Friday, April 30, 2021

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Marian Devotion Held in Smyrna

On the evening of 16 April 2021, the Akathistos hymn to the Theotokos was chanted at the Church of St.Photini in Smyrna (Izmir, Turkey). Presiding was His Eminence Metropolitan Bartholomew of Smyrna.The hymn was served before the icon Panagia Rodon to Amaranton, Our Lady of the Unwilted Rose.In the antique icon, the crowned Theotokos is cradling the Christ child,who is also crowned, in her left arm, and a staff decorated with roses in her right arm.* The Church of St.Photini is small and plain,with no frescoes or mosaics on its white walls;there are several icons that hang on the walls, however, and a rudimentary iconostasis.The church was originally a Dutch chapel that was donated to the Orthodox community of Smyrna following the catastrophic fire of 1922.* Assisting Metropolitan Bartholomew were two priests and two deacons.About 10 faithful attended to honour the Mother of God in the terrible crisis circumstances of the global pandemic. The next day, His Eminence celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the same church.*