Panagia Evangelistria de Tinos

Marian Advocation of Tinos (Cyclades)

According to the traditionin the early 19th century the Virgin appeared in dreams and repeated visions to the nun Exercisefrom the monastery of Kehrovouniou, indicating the place where an ancient icon of the Annunciation was buried. These revelations led excavations on the island of Tinos until the image was given, considered the work of Luke according to popular piety and endowed with gifts of miraculous healing.

Main data

Origin and history

According to the traditionin the early 19th century the Virgin appeared in dreams and repeated visions to the nun Exercisefrom the monastery of Kehrovouniou, indicating the place where an ancient icon of the Annunciation was buried. These revelations led excavations on the island of Tinos until the image was given, considered the work of Luke according to popular piety and endowed with gifts of miraculous healing.

As for the documented history, el hallazgo del icon se sitúa el 30 January 1823, when a worker called Vlassis, during the excavations, hit with his zadon an object that broke in two and turned out to be the desired icon. Shortly after it was decided to raise a large church to guard the image, design of the local architect Estratios Emmanuel Kalonaris; the temple was inaugurado en 1830. En 1835, a royal decree declared the sanctuary "the goal of pilgrimage of all Orthodox," consolidating Tinos as the country's main Christian pilgrimage centre. In 1972another decree officially defined the island of Tinos as "Sacra Island" for the value of this miraculous icon.

The image and the sanctuary

El icono es una Orthodox image of the Annunciation, traditionally attributed to Byzantine times. Represents Mary on her knees in prayer, with a head tilted, inside a room, dressed in a robe in green and yellow tones and in front of a reclination on which there is an open book with words addressed to the angel. In front of her is the arcángel Gabriel, standing, surrounded by light, also dressed in green and gold, holding a scepter in shape of azapprena, symbol of purity. Because of the amount of gold, silver and jewels that cover it, the original icon is hardly visible and is usually described from a replica preserved in the sacristy. Possibly called it. Megalocharis ("Great grace" or "Full of grace").

The sanctuary is known as Iglesia de Panagia Evangelistria de Tinos o Our Lady of Tinosand is officially a temple dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. It is an Orthodox church built mostly in white marble, of three ships with dome, in style of Renaissance inspiration, located on a hill that dominates the city (Chora) of Tinos. Since its opening in 1830 it is the the main Christian pilgrimage center of Greece, comparable to Lourdes for France Fátima for Portugal. If you consider it Marian national sanctuary of Greece, enriched with gold and precious stones to honor the miraculous icon. He does not know that he has the Catholic title of minor basilica.

Sponsorship and coronation

The icon of the Panagia Evangelistria was proclaimed patron of the Greek nationin relation to the fact that his finding coincided with the first years of the modern Greek State and was interpreted as a providential sign. In addition, it is considered protective of the Sailors y healing of the sickas shown by the numerous sea exvotes and thanks for cures.

As for a canonical coronation in the technical sense within the discipline of the Catholic Church, there is no clear data in the sources consulted from a formal canonical coronation of the icon under the mandate of a Pope or the Holy See. Consequently, does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

The sanctuary celebrates several important dates. The fiesta principal para la Iglesia ortodoxa es la Sleeping of the Theotokos el August 15which, according to the tradition of the Aegean islands, constitutes the great summer feast. In those days, the island became the center of Greek Christianity, with a month of intense liturgical life and a multitude of pilgrims. The Catholic Church celebrates the memory of Our Lady of Tinos the 30 January, linked to the day of the icon finding.

One of the most striking devotional expressions is the pilgrimage from the port to the sanctuary, located on the top of the city. Many faithful ascend the way on your kneesby a long pavement covered with a carpet up to the temple door, in a gesture of penance, thanksgiving, or confident supplication. The sanctuary receives countless exvotesespecially in silver and gold, which are offered in gratitude for favors received; a part is regularly auctioned to finance charity works. This intense devotion has made the sanctuary also called the “Lourdes del Egeo”, stressing its character as a place of conversions, reconciliation and hope for the sick and the afflicted.

Link to the Rosary

In the ordinary documentation of the sanctuary, the Greek Orthodox Church and the specialized press does not contain a specific and organized link with the prayer of the Rosary as understood in Latin tradition. The sanctuary is mainly inserted in spirituality orthodoxin which the veneration of icons, the great Marian liturgy and the prayer of Jesus or the use of komboskini predominate.

However, from a Catholic Marian perspective, the icon of the Announcement offers a deep meeting point with the Rosaryespecially in the primer mysteries gozosowhich contemplates precisely this moment in the history of salvation. The meditation of the Annunciation in the Rosary allows us to spiritually join what the icon of Tinos represents: the obedient reception of the Word, the faith of Mary, its humility and its total availability to the will of God. In this way, although there is no rosarian practice of the sanctuary, the Rosary can accompany and enrich devotion to the Gospel Panagiahelping to contemplate, along with the Virgin of Tinos, the mystery of the Incarnation and to live its "fiat" in daily life.