The nearly two-week presence of the Holy Cincture of the Theotokos, the All-Holy Virgin Mary, this month at the St. Nicholas Cathedral of Piraeus was the second time in a century that the Holy Relic had been reverently welcomed in Greece’s largest port-city.
The Holy Cincture had been solemnly conveyed from the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi of Mount Athos to Athens in August 1929 after first arriving by steamship to Piraeus.
Thousands of faithful had gathered at the quayside where the vessel carrying the Holy Cincture docked, with Bishop Anthimos, accompanied by six archimandrites and numerous clerics welcomed the Holy Relic, the only object associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary’s earthly existence.
The Holy Cincture was then conveyed to nearby Athens by car, with the roads lined with thousands of faithful on its path.
