THREE-YEAR MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR ARCHBISHOP IAKOVOS HELD AT THE ANNUNCIATION CATHEDRAL OF BOSTON
His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios presided at a hierarchical co-celebration of the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great at the Annunciation Cathedral of Boston on Sunday, April 13 which was followed by a three-year memorial service for Archbishop Iakovos who passed away on April 10, 2005. Metropolitan Methodios served as Archdeacon to Archbishop Iakovos for many years. Co-celebrating with Metropolitan Methodios were Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco, the longest reigning Archdeacon to Archbishop Iakovos, Metropolitan Evangelos of New Jersey who also served as Archdeacon, Bishop Philotheos of Meloa, Archbishop Iakovos' first Archdeacon, Bishop Andonios of Phasiane who also served as Archdeacon and is currently the Archdiocese Director of Philanthropy, and Bishop Anthimos of Olympos who served as Dean of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York. Also participating in the Service were the Dean of the Annunciation Cathedral, Fr. George Daskalakis, Fr. Philippe Mousis, Assistant Priest at the Cathedral and Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries of the Metropolis of Boston, Fr. Peter Orfanakos, the Pastor of the St. Barbara Parish in Orange, CT who also served as Archdeacon to Archbishop Iakovos, Fathers Kirillos Thererakis and Alexios Marakis from Crete, students at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, and deacons Michael Diamond and Jason Roll.
Following the Service, the Annunciation Cathedral Philoptochos hosted a reception for the large congregation which worshipped at the Cathedral during the Hierarchical Liturgy and Memorial Service. Among them were Gerald Daoussis, Archbishop Iakovos' nephew and other members of the family, Paulette Poulos who served as Archbishop Iakovos' Administrative Assistant for many years and is currently the Interim Executive Director and Director of Development for Leadership 100, Nikie Calles and Dina Theodosakis both of whom worked closely with Archbishop Iakovos. Nikie Calles is the Director of Archives at the Archdiocese. Miss Theodosakis works in the Leadership 100 Office. The Consul General of Greece, Constantine Orfanides and many Archons from throughout New England also attended.
After offering a memorial prayer Archbishop Iakovos' grave by the Chapel of the Holy Cross at Hellenic College-Holy Cross, Metropolitan Methodios hosted a makaria at the XO Restaurant in Stoughton, MA.
Archbishop Iakovos served as the spiritual leader of Greek Orthodox Christians in the Western Hemisphere from 1959-1996. Born Demetrios Coucouzis on the Island of Imvros, Turkey on July 29, 1911, he enrolled at age 15 in the Ecumenical Patriarchal Theological School at Halki. After graduating with high honors, he was ordained Deacon in 1934, taking the ecclesiastical name Iakovos. Five years after his ordination, Deacon Iakovos received an invitation to serve as Archdeacon to the late Archbishop Athenagoras, the Primate of North and South America, who later (1949-72) became Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1940 in Lowell, MA, and served at St. George Church, Hartford, CT, while teaching and serving as assistant dean of the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theological School, then in Pomfret, CT. In 1941, he was named Preacher at Holy Trinity Cathedral in New York City and in the summer of 1942 served as temporary Dean of St. Nicholas Church in St. Louis, MO. He was appointed Dean of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Boston in 1942 and remained there until 1954. In 1954, he was ordained Bishop of Melita, by his spiritual father and mentor, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, for whom he served four years as personal representative of the Patriarchate to the World Council of Churches in Geneva. On February 14, 1959, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate elected Iakovos as successor to Archbishop Michael.
