The first celebration of the miraculous icon of Holy Mother of Pisidia was held September 3 2016 in the recently constructed church of Panagia Pisidiotissa, Alanya.The celebration started with the Vesper on the eve of the holiday, and on the next day Matins and the Divine Liturgy was held.
Mr. Haralambis Bushas, Doctor in Hymnography from Athens, Greece wrote the hymnographic text of Vesper and Matins for Holy Mother of Pisidia especially for this occasion, and this Service was performed for the first time in the Church of Holy Mother of Pisidia.
Special guests came to share the joy. Dr. Stephanos Tserpanis wrote the apolitykion for the Holy Icon, that was translated into Russian and performed it together with a choir. A Greek conductor Constantin Photopoulos who teaches Byzantine music in Moscow also came for the holiday and conducted together with Anna Shevchenko - the head of the church choir.
The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by the Metropolitan Sotirios and the priests: Archimandrite Theologos Chryssanthakopoulos (an architect who created the design and constructed the cultural center), Archimandrite Michael Anishchenko , Protopresbyter Theodoros Marinopolus from Kalamata, Greece, Protopresbyter Lambros Fotopulos from Athens, and the parish priest Economus Konstantin Shevchenko.
For this occasion a group of believers arrived from Greece. Another big group of Orthodox believers came from Antalya and its region. The local orthodox community from Alanya actively participated in the celebration. An atmosphere of joy and happiness was in the air.
During the sermon Metropolitan Sotirios emphasized the miracles that were made by this Holy Icon and confirmed by the church in the 6th, 7th, 8th centuries, and also recent miracles revealed to children in Athens, Antalya and Alanya.
Below you can see the sermon and photos from the celebration.
