Messinia, Peloponnese Region, Greece, September 23, 2024
Romfea
The Greek Orthodox Church continued an annual tradition over the weekend, as hundreds of Orthodox faithful gathered to reverently greet the wonderworking Panagia Voulkaniotissa Icon in the city of Messinia.
The holy icon is brought from its home at Panagia Voulkaniotissa Monastery on Mt. Ithomi to the city of Messinia every year on September 19-20 in commemoration of an 18th-century miracle when a procession with the icon saved the people from a deadly plague, reports Romfea.
Romfea
The procession and reception of the icon were presided over by Metropolitans Georgios of Thebes, Theoklitos of Stagoi, and Chrysostomos of Messinia.
The wonderworking icon was carried through the central streets of the city, which were lined with flowers, with the procession ending at the monastery’s dependency, the Church of the Lifegiving Spring.
Romfea
The revered icon will remain in the church for 8 days for the faithful to venerate.
The Metropolitan of Messinia, addressing the faithful, spoke of the grace and eternal protection of the Panagia, stressing that even in our days we should invoke her, so that she intercedes with her Son for any trials we experience on an individual and collective level.
Romfea
Orthodox Christianity Then and Now provides more information about the annual procession:
On the evening of the 20th of September the icon of the Panagia is processed down to the city of Messinia, in remembrance of the intervention of the Mother of God during the deadly plague which struck the city around 1755, at which time a procession with the icon took place and eradicated the deadly plague. On this night thousands of pilgrims follow the Panagia Voulkaniotissa and walk a distance of 20 kilometers. The descent begins at 2:00 am from Voulkanos and ends at Mavromateiki Panagitsa around 7:30 am in the morning of September 20th. The icon is officially received at 9:30 am at the Chapel of Saint Paraskevi. The procession then continues through the streets of the city until it arrives at the dependency of the Monastery of Voulkanos, known as the Monastery Panegyristras, where the icon is placed and kept until September 28th for veneration by the people. At 5:00 pm on September 28th the icon is returned to its monastery with another procession that ends around midnight, upon its arrival.
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