Sikinos’s Priests are Multitalented / Православие.Ru

By Maria Korologou

Sikinos, a small island in the Cyclades, has every reason to be proud of its two priests. Father Spyridon Vourlakos, served at the age of 16 at the Hellenic Navy and worked as a cook on ships to help his large family financially. When he was 20 years old, he became a frogman and then joined the team of commandos at the Hellenic Gendarmerie School in Rethymno, Crete, where he won many awards. He abandoned all this and went to live and become a priest on Sikinos.

“The will is the lever that moves every effort, that realizes every thought. I want to give this message to my children that when we want something very much we can achieve it,” said 60-year-old father Spyridon.

Father Thodoris Arsenikos, the other priest, is an excellent violinist who also sings very well and participates in all the festivals on Sikinos. He learned to play the violin himself and on many winter nights he entertains the few residents of the island.

“At festivals and feasts all the residents gather together and I play with my violin many traditional songs. In addition, winters are hard on the island and so we have to find ways to pass our time and have fun. So we gather in houses or shops we eat and drink all together,” 53-year-old father Thodoris, who is also an experienced beekeeper, told ANAmpa.