Mt. Athos, April 21, 2026
Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr
The Friday of Bright Week, a day dedicated to the Mother of God of the Life-Giving Spring, saw the Vatopedi Monastery on Mt. Athos also celebrating the miraculous Panagia Elaiovrytissa Icon (She Who Flows with Oil) according to the monastery’s tradition and the prescribed Athonite order.
Following the monastery’s established practice, the icon of the Theotokos was transferred from the docheion—the monastery’s oil storage building—to the katholikon. Upon the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, a sacred procession with the icon was held, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency.
Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr
This year's feast was attended by the abbot of the Holy Monastery of Sts. Augustine of Hippo and Seraphim of Sarov at Trikorfо in Phokis, Fr. Nektarios Moulatsiоtis, the Protosyncellus of the Archdiocese of Crete, the Most Reverend Archimandrite Bartholomew Vogiatzoglou, Athonite fathers, and clergy from various metropolises.
The icon dates to the 14th century and is kept in the monastery's olive oil storage building, from where it’s brought to the katholikon each year on Bright Friday for its feast day.
Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr
According to tradition, during a period of oil shortage at the monastery, the Venerable Gennadios, the monastery’s cellarer, began rationing the oil, setting aside supplies only for church use. The cook, however, complained to the abbot, who instructed the Venerable Gennadios to distribute oil to the brotherhood without restriction, trusting in the providence of the Mother of God. When Gennadios later visited the cellarer, he found the oil overflowing from the storage vessel and reaching as far as the door. Ever since, the icon has emitted a wondrous fragrance.
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