At 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, 12th/25th March 2025, a Doxology was held at the Catholicon of the Holy Sepulchre as a thanksgiving to God for the liberation of our nation from the Ottoman yoke in 1821 and as a prayer for the repose of the souls of our fathers who fell in this struggle.
The Doxology was presided over by Patriarch Theophilos, with the participation of the Archbishops and Hieromonks of the Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood, the chanting of the Head Cantor of the Holy Sepulchre, Deacon Eustathios, and the students of the Patriarchal School of Sion. Present were the General Consul of Greece in Jerusalem, Mr. Dimitrios Angelosopoulos, members of the Greek Consulate, teachers of the Patriarchate’s schools in Jerusalem, local monks from Jerusalem, and a few pilgrims.
After the Doxology, there was an ascent to the Patriarchate, where a reception was held.
At this point, Patriarch Theophilos delivered the following address:
“Come with zeal in this time, to take an oath upon the Cross; raise the Cross high on the banners, and strike the enemy as with lightning bolts; let the Cross shine firm and strong over the seas, and may the enemy bow to justice.” This is the call of Rigas Ferraios in his revolutionary hymn, Thourios.
Your Excellency, Consul General of Greece, Mr Dimitrios Angelosopoulos,
Revered Holy Fathers and Brothers,
Beloved Brothers and sisters in Christ,
The anniversary of the Revolution of 25th March 1821, against the tyrannical and barbaric enslavement of the Ottomans, represents a momentous event in the national consciousness of the enslaved Greeks, driven both by their longing for the divinely gifted good of freedom and independence. For this reason, the Revolution of 1821 is recognised as a unique event in world history.
The revolutionary slogan of Theodoros Kolokotronis, the Elder of Moria: “Now the struggle is for the holy faith of Christ and for the freedom of the homeland,” clearly demonstrated that the initial motivations for the struggle to cast off the Ottoman yoke were rooted in the noble moral Greek-Christian values of faith in God and the sanctity of the institution of the homeland, as it is similarly expressed in the preaching of the Apostle Paul: “Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.” (1 Corinthians 7:23), and “God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth… and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” (Acts 17:26).
On the other hand, the Bishop of Old Patras, Germanos, who proclaimed the beginning of the liberation struggle of the “Greek slaves,” blessing and raising the Banner of the Revolution on 25th March 1821, the day of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, listened to the divine command of the Apostle Paul: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1).
The grandeur of the Revolution of 1821, which sealed the modern history of Hellenism, is a miracle based not on external ideological forces, but on the self-awareness of the Greek Orthodox Christian spirit of its fighters and martyrs. This spirit formed the essence of the Revolution.
It has been rightly said that the year 1821 is “a striking, spiritual vision, a world that fulfills the highest duty of liberty without ever withdrawing its gaze from Heaven.” This is testified by the motto of Dimitrios Ypsilantis: “Either we will win today, or we will die.”
The distinguishing feature of the Revolution of 1821 is that personalities arose, becoming examples of patriotism and martyrs of faith. Therefore, the year 1821 remains “a light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.” (Luke 1:79) In our modern world of confusion, blasphemy, pride, folly, and the desecration of the natural order and common human moral values, especially national freedom, “won from the bones of the sacred Greeks,” as the enlightened poet Dionysios Solomos wrote.
“Remarkable and unquestionable is the contribution of the Church to the national struggle for freedom, through the universal and blood-sacrificial participation of its clergy, including the members of our Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood. Well-known and unknown Hierarchs, Bishops, Hegumens of Monasteries, and countless Monks were at the forefront of the sacred struggle for the Faith and the Homeland, not only morally but also sacrificially, nourishing the tree of freedom with their martyrs’ blood.”
Our venerable Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood, gratefully honouring and dutifully participating in the sacred commemoration of the rebirth from the ashes of the pious Royal Roman Dynasty and our blessed Nation, went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of our Saviour Christ, where we offered hymns of thanksgiving and praise to the Holy Triune God. Moreover, we rendered fervent prayers and supplications for the peaceful repose of the blessed souls of those who heroically fought for the Faith and the Homeland, and who gloriously fell in the holy struggle of our nation.
“For all these, allow us to raise our cup and fittingly proclaim:
Long live the 25th of March, 1821!
Long live the pious and Royal Roman Orthodox nation!
Long live Greece!
Long live our Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood!”
…and in Arabic, it was delivered by Father Issa Mousleh.
