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The Very Reverend Doctor '''Leonidas C. Contos''' was a [[priest ]] of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]]. He is most known as President of Hellenic College [[Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Brookline, Massachusetts)|Holy Cross School of Theology]], and as co-founder of Narthex Press.
==Biography==
Leonidas Contos was born on [[February 18]], 1920in Newburyport. He grew up in the Great Depression, at times selling blueberries from door-to-door to help the family.
Leonidas entered Holy Cross Seminary (Pomfret, Connecticut) in 1938. He is remembered as an excellent student, bold without brashness, dashing and daring, including with a particularly memorable prank that almost lost him his place. He met and married Athena (nee Evergates), who lived nearby. They had one daughter.
Leonidas was [[ordination|ordained ]] in 1944, at the Church of the Archangels in Stamford, Connecticut, which was his first assignment. Fr . Leonidas was then assigned to [[St. Sophia Cathedral (Los Angeles, California)|St . SophiaCathedral]], Los Angeles, where his extensive ministry in radio and television began and grew. On sabbatical, he earned a doctorate at Oxford before returning to Los Angeles.
A series of Archdiocesan assignments followed, most notably that of Ecumenical Officer. He In 1966, he then served as President of [[Hellenic College(Brookline, Massachusetts)|Hellenic College]], Holy Cross School of Theology, giving new meaning and direction to the institution. It was during this time that Athena suffered from illness and subsequently reposed.
In 1979, Fr . Leonidas was assigned to Belmont, California, where he went on to be Professor of Orthodox Studies at the [[Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute]], Berkeley, California.
Fr . Leonidas was a stickler for the proper conduct of worship, and was frustrated by bad translations. This caused him, with Fr . Spencer Kezios, to found Narthex Press - an organisation that aimed to use elegant, contemporary and stylish language, to impart the beauty and meaning of Orthodox worship. Abp . [[Iakovos (Coucouzis) of America|Iakovos ]] afforded him the opportunity to concentrate on this work, and he was appointed the official translator of the Archdiocese. 11 Eleven books - 7 seven of them with major contributions from Fr . Leonidas - had been published by the end of his life.
==BibliographySources==*[http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/affiliates/apc/presbyter/nov95.pdf p1 In Memoriam, ''The Presbyter'', Vol. III, issue 2, Nov 1995, pp1-3]*[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8343810.html Leonidas C. Contos Was Hellenic College president] [[Category: Priests]][[Category: Clergy]]