“I thank the most gracious God for the supreme gift of the priesthood: eight years as a deacon, four as a priest, 18 as a metropolitan and 35 as Ecumenical Patriarch, in the service of the entire Christian community under the dominion of the Lord, of the Great Church, of inter-Orthodox cooperation, inter-Christian and interreligious dialogues, peace and solidarity, the protection of the natural environment and the encounter between the Church and the contemporary world,

“The words Jesus alone were inscribed forever upon my soul and have served as a compass throughout my life. My spiritual father earnestly urged me, as I became a cleric, to look only to Jesus.

“My entire journey has been a life in dialogue,

“To be ‘peacemakers’ is to move away from what serves our own interests to what embraces the rights of others.

“Peace always—and ultimately—starts in the heart. It takes time, toil, and tears. Nevertheless, it is our only hope for survival as individuals, as nations, and as a species.

“peace was “an existential and spiritual demand.”

“History is replete with violence and cruelty, but never before has humanity been able to destroy so many lives and so much of the planet’s resources simultaneously.

“The Annunciation is a consoling teaching, a voice of optimism, a proclamation of joy—the glad tidings of God’s goodwill and peace on earth.

“May the joy of the Incarnation of the Word of God spread everywhere, so that peoples may advance in harmony and brotherhood and walk together toward enduring love, true justice, and the longed-for peace. Only these bring lasting and inalienable joy to humanity and to the nations of the earth—this is the message proclaimed by the Church: ‘Rejoice, O earth, with great joy; praise, O heavens, the glory of God!’

“Let us fervently implore the Virgin Mary tonight to drive wars away from our world. May she bring an end to bloodshed, atrocities, violence, and our inhumanity. Her virtue and intercession can restrain human wickedness, for she was deemed worthy by God to take an active part in the salvation of us all. Today, the Theotokos becomes the new earth and the new heaven, from which a new world arises—a world of beauty, virtue, and salvation.

“The new creation bestowed upon us by the risen Lord allows no room for hatred and enmity, only love, love without limits, compassion and understanding. By this shall all know that we are true disciples of the risen one: if we have love for one another and for all people. We must always proclaim peace and brotherhood among peoples and nations, not war, even if we baptize it as ‘holy’ to please an authoritarian secular power. There has never been, nor will there ever be, a ‘holy war’! Holiness and war are, by their very nature, mutually incompatible concepts incapable of coexisting in any form!

“the Orthodox Russian Federation turned against its Orthodox neighbor

“truth is under attack. The followers of the Risen Lord are once again being persecuted, especially in the Middle East, the cradle of Christianity, which continues to give birth to new martyrs of the faith in our own time.

“the Russian government is waging an unjust war against its “Orthodox neighbor,” Ukraine, with the full approval of the Moscow Patriarchate, which has even blessed the conflict as a “holy war.”

“Do not doubt that the Virgin Mary, as the protector of our Nation, as she has done until today, will grant us our survival in the future, here where the generations of the generations of our ancestors destined us to live and the centuries of history have placed us

“We must not give ourselves over to lethargy and sleep, like the disciples of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.

“His All-Holiness encouraged the faithful to take up their cross and bear the burdens of daily life

“Just as our ancestors, fourteen hundred years ago, faced danger not in ignorance but in prayer and vigilance, so too we today, in the midst of various trials, wars, divisions and uncertainty, are called to stand — not sitting idly by, but hurrying forward in faith, hope and love

“We have come to ask for this intercession of the Theotokos today. For all of you, and for the entire world, which is torn apart by war conflicts, especially in the Middle East, but also in the long-suffering Ukraine, where the deadly war and mutual dismemberment have continued for four years, despite efforts to end them.

“Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew drew a connection between the historic event and the trials facing humanity today, emphasising the need to pray for peace

“Today, we have come once again to the historic Blachernae to conclude the festive cycle of these anniversary events, commemorating one of the most defining pages of the faith and history of our Nation. Here, at the Panagia of Blachernae, the City of Constantine found its salvation, not through the power of arms, but through the grace and protection of the Theotokos

“Through the diversity of languages ​​and traditions, unity in Christ is highlighted, transcending all national distinction,

“It is a bond of blood and Spirit, a relationship of centuries-old historical and spiritual kinship .

“We therefore wish that our presence here today will be the preliminary message of what is to take place in October in Bulgaria, as an additional proof of the love of the Holy Great Church of Christ for this Saint, who, although he lived in ascetic obscurity on Mount Rila, became a source of sanctification not only for the Bulgarian people, but for the entire Orthodox Church

“has criticized Russian aggression and specifically condemned Patriarch Kirill’s efforts to give a veneer of religious sanction to the war