“Rightly and worthily, therefore, we honour today the venerable person of our Most Holy Theotokos and the heroes of the Greek Revolution of 1821” notes Archbishop Makarios of Australia in his message for the Feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos and of the Greek National Rebirth.
However, he emphasises that this honour will be genuine if we reflect that the two great chapters opened through these events, namely, the salvation of the human race and the independence of the motherland, respectively—“ do not constitute fixed, irreversible, and unchangeable realities.”
“In other words,” he adds, “we do not merely take pride in our faith and our glorious history. We are also obliged, as persons, to assume our responsibilities.”
Praying that peace may prevail throughout the world and in the hearts of all people, the Archbishop concludes by expressing the wish “that we may prove worthy of the gifts granted to us—able to free ourselves from every kind of bondage, both internal and external—and to pass on this precious ethos to future generations.”
The full Message of Archbishop Makarios follows:
“Today is the crowning moment of our salvation…”
Today, we celebrate two great events. First, the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, through which the beginning was made, the foundation was laid—or, as the dismissal hymn of the feast also says, the chapter of humanity’s salvation was opened. With that humble “Be it unto me according to your word,” our All-Holy Lady accepted to become the dwelling place of the Uncontainable One, thus cooperating in the pre-eternal plan of God for the salvation of the human race.
The second great event that we celebrate today is the uprising of our forefathers in March of 1821. This event marks the opening of another important chapter—the chapter of the independence of our motherland. The Greeks struggled with admirable courage and a spirit of self-sacrifice, “for the Holy Faith of Christ and the freedom of the homeland.” Thus, they succeeded in freeing themselves from the bonds of long-standing slavery and in handing down a free and independent Greece to the generations that followed.
Rightly and worthily, therefore, we honour today the venerable person of our Most Holy Theotokos and the heroes of the Greek Revolution of 1821. Yet this honour will be genuine if we reflect that these two great chapters do not constitute fixed, irreversible, and unchangeable realities. In other words, we do not merely take pride in our faith and our glorious history. We are also obliged, as persons, to assume our responsibilities.
Our salvation constitutes the possibility of participation in the “true life,” which was restored after our liberation from ancestral sin. It is a gift offered to us by God, but it is not imposed. It depends, therefore, on the free will of each one of us. We choose whether we will accept this inestimable gift or reject it. We choose whether we will follow the example of the Theotokos, harmonising our life with the will of God, or whether we will once again distance ourselves from our Creator and Saviour, submitting to the “ego,” as the first-formed once chose.
Similarly, as we pass through a period of widespread unrest and military conflicts in many parts of our world, it becomes ever more evident that the freedom of a people, their self-determination and independence, as well as peace and prosperity, cannot be regarded as given or unassailable realities. Constant vigilance is required, together with the forging of unity and devotion to the noble ideals that inspired our forefathers in the great and critical moments of our nation’s history.
With these thoughts, I pray that peace may prevail throughout the world and in the hearts of all people, and I wish that we may prove worthy of the gifts granted to us—able to free ourselves from every kind of bondage, both internal and external—and to pass on this precious ethos to future generations.
Many years to all—peaceful, free and salvific!
