Service of the commemoration of the Bishop of Apollonia, His Grace Kosmas (Qirjo)

The Albanian Orthodox Church

On August 8 the service of the commemoration of the Bishop of Apollonia, His Grace Kosmas (Qirjo) was carried in the church of St. Theodhor in Vlora. It is the tenth year that the faithful commemorate him. The Divine Liturgy and the respective service of commemoration were leaded by the Metropolitan of Berati, Vlora, Kanina and the entire Myzeqe, His Grace Ignatios. There were also clergy and lots of faithful who had had the chance to meet His Grace Kosmas during the period of persecution and even after that when the churches were restored.

After the Liturgy the faithful and the clergy gathered together to share their memories of him. They mentioned parts of Grace Kozma’s life and recalled especially his outstanding courage during the time of persecution, but also his zeal and the hard work he had done after the restoration of the churches.
Then some of the faithful together with Metropolitan Ignatios and the rest of the clergy went to village Bestrov where the church of Five Martyrs and his grave are. His Grace Ignatios carried out the service of commemoration and then they all had lunch together which was offered by the Metropolitan.

Brief biography
His Grace Kosmas (Qirjo), the Bishop of Apollonia and Assistant to Archbishop Anastasios was born on October 13, 1921 in a poor but faithful family in the village of Bestrov in Vlora. He became a deacon on April 25, 1945 and after four days he was ordained a priest in the church of St. Kiriaki in Narta. He carried out his ministry with zeal and love for God. Although the churches closed in 1967, he never stopped his work. He would go to every house in the village to baptize people and give them communion. Many years later, in 1991 he contributed in the restoration of churches all over the country. He was a member of the General Council for the Restoration of the Churches and also a member of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania (KOASH). We was one of the people who welcomed Archbishop Anastasios to Albania and became since them a close collaborator of him.
On July 23, 1998 he was ordained a Bishop of Apollonia. Although at an old age he accepted this duty with the humble words, ‘Here I am, be done with me, what you said’. His ordainment gave way to the assembly of the Holy Synod by four members. He continued his ministry until August 11, 2000 when he passed away in peace.

Paskal Mamaj
Translated by Juliana Kodheli