MARCH 2008

 

    Reverend Fathers, Honourable Presidents,                                                                                      

    Esteemed Members of the Boards of Directors,

    Members of the Philoptochos Societies,

    Teachers, Students, Youth of the Communities and to the

   Entire Plenitude of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada)

 

The Protagonists of March 25^th

Who they were, why they sacrificed themselves, what they await from us.

For Hellenism, March 25^th is a dual feastday. Firstly, it is the feast of the Annunciation of the All-Holy Virgin Mary, followed by the beginning of the Uprising of 1821.

The protagonists of the Annunciation of the All-Holy Mother are, of course, Christ Himself, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, the All-Holy Mother and the Archangel Gabriel.

Protagonists and heroes of the Uprising of 1821 are many. It is not possible to name all of them. The average Greek knows some of these names, such as Kolokotronis, Androutsos, Karaiskakis, Miaoulis, and Tzavelas; the founders of the Filiki Etairia, Skoufas, Tsakalof, Xanthos, and others. In essence, though, the protagonists and heroes of the Uprising of 1821 are innumerable. They were people who were both literate and illiterate. Rich and poor. People who lived in Greece and people who lived outside of Greece. They possessed, though, the same characteristics: self-denial and devotion to their cause.

Why they fought and why they sacrificed themselves

 “For the holy faith of Christ and for the nation’s freedom”. They could not live and to see their children being taken from them and forced to become janissaries and to convert to Islam. They could not tolerate seeing barbarians trounce upon and desecrate the Holy Cross in the worst possible way. There were no human rights and no protection for the Greeks. They saw their faith and their families being insulted and their souls ached in distress. In the face of this unbearable injustice, they became indignant and took an oath to fight for  “Freedom or death”. Inwardly, but also before everyone, they cried out, “Better to enjoy one hour of free life, than to suffer forty years of slavery and incarceration.” They struggled, they fought, they sacrificed themselves for their Orthodox Faith, for freedom, for their family.

What they teach us and what they ask from us

The All-Holy Virgin Mary, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Archangel Gabriel teach us humility, love, and taking care of those in need. They ask from us to cast off the burden of the yoke of sin. To return to God. To follow the ethical law. To do the will of God.  All these things are done for our benefit. For our happiness in life. For our salvation. For our return to Paradise.

The heroes of the Uprising of 1821 teach us self-sacrifice. Heroism. To appraise and to evaluate our life that can be lived in  freedom and without freedom. They teach us to decide to always support that which is right, just,  ethical, and honourable. They ask from us who live in Canada to not lose our faith, culture and values. To not abandon our Greek heritage and the ideals of our people. To not lose our language. To not renounce our Orthodox faith. To always support our home land, Greece. To live and die for Christ’s holy faith, for our nation’s freedom, for our family.

My brothers and sisters, let us celebrate this dual feastday once again this year with panegyric speeches, with doxologies, with parades, with wreath-layings. Let us celebrate, though, by remembering what the protagonists of the Annunciation and the Uprising of 1821 taught us and what they ask from us. Let us live all these things in our daily lives and let us pass them on to our children, our grandchildren and to the future generations to come. Only in this way will we truly and worthily honour Christ, the All-Holy Virgin Mary, and the heroes of the Uprising of 1821.

With fatherly love and blessings,

 

+ METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOP SOTIRIOS OF TORONTO