bread" to the faithful, they would also cut a small piece of honeycomb and hand them out together as a blessing. The bees lived inside the Holy Church and would many times fly around during the service, without disturbing anyone. This story lasted several years. We, the people, can never reach the bees' perfect communication and their way of working together. At first, the Christian community resembled the unity and harmony of the bees. Since then, this unity has diminished. I hope the bees will inspire us to live once again as the first Christians did and to create the first Church of love and unity."

"From the New Testament, we learn that Saint John the Baptist feeds on wild honey while the disciples offer the Risen Christ to eat some honeycomb. 'So, they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.' (Luke 24:42). Many Saints have referred to the perfect society of a bee colony, as a unique example for man. They liken the honeybee colony to a model for the Christian flock and how a society should function, the soul must be guarded with great care and praise virtue or condemn vice," he stated.

"It is significant that in all Christian world, people light candles of the beeswax from the honeybee. All the people of the earth may light a candle to the Virgin Theotokos, the mother Of God, for the salvation of the world. One flame begins here, as in the ancient Olympia for the Olympic Games from ancient times until today." Elder George added, "One flame from one candle will pass on the light to the whole world, with the message of hope and salvation for humanity. The bee is a unique gift from God to man, a lasting blessing that we must protect like the apple of our eyes. Everything is possible for the miraculous bee which, although small can achieve so great things that we "the great" men cannot achieve."

In unison with the United Nations, the United States and other nations and people from around the world on World Bee Day gathering for global cooperation and solidarity to counter the threats, raise awareness to support, restore, and enhance the role of the bees and other pollinators, on this great day the Greek academic community represented by Emeritus Professor Emmanouilidis Nikolaos, Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Athens Agricultural University and Ntouras Vasilis, President of the Greek beekeepers Federation, member of the APIMONDIA, APISLAVIA and EPBA and many others join in support to save the bees. #WorldBeeDay #Savethebees

Media Contact
Washington, DC / Global Press
Daisy Gallagher, AMA, CPM, CHT, Chief Global Public Relations Officer
Gallagher & Gallagher Worldwide, Inc
[email protected]

Athens, Greece (on behalf of Elder George)
Alexandra Papakonstantinou
[email protected]

Elder George is a beloved and charismatic monk who has embraced the monastic and angelic lifestyle. A miraculous phenomenon has been happening for a year at his room, the Cell of the Holy Trinity on the Holy Mount Athos. To assist with the mission of Elder George and spread the word of the honey bees and the miraculous event at Mt. Athos to the world with his blessing a website hosting these events has been created. The site contains a free downloadable pdf of his book, "The United States of America Takes the Lead in the Promotion of Hellenism," the segment and filming of the Miracle of the Moving icon in the Cell of the Holy Trinity Cell, a national TV interview with Elder George on blessed Saint Porphyrios and more. All this information and far more about this inspirational servant of God may be found at https://elder-george.com.

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