There is no human tongue that can express the gratitude the human soul feels towards the Mother of God. She is the Mother of Light, through Whom the Sun of Righteousness came down to Earth and shone forth; the Mother of the Fountain of Life, for from Her well the thirsty humanity has drunk; the Gate of Salvation, for through Her womb the Savior of all passed and entered into the world. The immovable pillar of the faith of the cross and resurrection, the fragrant aroma of love, the foundation of hope, the touch with eternity, the lamp lit that leads man through every endeavor. Indeed, there is no brighter example than Hers, for all who wish to please God. For, no one born on Earth has done more than She, no one has dedicated their life to God to the extent She has. The Immaculate Mother is the purest and most sublime pattern of humanity, for even in the moment of Her greatest glory, when She was chosen to become the Mother of God, and in the hour of the most unbearable pain and greatest sorrow, when at the foot of the dreadful sight of the Cross “a sword pierced through Her own soul,” She unwaveringly expressed Her faithfulness to God. Therefore, She has become a firm support for all who with faith restrain themselves and humbly carry their cross, stepping towards Christ.
With such feelings and thoughts were all those present filled at the third Great Lenten Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos, whose central celebration took place in the Monastery of the Most Pure in Kichevo. There, in the Abode of the Mother of the human race and the protector of monks, the akathist praise was offered from the tender soul and the gentle heart of the beloved Metropolitan of Imvros and Tenedos, His Eminence Cyril. He arrived in the Holy Abode together with the esteemed Metropolitan of Didymoteichon, Orestiada, and Soufli, His Eminence Damaskinos, from the Orthodox Church of Greece, who, in fact, visited our monastic community for the first time. Consequently, the honorable guests were first treated to the traditional and solemn monastic welcome, during which followed the fraternal addresses, first from our Elder, the Most Reverend Bishop of Antania, His Grace Partenij:
“Your Eminences, holy Metropolitans of Imvros and Tenedos, His Eminence Cyril,
Your Eminences, holy Metropolitan of Didymoteichon, Orestiada, and Soufli, His Eminence Damaskinos,
In these hours, filled with joyful anticipation and spiritual pre-tasting of the grace that is about to visit us, with the deepest respect and joyful heart, in the name of this renewed Sacred Abode of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and the sisters who serve and struggle under Her Maternal protection, we warmly and heartily welcome you. We wish you a good stay in these sanctified by monastic endeavor spaces, in this ancient Sanctuary, founded by the first benefactors, the pious Roman emperors Andronicus and Michael, which testifies to the unceasing presence and grace of the Most Holy among us.
Your coming here at this blessed moment, on the eve of the feast of the Annunciation, is an expression of that mysterious meeting between God and man, and between man and man, which the Virgin Mary once and for all enabled for us with Her fate-deciding: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word! (Luke 1:38) Your visit here not only fills us with immense gratitude and honor but adds yet another rich page to the chronicle of this Holy Abode and our Church.
In Your presence, we see another iconography – of the true ecclesiastical community, one that flows from the very heart of the Church and is always interwoven with the bonds of love and the boundaries of peace. This community, established in Christ and through Christ, reminds us that our ultimate calling and goal is the communion in the life of the Holy Trinity.
Allow me, Holy Archbishops, to use this greeting on the occasion of the first visit of His Eminence Metropolitan Mr. Damaskinos to us, to express my deep gratitude and respect for your efforts, dedication, and support in the process of the canonical recognition of the renewed Ohrid Archdiocese, which was announced by the decision, full of love and care, of His All-Holiness, the Patriarch of the Orthodox Mr. Mr. Bartholomew.
In this your condescending care, we see the action of Divine grace, which leads to healing and renewal of the entire body of the Church. Your role and contribution, well known to us, in that historic decision, are a testimony to a clear ecclesiastical vision and the pastoral care towards God’s people. Our gratitude for this sacred historical act, through you, we extend also to all others, known and unknown, church-minded people of God, who chose to sacrifice themselves for the well-being of the Church and for the spiritual health of the Christ-named people among us.
Gratitude, as a fundamental virtue in our Christian life, reminds us that every gift, every grace we receive, is a fruit of God’s love and mercy towards us, and therefore the Eucharist is the ultimate expression of our faith and spirituality and is key to the blessings that come from above, from the Father of Lights. By valuing and giving thanks to our benefactors, we draw closer to the center of Divine love and wisdom.
In this spirit, Your presence among us is an opportunity to repeat once more, but never for the last time, our sacred gratitude towards the Giver Lord, as well as towards the great Father of the Church of God in our time, His Divine Holiness, Archbishop of New Rome – Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Mr. Bartholomew, the healer of our bitter multi-decade wound, who is a true embodiment of the pastoral and fatherly love of the Great Archbishop, our Lord Jesus Christ.
I would like to assure you, Holy Archbishops, that your presence among us is not only a cause for our personal joy but also for the joy of the entire ecclesiastical community with us, because the faithful here experience you as a refreshment of their faith, as a grace-filled power for spiritual flight, but they see this sacred scene also as a sense of unity and conciliarity, as a communion in the unity of heart and spirit – something from which we and our ancestors, due to unpastoral and unloving reasons, have been deprived for a long time. You bring with you the blessings and the light from the prayers of the Throne-bearing Ecumenical Patriarchate and from the brotherly Orthodox Church of Greece, to the faithful people of the most holy for us Ohrid Archdiocese and we rejoice for this opportunity, as well as for every other communion with the different co-believers, with the language of the psalmist: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Ps. 133:1)
With the deepest feelings of respect and gratitude, once again we wish you a welcome in our monasteries and in our hearts. May your stay here be filled with peace, joy, and spiritual refreshment.
And as we have gathered together in this prayerful Home of the Queen Mother, to celebrate her Annunciation, may our common prayers be bright examples of the unity in Christ, be a source of hope and renewal for the sin-weary world, be a visible sign of the power of the Orthodox, which consists in that liturgical Trinitarian exclamation: ‘Let us love one another, that with one accord we may confess’.
Many years to you!”
In response to this address from our Elder, with particular love and cordiality, the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Didymoteichon, Orestiada, and Soufli, His Eminence Damaskinos, replied:
„“Most Reverend and most beloved Elder, holy Bishop of Antania, His Grace Partenij,
With special emotion, but also with joy, exultation, and merriment, His Eminence the Metropolitan of Imvros and Tenedos, Mr. Cyril, from the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and I, from the Church of Greece, visit your homeland, your monasteries, and rejoice because we have this special blessing to co-serve and pray together with you, following the historic decision of our Ecumenical Patriarch, His All-Holiness Bartholomew, on May 9, 2022.
I must confess that I have long desired to meet the dear brother Bishop Partenij, to embrace him, and to co-serve with him. He was one of the first brothers who, at a chance meeting, explained to us the longing and difficulties of the entire endeavor to restore the Eucharistic communion of the local Church with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and with the sister Orthodox Churches. And this wish was fulfilled today, thanks to the invitation I had from your side and the encouragement of the dear brother, His Eminence the Metropolitan of Imvros and Tenedos, Mr. Cyril, who was one of the working protagonists of the Church of Constantinople to achieve the desired outcome.
Thus, today, as you very aptly said, recalling the Psalmist: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity, we are close to one another, to unite our prayer to the throne of God and to thank the Most Holy Virgin, whose Annunciation we shall celebrate the day after tomorrow. The Theotokos brought the Savior Christ into the world, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, to lead us out of darkness into light; to grant us the perspective towards the lost Paradise; to open the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. And as we pass through the beneficial and tender period of the Holy and Great Lent, we increasingly realize that the path to salvation passes through the Cross. The noble, pious, and Christ-loving people of this beautiful land undoubtedly carried their cross for many decades. The crucifixion lasted many years. But behold, now we live the Resurrection! We live the joy of communion, of fellowship among us. And certainly, to reach this point, it took many people to sacrifice themselves. One of those who offered themselves and their precious efforts and capabilities for this cause was the chosen and dear brother Bishop Partenij, who over many years, bit by bit, stone by stone, first built the souls of people; nurtured the souls of so many fathers and brothers monks and sister nuns, so that so many monasteries might live, but above all – in the storehouse of people’s souls once again ignited the lamp of faith and hope. I praise God for guiding my steps to this holy place, to the Sacred Abode of the Annunciation of the Theotokos near Kichevo, to meet an extraordinary brother, to meet all those who struggle together with him: both monks and nuns, but also the Christ-loving flock of this church community.
Thus, today, as you very aptly said, recalling the Psalmist: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity, we are close to one another, to unite our prayer to the throne of God and to thank the Most Holy Virgin, whose Annunciation we shall celebrate the day after tomorrow. The Theotokos brought the Savior Christ into the world, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, to lead us out of darkness into light; to grant us the perspective towards the lost Paradise; to open the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. And as we pass through the beneficial and tender period of the Holy and Great Lent, we increasingly realize that the path to salvation passes through the Cross. The noble, pious, and Christ-loving people of this beautiful land undoubtedly carried their cross for many decades. The crucifixion lasted many years. But behold, now we live the Resurrection! We live the joy of communion, of fellowship among us. And certainly, to reach this point, it took many people to sacrifice themselves. One of those who offered themselves and their precious efforts and capabilities for this cause was the chosen and dear brother Bishop Partenij, who over many years, bit by bit, stone by stone, first built the souls of people; nurtured the souls of so many fathers and brothers monks and sister nuns, so that so many monasteries might live, but above all – in the storehouse of people’s souls once again ignited the lamp of faith and hope. I praise God for guiding my steps to this holy place, to the Sacred Abode of the Annunciation of the Theotokos near Kichevo, to meet an extraordinary brother, to meet all those who struggle together with him: both monks and nuns, but also the Christ-loving flock of this church community.
I would ask you, my dear brothers and sisters, to pray. To pray that this joy of our spiritual communion remains eternal. We are brothers, my beloved! Perhaps we speak different languages, perhaps we have different identities, but let’s not forget that in us are the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. We are the New Israel, and our true Homeland is the Upper Jerusalem. In that Homeland, there are no nations, no languages, no tribes. In that new Homeland, there is only Christ.
With these few reflections, I want to once again thank you for the welcome, to the holy abbot, to the abbesses, to the brotherhood, to the sisterhood, and to all of you. And to wish, my dear brothers and sisters, that you always be in peace. And through the intercession of our Most Holy Theotokos, Jesus Christ, Who was incarnate for our salvation, to give you joy, happiness, hope, and comfort to all of you and to your families. And to our abbot, Bishop Partenij, to give him enlightenment and strength to fulfill his ministry, for the glory of God and for the dignity of His Holy Church.
Many years to you!”
With grace-filled joy in their hearts and gratitude, appropriate gifts were given to the guests by our Elder, Bishop Mr. Partenij, after which followed the third Akathist praise to the Most Holy Mother of God. This time, the joyful greetings to the Queen of Angels came from the quivering lips and grace-blessed heart of His Eminence the Metropolitan of Imvros and Tenedos, Mr. Cyril.
