01.09.2026
VATOPEDI MONASTERY VIDEO LIBRARY
"In your birth you preserved your virginity, in your Dormition you did not abandon the world, O Theotokos"
The beginning of the worship events was marked by the exit of the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary of Vimatarissa from the holy Vima, which was placed in the center of the Catholicon of the Holy Monastery, so that the fathers and numerous pilgrims could venerate it.
The Holy Vigil began with the solemn Vespers, officiated by the Metropolitan of Patras, Mr. Chrysostomos. Praying together were the former Metropolitan of Atlas, Mr. Alexios, the Metropolitan of Ireland, Mr. James, the Bishop of Eumenia, Mr. Irenaeus, as well as the Abbot of the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi, Elder Ephraim. Officers from the army, the coast guard, the navy and the fire department were present.
The festive service was also attended by a large number of monks and nuns, as well as many pilgrims from various parts of Greece and the world, who came to the Garden of the Virgin Mary to honor the Dormition of the Theotokos. After the festive Vespers, the traditional Athonite feast followed in the Synodikos of the Holy Monastery.