Narration of Mrs. Panagiota Mexi, of the family Boukas from Ioannina, resident of Piraeus, Pavlou Nirvana 38.
I have six children, one girl and five boys. I lost one of my children, 24 years old, a probationary engineer on the ship “Akrotiri” of the Eugenides–Vernikos company during the shipwreck in Constanta, Romania on 2/1/1970.
Some told me that my child froze and drowned with 21 sailors and others that he is in Russia for treatment.
On the evening of the day of the shipwreck, I prayed and said: “My Panagia, show me if my child is alive.”
In my sleep I saw, ahead, what looked like the site of the shipwreck, a wonderful landscape. "But what is here?" I said. A voice then answered me: “It is Panagia Soumela,” and Panagia Soumela repeated three times:
“Your child is lost, but in two days we will bring him back with someone else.”
And indeed, in a few days they brought him back, embracing someone else, the same way they had drowned.
When I called the relevant office the next day, they avoided telling me the truth.
But when I told them, "I learned that he was lost," they asked me “who told you?” I answered them, "The Panagia!" And they then revealed the truth to me: “You were right, your child is lost”.
After this dramatic message, I came as a pilgrim to Panagia Soumela, where I found solace and relief.
21 people from the ship’s crew and the captain perished in the shipwreck. Only 4 were saved.
Source: From the book Soumela, the Panagia as a Pontian Refuge, Stefanos P. Tanimanidis, Pgs. 452-453. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
I have six children, one girl and five boys. I lost one of my children, 24 years old, a probationary engineer on the ship “Akrotiri” of the Eugenides–Vernikos company during the shipwreck in Constanta, Romania on 2/1/1970.
Some told me that my child froze and drowned with 21 sailors and others that he is in Russia for treatment.
On the evening of the day of the shipwreck, I prayed and said: “My Panagia, show me if my child is alive.”
In my sleep I saw, ahead, what looked like the site of the shipwreck, a wonderful landscape. "But what is here?" I said. A voice then answered me: “It is Panagia Soumela,” and Panagia Soumela repeated three times:
“Your child is lost, but in two days we will bring him back with someone else.”
And indeed, in a few days they brought him back, embracing someone else, the same way they had drowned.
When I called the relevant office the next day, they avoided telling me the truth.
But when I told them, "I learned that he was lost," they asked me “who told you?” I answered them, "The Panagia!" And they then revealed the truth to me: “You were right, your child is lost”.
After this dramatic message, I came as a pilgrim to Panagia Soumela, where I found solace and relief.
21 people from the ship’s crew and the captain perished in the shipwreck. Only 4 were saved.
Source: From the book Soumela, the Panagia as a Pontian Refuge, Stefanos P. Tanimanidis, Pgs. 452-453. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.