In an atmosphere of prayerful devotion, the First Supplicatory Canon to the Most Holy Theotokos was celebrated on the evening of Sunday, 2 August, at the packed Cathedral of the Annunciation of Our Lady in Sydney, presided over by Archbishop Makarios of Australia. Praying together with the Shepherd of the Fifth Continent were Their Graces the Choroepiskopoi, Bishop Elpidios of Perth and Bishop Kyriakos of Melbourne; Their Graces the Assistant Bishops, Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Saint George at Yellow Rock; Bishop Christodoulos of Magnesia, Chief Secretary of the Holy Eparchial Synod; and Bishop Christophoros of Kerasounta, Chancellor of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia. Also present were numerous clergy from the city of Sydney; presidents and representatives of organisations and institutions of the Holy Archdiocese; religious education teachers; the presidents and members of GO Youth New South Wales and the New South Wales Students Orthodox Fellowship “Sofia”; and many students from the Greek Orthodox Day Schools and Sunday Schools.
As the service marked the beginning of the period of spiritual preparation for the faithful ahead of the celebration of the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, Archbishop Makarios referred in his address to the prominent place occupied by the Panagia in the life of the Church and at the heart of our faith. Among other things, he emphasised: “We honour the Most Holy Theotokos because, through her, our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world for our salvation.”
Focusing on the Theotokos’ free acceptance of the divine will, Archbishop Makarios observed that she constitutes the supreme example of humility and obedience. “The Church never ceases to honour the Mother of God,” he stressed, “not because she sought greatness, honour or glory, but precisely because she sought only to fulfil the will of God; because she is an example of what it means to respond completely to the Lord’s love and to unite ourselves fully with His divine will; of what it means to allow Christ to dwell within us, so that our lives may become a living expression of His presence and grace.”
Archbishop Makarios then emphasised that the Theotokos’ “yes” to the Archangel at the Annunciation is not merely an event belonging to the distant past, but a model and calling for every Christian life. “Just as she entrusted herself completely to the will of God,” he noted, “so too are we called each day to surrender our lives into the hands of the loving Lord, with trust, freedom and joy. Only by surrendering ourselves to Christ do we discover the freedom for which we were created, the peace for which our hearts thirst and the fullness of life for which every human soul longs.”
Concluding his address, Archbishop Makarios observed that today’s world “constantly attempts to convince us that fulfilment is found in self-sufficiency, worldly success and the pursuit of fleeting desires.” He emphasised, however, that the Gospel proclaims an entirely different truth: “Life without Christ is death, while with Christ, even death becomes a gateway to eternal life.”
“This is precisely what the Church will proclaim during the Feast of the Dormition: that, through her falling asleep, the Theotokos was translated into life,” he pointed out, adding: “Far from Him, the human heart gradually withers, irrespective of whatever worldly achievements a person may have attained. When, however, it is united with Him, when He comes and dwells within us, then suffering is transformed into hope, every trial becomes an opportunity for grace, and death itself loses its sting, opening before us the endless horizons of eternity and the inexhaustible joy of the Kingdom of God, where everything is filled with the fragrance of Paradise.”
