Washington, D.C., September 7, 2021
eadiocese.org
St. John the Baptist Cathedral (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia) in Washington, D.C., was blessed with the visit of two highly-revered wonderworking icons two weekends ago.
For the first time in the parish’s history, the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God and the Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God were together at the church at the same time for services on Saturday and Sunday, August 28-29, reports the ROCOR Eastern American Diocese.
The icons were brought by their respective guardians: His Grace Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan with the Kursk Root Icon, and Deacon Nectarios Yangston with the Hawaiian Iveron Icon. They were festively greeted at the All-Night Vigil by cathedral and visiting clergy and a host of faithful, “who had come from near and far to pray before these two holy icons.”
eadiocese.org
“During Vigil, it was plain for everyone to see how the holy myrrh from the Hawaiian Icon overflowed its frame onto the cover of the analogion, leaving a wide mark on the cloth as a grace-filled reminder for parishioners of its visit,” the EAD reports.
The icons were also present for the cathedral’s Slavonic and English Liturgies the next day. A moleben was served before the icons following both Liturgies, and the faithful were anointed with myrrh and given copies of the icons and a small piece of cotton soaked with myrrh.
Fr. Victor and Matushka Maria. Photo: eadiocese.org
Sunday, August 29, also marked the 50th wedding anniversary of the cathedral rector Archpriest Victor Potapov and his wife Matushka Maria. In honor of the occasion, Deacon Nectarios gifted the couple a copy of the Hawaiian Iveron Icon in a cloth case that covered the miraculous icon for several years.
The icons remained in the church following the second Liturgy, with a stream of faithful coming to pray before them.
The next day, both icons were taken to the Russian Embassy in D.C., where a moleben and an akathist to the Mother of God were celebrated.
On Tuesday, August 31, Bp. Nicholas returned with the Kursk Root Icon to New York, while the Hawaiian Icon continued to visit parishes in the area before leaving for Florida on September 2.
Last week, OrthoChristian reported on the Hawaiian Icon’s visit to a parish in central Pennsylvania.
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