Revived for the fifth consecutive year after the Turkish invasion, the currently occupied Monastery of Panagia Tohniotissi in the community of Mandra Famagusta.
Dozens of believers, displaced refugees of the community with candles, incense and boiling faith, dragged their steps to the ruined and abandoned Monastery of Panagia Tohniotissi on Sunday, March 24, 2019, to attend the Divine Liturgy and pray to His Holiness Of our Greek Nation, the Most Holy Theotokos, to intercede with the Lord to supervise the tried and suffering people of Cyprus and to free them from the slavery and tyranny of the enemy.
Among them is the Metropolitan of Constantia and Famagusta Vassilios, who preceded the thanksgiving meeting of the local Bishop of Karpasia, Christoforos, as the community is ecclesiastically under the boundaries of the Diocese of Karpasia. Archim. Amfilochios Kykkotis, Ambassador Filippos Filippou and the Deacons Vassilios Konstantinou and Epifanios Papantoniou.
In his speech, Metropolitan Constantia, obviously excited, described what they are living today with the performance of the Divine Liturgy, and in fact a hierarchical one, as a miracle, as we do not know in the history of the Monastery if it ever happened to be a High Priest. It brought to the minds of all present the beautiful memories where this once strong Holy Monastery, celebrating and shining during these days of the feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin, dressed in its festive clothes and received the hundreds of pilgrims. In fact, Panierotatos himself remembers when at a young age he went up from the village on foot to come to the Monastery to attend the Divine Liturgy.
He wished the message of the feast of the Annunciation which was established as a message of National Renovation to be the message or the content of our wishes for our homeland so that we can eliminate the pain and sorrow of so many years and feel the freedom we wish may God offer us, for all the inhabitants of this place to be the restoration of law and freedom.
He referred to the spiritual course of Lent during which we are all called to receive this eternal gift which Jesus Christ offers us with his coming into the world and his Resurrection to lead us all to the kingdom of God, but also to the one celebrated today. Saint Gregory Archbishop of Thessaloniki Palamas who fought to preserve the Orthodox faith of the Church from the heretical beliefs of the philosophers of his time and in fact an Orthodox monk of Barlaam Kalavros.
Prior to the dismissal, the President of the Community Charalambos Mosfilis and the President of the Refugee Association "Agios Mamas" Sotiris Charalambous addressed a short greeting, who both welcomed all those present, thanked the Holy us, the places where God was born and wished through the embassies of Panakiratos his Mother to give him freedom soon so that all the refugees could return to their place.
Concluding his speech, the pastor of Karpasia, Bishop Christoforos, also referred to the double meaning of the miracle that everyone experienced today. Through the first performance of the Divine Thanksgiving, the uncreated grace of God is revealed in us, which constitutes and sustains us, both the people and the place. We wait through the energy of God's grace for redemption, freedom and the passions of our personal and our homeland and to express our gratitude. The second miracle is the performance of the thanksgiving gathering by two High Priests. Finally, he wished the best and the best to both Panierotatos and the pious flock of his remote province, and soon God will require us to return to our places under other circumstances.
Famagusta MPs Georgios Karoullas, Onoufrios Koulas, the Chairman of the Committee of Occupied Municipalities and Communities Michalis Tziortas also attended the Divine Liturgy.
The monastery
In some sources it is also referred to as Panagia tou Dochniou or Techniotissa. There is no information about when the Monastery was founded, although it is estimated around the 14th to 15th century. However, the katholikon of the monastery dates back to the end of the 12th century. Reference to the Monastery is made by Archimandrite Kyprianos, who states, among other things, that the monastery had significant real estate, while maintaining shares in the neighboring villages of Agios Georgios Spatharikou and Gypsos.
The katholikon of the monastery is a single-aisled church with a dome. The dome has four arched windows, while it has two entrances, one in the middle of the south wall and one in the middle of the west wall. A special element are the blind arches inside the temple, which are supported by cylindrical pilasters, unlike most churches of this type, where their blind arches are supported by rectangular pilasters. The whole church was decorated with frescoes. Until 1974, few murals survived, while after 1974 these murals were irreparably looted.
The iconostasis of the temple was wood-carved and had remarkable icons. According to a relevant inscription, the iconostasis seems to have been made at the expense of the abbot of the monastery Dionysios, in the year 1751. Unfortunately with the invasion of 1974 the iconostasis was destroyed. Three icons from the Monastery of Panagia Touchniou have been rescued and transferred to the Byzantine Museum. These are the Crucifixion, Christ and the Baptism of Christ all three of the 16th century.
The monastery buildings are preserved from the Monastery until today, which cover the three sides of the Catholicos. In the areas of the monastery there are large warehouses for storing straw, wheat and olive oil. In the courtyard of the Monastery dominates an age-old cypress, which is one of the largest trees in Cyprus.
The Monastery was declared by the Department of Antiquities as Monument B '. Unfortunately, with the Turkish invasion of '74, the Monastery has been left to the ravages of time.
Famagusta.News