Trabzon, Trabzon Province, Turkey, August 16, 2023
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The feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, sometimes known as the Summer Pascha, is one of the most beloved feasts of the entire liturgical year.
Since 2010, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has had a tradition of celebrating the feast at the ancient Panagia Sumela, an ancient monastery in Trabzon, Turkey, though it is always a question whether the Turkish government will permit the celebration.
This year, the authorities initially refused but later changed their mind. Formal written approval arrived just a few days before the feast.
During the celebration, Pat. Bartholomew explained that despite the hardships and pressure involved with serving at Panagia Sumela, there is nowhere else he would want to celebrate the feast of Dormition, and that the journey there “was made for reasons of faith and lineage,” reports the Orthodoxia News Agency.
The Patriarch was concelebrated by Metropolitans Iustinos of Nea Krini and Bartholomew of Smyrna. About 200 pilgrims were present for the Great Feast.
The service was broadcast by the MEGA TV station:
Pat. Bartholomew also referred to the deep connection between the Theotokos and the Greek people, saying: “it is ontological; it is heartfelt—a relationship of children with their mother. For the Romios, our Mother of God and this bond pass from generation to generation.”
He also spoke of honoring all those who have come before, who built the monastery and all such places with their own hands, and who endured many sufferings over the millennia.
The Patriarch also referred to all the “silent altars of the East” that were consecrated in honor of the feast of the Dormition. He wished all present many years and exclaimed, “Christ is Risen!”
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For centuries, the cliff-side Panagia Sumela Monastery in the Black Sea city served as the cradle of Pontian Hellenism. After 88 years of banning access to the site, Turkey reopened it on August 15, 2010, and a new tradition of Patriarch Bartholomew celebrating the monastery’s patronal feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos began.
However, the monastery was closed for restoration in September 2015, and the Patriarch was not permitted to serve throughout the restoration process, which mostly addressed the stability of the cliff.
A series of mini-inaugurations successively opened more sections of the monastery. It was opened up through the first courtyard in May 2019, and in July 2020, 65% of the monastery was opened to the public and the Divine Liturgy was celebrated again on Dormition that year.
The monastery fully reopened to the public in May 2022, and Pat. Bartholomew and Archbishop Elpidophoros of America celebrated the feast of Dormition there that August.
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