Celebrating the Annunciation of the Holy Theotokos and the National Day in Corfu
The Annunciation of the Holy Theotokos was celebrated along with the 198th anniversary of our National Revolution in Corfu, where the morning of Monday, March 25, 2019, at the Holy Metropolitan Church of the Virgin Mary the Spilaiotissa, Saint Vlasios and Theodora the Empress the Matin and the Divine Liturgy were made with his Eminence, the Bishop of Corfu, Paxoi and Diapontian Islands, Mr. Nektarios.
In his preaching, his Eminence pointed out that Our Lady is the One Who brings joy to all the world , in all creation, because thanks to the Annunciation, the eternal plan of God is fulfilled in the face of the Theotokos. And the timely plan, the Lord’s plan is the Incarnation of the Son and Word of God, the second Person of the Holy Trinity. The Fathers of the Church emphasize that even if there was no fall of the protoplasts, God loved to receive the created human nature. Whatever He created, He wanted to take it, to give it more glory. But with the fact of the fall and torque to man’s sin, God was more urged to come into the world and unite with the human nature, in which the whole creation is synthesized.
Moreover, the Bishop of Corfu emphasized that in The Old Testament, the Prophets preached that the Most Holy Theotokos is the gate to the east, through which no one has passed, not only the Lord God. The Virgin Mary received the Son and the Word of God, to lend exactly the whole creation created by the Lord. Within this Incarnation is the salvation of the human race. Human is united with God for grace. The humble Maryam of Nazareth is the only woman called Theotokos. A God calls the Virgin Mary as a Mother.
Saint John Damascene has so aptly mentioned that all these mysteries cannot be understood by the finite human mind. Only by faith can one understand to a point the plan of the Divine economy. Referring to the March 25th anniversary, Mr. Nektarios emphasized that the 1821 glorious fighters might not have the knowledge and education, they might not have been studying in universities but had the Theology. They loved Christ, Our Lady and our Saints with simplicity of heart. Everything they asked for in their prayers was not about fulfilling personal desires but they were asking God to free our enslaved homeland in order to freely worship the Triune God. This sacred struggle, which began on the day of the Annunciation has its significance and was first given in favor of faith and then in favor of a freedom.
Today, we have been entrusted with the preservation of the freedom granted to us by the heroes of 1821 and, on the other hand, with the vindication of their struggle.
In concluding, his Eminence wished to the faithful many and blessed years and the Exalted General to preserve our Nation in the evil times.
After the Divine Liturgy, the Doxology was invoked on the ceremony of 25 March, and then the celebratory speech of the day was made by Mr. Spyridon Pachis, a philologist-professor.
Then a memorial ceremony with the His eminence was made and the wreath was deposited in the Hero of the city, as well as the statue of Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first Governor of Greece, followed by the established parade.
