Our Church today honors Theotokos, and the faithful seek its grace through the veneration of the Holy Cincture.
Today’s feast is a Marian feast related to the placing of the Holy Cincture of the Mother of God. The term “placing” refers to the transfer of Cincture of the Virgin Mary to the Church of the Theotokos in Constantinople’s Chalcoprateia district.
This miraculous event dates back to the year 395, when the emperor was the son of Theodosius the Great, Arcadius. Along with the sacred event, another great miracle, which took place 410 years after this sacred act, is celebrated that is, when Zoe, the wife of Emperor Leo VI the Wise, was healed by opening of the coffer, in which the relic was kept, and placing of the Holy Cincture on the ailing queen.
The Holy Cincture, which had been stolen by a Bulgarian invasion, was dedicated by Lazar of Serbia to Mount Athos in 1101, where it remains to this day.
Today is the ending of the liturgical year with the Feast of the Placing of the Cincture of the Mother of God. May her grace always bless us, so that with the beginning of the new liturgical year, we may walk on the path that leads, with humility and practice, to the Kingdom of Heaven, obeying the will of God and always having the intercession of the Virgin Mary.
The intercession of the Virgin Mary is necessary for us to have love, unity and solidarity between us and to confront courageously the visible and invisible enemies in daily life.
Source: Church of Cyprus