His Eminence, Metropolitan Vladimir of Chisinau and all Moldova, officiated the Divine Liturgy on 07 April (25 March in Church Calendar), on the Feast of Annunciation of the Theotokos, at the Nativity of the Lord Cathedral in Chisinau.
On this feast celebrated by the entire Orthodox Christianity, the faithful gathered in holy places to participate in the Divine Liturgy and give due glory to God, who wished to announce the Most Pure Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary, by His Arch-angel, about the immaculate nativity of the Saviour of the human kind.
Thus, the parishioners, together with the arch-pastor and the Cathedral clergy, prayed with Christian love and good will, for the Lord to bless, help, and guide us to receive with open hearts the spiritual joy of this day.
At the end of the service, with the blessing of the hierarch, Arch-priest Vadim Cheibas, Cathedral Dean and Metropolitan Secretary, came up with a message of spiritual guidance, advising the church-goers to continue Great Lent in prayer and purity, and in communion with the Most Holy Body and Blood of God.
The Feast of Annunciation is the joy of the heaven and earth. The first word Arch-angel Gabriel addressed to Virgin Mary was “Rejoice”, and this greeting brings the most important good news for the entire mankind. Indeed, after the initial moments of trouble, caused by a news so unexpected, and understanding that the herald came with power from God (for, the name of Gabriel is interpreted as “my power is God”), Virgin Mary was overwhelmed by unspoken joy, due to the grace of God that covered her, especially in the moment the Archangel told her: “Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you!”
Synodal Sector of Institutional Communication and Mass-Media Relations