Trabzon, Trabzon Province, Turkey, August 14, 2024
Photo: romfea.gr
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.
Last year, the authorities initially refused but later changed their mind. Formal written approval arrived just a few days before the feast
Permission came last minute this year as well. Turkish authorities decided not to permit a Liturgy on the feast of the Dormition itself, but on August 23, when the Church celebrates the Leavetaking of the Dormition, reports Romfea.
The service will be celebrated by Metropolitan Stefanos of Kallipolis.
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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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