14 October 2024
Dear brothers and sisters!
Happy great Feast of the Protection of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary!
This Feast, particularly loved by our people, is a story of most great humility of men before God, most great trust in Him, and devotion to Him alone. And it is also a story of most great love of the Saviour and His Most Pure Mother for the Orthodox Church and people of God.
In 910, the Orthodox citizens of the capital of the Byzantine Empire were faced with a threat of invasion and destruction by cruel barbarians. Assessing with a sober mind their forces and chances, they made a difficult but, as it turned out, the right choice with their hearts: they had enough faith and common sense not to rush into an uneven battle, but to completely entrust themselves to God's will. In response to everyone's repentance, the Most Holy Theotokos covered those who were praying in the church with Her Holy Protecting Veil, and the storm which had suddenly come up scattered the aggressor's fleet.
Five centuries later, everything happened exactly the opposite. The residents of Constantinople, beseiged by the Ottoman army, had lost their former power of faith. At the time, they obeyed more their people in power than God. And those in power, hoping to get financial and military assistance, entrusted themselves not to the Most Holy Theotokos, but to their Western partners. For that sake, they were ready to renounce even their main inheritance — the Orthodox confession of the Christian faith, the foundation upon which the Eastern Roman Empire had stood for more than a thousand years, and to accept an artificial unia.
As a result, they were left with nothing: their partners let them down, and, most importantly, they lost the invisible Protection of the Queen of Heaven, which had kept the Orthodox people. In 1453, Constantinople fell, as well as all the remnants of the once great, sublime, and enlightened Byzantine Empire.
The lessons of faraway history are very important for today's Ukraine. The Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos is a feast which reminds that faith and faithfulness, love and forgiveness work wonders, invoke God's blessing, and give help and protection of the Queen of Heaven. Persistence in pride, envy, greed, and hatred is a path to vanishing from the stage of world history and to eternal death.
Today, all of us should think about and remember that peace is a priceless gift of God, which should incessantly and fervently be prayed for. That the true One Catholic and Apostolic Church is the Body of Christ, crucified again and again for the sake of the salvation of everyone, including her persecutors and oppressors. That only the power of the Cross of Christ gives us the right to forgive and to heal spiritual diseases — the causes of any evil. That the Most Holy Theotokos always stands by those who do not lose faith or hope for Her intercession and who remain faithful to Her Divine Son and His Holy Church.
So let us not despair! Amidst the seemingly hopeless darkness of this age, we are always covered by the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God, which shines with grace, and the warmth of Her love.
Once again, happy Feast, dear brothers and sisters!
I wish you all the Protection and blessing of the Queen of Heaven!
All related news Happy great Feast of the Protection of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary!
This Feast, particularly loved by our people, is a story of most great humility of men before God, most great trust in Him, and devotion to Him alone. And it is also a story of most great love of the Saviour and His Most Pure Mother for the Orthodox Church and people of God.
In 910, the Orthodox citizens of the capital of the Byzantine Empire were faced with a threat of invasion and destruction by cruel barbarians. Assessing with a sober mind their forces and chances, they made a difficult but, as it turned out, the right choice with their hearts: they had enough faith and common sense not to rush into an uneven battle, but to completely entrust themselves to God's will. In response to everyone's repentance, the Most Holy Theotokos covered those who were praying in the church with Her Holy Protecting Veil, and the storm which had suddenly come up scattered the aggressor's fleet.
Five centuries later, everything happened exactly the opposite. The residents of Constantinople, beseiged by the Ottoman army, had lost their former power of faith. At the time, they obeyed more their people in power than God. And those in power, hoping to get financial and military assistance, entrusted themselves not to the Most Holy Theotokos, but to their Western partners. For that sake, they were ready to renounce even their main inheritance — the Orthodox confession of the Christian faith, the foundation upon which the Eastern Roman Empire had stood for more than a thousand years, and to accept an artificial unia.
As a result, they were left with nothing: their partners let them down, and, most importantly, they lost the invisible Protection of the Queen of Heaven, which had kept the Orthodox people. In 1453, Constantinople fell, as well as all the remnants of the once great, sublime, and enlightened Byzantine Empire.
The lessons of faraway history are very important for today's Ukraine. The Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos is a feast which reminds that faith and faithfulness, love and forgiveness work wonders, invoke God's blessing, and give help and protection of the Queen of Heaven. Persistence in pride, envy, greed, and hatred is a path to vanishing from the stage of world history and to eternal death.
Today, all of us should think about and remember that peace is a priceless gift of God, which should incessantly and fervently be prayed for. That the true One Catholic and Apostolic Church is the Body of Christ, crucified again and again for the sake of the salvation of everyone, including her persecutors and oppressors. That only the power of the Cross of Christ gives us the right to forgive and to heal spiritual diseases — the causes of any evil. That the Most Holy Theotokos always stands by those who do not lose faith or hope for Her intercession and who remain faithful to Her Divine Son and His Holy Church.
So let us not despair! Amidst the seemingly hopeless darkness of this age, we are always covered by the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God, which shines with grace, and the warmth of Her love.
Once again, happy Feast, dear brothers and sisters!
I wish you all the Protection and blessing of the Queen of Heaven!
