The first Feast of the Theotokos of the ecclesiastical year, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was celebrated solemnly this year in Nicosia.
Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus presided over the Orthros and then officiated the Festal Archieratic Divine Liturgy in the Monastery of Panagia Makedonitissa.
In his speech, the Archbishop stated, “While being human like us, through her spiritual struggle and her voluntary adherence to the will of God, the Virgin Mary managed to be sinless.”
Our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos was the gift given to her pious parents for their prayer and faith in the Lord. However, she was born with the ancestral sin. Her parents played a crucial role in her upbringing, who led her to devote herself to the temple from a very young age. I would at this point also like to stress that we should not put the blame solely on the young people for the mistakes they made. We, the adults, are the ones to blame, in the first place, for these mistakes, always taking into consideration the upbringing and the role models we offered them.”
After the Divine Liturgy and for the second time, following a decision of the Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus, according to which the official day of the Cypriot Armed Forces has been established on September 8, the Nativity of Mary, a festal doxology was celebrated in honour of the Theotokos by Archbishop Chrysostomos in Hagia Sophia in Strovolos.
SOURCE: Church of Cyprus
