The “Wonderworking Hawaiian Iveron” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is coming to St. George Serbian Orthodox Church.
JACKSON TWP. —
The “Wonderworking Hawaiian Iveron” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is coming to St. George Serbian Orthodox Church at 4665 Applegrove St. NW.
It will be on display from 1 to 2 p.m. Oct. 6 during a special worship service.
The Very Rev. Dragan Filipovic is the host pastor.
Believers say the icon, which depicts the Virgin Mary and the Christ child, streams myrrh, one of three gifts given to the infant Jesus, according to biblical accounts of his birth.
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia officially recognized the icon as “miraculous” in June 2008. It has been attributed to physical healings.
“Miracles happen more often than we think,” said the Very Rev. Daniel Rogich of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Canton. “We have a tendency not to look for them. I think they happen in people’s lives. It bolsters people’s faith.”
VENERATED
Icons are not worshiped. They are venerated, or highly-regarded as images representative of the Christianity’s saints and martyrs.
The Honolulu icon is a duplicate of the original, which is housed in the Monastery of Iveron on Mount Athos in Georgia. Tradition holds that it was painted by St. Luke.
A copy of the original was brought from Iveron to Montreal, Canada, by Jose Munoz, a Chilean convert to Orthodoxy, in 1982. Upon returning to Montreal, Munoz discovered the duplicate icon was exuding myrrh.
According to officials at Holy Theotokos of Iveron Russian Orthodox Church in Honolulu, its duplicate icon also has been streaming myrrh and is linked to several healings.
The Very Rev. Nicholas Gamvas of St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church in Canton was dean of the Greek Cathedral in Honolulu from 2001 until January 2007.
“I was close friends with the pastor, Anatole Lyovin,” he said.
MATTER OF FAITH
Gamvas said Lyovin had gifted the Honolulu icon to a parishioner in 1997.
“I’ve seen the icon,” Gamvas said. “It wasn’t streaming myrrh when I was there. It started streaming myrrh in June of 2007. It’s streaming down entire the paper face of the icon, so much so, people stand in line to collect the oil. ... what attracts people is a matter of faith. They think they too or someone in their family might get restored to good health.”
Gamvas said myrrh, which comes from camphor trees in Africa and the Middle East, has long history within the Church. It’s often used for incense.
“When a saint reposes, and their body remains incorrupt, no matter if they’re buried or left in the desert, they don’t have the body odor of a decaying corpse,” Gamvas said. “There’s a sweet-smelling myrrh.
The Honolulu icon has been brought to more 250 churches and has been venerated by more than 250,000 million throughout the United States.
Gamvas said the first influx of Orthodox Christians were Russians who came to Kauai in 1815, where they built Fort Elizabeth.
Gamvas said the Honolulu icon was brought to a monastery in Pennsylvania in 2010.
“I’m happy it’s coming to Canton, to St. George,” he said. “I think God is trying to tell us don’t lose hold, keep your faith and never, never quit. In long run, it’s not between ‘us and them.’ It’s between us and him.”
It will be on display from 1 to 2 p.m. Oct. 6 during a special worship service.
The Very Rev. Dragan Filipovic is the host pastor.
Believers say the icon, which depicts the Virgin Mary and the Christ child, streams myrrh, one of three gifts given to the infant Jesus, according to biblical accounts of his birth.
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia officially recognized the icon as “miraculous” in June 2008. It has been attributed to physical healings.
“Miracles happen more often than we think,” said the Very Rev. Daniel Rogich of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Canton. “We have a tendency not to look for them. I think they happen in people’s lives. It bolsters people’s faith.”
VENERATED
Icons are not worshiped. They are venerated, or highly-regarded as images representative of the Christianity’s saints and martyrs.
The Honolulu icon is a duplicate of the original, which is housed in the Monastery of Iveron on Mount Athos in Georgia. Tradition holds that it was painted by St. Luke.
A copy of the original was brought from Iveron to Montreal, Canada, by Jose Munoz, a Chilean convert to Orthodoxy, in 1982. Upon returning to Montreal, Munoz discovered the duplicate icon was exuding myrrh.
According to officials at Holy Theotokos of Iveron Russian Orthodox Church in Honolulu, its duplicate icon also has been streaming myrrh and is linked to several healings.
The Very Rev. Nicholas Gamvas of St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church in Canton was dean of the Greek Cathedral in Honolulu from 2001 until January 2007.
“I was close friends with the pastor, Anatole Lyovin,” he said.
MATTER OF FAITH
Gamvas said Lyovin had gifted the Honolulu icon to a parishioner in 1997.
“I’ve seen the icon,” Gamvas said. “It wasn’t streaming myrrh when I was there. It started streaming myrrh in June of 2007. It’s streaming down entire the paper face of the icon, so much so, people stand in line to collect the oil. ... what attracts people is a matter of faith. They think they too or someone in their family might get restored to good health.”
Gamvas said myrrh, which comes from camphor trees in Africa and the Middle East, has long history within the Church. It’s often used for incense.
“When a saint reposes, and their body remains incorrupt, no matter if they’re buried or left in the desert, they don’t have the body odor of a decaying corpse,” Gamvas said. “There’s a sweet-smelling myrrh.
The Honolulu icon has been brought to more 250 churches and has been venerated by more than 250,000 million throughout the United States.
Gamvas said the first influx of Orthodox Christians were Russians who came to Kauai in 1815, where they built Fort Elizabeth.
Gamvas said the Honolulu icon was brought to a monastery in Pennsylvania in 2010.
“I’m happy it’s coming to Canton, to St. George,” he said. “I think God is trying to tell us don’t lose hold, keep your faith and never, never quit. In long run, it’s not between ‘us and them.’ It’s between us and him.”
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