By Bishop Gregorios of Mesaoria
Today, September 8, the Sunday before the Universal Exaltation of the Precious Cross, which is celebrated on September 14, our Church commemorates the Nativity of Mary.
The Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary has a special place in the Orthodox liturgical calendar. If the first woman, Eve, with the sin of disobedience, together with Adam, led all to be expelled from the Garden of Eden and suffer the dominion of death, the obedience of the Theotokos to the will of God will set us free and lead us to the Resurrection of humankind through Jesus Christ, and thus to the salvation of all.
Her pious parents, Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, did not lose hope in God’s mercy and prayed daily to have a child. God heard their prayers and fulfilled their petition: to be the parents of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, the future Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ
The Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary is celebrated by the Church as a day of universal joy. The Mother of Life, cleansed of the ancestral sin through the advent of the Holy Spirit, which she inherited from her parents, brought joy, broke the curse, dispersed the darkness of sin, and freed all people from the corruption and death.
SOURCE: Church of Cyprus
