WESTFIELD, NJ –
“The Orthodox Church has always been the ark of the Nation, preserving the Orthodox faith, the Greek language, and our identity”, states Metropolitan Apostolos of New Jersey in his message for the Feast of the Annunciation and Greek Independence Day. The full text of the message follows:
“My beloved Reverend Fathers and beloved brothers and sisters,
“Rejoice, O earth, with great joy; praise, O heavens, the glory of God”.
In the light of this sacred exhortation, on this great feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, our Church calls us to live the joyful message of the faith as a source of life, hope, and freedom.
During these holy days, we turn our memory and our hearts to the struggles of our Greek Nation, where faith and homeland walked inseparably together. The great general Theodoros Kolokotronis proclaimed with boldness: “First for faith and then for the homeland”, reminding us that freedom is not only the fruit of struggles, but also a gift of God, grounded in faith and unity.
The Orthodox Church has always been the ark of the Nation, preserving the Orthodox faith, the Greek language, and our identity. Today, both clergy and faithful are called to prove worthy of this sacred inheritance: to keep the flame of faith unextinguished and to pass on to our children the values that have shaped the soul of the Greek Nation.
Let us draw strength from the examples of our forefathers and, with trust in divine providence, continue the good struggle, so that the joy of the Gospel may illumine our lives and the glory of God may be praised “on earth and in heaven”.
May God bless Greece and Cyprus and may the Almighty Lord bless our great Nation, the USA.
With paternal blessings and love in the Lord,
+Apostolos
Metropolitan of New Jersey
