Third Salutations at the Holy Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Kleisoura
Press Release of the Holy Metropolis of Kastoria
On the evening of Friday, March 21, 2025, His Eminence Metropolitan Kallinikos of Kastoria visited the historic Holy Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Kleisoura, where Saint Sophia lived in asceticism.
His Eminence presided over the service of Small Compline and the Third Stanza of the Salutations to the Most Holy Theotokos, together with Fr. Elias, Deacon Fr. Nikodimos, Abbess Gerontissa Ephraimia, the nuns, and many faithful pilgrims.
In his homily, His Eminence referred to the "New Creation," inspired by the verse from the Salutations: “He revealed a new creation, manifesting Himself as the Creator to us who were made by Him.” As he explained, the New Creation is Christ, in whose person, through His Incarnation, the divine and human natures were united.
The New Creation, His Eminence continued, is the creation liberated from sin and death, and all Christians are called to partake in it.
At the conclusion of the service, Metropolitan Kallinikos extended his wishes to the Abbess, the nuns, and the faithful for a blessed preparation ahead of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos.