Monasteries on the semi-autonomous Orthodox monastic community of Mt. Athos today celebrate the Dormition of the Theotokos, the Ever Virgin Mary, with celebrations particularly imposing at the Holy Monastery of Iviron, the current holder of Mt. Athos’ rotating administration.
The Great Feast Day is also highly significant for the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi, as tradition holds that the Catholicos – the main part of the Monastery’s Cathedral – was dedicated, up to the 10th century, to the Dormition of the Theotokos.
A Divine Liturgy was concelebrated in the early morning, presided by the Metropolitan of Atlanta, His Eminence Alexios.
A Great Vesper service was celebrated on Tuesday evening, based on the Athonite order and with millennia-old Byzantine splendor, at the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi.
Elders from Mt. Athos’ Monasteries, Orthodox clergymen from around the world and congregants of all ages filled Vatopedi’s Cathedral.
The pages of the Orthodoxia news agency today host video images from the touching Vespers service.
After the celebratory service, the Elder Archimandrite Efraim, the Abbot of Vatopedi, referred to the maternal protection of the Theotokos, the Ever Virgin Mary, in the face of the troubles and tribulations faced by humanity, as well as the Panaghia’s daily miracles.
On his part, and on behalf of the pilgrims at Vatopedi, His Eminence Alexios thanked the Elder Efraim for the very warm hospitality extended by the Monastery’s monks.
In Jerusalem, the Great Feast Day of the Dormition of the All Holy Theotokos, based on the Julian calendar, was celebrated with a devotional procession at the Tomb of the Mother of God in Geth-sema-ne. The procession included Elders of the Brotherhood of the All Holy Sepulcher along with Orthodox clerics and pilgrims to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Foto- Video: Rafail Georgiadis
