On Sunday, September 3, 2023, the Holy Metropolis of Pisidia solemnly honored, with a large attendance of believers at the Church in Mahmutlar-Alanya, the miraculous icon of Panagia of Pisidia.
The celebrations began on the eve with a vigil and ended with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. Metropolitan Job of Pisidia presided over the Divine Liturgy with the participation of Bishop Ambrosios of Evdokia, the holy clergy and believers from Antalya, Manavgat, Alanya and abroad. The chants under the direction of the chanter of Alanya Ivan Gribkov and the participation of Nikolaos Karanikolas who came for the feast from Athens, was excellent.
As the Metropolitan pointed out in hishomily, referring to the miraculous icon of Panagia from Pisidia, there is evidence from the 6th century that the icon was especially honored in Sozopolis of Pisidia. Legend has it that myrrh coming out from the icon healed the patients. It is precisely this icon that the Patriarch of Constantinople, Saint Germanos, was referring to, during the period of iconoclasm, when he affirmed that it was not possible to disrespect the holy icons, when the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which is located in Sozopolis of Pisidia, smells myrrh and has healed many people.
The Metropolitan also commemorated his predecessor Metropolitan Sotirios, who erected the church in Alanya, the first to be built in Turkey in a hundred years, and did all the necessary actions to start honoring of the miraculous icon again.
The celebrations ended with a luncheon organized by the parish. In the afternoon, a gathering of the clergy of the Holy Metropolis followed with their Bishop.
The day before the Divine Liturgy at the church of St. George of the Mountain in Alanya, Metropolitan Job inaugurated the new Orthodox Cultural Center of Mahmutlar-Alanya, where classes in catechism, theology, Byzantine music and iconography will begin this month. Youth meetings will also be held there.
