The Hierarch Returned to the Throne of the Virgin Vulcaniotissatranslated

With the participation of thousands of faithful from the city of Messenia, Kalamata, and every corner of the Messenian Prefecture and beyond, presided over by His Divine Grace Metropolitan Gerontios Leonpolis Archbishop Gabriel, from the Patriarchate of Alexandria, on the afternoon of Monday, September 28, 2026, the procession and return of the Holy Icon of the Virgin Vulcaniotissa to her permanent Throne at the Holy Monastery of Volakas took place. The Holy Icon had been received by the city of Messenia nine days earlier in commemoration of the miracle performed by the Theotokos in the region at the end of the 18th century.

Later, at the Sacred Church of the Good Shepherd Spring, a metochion of the Holy Monastery of Volakas in Messenia, where it had been enshrined for nine days, the Evening and Supplication of the Theotokos concluded with Metropolitan Gerontios Leonpolis Archbishop Gabriel leading the services and being vested by the Hierarchal Altar of Metropolitan Carthage Melitius.

Following this, the Holy Icon departed from the metochion and proceeded in a procession through the central streets of Messenia, which were adorned with royal garlands, myrtles, and rose petals, arriving at the entrance of Agia Paraskevi.

There, His Divine Grace…