On Monday, March 24, Archbishop Makarios of Australia presided over the Great Festive Vespers for the Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos at the Cathedral of Sydney.
Also officiating at the service were Metropolitan Seraphim of Sebasteia, Bishops Prodromos of Toliara and South Madagascar, Elpidios of Perth, Iakovos of Militoupolis, and Christodoulos of Magnesia, Chief Secretary of the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Archdiocese of Australia.
The Protosyncellus and Hierarchical Head of the Cathedral, Archimandrite Christoforos Krikelis of the Ecumenical Throne, participated, along with Hieromonk Fr. Antipas, Elder of the Iberian Cell of Saint Anne in Karyes on Mount Athos, and a number of clergy from the city of Sydney.
At the conclusion of the Vespers, and before the homily, Archbishop Makarios offered warm and fraternal words of welcome to the assembled Hierarchs and especially to Hieromonk Fr. Antipas of Mount Athos, who is currently visiting Australia to minister the Mystery of Holy Confession during Holy and Great Lent.
Then, praising the All-Holy God, he expressed his joy and satisfaction regarding the progress of the renovation works at the Holy Cathedral—a demanding project that is now nearing completion. “This is the house of the Virgin Mary,” he noted, “and the house of the Virgin Mary must be the most beautiful in all of Australia.”
“And it will be,” he emphasized, “because it stands as a glorious witness to the immigrants who came here, worked, toiled, and struggled.”
Turning his attention to the world-saving event of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, the Archbishop highlighted the obedience shown by the Ever-Virgin Mary to the will of God. He pointed out that, unlike Eve—who through her disobedience brought the humankind out of Paradise—the Virgin Mary, as the “New Eve,” reopened the doors of Paradise with her response: “Behold the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
Finally, Archbishop Makarios spoke with pride about the National Anniversary of the Greek Revolution of 1821 and emphasized the fundamental role played by the Orthodox faith in the uprising and the liberation of the enslaved Greeks.
Citing the words of the Commander-in-Chief of the National Uprising himself, Theodoros Kolokotronis—”When we captured the chariots, we said: first for our faith, and then for our homeland”—the Archbishop urged everyone never to forget this historical truth, which laid the foundation for the future course of the Greek nation. “When we forget this,” he stressed, “we do not lose our faith—because faith will endure for centuries—but we lose our Greek identity.
There can be no Greek identity without the Orthodox faith. There can be no Greece without Gospel. There can be no Greece without Christ. And if we attempt to separate Hellenism from faith in Christ in the name of modernism, progress, and all that is proclaimed from time to time, we will fail.
The Church will remain, but our Nation—our state, our language, our traditions, our customs—will be lost. That is why we must keep the words of Theodoros Kolokotronis ever present in our ears.”
