On Saturday, following the Feast of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple and the commemoration of our Venerable Saint Iakovos, the new Ascetic of Evia, 22 November 2025, His Eminence Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden and All Scandinavia, accompanied by the Very Reverend Archimandrite Bartholomew Iatridis, Pastor of the St. George Cathedral of Stockholm, and the Reverend Oikonomos George Arvanitidis, Pastor of the Saints Demetrios and Nestor Parish of Örebro, presided at the service held in the Gideonsbergskyrkan in Västerås, Sweden, which was graciously made available by the Lutheran Church.

The hymns of the day were rendered by a five-member youth choir under the direction of Dr. Andreas Selamsis, Protopsaltis of the Stockholm Cathedral.

In his homily, the Hierarch of the Northern Lands of the Mother Church referred to the significance of the Feast of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple as a prelude to the Great Feast of Christmas, stating:

“Only yesterday our Church celebrated the Entry of the Theotokos, a feast that opens before us a window looking directly toward the joy of Christmas.

The Entry is not simply a feast of the Virgin Mary; it is the first light of the Birth of Christ, the dawn before the Sun of Righteousness appears.

Without the Entry, there would be no Christmas. Without the preparation of the Theotokos, there would be no Incarnation. Without the sanctification of the Mother, the Savior would not have come into the world.

Christmas is the moment when ‘the Word became flesh.’ The preparation for this moment begins with the entry of the Virgin Mary into the Temple. The three-year-old Mary enters the Holy of Holies to become herself the ark of the new Law, the living Temple, the sanctified earth from which Christ will spring forth.

Just as the earth must be cultivated before it receives the seed, so too the Virgin is prepared before receiving Christ. The Entry is therefore the first chapter of Christmas.

Christmas means ‘Emmanuel—God with us.’ And for God to dwell among us, there had to be a place free of any shadow of sin. That place is the Theotokos.

The Church sings: ‘The Temple of God is led into the Temple of God.’ The Virgin enters the handmade temple to become the uncreated Temple—the place where the eternal God will take on human flesh. This is why the Entry is the mystical beginning of the Incarnation.

What is Christmas? It is the condescension of God, who descends into poverty, into flesh, into human life. This condescension already begins with the Entry. God sees the childlike soul of Mary, purer than the angels, and finds in her a place of rest. Before God takes on human flesh, He prepares the heart that will contain Him. This is why the Fathers of the Church call the Entry ‘the forefeast of the Nativity.’

What begins today is completed in Bethlehem. The Entry is the opening of the gate; Christmas is the entrance of God into the world.

Today the Theotokos enters the temple. Tomorrow, at Christmas, Christ calls us to allow Him to enter the temple of our own hearts. But for this to happen, we must do what she did; purify our hearts, pray, humble ourselves, fast, and allow Grace to sanctify us. Only then will Christmas not be an external celebration but an inner Birth of Christ within us.

The Entry is the Divine preparation. Christmas is the Divine revelation. At the Entry, the Theotokos enters the Temple. At Christmas, God enters the world. Today the Mother of Life is brought into the Temple. In a few days, the Giver of Life will be born.

Let us also prepare ourselves, so that when Christmas night arrives, Christ may find within us a pure temple, a humble heart, a soul filled with love. May the Theotokos, who today opens the way of salvation, lead us to the Christ who is coming in flesh. Amen.”

In conclusion, the Metropolitan thanked the priests who accompanied him, the choir members, and the congregation, especially Mrs. Britt Marie Zotos, who worked diligently in preparing and offering the refreshments that followed in the hall adjacent to the church.

He also presented his recently published study, issued by the Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece, on the late Metropolitan Polyefktos of Sweden, to Professor Dr. Christos Papachristodoulou of Västerås University.

In the church’s reception hall, His Eminence had the opportunity to converse with members of the Greek community of Västerås, who repeatedly expressed their gratitude for the spiritual opportunity of the day’s gathering.

In the afternoon, Metropolitan Cleopas returned by train to the headquarters of his Metropolis in Stockholm, accompanied by Fr. Bartholomew.