Washington, D.C., November 27, 2017
Orthodox believers in Washington, D.C. celebrated the 35th anniversary of the glorification of the Montreal Iveron Icon of the Mother of God on Friday, reports RIA-Novosti. The icon, which began streaming myrrh in 1982, became one of the main sacred objects of the Russian diaspora.
The Divine Liturgy on the anniversary was celebrated in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Washington, D.C.
The Montreal Iveron Icon began miraculously streaming myrrh on November 24, 1982 in Montreal at the house of an Orthodox Chilean Br. José Muñoz-Cortes. The icon streamed myrrh almost continuously for 15 years. The Montreal Icon is a copy of the wonderworking Portaitissa Icon treasured at Iveron Monastery on Mt. Athos.
Br. José was killed on October 31, 1997 in Athens and the icon disappeared. He possibly gave it to the care of friends in the days before his death. Many faithful believe the icon has returned to Mt. Athos, where it was painted.
The 20th anniversary of the repose of Br. José was celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) on Saturday, October 28, for which hundreds of believers from various cities around the U.S. and Canada gathered at ROCOR’s spiritual center Holy Trinity Monastery and Seminary in Jordanville in upstate New York. A panikhida and akathist were served in the cemetery behind the main monastery church were Br. José is buried.
All of the services were blessed with the presence of the Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, which is itself a miraculous copy of the Montreal Icon, which began to stream myrrh in 2007, ten years after the disappearance of the Montreal Icon.
The Church of St. John the Baptist in Washington was the first outside of Canada to be blessed with a visitation from the Montreal Icon in 1982. Offering a sermon on Friday, His Grace Bishop Nicholas (Olhovsky) of Manhattan remembered the Montreal Icon as very special: “Many of us well remember this wondrous icon. It is a miracle of God.”
Despite it being a weekday, many gathered for the Divine Liturgy in the presence of another great icon of the Mother of God—the miraculous Kursk Root Icon, which is considered the guide and protectress of the Russian diaspora, constantly on visitations to parishes throughout America and beyond, including England, Germany, and Russia.
