On Wednesday, May 3, at 6 p.m., it will take place in Mitropoleos Square the reception ceremony of the holy icon “Axion Esti”which is kept in the Holy Temple of Protatus in Karyes of Mount Athos.

The reception will take place in the presence of the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos, while afterwards a Doxology and Prayer will be held in the Cathedral of Athens.

The reception will be attended by all the High Priestly Commissioners and Secretaries of the Archdiocesan Regions, who will wear their vestments, but will not wear their vestments.

The holy icon will be accompanied by a delegation of monks from Mount Athos and will remain for the worship of the faithful in the Cathedral of Athens from May 3 to 15.

As part of her stay, services will be held daily. According to the program, every morning Orthros and Divine Liturgy will be celebrated and every afternoon Prayer. In addition, on Sunday May 7, Wednesday May 10 – the day of Pentecost – and Sunday May 14, a High Priestly Divine Liturgy will be held.

It is worth mentioning the fact that the icon as the ephesian of the Protatos rarely leaves Mount Athos and only on special occasions. In total, he has left Mount Athos seven times for the pilgrimage of the faithful.

The first exit took place in 1963 during the celebration of the Millennium of Mount Athos, when it was brought to Athens, where it was worshiped by a large number of believers.

The second, in October 1985 in Thessaloniki during “Dimitria”.

The third, in November 1987, when he made a pilgrimage to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, in conjunction with the arrival in Athens of the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios.

The fourth, in October 1994, when the Holy Community accompanied her to Cyprus, to strengthen the religious faith of the faithful and to bless and grace her people who have been suffering for decades.

The fifth exodus took place immediately after the earthquakes in the summer of 1999, “at the initiative and request of Archbishop Christodoulou, for the spiritual consolation of the earthquake victims and their material strengthening”, after the money collected was determined to be allocated to housing the earthquake victims in a settlement that would bring the “Axion Esti” brand.

Its sixth outing was in October 2012. In fact, it was decided by the Holy Community of Mount Athos following a request from the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki, Anthimos, for the events planned by the Metropolis, in the context of the celebration of 100 years since the liberation of Thessaloniki. The icon remained in the church of the patron Saint Demetrius from October 13th to November 1st and was worshiped by more than 100,000 believers, Greeks and foreigners.

The seventh took place in 2022, in Komotini, where it remained for 6 days in the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, to the excitement of the critics of Thrace and of all Greeks. The next day, the icon was received by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

These days the eighth departure of the icon from the Perivoli tis Panagia takes place. After the tireless efforts of Archbishop Ieronymos, it finally became possible to house the icon in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. Let’s remember that the original idea was to host it in mid-March, however, the sad fact of the fatal accident in Tempe did not allow it.