During this month in which Orthodox Christians worldwide observe the Dormition Fast and, on August 15, celebrate the Great Feast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has spoken illuminating words about the special honor that the Church bestows upon the All-Holy Mother of God.
On Sunday, August 3, 2025, His All-Holiness presided over the Paraklesis at the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in the Neochori district of Constantinople. He termed August the “month of the Panagia” and pointed out that the Virgin Mary is the “Mother of Light,” just as her divine Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, is the “Light of the world” (John 8:12). His All-Holiness stated: “We are called to walk as children of the light. Only what is light is truth.”
On other occasions, the Ecumenical Patriarch has elucidated the central importance of the Theotokos for all Christians. On March 25, 2025, the Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, he stated that “the icon of the Theotokos holding Christ in her arms is the living center of our Orthodox identity — the very heart of the Church’s Christology.” In the same vein, he quoted the late Metropolitan Meliton of Chalcedon: “The Annunciation is the anniversary of the birth of human freedom. It proclaims the most joyful news ever heard on earth: the regeneration of the human race.”
His All-Holiness emphasized the sacred compassion of the Mother of God for all human beings in their sufferings: “And the Virgin Mary, before she was glorified and seated at the right hand of her Son, ‘adorned with the gold of Ophir’ (Ps. 14:10) and before all generations of mankind called her blessed, did she not first experience the pain of the crucifixion and death of her innocent child? ‘And a sword will pierce through her own soul,’ the elder Simeon had prophesied.” He added that it was because our All-Holy Mother had experienced this that “she can understand better than anyone the unbearable pain of every mother who mourns the loss of her child.”
Accordingly, His All-Holiness stated, “we ask her with fervor and reverence, especially tonight, to soothe and calm the heart of every grieving mother, and to repel the wars and disasters that afflict our world. May the salvific message of Christ’s incarnation spread everywhere — and with it, the love, justice, and peace that it brings. Only these can offer true, lasting, and inalienable joy to all people and nations on earth — precisely the joy our Church proclaims to the ends of the earth: ‘Announce great joy on earth, proclaim the glory of God in the heavens!’”
Seeing the unity of the sorrow and joy of every Christian, he concluded: “With this spirit of absolute devotion to God, let us celebrate this year both the Veneration of the Holy Cross and the Annunciation of the Theotokos. Let us also respond, together with our Lady, ‘Behold the servants of the Lord; let it be unto us according to His word.’”
Also, on September 8, 2024, the Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew noted that the Most Holy Theotokos is the source of the unity to which all Christians should strive, saying that “the Most Holy Theotokos has many attributes and therefore many names. Today we want to emphasize her role as a symbol of unity. Indeed, this is what she is, for she gave birth to the Son of God, who came to earth for the salvation of the entire human race, without distinction.”
In this way, His All-Holiness explained, “the Holy Theotokos is the common Mother who unites the children of the great family of the pan-Orthodox faithful. In all the Orthodox Churches of the world, the icon of the Mother of God holding the Christ Child necessarily occupies the first place on the left side of the iconostasis. And no one can dethrone the Theotokos from the churches and the hearts of the Orthodox faithful.”
As this symbol of unity, the Ecumenical Patriarch added, “we consider the Theotokos as the Mother and Protector of all the numerous children of our Ecumenical Throne throughout the world, and we entrust to her the intercession for their progress and growth in Christ.”
Let us as Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and all people of good will redouble our devotion to our All-Holy Mother, and experience through her maternal intercession the glorious freedom of the children of God.
