Country Diocese: The Feast of Our Lady Myrtidiotissa in Wangaratta, Regional Victoriatranslated

On Thursday, September 24, the annual feast of Our Lady Myrtidiotissa was celebrated with special spiritual joy and rapture in the town of Wangaratta in regional Victoria. From early in the morning, pilgrims traveled in buses from Melbourne, joined by devotees from Wangaratta and other areas of regional Victoria, continuing a beautiful tradition of many years and expressing their love and reverence for the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Divine Liturgy was presided over by the Most Reverend Bishop of Chora, Mr. Eumenios, who conveyed to everyone the paternal love, wishes and blessing of the Most Reverend Archbishop of Australia, Mr. Makarios.

In his speech, the Most Holy Theophilus particularly focused on the nickname "Myrtidiotissa" and its connection with the myrtle, a simple and humble element of creation, through which the presence of the Virgin Mary was linked to the faith and reverence of the people.

On the occasion of the natural landscape of the Australian countryside, His Holiness emphasized that God often chooses the simple, the quiet and the invisible to manifest His Grace. Just as the myrtle became a point associated with Panagia Myrtidiotissa, so too...