Archbishop Makarios of Australia has celebrated the Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos at the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegial, Great Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos in Greece.
The Annunciation of the Theotokos is typically celebrated on March 25 but as Mount Athos follows the old calendar (which is 13 days after the new calendar), the monasteries celebrated the important feast on April 7.
On the morning of the feast, Archbishop Makarios performed the Small Consecration of the water service in the Monastery’s fountain, and this was followed by the procession of the Holy Icon of the Virgin Mary Vimatarissa around the Monastery.
The Eucharistic synaxis was presided over by Archbishop Makarios, who was joined by the Abbot of the Monastery of Vatopedi, Elder Ephraim, the Abbot of the Monastery of Hilandar, Elder Methodios, and other Mount Athos Fathers and Fathers of the Vatopedi Brotherhood.
The hymns of the feast day were solemnly chanted by Archimandrite Fr. Cheroubim Tsinoglou, Holy Preacher of the Holy Metropolis of Edessa, Pella and Almopia, along with his entourage, and the Vatopedi Fathers, assisted also by the Music Teacher Dr George Konstantinou.
Following the service and after a small farewell, Archbishop Makarios has now left Mount Athos.
This short visit came after Archbishop Makarios met with Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday, April 3 in Athens, and he also officiated the Second Service of the Salutations at Saint George in Phanar, Turkey on Friday, March 29, in the presence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
Earlier this year, Archbishop Makarios made another trip to Constantinople to launch his new book The Ecumenical Patriarchate – The Preeminent and Suffering Church.
Source: romfea.gr
