Greek American television personality Maria Menounos has shared a deeply personal experience from her summer in Greece: a pilgrimage to the Church of Panagia Evangelistria on the island of Tinos with her daughter, Athena.
“Some of the holiest moments of my life have happened in Greece,” Menounos wrote in a post shared with her followers, reflecting on the role faith has played throughout her life.
Menounos explained that in recent years she has made pilgrimages to Saint Nektarios on Aegina, a saint with whom she has developed a particularly strong spiritual connection. That connection became part of her family story as well: her daughter Athena was baptized at Saint Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church in West Covina, California.
This summer, however, Menounos said she felt drawn somewhere else.
“But this year, I felt called to Tinos,” she wrote.
The journey carried an especially personal meaning for Menounos. She explained that her mother named her after the Panagia and that she has long felt the Virgin Mary’s protection in her life. Since becoming a mother herself, she said that connection has grown even stronger.
Menounos wrote that she prays every night for Panagia to protect Athena and to help guide her as a mother.
Visiting the Church of Panagia Evangelistria with her daughter became one of the most meaningful moments of the trip.
The church, which overlooks the port of Tinos, is one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Greece. Menounos also described for her followers the well-known tradition of pilgrims approaching the church on their knees from the port as an expression of faith, gratitude, prayer or a promise made to Panagia.
Inside the church, Menounos said she prayed for Athena, as well as for members of her family and friends, asking that the love and protection she has felt throughout her own life also surround her daughter.
She described being overwhelmed with emotion upon entering the church and experiencing an extraordinary sense of love there.
Athena’s godfather accompanied them during the visit, and Menounos said Father Peter George spent time with the family, showing them sacred areas of the church and sharing its history.
The experience was part of a larger return to Greece for Menounos, whose Greek heritage and Orthodox faith have remained visible parts of her public life. Through posts on her official Instagram account, she has been sharing moments from the trip with her followers.
For Menounos, however, the visit to Tinos appears to have been about something much more intimate than a summer stop on a Greek island. It connected three generations of her family: the mother who gave her the name Maria in honor of the Panagia, Menounos herself, and now her young daughter Athena.
And it brought that connection to one of the places where devotion to the Panagia has drawn generations of Greeks from around the world.
