Commemoration of the Miracle of the Icon of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Beirut

Commemoration of the miracle of the icon of our Lord Jesus Christ in Beirut. At the fourth session of the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787), Peter, bishop of Nicomedia, to prove the necessity of venerating icons, cited the discourse of Saint Athanasius about a miracle that took place in the city of Berytus (present-day Beirut).

In this city, near the synagogue of the Jews, there lived a Christian. Later he moved elsewhere and left an icon of Jesus Christ in his former lodging. The Jew who settled there did not notice the icon, but a Jew who came to visit saw it, scolded his friend and denounced him to the synagogue. The Jews took the icon down from the wall and began to blaspheme it: “As our fathers once mocked Him, so shall we mock Him,” they cried; they spat on the Saviour depicted on the icon, beat it with a whip and reviled it. They drove nails into the hands and feet, struck the head with a reed, and put to the lips a sponge soaked in vinegar. At last they brought a spear too, and one of the Jews pierced the Lord in the side. Suddenly blood and water gushed out of the pierced icon. Seeing this miracle, the rabbis said: “The followers of Jesus Christ claim that He healed the sick. Let us take this blood and water to the synagogue, anoint the sick, and see whether what they say is true.”

When they learned of the wonders, people of Beirut suffering from various diseases hurried to the holy thing: some were led, others were carried, and by anointing with the blood that had flowed from the icon they were all healed. The astonished Jewish clergy and all the people believed in Christ. “Glory to Thee, O Christ, crucified by the hands of our fathers and crucified by us too in the form of Thine icon. Glory to Thee, Son of God, who workest so many wonders! We believe in Thee. Be merciful and receive us!” prayed the stunned people. The Jews went to the bishop of Beirut, showed him the wonderworking icon and the blood and water that had flowed from it, and confessed their crime. The hierarch, seeing the sinners’ sincere repentance, received them, made them catechumens, and after long preparation baptised them. The synagogue was consecrated as a church in the name of the Saviour. At the request of the Jews the other synagogues of Beirut too were turned into Orthodox churches and consecrated in the names of holy martyrs.