ATHENS – President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou opted for a more personal touch to mark Mother's Day on Sunday, posting her message on Facebook with photographs of herself with her daughter and with her own mother and grandmother.

"If today, on the occasion of Mother's Day, I become more personal, posting an old photograph with my grandmother, my mother and my daughter, it is because I had the joy to taste the special relationship with each of them and to realise, growing up, how much the maternal bond defines us, how significantly it affects the way that we connect to the world. Biological or adoptive, a mother is she who provides protection, security, love, care and authority, she who unites in her own unique way, each time, the physical, psychological and social elements that make up our complex selves. It is she that we refer to, consciously or unconsciously, during every moment of our lives, she who continues to be beside us even when she no longer exists."

"This year we celebrate Mother's Day in unprecedented conditions of pandemic, conditions that make her role even more complex. Working mothers with small children at home and increased professional and domestic obligations, elderly and vulnerable mothers and grandmothers isolated from their children and grandchildren, mothers in one-parent families, mothers with children that face serious health issues, have shouldered a great burden during this time. We feel their concerns and their fears, we share in their hopes and expectations, we respect their endurance, courage and selfless giving. We draw strength from their presence and optimism from their example. Every day is their day," she concluded.