Fr. Theoclitos Triantafilides
October 27, 1916

The Right Rev. Archimandrite Theoclitos Triantafilides was born in November 1833. He was the first Orthodox priest in Texas, and due to his fluency in Greek, Russian, Serbian and Arabic, he was able to establish one of the oldest multi-ethnic parishes in the United States, Ss. Constantine and Helen Church in Galveston, Texas. It’s known that Fr. Theoclitos travelled extensively on the gulf coast going as far east as Mobile, Alabama, as far south as Corpus Christi, Texas, and into the interior north to Ft. Worth, San Antonio, San Angelo and Austin Texas, performing marriages and baptisms and serving liturgy wherever he found Orthodox Christians.

Read more on Fr. Theoclitos’ missionary activity in Texas and beyond, as well as his family background, education and monastic tonsure, early ministry, establishment of his Galveston parish, and his death here.