By Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden
Greece, within and beyond its borders, celebrates a unique double feast. March 25th, 1821, is both the Feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos and the anniversary of our National Rebirth.
From early on, the conscience of the Nation united these two celebrations; the proclamation of the Incarnation of God the Word and the proclamation of our national freedom.
Today’s anniversary is an occasion for joy and, at the same time, for reflection. Do we imitate the heroes/saints whom this day honors? Are we worthy successors of the heritage of our ancestors?
Saint Gregory Palamas writes that human nature was “deified,” so that through it we might be restored to our primordial beauty. This teaching shows that the Incarnation of Christ is not merely a historical moment, but the restoration of our fallen nature.
Saint John Chrysostom, in his homily on the Annunciation, explains that “an angel converses with the Virgin, so that the devil may no longer speak.”
Archangel Gabriel was sent to reveal “the universal salvation of humankind,” and the Virgin Mary became the bridge between God and humanity, the “new Eve,” through whom the “New Adam,” Christ, is born and “a new humanity” is created.
Saint Athanasius teaches that God became man so that we might become “gods” by grace; and the Virgin Mary, with her humble “Let it be to me,” cooperates in the plan of God.
The fighters of 1821 saw their struggle as a continuation of faith and national consciousness. The Revolution erupted under the motto “Freedom or Death,” but also “For the Holy Faith of Christ and the Freedom of the Fatherland.”
The Church preserved language and memory during the Ottoman period, and as Nikolaos Ypsilantis emphasized, the Revolution was associated with the Annunciation, since that day was regarded as “the proclamation of our national redemption.”
Greek poets praised freedom in verses that became national symbols. Dionysios Solomos writes in the Hymn to Liberty: “From the sacred bones of the Greeks arisen.” Freedom is born from the sacrifices of our forebears.
In the same spirit, Andreas Kalvos warns that freedom demands virtue, bravery, and self-sacrifice.
Kostis Palamas, in the hymn Victory, beholds Greece as sacred ground and sees before him Victory crowned with the wreath of freedom.
In The Free Besieged, Solomos captures the tragedy of those besieged in Mesolongi. The besieged sacrifice their lives in order to remain free.
Greek poets of every era connected national freedom with religious tradition. Michail Mitsakis and Miltos Sachtouris wrote collections entitled The Forgotten One, «Η Λησμονημένη», foretelling that historical memory is in danger of fading.
Nikos Gatsos and Manos Hadjidakis composed Tsamikos, «Τσάμικος», in which the Theotokos implores God to see “how much slavery weighs upon” the Greeks, and with her blessing, Metropolitan Germanos of Palaiai Patrai raises the Banner of the Revolution. The song encapsulates the connection between the Annunciation and the uprising.
Manos Hadjidakis, composer and poet, created in 1973–1974 the work The Age of Melissanthi, «Η εποχή της Μελισσάνθης», an autobiographical musical theatrical piece reflecting on the period of the Occupation and Liberation. At the end of the cycle is included the poem/song The Forgotten One, «Η λησμονημένη».
He notes that this setting concerns a liberation “which carried within it a second painful uprooting; violence, betrayal, and freedom granted without measure.” Thus he writes the verse: “They broke your bones, our frail children,” as a reversal of Solomos’ line: “From the sacred bones of the Greeks arisen.”
The “little forgotten one” is Greece herself, with her ideals of freedom and justice that were once glorified but quickly forgotten.
“The wind has risen and tears our sails,
the rain falls and drenches our most hidden dreams,
but you, little mad and sorrowful one,
kept saying they would come to pass, little forgotten one.
Our feet trampled upon you,
our violence made you bleed,
they broke your bones, our frail children,
and when, dry and senseless, they threw you to the ground,
who then remembered you, so saddened, little forgotten one?”
In the first stanza, the poet speaks of storms and rain destroying dreams. Yet the forgotten one continues to hope amid the tempest.
In the second stanza, the poet becomes accusatory. We ourselves trampled and wounded the little forgotten one. Our “frail children” broke her bones. Here the Solomian verse is reversed.
Instead of rising “from the sacred bones of the Greeks,” our children break the bones of Greece. The forgotten one is cast to the ground like a lifeless body; no one remembers her.
Hadjidakis implies that the freedom gained through struggle was squandered in civil strife and violence. The “little forgotten one” represents the ideals that were forgotten amid wars, divisions, and selfishness.
Some appropriated and betrayed the vision. The reversal of Solomos’ verse is a cry: instead of drawing strength from the bones of the heroes, did we ourselves shatter our inheritance?
This interpretation combines poetic sensitivity with historical critique. The “forgotten one” calls all of us to seek lost unity.
The question today is whether our modern Greek consciousness is summed up in the exaltation of the verse “From the sacred bones arisen,” or in the sorrowful realization of the little forgotten one, that “they broke your bones, our frail children.”
This reference invites us to examine whether we truly live in a manner worthy of our freedom and our faith.
The celebration of March 25 shows that Orthodoxy and Hellenism journey together. The Fathers of the Church emphasize that true freedom is first internal; liberation from the ego and from sin.
The heroes of 1821 lived freedom as inner redemption; in place of the ego, God and others reigned. Heroism is sacrifice for a spiritual ideal that inspires and transforms. This means we cannot speak of homeland and freedom without cultivating virtues such as unity, concord, and self-sacrifice.
Orthodox Tradition views history within the plan of salvation; thus the God-bearing Fathers call the faithful to unite national memory with spiritual memory; to remember the miracles of God and the achievements of the heroes.
Let us, therefore, keep alive the vision of the heroes; let us cultivate the virtue and boldness that freedom requires; and let us remember that the homeland is our daily responsibility.
Long live March 25, 1821!
Long live the Nation!
