Today, on the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew celebrated mass in the Panagia Sümela Monastery in the Trabzon Province of Turkey. The mass gathered thousands of pilgrims from Greece, Russia, Ukraine and Georgia, RIA Novosti reports.
This is the first mass in the Sümela Monastery since the declaration of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. The monastery was founded at the turn of the 4th century. Its main treasure was the miraculous icon of the Panagia Soumelá, believed to have been painted by the Apostle Luke, but after 1923 the icon was transported to Greece.
More than 3 thousand pilgrims arrived in Trabzon, but only 550 could take part in the mass directly.
The Patriarch said that he prayed for peace and unity throughout the world.
