Timotheus of Thessalio: The birth of the Virgin, the starting point of joy and hope for the Churchtranslated

On the afternoon of Monday, September 7, 2026, the Most Reverend Metropolitan Mr. Timotheus officiated at the Vespers service, on the Mother of God feast of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, at the homonymous Church of the Local Community of Polydamios of Farsala. During his speech, he referred to the great importance of the Feast of the Birth of the Most Holy Theotokos for the life of the Church, stressing that it is the first great Mother of God feast of the new Ecclesiastical Year, which begins on September 1, according to the tradition of Indictionos.

As he pointed out, the birth of the Virgin is essentially the starting point of the entire celebratory cycle of the Church, as from this event all the great Mother of God and despotic holidays begin and develop. He characteristically likened the holiday to the "root of the tree", from which its branches then grow, i.e. all the other holidays connected to the person of the Virgin Mary and, above all, to the work of the divine Economy and the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Referring to the face of the Virgin, he underlined that the Church honors the Virgin because of the fruit of her womb, as the humble...