"It's our duty from the position we have to offer together, so that we can go to the opposite bank ", stressed the Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece Ieronymos from I.N.. Assumption of the Virgin Taurus, where he performed the sacrament of Holy Communion.
Subsequently, referred to the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, to note that "if we had the opportunity to spread the wings of our imagination where there are Orthodox Christians, we would see thousands of people leading their steps to sacred places, in temples of the Virgin, in pilgrimages, in monasteries, in sacred icons, to praise her, to praise her ".
In addition, spoke about the Church Fathers who compared the Virgin Mary with Eve and stressed that "the way they deal with the will and communication with God is different. Eva, while living privilegedly in Paradise, rebelled. The holy mary, on her side, which grew up in a difficult place, in Nazareth, did not deny the words of the Archangel ". "These are two different challenges", The Archbishop added and pointed out that "These two persons while they seem to be far away - in time and locally- it's close, because they are inside each of us. Every time we get angry and rebel, considering that we can proceed independently on our own, then the world of Eva dominates within us. When, Nevertheless, we want to return close to God then the world of the Virgin Mary dominates ".
Archbishop Ieronymos also spoke about the difficulties the country is going through from the pandemic, but also from deadly fires, and invited the faithful to leave the temple listening to the Virgin Mary and denying Eve. "The holy mary, after all, is the broker ", said the Primate of the Greek Church and underlined: "Let us leave with the conviction that within us everyone chooses the world of the Virgin Mary because she can do the miracle to each of us".
The bishop of Oreon, Philotheos, participated, Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, the first council of the Archdiocese, Archimandrite Barnabas Theocharis, the priests of the temple, archimandrites Raphael Karakehagias and Ireneos Nakos, and the archdeacon p. Ioannis Boutsis.
The “present” gave representatives of the local authorities and hundreds of believers, in compliance with the health protocol and the appropriate protection measures against coronavirus covid-19.
"Today is a great day for Orthodoxy and it is a hope for all of us. Hope for the faces, for families, for the homeland, for our problems. Let us wish the Virgin Mary to help us ", the Archbishop told reporters after the Divine Liturgy.