In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
Photo: wikipedia.org Dear brothers and sisters, today we are celebrating one of the most venerated icons of the Mother of God in Russia. The Iveron Icon was revealed on Holy Mount Athos in the tenth century and became famous for many miracles. We recall that this icon appeared to the monks in a pillar of fire in the sea. The monks brought it ashore. The Mother of God revealed in a vision to the abbot of the Iveron Monastery that She was the Protectress of this monastery, of Mt. Athos, and of all Christendom.
In 1648, a replica of this icon was brought from Mt. Athos to Russia. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ordered a replica to be painted and brought to Moscow. In the capital this icon was placed in the chapel at the Resurrection Gate of Red Square. Before the Revolution, both the capital city’s residents and its guests would begin every important work with prayer to the Queen of Heaven before of Her wonderworking icon. Unfortunately, the chapel was destroyed in the Soviet era and was not restored until 1995, when another replica of the wonderworking Iveron Icon was brought from Mt. Athos again.
Commemorating this holy icon, we turn to the Mother of God, asking Her to protect us from troubles and give us strength. But do we fully understand what it means to entrust ourselves to Her care?
The Lord has vouchsafed me to visit Holy Mount Athos a number of times. It was both a great joy and a great discovery for me. There you encounter a different reality, you see a thousand-year-old monastic tradition and a very special—filial, reverent and at the same time very sober—attitude towards God and the Mother of God. The monks are children of God, who live by the service of Christ and by unceasing prayer.
Monks often say that the Most Holy Theotokos is the Abbess of Mt. Athos. She rules there and treats both monks and pilgrims alike in a motherly way. I had heard about it before visiting Holy Mount Athos, but I had not fully understood the meaning of these words. Once there, I was faced with a different reality. You make plans, but everything unfolds in an absolutely different way. The Mother of God begins to control your abilities, plans, and decisions. The spiritual fathers say that we simply must trust Her. But in order to hear the call of the Most Holy Virgin, we need to give up our searches and desires. However, we are used to saying, “I want this! God, grant it to me! Do as I please!” We want the will of God to match ours, not vice versa.
Each monastery and each skete of Mt. Athos has a specially venerated icon of the Mother of God. I often saw that the place of the bishop or the abbot was not occupied, even when they were present at the church. The monks are sure that the Queen of Heavens rules the monastery, whereas the abbot is just Her deputy and helps Her rule it. But at the same time, at the Athonite monasteries I saw amazing, unquestioning obedience to the spiritual elders and spiritual guides. Holy Hierarch Ignatius (Brianchaninov) said that spirit-bearing elders can appear in a society or a community where there are people truly seeking the will of God.
I wish all of us to seek this will. How can we do it? We must be able to trust God, Whose will is revealed to us through our father-confessors, spiritual guides, and parents. It is important when in our lives we are guided not only by our own thoughts, but also by the wise advice of someone we trust and obey. For if you rely on your mind and trust only yourself, then sooner or later you will make a mistake. Let us keep this in mind as we honor the memory of the Queen of Heaven.
I give you my heartfelt greetings on this feast. Let me remind you that there are two Iveron icons at our church. The first one, kept at the cathedral for many years, was painted in the early twentieth century at St. Panteleimon’s Monastery on Mt. Athos. The second one was painted for the cathedral last year by icon-painters of the “Lik” (“Face”) Palekh workshop. The icon is the same size as the Athonite original and very similar in style. These relics are a gift to each of us, so let’s thank God for them. Happy feast, dear brothers and sisters! May God bless you!
