Pilgrimage to Greek island shrine binds the nation

In modern Greece, the festival dedicated to the Dormition of the Panagia, or the passing of the Virgin Mary from earthly life, is celebrated on August 15, marking the end of the 15-day fast in her honor. The feast was first celebrated in the 7th century.

The official ideological rituals are adapted to the agricultural calendar. Hence, the Orthodox liturgical year is established through the Panagia’s biography. It begins around autumn, and several important moments in her life are celebrated before and around sowing and during the germination and growth of the corn crops. The Dormition of the Virgin is celebrated during the dead period of the grains’ cycle, and the August 15 cycle ends with the memorial service nine days after her death.

August 15 is celebrated with special reverence all over Greece, and on this day pilgrimages are made to the greatest shrine of Greek Orthodoxy, on the island of Tinos. Here, the festival is particularly important due to several reasons:

In 1823, after a nun named Pelagia observed several mystical visions, she and some other islanders found the miraculous holy icon of the Annunciation of the Panagia. According to tradition, in her visions, Pelagia repeatedly saw the Panagia, who ordered her to start excavations to find her icon, buried for many years, and to build her “house” in that place. The icon was unearthed in the field w

Two years before the icon was found, the Greek War of Independence (1821) had broken out. The discovery of the icon, the construction of the Church of the Annunciation, the enormous crowds of pilgrims and all the miracles worked by the icon contributed to an act in 1971 by which the island was declared a sacred island by governmental decree. Pelagia was also sanctified.

Below the main church are several chapels. In the first is a holy spring, where pilgrims collect water which has powers of fertility and cures sickness. According to tradition, the well was found during the excavations in search of the icon. The well was dry. On the day the church’s cornerstone was laid, it filled up with water. The source is seen as a miracle, and the chapel of the holy water is called the “Life-Giving Spring.”

The Holy Foundation of the Annunciation is a complex institution of national and international dimensions, being the island’s most important source of income. The different parts of the sanctuary are gifts. Much of what is given as offerings is retained. Much is also sold: Most of the jewelry is auctioned, and the livestock, olive oil etc are sold. The Church of the Annunciation as an organization is a powerful force in local politics, and a philanthropic institution that controls a vast amount of wealth. The health business is illustrated by the church sending talismans all over the world, on request from people who cannot go to Tinos.