Every year, on 21 September, when the Orthodox Church celebrates the Nativity of the Mother of God – the first great feast of the new ecclesiastical year – the Monastery of Curchi is adorned in festive attire.
This year too, on this joyous occasion, the Festal Divine Liturgy was celebrated by His Eminence Vladimir, Metropolitan of Chișinău and All Moldova, together with His Grace Siluan, Bishop of Orhei and Abbot of Curchi Monastery, His Grace Filaret, Bishop of Căpriana, and a large assembly of priests and deacons from the entire Orthodox Church of Moldova.
Also present at the celebration were representatives of the local authorities, among them the President of Orhei District, Mr Vasile Adașan, who joined the monastic community and the many faithful gathered to honour together the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The Mother of God, as Saint John of Damascus calls her, is “the flower of divine subsistence,” “the divine palace of Christ,” and “the cherubic throne.” She is the one who brought into the world the fragrance of holiness and the gift of the supernatural birth of the Son of God, through Whom “all things were made, and without Whom nothing was made” (John 1:3). Saint Andrew of Crete sees in her birth “the beginning of salvation,” while Saint Gregory Palamas calls her “the boundary between the created and the uncreated,” through whom heaven and earth were united.
Today the Church honours her with hymns of joy and names her “the Mother of Light,” “the fountain of purity,” and “the hallowed temple.” Her birth is not only the remembrance of a historical event, but a feast of the whole creation, for through her began the fulfilment of God’s divine plan of salvation. Today, together with the whole Church, we bow before the Mother of God as the Bearer of Life, the Mother of Joy and tireless Intercessor, giving thanks for the gift of her living presence in our lives and for the protection with which she enfolds the whole world.
At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, a Te Deum was celebrated, after which His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir addressed a word of blessing and congratulation to all present, especially to His Grace Siluan, the Abbot of the monastic community, to the whole brotherhood, and to the faithful who gather here for prayer and show a special love for the monastery. The hierarch wished them health, many years, and spiritual growth in obedience to God, to the Mother of God, and to the Holy Church.
In turn, His Grace Siluan thanked His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir, the concelebrating clergy, the founders, benefactors, and all the faithful for their love, prayers, and fraternal communion. He emphasised that the veneration of the Mother of God is a source of strength for monastic life and for every Christian, and that prayer to her must become the breath of the heart and a guide on the path of salvation.
The liturgical responses were provided by the archiepiscopal choir of Curchi Monastery.