Start Date
We invite the public to our seminary chapel, to venerate the extraordinary Hawaiian Myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. Our chapel clergy expect to receive the icon Tueday, October 11th, at 7 a.m.; and at 7:30 a.m., instead of daily Matins, they will celebrate a Molieben and Akathistos to this icon. The public is invited, both to attend the morning services, and also to venerate the icon in Three Hierarchs Chapel until 1:00 p.m.
The following partial description of the icon and its history is taken from the Official website of the Eastern American and New York Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR): www.eadiocese.org. The full article may be found here.
This myrrh-streaming icon depicts the Mother of God holding the Christ child. The myrrh that flows from this icon is an oil-like substance possessing the fragrance of roses. It is considered a great blessing from the Mother of God, and many healings, both spiritual and physical, have been attributed to it. The icon is a replica of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God of Montreal. The original icon of the Iveron Mother of God is still housed in the ancient Iveron Monastery on the monastic peninsula of Mount Athos, Greece.
The Hawaiian Iveron Mother of God has a unique history; the icon is a mounted replica of the Montreal Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, made by the Sofrino Church Supply Company in Russia. It was given as a gift to an Orthodox believer in Hawaii by the parish rector in the summer of 2007. It was in October 2007 that the believer, Reader Nectarios, smelled a strong fragrance of roses coming from the area in which the icon was placed in his home. As he approached the area, searching for the source of the strong aroma, he noticed that the icon of the Mother of God that he had received as a gift was completely saturated with the fragrant myrrh. After he notified the parish priest, the icon was brought to the church and completely wiped dry. A service of intercession was held before the icon and, by the end of the service, the icon was again streaming myrrh and the church was filled with the fragrance of roses.
The holy icon of the Mother of God continues to stream its fragrant myrrh to this day. Many people of all ethnic and religious backgrounds come to venerate the icon of the Mother of God and ask for her assistance with their troubles and maladies, as well as their physical ailments and spiritual needs.
In June 2008, the Holy Myrrh-streaming Hawaiian-Iveron Icon was officially recognized by His Eminence Kyrill, archbishop of San Francisco and Western America, of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), as miraculous and genuine. The icon and its bearer have been given the blessing to travel to the various churches and monasteries of Orthodox Church.
A schedule for the East Coast travel of the icon may be found here.
