Brothers and Sisters,
On Sunday, September 20, Saint Sophia Cathedral will welcome her new Dean, the Very Rev. Archimandrite Avgoustinos Psomas.
Fr. Avgoustinos Psomas was born and raised in Corfu and settled in the village of the Saints Theodore in Lefkimmi, Corfu. While completing his undergraduate studies, he studied electrical engineering at the Electrical Engineering Department of the Sivitanidios Technical School in Athens. He also attended Byzantine music classes at Saint Marina in Illisia under Dr. Athanasios Vourlis.
After completing his military service in 2000, he passed the qualifying exams for admission to the School of Theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2003, from which he graduated in 2007. In 2008, he graduated from the Conservatory of Northern Greece, where he completed his Master’s Degree in Byzantine Music with courses in Speech Training, Choir Directing, Liturgical Studies, and Reciting Readings.
During his theological studies, he studied for three consecutive years in the Byzantine School of Music under the guidance of the famous Panagiotis Neohoritis. He served the Holy Analogion of the Church of St. George of Ormylia, where he had the privilege of serving as the head chanter from 2004-2012 until he arrived in the United States. From 2013 to 2019, he served at the Hellenic Community of Saint Demetrios of Astoria as head chanter until his ordination to the Holy Diaconate on Christmas Eve 2019. He was then ordained to the Holy Priesthood on September 29, 2020, and elevated to the rank of “Archimandrite” on June 21, 2021, both by the hands of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America.
Since his ordination to the holy diaconate, he served the Greek Orthodox Community of Holy Trinity in New Rochelle, NY, and graduated from the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology program in Boston. Since then he served as presiding priest of St Thomas Greek Orthodox Church of Cherry Hill, NJ, for nearly four years, and most recently as presiding priest of Koimisis tis Theotokou of Holmdel, NJ. We are exceedingly grateful to His Eminence, Archbishop Elpidophoros, for his assignment to Saint Sophia Cathedral of Washington, DC.
Please join the Clergy, Parish Council and entire congregation in welcoming Fr. Avgoustinos on Sunday, September 20, as he assumes his responsibilities as our new spiritual father.
The Clergy and Parish Council
