“Χαρείτε, αδέλφια, την τρανή διπλή γιορτή” - “Rejoice, brothers and sisters, in this great double celebration”. The Greeks of that time decided to begin the revolution on March 25 for a reason. One the one hand, the Annunciation of the Theotokos, with which the salvation of the human race begins with the joyous message by the Archangel Gabriel to the Theotokos that she will give birth to our Savior Jesus Christ, and on the other hand, the salvation from the 400 years of slavery.

The Greeks had a special and tight bond with the Theotokos. They firmly believed that through her intercessions they would become free. A French traveler, Jacques Mangeart, in his book “Memories from Morea” describes all that he saw during his travels in Peloponnisos at the time of the Revolution of 1821. He is impressed by the religious life of the Greeks and especially by their reverence towards the All-holy Theotokos.

“On all walls of their churches, icons of all sizes are hung. Most of them depict the figure of the Virgin. When sailors are saved from great dangers, from shipwrecks, from death, as soon as they set their foot on land, they immediately rush to the goldsmith to place an order and offer their pledge to the Theotokos, in a church dedicated to her...

Two steps away from me, I see a woman on her knees in front of the icon of the Theotokos. My God! How many times she crosses herself! How many times she kneels before this icon! How moved is she when I see her bow down venerate the soil, kissing it three times! And she starts making the sign of the Cross again, from right to left.”

The foreign traveler describes in a simple manner the reverence of our nation towards the Theotokos. With this reverence the Greeks endured the painful centuries-long slavery, hoping that salvation would come. With this reverence they took up arms proclaiming “Freedom or death!”. That’s why this is a double celebration...