Agion Oros - Mount Athos

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...