Photo: Pisidia.Church
The exact origin of this Icon is unknown. The miracles by which it was glorified, and the information which has come down to us, date back to the VI century, and even then it was called ancient. Evidence of the Icon's presence in Sozopol can be documented up to the VIII century, after which it is no longer mentioned.
At that time (between 565-577) the exiled Patriarch Eutykhios of Constantinople (April 6), was living in the nearby city of Amasia. The presbyter Eustáthios, a contemporary of Patriarch Eutykhios, who also wrote his Life, mentions several of the Patriarch's miracles, which Father Eustathios himself witnessed.
There was a married couple in Amasia whose children were all stillborn. The heartbroken parents, grieving over their misfortune, asked the Patriarch to pray for them, so that the Lord would turn away His wrath from them and give them a living child. Saint Eutykhios, after praying fervently for them, anointed them both with holy oil, some from the Honorable Cross, and some from the Holy Icon of our Most Pure Lady Theotokos at Sozopol saying: "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
After this short prayer, Saint Eutykhios became silent for a while; then, as if illumined by divine grace, he told the couple: "Name the child Peter, and he will live." Father Eustathios, who was present at that time, asked Saint Eutykhios: "And if the child is a girl, what should she be called?" Saint Eutykhios replied: "No, let them call him Peter, and he shall live."
Trusting in God's mercy, the overjoyed couple returned home. In due time, a son was born to them, just as Saint Eutykhios had predicted, and he was named Peter in Holy Baptism. In addition to that child, they had another son, whom they called John, with the Patriarch's blessing. The children grew up healthy and thrived, and the parents, and all the inhabitants of the city who knew about this miracle glorified God.
Eleusippos, a disciple of the great ascetic Theodore the Sykeote (April 22), who accompanied his teacher everywhere, witnessed a miracle of the myrrh flowing from the Pisidia Icon of the Mother of God. Around the year 600, as Saint Theodore was returning from Constantinople, he stopped at Sozopol in order to venerate the miraculous Myrrh-streaming Icon of the Mother of God. Entering the temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, and stretching out his hands in prayer in the form of a cross, Saint Theodore pressed his eyes to the wonderworking icon, and a miraculous power flowed from the Icon of the Mother of God and healed the Saint's eyes as he stood before her. Seeing this sign of grace-filled power, all those who were present exclaimed: "Truly, this man is a great servant of God."
At the start of the iconoclastic persecution under Emperor Leo the Isaurian (716-741), Saint Germanus (May 12) wrote a letter to Bishop Thomas of Claudiopolis, justifying the veneration of holy icons by the Church's practice. In support of this he cited the image of the Savior not made by hands at Edessa, and the Icons of the Mother of God, painted by the Evangelist Luke. He stated that through various icons, God has worked many miracles. For example, He gave healing to the sick, as Saint Germanus had experienced himself. The most remarkable thing is that there had been no objection or doubt to the fact that the Icon of the Most Pure Mother of God at Pisidia had poured forth a stream of myrrh from her right hand. This miracle was witnessed by many. The truth of Patriarch Germanus's letter was confirmed by the Seventh Ecumenical Synod at which it was read.
According to written sources, the copy of the Most Holy Theotokos Icon is one of the oldest Byzantine icons. The church in which it was kept was built in honor of the Theotokos at Sozopol, Pisidia (today Uluborlu is a city and district of the province of Isparta, Turkey), from which the Icon got its name: Pisidiotissa (Παναγία Πισιδιώτισσα). This is a rather rare icon: the Virgin holds the Child on her left hand, and blesses with with her right. Testimonies say that it was from her right hand that the myrrh flowed from the original Icon.
A copy of the ancient wonderworking Icon was made in 1608 at Moscow's Novospassky Monastery. Other sources say that there was a copy of the Pisidia Icon, which was the cell Icon of the nun Martha, the mother of Tsar Michael Romanov. After her death, it was placed in the Novospassky Monastery. Unfortunately, all traces of the Icon were lost after 1918.
In 2015, a significant event occurred. In the province of Alanya, near the city of Uluborlu (formerly Sozopol, Pisidia), the first Christian church was opened and dedicated to the Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Pisidia.
The ceremony of opening the new church was led by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Metropolitan Sotirios of Pisidia, thanks to whom the construction of the church of the Most Holy Theotokos in Alanya became possible, and the priest of this church, Father Constantine (Shevchenko), originally from Kazan, Russia, was appointed as priest of the newly rebuilt church, where he arrived in early October 2016.
In the region of Alanya there is a large Russian-speaking community of Orthodox Christians, which established a holiday on the opening day of the temple. Russian parishioners venerate and bow down before a copy of the Pisidiotissa Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, located in the Novospassky Monastery of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
The most recent miracle occurred in 2014. Vladyka Sotḗrios was on a visit to Athens, Greece, where he met a married couple who were expecting a child. Vladyka presented them with a paper copy of the new Icon. Later, twins were born in the family. The child (a girl) could not breathe on her own and was placed in an incubator with a respirator. The doctors stated that only surgery could save the child. The parents immediately contacted Vladyka Sotḗrios and asked him to pray for their daughter. The mother decided to pray before the Pisidia Icon of the Mother of God. The operation was scheduled for September 3. According to the new calendar, that is on the Icon's Feast Day. However, preoperative studies on that day revealed that the disease was gone. The child was disconnected from the respirator and given to her mother, who was able to hug her for the first time. Further tests showed that the girl was completely well.
