Catholicos-Patriarch Shio III: Acquiring Holy Spirit’s grace is primary goal of Christian life

His Holiness and Beatitude Shio III, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi, and Metropolitan of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazia, is in Phoka on the occasion of the feast commemorating the arrival of Saint Nino in Georgia.

The Patriarch served a Paraklesis in Phoka and delivered a sermon.

“I congratulate you on today’s feast. The Holy Church marks today the Day of the Holy Spirit, and likewise the entry of Saint Nino, Equal to the Apostles, into Georgia. The Day of the Holy Spirit, celebrated today, is closely bound to yesterday’s feast of Pentecost, which we solemnly observed. Faith in the Holy Spirit, who is God, fills the hearts of the faithful with the greatest joy, for it is to faith in the Holy Spirit that the most essential Christian hope and expectation are bound. As our Lord Jesus Christ declares, it was for the sake of the sending of the Holy Spirit that He endured terrible suffering and death. Such is the meaning of His words: ‘It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.’ And lo, after Pentecost His words were fulfilled, and from that time the foundation was laid upon the earth for the Church of Christ, within which the Holy Spirit acts and reigns. I congratulate you on this feast. As the Holy Fathers teach us, the acquisition of the grace of the Holy Spirit must be the chief aim of a Christian’s life, for therein lies the salvation of the soul, that we should be pleasing unto the Lord through the acquisition of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Only through the Holy Spirit can the Kingdom of God be opened within us, of which our Lord Jesus Christ declares that the Kingdom of God is within you; we must seek first the Kingdom of God. This is why faith in the Holy Spirit holds the greatest significance for us. It is no accident that in this jubilee year the feast of the Day of the Holy Spirit has coincided with the commemoration of Saint Nino’s arrival in Georgia. This is yet another sign that, like the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, the Apostle Simon the Zealot, and the other apostles who preached upon our soil, Saint Nino too was strengthened and filled with the selfsame power and grace of the Holy Spirit, and by that power and grace she converted our nation to the faith of Christ.

In the prayers and hymns dedicated to Saint Nino, the Holy Church calls her the own disciple of the Mother of God, and this is truly so. Just as she entrusted Georgia to the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, so the Most Holy Theotokos entrusted to Mother Nino the conversion of Georgia and the illumination of its people with the light and truth of Christ. She entrusted to this young maiden so great a mission, whereby was revealed the particular maternal care of the Mother of God for her chosen land, Georgia.

Seventeen hundred years have passed since the Georgian nation, converted by the word of Saint Nino, proclaimed Christianity as the state religion. This was not merely a religious date and event; this date determined the entire subsequent life of our people. It gave rise to countless great individuals, spiritual labourers and saints; it caused us to build wondrous churches and monasteries; it engendered a unique and distinctive Christian culture; and the faith shaped our singular national and spiritual identity. It is deeply moving to be here beside Lake Paravani, on this blessed soil of Javakheti. It was from here that the great spiritual journey began, ultimately leading the Georgian people, and the nation as a whole, to conversion. For many years now, on this very day, the first of June, the faithful set out along the path of Saint Nino, thereby expressing their reverence for her and forging a living historical bond with her works and her person. I wish today to bless every pilgrim upon the path of Saint Nino, clergy and laity alike; may God bless you and strengthen you. I wish in particular to bless the clerical and monastic brotherhood who labour upon the holy soil of Javakheti and who, through their works, stand as guardians of Orthodoxy, of the Georgian language, of our traditions and our dignity.

Let us entreat Saint Nino to bless us and to protect our homeland, Georgia. Through the intercession of the Mother of God and the prayers of Saint Nino, may God bless, strengthen and unite all of Georgia,” declared Shio III in his sermon.

Georgia’s Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, is also present in Phoka.