Agion Oros - Mount Athos

The Holy and miraculous Icon of Panagia Gerontissa is located at the Holy Monastery of Pantokratoros, Mount Athos and is the Monastery’s most valued possession. Tradition states that the Icon was donated to the Monastery by the Roman (Byzantine) Emperor Alexios Komninos the 1 st .  It is a copy of the mosaic Icon of Panagia which was located at the Pantocratoros Monastery in Constantinople, which was built by the same emperor. It is the only ancient Icon on Mount Athos that depicts the Theotokos in full and in a prayer pose (Deisis). The first miracle attributed to the Icon dates back to the time of emperor Alexios Komninos the 1 st , when he instructed that the Monastery be built 500 metres from where it stands on a rise where the current chapel of St. Athanasius of Alexandria stands. During construction, every evening after the workers had departed the building site, their tools and the Icon would disappear from the current site ...

The Holy Icon of Panagia – Fovera Prostasia is the treasured Icon of the Holy Monastery of Koutloumousiou of Mount Athos  The Holy Icon is dated to the 13th or 14th century and is located in the chapel attached to the Katholikon (Main Church) of the Monastery.  Tradition of the Monastery tells us that the Icon was the only item left un-scathed in a fire that ravaged one of the monasteries dependencies in Crete. When discovered it was immediately returned to the Monastery at Mount Athos where it is kept to this day.  The Holy Icon has been attributed to many miracles over the centuries and even most recently. In the 14th century, Pirates threatened the Monastery. The Monks immediately rushed to the tower in order to defend themselves and began chanting their Supplication to Panagia Fovera Prostasia. An unknown force immediately scared off the pirates and they left the Monastery unharmed.   A more recent miracle attributed to the Holy Icon...

A very special thank you to my friend KP who has written a beautiful article regarding my Ordination to the Priesthood. I look forward to continuing my posts this month once I have become familiar with my new duties and the long and difficult road ahead. Ένα ιδιαίτερο ευχαριστώ στον φίλο μου ΚΠ ο οποίος έγραψε ένα όμορφο άρθρο σχετικά με την εις Πρεσβύτερον Χειροτονία μου. Ανυπομονώ να συνεχίσω τις αναρτήσεις μου αυτόν τον μήνα μόλις έχω εξοικειωθή με τίς καινούργιες υποχρεώσεις μου και τον μακρύ και δύσκολο δρόμο μπρόστα μου. Ευχαριστώ επίσης τον φίλο Γιάννη Κονστιώτη, συγγραφέα της ιστοσελίδας http://agioritikesmnimes.blogspot.com.au/

One of the most treasured and revered Icons of Mount Athos is that of Panagia of the Akathist Hymn or Salutations of the Holy Monastery of Dionysiou. It is the oldest Icon chronologically of all of the others of Mount Athos. It is made of beeswax and mastich, a product derived from tree sap along with myrh. On the back of the Holy Icon, a silver plate is fixed and the Emperor Alexios 3rd Komninos and Saint Dionysios, the founder of the Holy Monastery of Dionysiou are depicted on it. The following writing is also inscribed on the back. "This is the miraculous Icon which Patriarch Sergios held whilst circling the walls of Constantinople and which ridded the city of the barbarian siege and was donated to the Monastery of Dionysiou by Emepror Alexios." It is therefore the Icon that Patriarch Sergios, during that historic night in the year 626 A.D., used to lead the procession with other clergy and faithful, around the walls of Constantinople, thus giving the small n...