Catholicos-Patriarch Shio Third: We think about the future of our nation; only the path of loyalty to the Lord will lead us to the Kingdom of Heaven, and we must walk this path so that in the future, too, our nation and country may grow stronger and become united
"We think about the future of our nation; only the path of loyalty to the Lord will lead us to the Kingdom of Heaven, and we must walk this path so that in the future, too, our nation and country may grow stronger and become united," stated Shio Third, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi, and Metropolitan of Bichvinda and Tskhum-Abkhazia, during his sermon following a prayer service on the Day of Remembrance of the Hundred Thousand Martyrs.
During the sermon, the Catholicos-Patriarch focused on the significance of martyrdom, stating that martyrs are the greatest preachers of Christ's resurrection.
"I congratulate you on the commemoration of the Hundred Thousand Georgian Martyrs. This day is special for our Church and for all of Georgia. As the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, has said, this day is a day of spiritual radiance and celebration for the Georgian nation. The Holy Hundred Thousand Martyrs, like other martyrs, are the glory and beauty of the Christian Church. They are the most powerful sermon on the Risen Christ.
A martyr means a witness, and the holy martyrs testify precisely to this: that in Christ, death has no power whatsoever; that in Christ we are granted eternal life, and already here, in the Church, through the sacraments of the Church and through prayers, we become receivers, partakers, and participants of eternal life. The holy martyrs died for Christ in order to be partakers of His victory over death. The holy fathers say that martyrdom, like a grain falling into the earth, became the seed for Christianity that subsequently yielded abundant fruit. Indeed, despite fierce persecution, prohibitions, and capital punishment, the Christian Church nevertheless multiplied, and the teachings of Christ spread. This was first propelled by the preaching of the holy apostles, the majority of whom, as faithful witnesses of Christ, ended their lives as martyrs. In subsequent periods as well, despite fierce persecution and executions, the Lord always multiplied the Church and protected it, and the contribution of the martyrs in this is invaluable. Many people were inspired by their loyalty and love. Thanks to their ascetic labor, the Church was able to conquer the hatred and paganism stemming from this world. It was so during the period of the holy, pious, equal-to-the-apostles King Constantine the Great, it was so in subsequent periods, and it was in the twentieth century when the atheist government was defeated in its struggle against the Church, collapsed, and passed away.
Today, all of us—the entire Church, the entire nation, the clergy, and our government—together celebrate and mark the 1700th anniversary of the Christianization of all Georgia, and the Church stands and exists. We deeply believe that the Church will exist until the end of the world, because it is founded upon the infallible words of the Lord Jesus Christ: 'I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.' We believe that through the prayers of the holy martyrs, the Lord has had mercy upon us and brought us into the Holy Church for the salvation of our souls, for eternal life, and it is our duty to be worthy of the memory of these great martyrs and saints whom we glorify today, and to be their heirs in love and loyalty to the Lord," the Catholicos-Patriarch stated.
