Agion Oros - Mount Athos

THE HOLY ICON OF PANAGIA TRIHEROUSA The beautiful Icon of Panagia Tricherousa is kept at the Holy Monastery of Hilandariou on Mount Athos. It is an old Byzantine Icon of Holy Theotokos. The face of Panagia is life like and sweet which conjures emotions in the venerator and leaves you in awe of Her presence. The Icon for reasons of protection and showing of respect is covered with a golden riza on which are attached 5,000 precious stones, donated by centuries of faithful that have venerated the Holy Icon. THE HOLY MONASTERY OF HILANDARIOU - MOUNT ATHOS The Icon’s history: The Miraculous Icon of Panagia Tricherousa belonged to the family of St. John Damascene and was always kept in the chapel inside the Saint’s home. St. John Damascene was the chief advisor of the Caliph Walid of Syria between the years of 705-715 A.D. for all matters concerning the Christian population of the Caliphate. During this time period, in the reign of Leo the 3 rd Byzantine Em...

Part two of the series of posts on the Holy Icon of Panagia Portaitissa will be focused on the procession which takes place on Bright Tuesday every year. Each year on Great Saturday (Saturday prior to Easter Sunday) after the ninth hour is read in the katholikon of the Monastery, prior to the Holy Liturgy of St. Basil, The Holy Icon is transferred from its Chapel to the the katholikon of the Monastery. The Holy Icon remains there until the Monday of Saint Thomas, (Second monday after Easter). On Bright Tuesday, the arrival of the Holy Icon of Panagia Portaitissa, to the Holy Monastery of Iviron, is celebrated. On Bright Monday evening, Resurrection vespers take place in katholikon in which along with the Resurrection hymns, additional hymns celebrating the Holy Icon's arrival are chanted.  The Monastery is full with pilgrims from all over the world, lay people, monks and priests. There is a mood of excitement throughout the whole Monastery leading up to the next days ev...

Panagia Portaitissa, as mother of the whole world unceasingly grants mercy to the pain She sees in the hearts of the troubled people that seek her help. She speaks each persons language and understands their problems. She accepts the childlike expression of gratitude of Her children. One sees Her as merciful and uses Her presence as a balsam for his wounds. The other sees Her as a philanthropic judge, who guides him in his life. And you will constantly see in Her image, a peaceful yet stern expression from the centuries of incense and prayers which She accepts daily, filled with love and indescribable pain from all She hears. Her Icon is covered in a gold plated cover of Byzantine period but of plain proportions, loaded with offerings for Her assistance in sickness and gifts for Her help in achievements and healing. Archimandrite Vasilios Gontikakis - Former Abbot of The Holy Monastery of Iveron. The story of the Holy Icon of Panagia Portaitissa begins in the period o...

In 1822, a Turkish unit of soldiers arrived at the Vatopedi Monastery gates in order to rob the Monastery of its riches and destroy as much as they could. One soldier, who also happened to be the nephew of the officer leading the unit, dared to fire a shot at the Icon of Panagia which is painted on the wall directly above the entrance of the Holy Monastery. The shot hit the right hand of the Theotokos, the bullet mark is still visible to this day. Immediately after he fired the shot, something came over him and he went insane. He hung himself on an olive tree opposite the Monastery gates. The officer of the Turkish unit, witnessing these events, was overcome with fear and concluded that what had happened was due to his nephew’s sacrilege. He ordered his body to be thrown away without a proper burial.

                                      The Miraculous Icon of The Most Holy Theotokos, Panagia Pantanassa is a portable Icon dating back to the 17 th century. It is placed at the left hand proskynitarion of the north eastern pillar in the Katholikon of the Holy Monastery. One day a young man from Cyprus entered the Church and went to venerate the Holy Icon. At this point, Elder Joseph of Vatopedi+ saw a sharp light coming from the face of Panagia on the Icon and an unseen force dropped the young man to the ground.                                               ...

The Holy Icon of Panagia Elaiovritissa is dated to the 14 th century and is located in the (Docheion) olive oil store of the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi. On the Friday of Bright Week (1 st Friday after Easter) a procession of the Icon takes place from the olive oil store to the Katholicon of the Monastery, this is the days the Holy Icon is celebrated. According to tradition, the following Miracle is attributed to this Icon. In the time when Saint Gennadios was the keeper of the olive oil store, the Monastery suffered from a shortage of olive oil and Saint Gennadios only allowed for the olive oil to be used for the needs of the Church. The cook of the Monastery protested this decision to the Abbot of the Monastery. The Abbot decided to make the olive oil available to all of the fathers and trusted in the providence of our Most Holy Theotokos to take care of the needs of the Monastery. A few days had passed at Saint Gennadios went to the olive oil store to distribute oil t...

The Miraculous Icon of Panagia Esfagmeni is a wall fresco dating to the 14 th century and is located in the Narthex of the chapel of St. Demetrios which is adjacent and part of the structure of the Katholicon of the Holy Monastery. According to a manuscript dating to the 17 th century which is titled “Proskinitarion of Vatopdedi” under the heading of “In reference to the Icon of The Esfagmeni” the following is written: The then care taker of the Church who was a Hierodeacon, after a lengthy and tiring all night vigil which he was charged with undertaking all of the tasks of the Church (For those who have been to Mount Athos and experienced an all night Vigil, the church caretakers workload is enormous) , he went to the refectory and asked from the monk in charge for a little bread and wine in order to quench his hunger. The monk in charge of the refectory refused him abruptly because everything had been cleaned and set away already. The Hierodeacon was enraged, he h...

The miraculous Icon of Our Lady, Panagia Paramythia is to be found on the wall of the right hand choir in the chapel that bears the Icon's name. This Icon has been removed from a wall painting in the exonarthex of the katholikon of the Monastery, and is dated by tradition to the 14th century. The Icon's appearance and miraculous tradition comes from the following tradition as told by the fathers of the Monastery. On January the 21st sometime in the 14th century, after the Orthros service was completed, the fathers were on their way to their cells to rest prior to beginning the days tasks. It was at that time that the gates of the Monastery would be opened for the day. They were unaware that the Monastery was surrounded by pirates waiting for the Monastery's doors to open in order for them to plunder its treasures. The Abbot of the Monastery remained in the katholikon deep in prayer as was his usual routine. He was startled suddenly after hearing a voice that...

Dear readers, Firstly I apologise for the lack of posts over the last few weeks, for all of those who are unaware, I was ordained into the Diaconate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia (Ecumenical Patriarchate) on the 20th of May 2012. I look forward to continuing my posts on the Miraculous Icons of Mount Athos.

To all my readers. May the light of the Resurrected Lord shine bright in all of your hearts and give your souls a resurrection and a new beginning. I hope you all had a blessed Pascha. In Christ, George

The miraculous Icon of Panagia Vimatarissa or Ktitorissa is the premier Icon of the Holy Monastery of Vatopediou. It is placed at the central chair of the Holy Altar inside the main church (Katholicon) of the Monastery. According to tradition, Arcadius, the young son of Theodosios the Great, Emperor of Rome, was involved in a ship wreck. He washed to shore and ended up under a bush under miraculous circumstances. He found this Icon under this bush. This site later became the site of the Monastery of Vatopediou and hence the name of the Monastery - The greek word for bush is Vatos and the Greek word for child is Pedi, Vato Pedi or Greek - Βατοπαιδιου. The Icon was placed in the Holy Altar of the Monastery when the Monastery was built. The Icon also receives the name Ktitorissa (the establisher) from this miracle. The best known miracle of this Holy Icon is as follows. When Arab pirates decided to loot the Monastery (as was common practice in the 10th century), the Hierodeacon Savvas was...