Archbishop of Australia: We bow our knees before the Mother of God and, at the same time before our brave ancestors

Archbishop Makarios of Australia, sent his message for the feast of March 25.

As he mentions, today we bow our knees before the Mother of God and at the same time before our brave ancestors. We bow down with respect and gratitude to the Virgin Mary “Full of Mercy”, who freed the human race from sin, and to the Heroes of the Revolution of 1821, who with their struggle and sacrifice freed the Greek nation from centuries of slavery has.

He also noted that if there is a lesson to be learned from these two great events we celebrate today – the Annunciation of the Theotokos and our national rebirth, it is to ensure the virtue of freedom – whether on an individual, national or global level -supposing that we are not so much endowed with material means, but primarily spiritual.

You can read the message of Archbishop Makarios of Australia on the occasion of the feast of the 25th of March

Reverend brother fellow bishops and beloved children,

Feelings of spiritual reverence and national pride flood our hearts today, as we bow our knees before the Mother of God and at the same time before our brave ancestors. We bow down with respect and gratitude to the Virgin Mary “Full of Mercy”, who freed the human race from sin, and to the Heroes of the Revolution of 1821, who with their struggle and sacrifice freed the Greek nation from centuries of slavery has.

By accepting the message of Archangel Gabriel, the Theotokos cooperated in God’s plan for mankind’s salvation. With her free will she agreed to give birth to the God-Man in her womb – not without a sense of concern and reservation, however.

The concerns she had stemmed from her human nature. Nevertheless, because of her deep and sincere faith in God, she finally obeyed His will and refused to yield to the reservations that stem from human nature. For this redemptive and saving decision she is glorified today and will be glorified for all ages as the holiest person of mankind.

Similarly, our forefathers who decided to rebel and were determined to shed their blood for the sake of freedom overcame their formidable internal reservations, hesitations and anxieties. Moreover, their human nature and worldly logic far from encouraged their intention to rebel, which would see them face a disproportionately strong, numerically large and organized army.

And yet, with deep faith in God and love of country, they overcame their personal will and the resistance of their own human nature. They dared to take a leap of faith and thus give the next generations of Greeks the highest virtue of freedom. For this reason they passed into the “Pantheon” of the glorious heroes of our country, and Hellenes all over the world honor them today and will continue to do so, forever.

dear friends,

If there is a lesson to be learned from these two great events we celebrate today – the Annunciation of the Theotokos and our National Rebirth, it is that securing the virtue of freedom – whether at the individual, national or global level – presupposes that we are not so much endowed with material means as, primarily, spiritual.

It presupposes that we have deep faith, values ​​and ideals with which we will mainly be able to shake off our inner shackles: the reservations, hesitations and the worldly logic, which drives us to despair.

A person who believes in God and has the values ​​and ideals of our forefathers deeply rooted in their soul undoubtedly has an inner strength that enables them to go the extra mile and be ready to achieve personal and collective freedom and salvation to defend. We should imitate this model of the free man as well as cultivate it in the younger generations.

With these thoughts, I wish everyone many blessed years of freedom!