Our joy is special because your edition on the historical Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Our Lady of Soumela in Pontus provides us with the opportunity to express, through this foreword, our debt of gratitude and honor to our loving Mother and all-encompassing Guardian of all beloved children of the Mother Church, the Most Holy Theotokos, the Soumelian.
The Virgin Mary of Soumela has been and remains, throughout the centuries, the center of reference for Pontic Greeks everywhere, always recalling with profound nostalgia and emotion this great Theotokos pilgrimage, which has spiritually nourished them for centuries and kept them firm and unwavering in the principles of our Orthodox faith.
It is impossible, while reading the pages of this successful edition, not to admire the providence and care of the Theotokos over the centuries, who, through this miraculous Icon and her dwelling in Pontus, has shaped an entire culture centered on Orthodoxy.
From our hearts, we wish that the Virgin Mary of Soumela richly rewards the author of this book, and that her unfailing shelter and motherly protection be upon all the numerous pilgrims who devoutly turn to the Monastery and upon all her faithful children from Pontus scattered everywhere.
(from the foreword by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew)
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