The weekend of September 9 and 10 was very special for more than 20 Slavic-speaking parishioners of the church of St. Maximos the Greek in Seoul, who made a pilgrimage to the newly built church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Jeonju.
The trip began with a prayer at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Seoul. The Metropolitan of Korea and Exarch of Japan Ambrosios blessed all the pilgrims before their departure.
After arriving in Jeonju, the pilgrims visited the National Museum of Korea located in the Hanok Village. While there, they had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the history and culture of the city of Jeonju.
Later they arrived at the church of the Dormition of the Theotokos where everyone was impressed by the beauty of the church and its wonderful iconography. This was followed by dinner at the Community Center. Afterward, everyone gathered in the church for the Service of Small Compline and the Prayers before Holy Communion. The beauty of the church at night and the overwhelming Services filled the pilgrims’ hearts with heavenly feelings.
In the morning, many of the pilgrims woke up early to admire the sunrise and the unusually beautiful view of the church, enveloped in the rays of the morning sun.
The Sunday Liturgy was presided over by the Dean of the church, Fr. Hilarion Jeong, assisted by Fr. Roman Kavchak as co-officiant. In his sermon during the Divine Liturgy, Father Roman analyzed the importance of the church for Orthodox believers and pointed out the spiritual benefits of their pilgrimage.
After the Divine Liturgy, all the faithful of the parish of Jeonju and the visitors from Seoul sat down for the common meal of love, during which they exchanged impressions from their trip and shared spiritual experiences. The visitors expressed their gratitude to Father Hilarion and Presbytera Despina, as well as to all the parishioners for their heartfelt hospitality.
This pilgrimage left a deep impression on the hearts of the parishioners of the holy church of Saint Maximos the Greek in Seoul and helped them strengthen their faith and spiritual unity.