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[[Image:Panagia-Soumela-St Luke.jpg|right|thumb|180px|The Holy and wonderworking icon of '''Panagia Soumela''' or '''Panagia Soumeliotissa''', painted by the hand of St. [[Apostle Luke|Luke the Evangelist]].]]
The Holy and wonderworking icon of '''Panagia of Soumela''' or '''Panagia Soumeliotissa''' was painted by the hand of St. [[Apostle Luke|Luke the Evangelist]] according to tradition.

The icon predates the historic [[w:Sümela Monastery|Monastery of Panagia Soumela]] (386-1923), which was built at [[w:Trabzon|Trapezounta]] in Pontus, on a high rock, where the holy icon was kept for centuries. 

The name “Soumela” comes from the Greek phrase “Stou Mela” (i.e. “at mount Melas”) and consequently signifies a particular locality in [[w:Pontus|Pontus]]. In the Pontic Greek dialect it is pronounced “sou Mela”. Hence the meaning, “Panagia at Mt. Mela”. 

==Origin of the Icon==
The existing icon of Panagia Soumela was iconographed by the Evangelist [[Apostle Luke|Luke]] who was both a physician and an [[Iconography|iconographer]]. According to tradition, whenever Luke drew icons of the [[Panagia]], the Holy Mother was very pleased and blessed his works. Furthermore, she encouraged him to draw more icons. When Luke died, his disciple named [[Apostle Ananias|Ananias]], took the icon and transferred it to the Church in Athens that was dedicated to the Panagia. Here the icon was venerated as ''“Panagia Athiniotissa”''. 

==Panagia Soumela Monastery==
[[Image:Sumela From Across Valley.JPG|right|thumb|180px|Close-up of Panagia Soumela Monastery seen from across the Altındere Valley.]]
At some point two Athenian monks were called by the Virgin to follow the ''Panagia Athiniotissa'' from the Church in Athens to Mount Mela in Pontus of Asia Minor, a region in current day Turkey. They were St. Barnabas, and his acolyte  St. Sophronios. 

At Mt. Mela, the icon was found in a cave at the end of the fourth century A.D. A monastery was built at this place to the glory of God, and the icon was renamed '' '[[w:Sümela Monastery|Panagia Soumela]]'.'' The monastery was inaugurated by the Bishop of [[w:Trabzon|Trapezounta]] in 386 A.D. During the decline of the Byzantine Empire, the monastery served as a centre of education. The monastery was pillaged many times but was always rebuilt, with the latest construction occurring around 644 A.D. 

Trapezounta was occupied by the Turks in 1461 and so was the monastery. Despite these difficult times, the monks remained in the monastery unshaken in their faith and tradition. 

==Abandonment of the Monastery in 1923==
The monks in the monastery were finally forced to flee in 1923 following the barbaric period of the [[w:Greek genocide|genocide of Greeks in Asia Minor]] including Pontus. Before fleeing the monastery, certain items were buried in the front yard of the Church of St. Barbara which was built at a short distance from the monastery by St. Sophronios. The little church was only one kilometre from the monastery. The items buried included the icon of Panagia Soumela painted by the Evangelist Luke, the handwritten Gospel copied on parchment by St. Christopher, and the Holy Cross with the honourable wood donated by Emperor Manuel Comnenos. This event took place in August of 1923.

==Recovery of the Icon==
In 1931 on the feast day of the Dormition of the Theotokos, at the monastery of Mega Spelion (the Great Cave) in Kalavryta, Peloponnesos, Greece, many people had gathered to pray before another icon of the Evangelist Luke, the Panagia Speliotissa. Amidst the crowds were many [[w:Pontic Greeks|Pontic Greeks]] and the Greek Prime Minister, [[w:Eleftherios Venizelos|Eleftherios Venizelos]] (1864- 1936). Metropolitan Polycarp of [[w:Xanthi|Xanthi]] mentioned the hidden icon of Panagia Soumela to the Greek Prime Minister. Upon hearing this account, Venizelos was touched and made a promise that he would do whatever was possible to retrieve the icon. 

During the same year, Eleftherios Venizelos met the Turkish Prime Minister [[w:İsmet İnönü|Ismet Inonu]], and asked for his permission to send monks to the Mt. Mela monastery to retrieve the icon and the other sacred treasures. Father Ambrosios, who was one of the monks of Panagia Soumela, was chosen by Metropolitan Chrysanthos of Trapezounta to undertake this special journey. Father Ambrosios set out to go to Turkey on [[October 22]], 1931. Upon arriving at the sacred site, Father Ambrosios was moved with tears. The laborious task of excavating began. Turkish soldiers and Greeks helped, including Father Ambrosios. Soon the hidden icon was unearthed along with the other sacred objects. They were all returned to Athens and deposited at the [[w:Benaki Museum|Benaki Museum]] in Athens for 20 years.

==New Monastery of Panagia Soumela in Greece==
[[Image:Panagia-Soumela (Greece).jpg|right|thumb|Monastery of Panagia Soumela, Vermion Mountain, Veroia, Greece.]]
In 1950, Dr. [[w:Filon Ktenidis|Philon Ktenides]] encouraged fellow Pontic Greeks in Greece to build a new church for Panagia Soumela. The church was built on a site amid the Macedonian mountains in Greece. This sight was Kastania of Vermio. It was chosen because it reminded Dr Ktenides of the wild and natural beauty of the heights of Mt. Mela in Turkey.

In 1951 the icon was transferred from the Benaki Museum to Kastania in Macedonia. The miraculous icon was enthroned at Kastania on the 15th of August 1952. Even though the new home of the icon is called the Monastery of Soumela, there are no monks or nuns who live in this remote mountain site. The Church of the Dormition may be visited by pilgrims and tourists. Every year on the 15th of August which is the feast day of the [[Dormition|Dormition of the Theotokos,]] thousands of pilgrims from around the world travel to this Monastery at [[w:Vermio Mountains|Mt. Vermion]] to venerate the holy icon. 

The original Soumela monastery in Turkey, is also accessible to the pilgrim and tourist. The monastery's four storey façade remains in good condition, although the back is destroyed. Located at an altitude of 1,200 metres, it is a magnificent structure. It clings to sheer basalt wall, high above green forests and a mountain stream. Many of the sacred icons have suffered as targets from desecrators and graffiti scribblers. The monastery once upon a time housed 72 cells, guest quarters, an aqueduct, small chapels, icon room, library and dormitories.

==Copy of the Icon and New Church in Australia==
Many Pontians in Greece have migrated to Australia. In Victoria alone there are 35,000 Greeks of Pontic descent. In 1972, the President of the association Panagia Soumela in Melbourne, George Papadopoulos travelled to Kastania in Macedonia. He met the Executive Committee of the Panhellenic Holy Foundation of Kastania Veroias. He expressed to them the long heartfelt desire of Pontic Greeks living in Australia to have a copy of the holy icon of Panagia Soumela to venerate. This noble request was met by the Greek authorities and a copy of the icon was presented to George Papadopoulos on October 1972 in Thessaloniki, Greece.

On the 8th of June 1982, the copy of this historic icon was presented to His Grace Bishop Panteleimon of Theoupolis, the Greek Orthodox Bishop of Melbourne at that time. Every year on the 15th of August, the icon of Panagia Soumela was brought for veneration by all Greeks in Melbourne to the Greek Orthodox parish of St. Nicholas in Yarraville. The late Father Antonios Amanatidis, who was the founder and parish priest of St. Nicholas during that time, was a Pontic Greek by descent. He saw this gesture of having the icon brought to St. Nicholas parish as a move towards uniting the various Pontic clubs in Melbourne.

In 1992, a new Greek Orthodox parish was being built in [[w:Keilor East, Victoria|East Keilor, Melbourne]]. His Eminence Archbishop [[Stylianos (Harkianakis) of Australia]] wanted this church to be named the ''Dormition of the Theotokos Panagia Soumela'' due to the fact that many Pontic Greeks lived in the area. The icon of Panagia Soumela was enthroned in the newly built Church of Panagia Soumela East Keilor on Sunday [[May 4]] 1997, the same day the Church was officially opened. 

At the moment, the Church is triune, meaning that it also has two chapels, dedicated to St. [[Apostle John|John the Theologian]], and our Holy Godbearing Father St. [[David of Euboea]] (Evia). Many Pontic Greeks flock to the Greek Orthodox parish of East Keilor every year on [[August 15]]. 

==Divine Liturgy on August 15, 2010 at Panagia Soumela Monastery in Turkey==
On Sunday, August 15, 2010 Ecumenical Patriarch [[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople|Bartholomew I]] conducted the first [[Divine Liturgy]] in 88 years at the historic monastery of [[w:Sümela Monastery|Panagia Soumela]] in [[w:Trabzon|Trapezounta]], northeastern Turkey. This marked the first official religious service carried out at the ancient monastery since the foundation of the modern Turkish Republic. Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou, speaking after attending mass on the Cyclades Islands off the Greek mainland, welcomed the "historic and important event." It was a sign of bilateral rapprochement with Turkey and reflected "a spirit of cooperation and peace between us and our neighbour," the prime minister said.

On Sunday, around 500 [[w:Pontic Greeks|Pontian Greeks]] were allowed into the fourth-century monastery, while around 2,000 others who came from Istanbul, Greece, Russia and Georgia, watched the mass on a giant television screen outside.

In May Turkey sent a letter to the patriarch authorizing the [[Divine Liturgy]] to be celebrated here once a year on [[August 15]], in a gradual loosening of restrictions on religious expression.<ref group="note">Turkey's government is seeking to improve the lot of ethnic and religious minorities in line with its bid to join the European Union. Activists say the change is too slow. A key Orthodox Christian demand is the reopening of the [[Theological School of Halki]] near Istanbul. (Associated Press. ''[http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gvHWYCs01zinJEbaT4wb-9uEQSmwD9HJPSKG0 Turkey: patriarch holds historic Mass].'' August 15, 2010).</ref> The gesture appeared aimed at Turkey's own Greek Orthodox minority, thought today to number around 2,000 people. In a similar gesture to Turkey's Armenian minority, Ankara also authorized mass to be celebrated in September at the [[w:Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross|museum-church of Akdamar]], in the eastern Van province.

==Notes==
<references group="note" />

==Sources==
* [http://www.dormitionskete.org/ Dormition Skete]. ''[http://www.orthodoxlogos.com/bookstoremore742_lives-of-the-monastery-builders-of-soumela_R.html The Lives of the Monastery Builders of Soumela: Saints Barnabas and Sophronios of Athens and Saint Christopher of Trebizond, Builders of the Mt. Mela Monastery].'' Holy Apostles Convent, 1991. ISBN 9780944359068
* Mother Nectaria MeLees. ''"[http://www.roadtoemmaus.net/back_issue_articles/RTE_32/Between_Heaven_and_Earth.pdf Between Heaven and Earth: The Monastery of the Panagia Soumela]".'' Road to Emmaus: A JOURNAL OF ORTHODOX FAITH AND CULTURE. Vol. IX, No. 1 (#32). 6 pp.
* St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Greenville, South Carolina. ''[http://www.stgeorgegreenville.org/OurFaith/Icons2/PanagiaSoumela/Panagia%20Soumela.html The Incredible Story of the Miraculous Icon - Panagia Soumela].'' Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta.
* Full of Grace and Truth Blogspot. ''[http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2009/08/miraculous-icon-of-panagia-soumela-and.html The miraculous icon of Panagia Soumela, and Sts. Barnabas, Sophronios and Christopher the Righteous].'' Monday, August 3, 2009.
* Kon Bouzikos. ''[http://pontosworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1464&Itemid=98 The History of the icon of Panagia Soumela]''. Pontus World.
* Fr. Antōnios G. Krinas. ''[http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/27837787?selectedversion=NBD24778044 Panagia Theotokos: 110 icons, 40 feasts and paraklisis].'' North Dandenong, Vic.: A. Krinas, 1998. 144pp. ISBN 0958587108
* Nicolas Cheviron. ''[http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jY2-31Zpqdh6mbMlzlfdB3zhdwlw Turkey monastery celebrates first mass in 88 years].'' AFP. August 15, 2010.
* BBC NEWS Europe. ''[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10980785 In pictures: Historic Orthodox Mass at ancient Turkish monastery].''  15 August 2010 Last updated at 11:44 ET.
* Associated Press. ''[http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gvHWYCs01zinJEbaT4wb-9uEQSmwD9HJPSKG0 Turkey: patriarch holds historic Mass].'' August 15, 2010

==External Links==
'''Wikipedia'''
* [[w:Sümela Monastery|Panagia Soumela Monastery]], in [[w:Trabzon Province|Trabzon Province]], modern Turkey.
* [[w:Saint Christopher of Trebizond|Saint Christopher of Trebizond]]
'''Other'''
* ''[http://www.greekorthodoxmonastery.org/MAGAZINE%20ENG.pdf Panaghia Soumela: Periodical Publication of Paracletos Monastery].'' Abbeville, South Carolina. December 2008, 1st issue.
* George Andreadis. ''[http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/35641.htm Crypto-Christians in Pontus].'' Pravoslavie.ru. Road to Emmaus, Vol. VIII, No. 4 (#31). 11/06/2010.

[[Category:About Icons]]
[[Category:Icons of the Theotokos]]
[[Category:Theotokonymia]]