Feast of the Iveron Icon of the All-holy Theotokos

Feast of the Iveron Icon of the All-holy Theotokos. In the reign of the Emperor Theophilus (829–842) the terrible heresy of iconoclasm raged in the Byzantine Empire. By the emperor’s order, soldiers searched every village and city of the empire for hidden icons and destroyed them.

Near Nicaea there lived a devout widow who secretly kept an icon of the All-holy Theotokos. The soldiers sent by the emperor found this icon, and one of them “struck the face of the icon with his sword”. A miracle took place: blood spurted from the wound. The frightened soldiers left the place.

The widow prayed all night before the icon of the All-holy Theotokos, and in the morning, by the providence of God, she carried the icon down to the sea and, after praying, let it down into the water. The icon, standing upright on the waves of the sea, set off towards the west.

Time passed. One evening the monks of the Iveron monastery on Athos saw a pillar of light on the sea. This vision went on for several days. The fathers of the Holy Mountain gathered and said: “What might this be that burneth in the waters?” They went down to the seashore and saw that the pillar of light stood over an icon of the Mother of God, but when they resolved to approach, the icon moved away from the shore.

In the Iveron monastery there laboured a Georgian monk, Gabriel (see his Life on 12 July). The All-holy Theotokos appeared to the fathers of the Holy Mountain and told them that only Gabriel the Iberian was worthy to bring the holy icon out of the sea. At the same time the Mother of God appeared to Gabriel himself and said: “Go into the sea, walk on the waves in faith, and all will see My love and mercy towards your house.”

The monks of Athos came to the monastery of the Georgians, sought out Gabriel, and went down to the seashore with singing and the burning of incense. Gabriel went into the sea, walked on the waves as on dry land, and brought the holy icon to the shore.

This took place on the Tuesday of Bright Week.

The icon brought out of the sea was set up, and a service of thanksgiving was sung. At that spot a cool and pleasant spring gushed out. After this the icon was carried into the church and placed in the sanctuary. The next morning, when the monks came to light the lamp, they did not find the icon in its place. After a search it was found on the wall above the monastery gate; they took it down and placed it in the sanctuary again. This happened several times. At last the All-holy Virgin appeared again to Gabriel and said: “Declare unto the brethren that henceforth they trouble Me no more, for I desire not that ye should guard Me, but that I Myself should guard you, not only in this life but in that which is to come; and so long as the icon is seen in this house, the grace and mercy of My Son shall not fail you.”

The monks were filled with unspeakable joy; they built a small church there to the glory of the All-holy Theotokos and placed the wonderworking icon in it.

By the grace of the wonderworking icon of the Portaitissa, that is, of the Iveron Mother of God, many miracles are worked.