A liturgy for the Dormition of the Virgin Mary was held on Sunday at the cathedral of Tinos, the island most associated in Greece with the annual feast and devoted pilgrimages to the Virgin Mary.
The celebratory liturgy on August 15, a national holiday, was led by Syros & Tinos Metropolitan Dorotheus, assisted by the Metropolitans of Servia & Kozani, Serres and Nigrita, and Kerkyra (Corfu), Paxi & the Diapontian Islands.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was joined at the Tinos events by National Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, who was accompanied by the Armed Forces General Chief of Staff Constantinos Floros. Mitsotakis’ daughter Daphne came with the premier as well.
Earlier in the day Mitsotakis attended the service and the commemoration of the sinking of ‘Elli’, a light cruiser ship, by the Italian Navy. The ship was docked at Tinos as part of the Dormition celebration when it was torpedoed in 1940.
He boarded a missile boat that sailed where Elli sank, 550 meters off the port, and after a memorial service for those crew members who died he threw a wreath in the sea.
He then attended the Dormition liturgy at the Tinos Cathedral. In a message following the procession of the Virgin’s icon, Mitsotakis conveyed his optimism for the future of Greece and highlighted the key role of the Armed Forces in Greece’s security, expressing the government’s unwavering support to them.
(amna.gr)