2022 VI 24
Prayer before the original and copy of the Lesna Icon of the Mother of God in Provemont (France)
On June 21, 2022, a delegation from the Lublin-Chełm Diocese, headed by its ordinary, Archbishop Abel, visited the Monastery of the Lesna Icon of the Mother of God in Provemont, France.
The main purpose of the trip was to pray with the words of the akathist before the original Lesna Icon of the Mother of God and a faithful copy, which was made in Thessaloniki, Greece. The donor and main initiator of the reconstruction of the original Lesna Icon of the Mother of God, which is carved in stone, is Konstantin Georgievich Szawel. After the akathist, Archbishop Abel performed the rite of consecration of the icon and placed the original miracle-working icon, which arrived with the sisters from Leśna Podlaska, on it. The historic event, which took place in Provemont near Paris, was the inauguration of this year's celebrations related to the pilgrimage of copies of the Lesna Icon of the Mother of God to selected places in Poland. The pilgrimage of the icon will begin from the Monastery of St. Onufry in Jabłeczna, where it will be exposed for prayerful adoration during a ceremony in honor of the patron saint of the monastery, St. Onufry the Great, and will culminate in its solemn introduction to the Church in Nosowo, near Leśna Podlaska, on October 2, 2022, on the feast day of the Leśna Podlaska Icon of the Mother of God.
The Ordinary of the Lublin-Chełm Diocese was accompanied by: Father Józef Fejsak, from the Orthodox Church of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, who for years has lived in friendly relations with the sisters of the Leśna Monastery; Father Paweł Samoluk, parish priest in Lykostomo in Greece, who mediated in the process of making the icon; the donor and originator of the icon - Konstantin Gieorgijewicz Szawel; Father Korneliusz Wilkiel - parish priest of the Orthodox parish of St. George in Biłgoraj and Dymytro Pokchyluk.
After the service, Archbishop Abel spoke, expressing gratitude to the abbot of the Monastery - Mother Euphrosyne for the warm welcome and the opportunity to offer a prayer before the Lesna Icon of the Mother of God, which is very sacred for the Chełm and Podlasie regions. As a gift to the monastery, the hierarch gave the icon of St. Seraphim Zahorowski with a particle of relics.
Then the members of the delegation bowed to the sanctities of the monastery and went to a joint dinner with the sisters of the Lesna community.