On December 15, 2024, the San Andres Seminary celebrated its first ordination to the priesthood of one of its graduates- Antonio Pata (now Father Elias). Bishop Osios of Sasima, himself ordained to be an auxiliary hierarch of the Metropolis of Mexico on October 13, 2025, officiated at this his first ordination. Father Elias grew up in the small agricultural village of Javali, on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. From harvesting sugarcane in the fertile volcanic soil that favors this crop, he was called to serve the Guatemalan Orthodox Church whose fields are also ripe for harvest. His inspiration came from his two uncles, the late Father Antonio Pata and His Grace Osios, both of whom grew up under the tutelage of the late Father Andres Giron, who led a mass movement of thousands into the embrace of the Orthodox Church.
With this ordination, the Guatemalan Church, in a sense, has come full circle in the realization of its potential. An indigenous bishop now raising up one of his own from among the people for Holy Orders completes the icon of what a church should look like, making it into a true Eucharistic community. In the words of St. Ignatios of Antioch (December 20), “Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”
Now begins the awesome challenge for Fr. Elias, not only to protect the deposit of grace received from the hands of his bishop, but also to disseminate it into the fertile mission fields of Guatemala. Let us pray that he will be worthy of this calling.
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