195th Anniversary of the Exodus of the Guard of the Free Besieged

On Palm Sunday, April 25, 2021, the festivities for the 195^th Anniversary of the Exodus of the Heroic Guard of the Free Besieged (1826) were culminated in the sacred town of Missolonghi with all the Covid-19-related restrictions observed.

In the Holy Cathedral of Saint Spyridon a Matins and an Archieratical Divine Liturgy were performed with Most Rev. Metropolitan Cosmas of Aetolia and Akarnania officiating as representative of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece and HB Ieronymos II, Archbishop of Athens and all Greece.

During the Divine Liturgy a message from the Most Rev. Metropolitan about the Festivities for the Exodus was read out, making reference to the celebration of the bicentenary of the outset of the Greek Revolution of 1821. On the occasion of the aforementioned festivities the same message was also read out in all the holy churches of the Holy Metropolitanate.

Following the Divine Liturgy the solemn Doxology was performed in the presence of Her Excellency the President of the Hellenic Republic Ms Aekaterini Sakellaropoulou. Before the dismissal, the Most Rev. Metropolitan on behalf of the Holy Synod read out a message from HB Ieronymos II, Archbishop of Athens and all Greece. The solemn oration for the day was delivered by the Deputy Minister for Development and Investment, representing the Greek Government.

In the Garden of Heroes, before the Tumulus where the bones of those who fell in the Exodus are kept, a memorial prayer was performed by the Most Rev. Metropolitan for the rest “of the late fighters and defenders of the sacred city, Bishops Iosseph and Porphyrius and all those who fought and fell with them in the heroic Exodus, our Orthodox forefathers and brethren, both Greeks and Philhellenes”.

The laying of a wreath by HE the President of the Hellenic Republic followed, as well as a performance of the lament “Long live Missolonghi”.

On the eve, in the evening of the Saturday of Lazarus, in the Holy Cathedral of Saint Spyridon the Vespers of Palm Sunday was performed, with Most Rev. Metropolitan Cosmas of Aetolia and Akarnania officiating.

Subsequently, in the Garden of Heroes and before the Tumulus, a memorial prayer was performed by the Most Rev. Metropolitan, while a representation of the blowing up of the powder keg storage room by the Elder Christos Kapsalis was carried out, with representatives of the political, state and military leadership attending.