BISHOP OF CORFU, MR. NEKTARIOS: “LADY THEOTOKOS IS THE GATE TO HEAVENS”
On the evening of Monday, September 7, 2020, His Eminence the Bishop of Corfu, Paxos and the Diapontian Islands, Mr. Nektarios, did the Vespers of the celebrating Holy Temple of Lambovitissa in Vatos.
Speaking to the faithful, Mr. Nektarios stressed that birthdays in the Church are not celebrated, as it is preceded by the nominal feast of man, which connects him with his patron saint. But we celebrate the birthdays of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist.
We celebrate the birthday of the Virgin Mary, because she collaborated with God to lead us to salvation, to sanctification, to assimilation. This is the purpose of our life, in order to avoid temptation. Our Lady shows us the way of our cooperation with God. God sees our choice and responds to it. We humans ascend the spiritual ladder to heaven and meet the gate of heaven which is our Virgin. Our Lady shows us what it means to live life in Christ and this starts from the earthly temple, so that we can spend our time marked by events of fear, denial of faith and cooperation with God.
