Tbilisi, May 18, 2023
Photo: sazu.ge
For the ninth year in a row, thousands of faithful Orthodox Christians took to the streets in Tbilisi, prayerfully processing in honor of Family Purity Day.
The holiday was established by Pat. Ilia in 2014, and coincides with the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, which propagandizes in favor of immoral lifestyles. In his homily on Family Purity Day in 2019, the Patriarch explained that the celebration is not an act of aggression against anyone, but emerges from genuine concern for Georgia.
Photo: sazu.ge
As in years past, the wonderworking Atskuri Icon of the Mother of God was brought to the capital for the celebration, reports Patriarchate of Georgia’s Public Relations Service.
The celebration began with a moleben served at St. George Cathedral by His Eminence Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsqu. The gathered hierarchs, clergy, and faithful then processed to the Holy Trinity Cathedral, where another moleben was served.
Photo: sazu.ge
“Georgia is a traditional country, and as in other traditional countries, the strength of the institution of the family has special importance and significance. That’s why society always celebrates it with great joy,” the Patriarchate writes.
Photo: sazu.ge
In his homily, Met. Shio spoke about the holiness of the family:
From the beginning, God created man as a family. You know the teaching that man is made in the image and likeness of God. Some of the Holy Fathers believe that the image of the Holy Trinity in our nature, in human nature, is the family. Just as God is the Holy Trinity, triune and three hypostases, so man is also three hypostases. These are the male hypostasis, the female hypostasis, and the child hypostasis.
This is how God created man in the image of God so that man too lives in love, as the All-Holy Trinity reigns in eternal love and is the source of love itself, because in this earthly life there is much bitterness, much sorrow, and man finds happiness and love in Christ and in his family.
However, the family is under attack today in many countries, His Eminence continued, especially referring to gay marriage and abortion.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, today the defense of the family, the defense of traditional marriage, the defense of life, is a real fight for real human rights. It’s a fight against lies, evil and, one might say, it’s a fight against the culture of death. Everything I have listed is called the culture of death, not life.
Therefore, it’s the duty of every sane person today to protect the sanctity of the family, because when we protect traditional values, the sanctity of the family and these principles, we thereby protect our families, our people, from degeneration and, in general, from complete destruction.
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