The Miraculous Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Aksion Esti” – “It is worthy to eat” was delivered from Athos to Athens

Miraculous Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Άξιον Εστί” – “It is worthy to eat” was delivered from the temple of Protata Karies, the capital of Athos, on Wednesday to Athens for the worship of believers in the Athens Cathedral.

The icon that is the Universal Protector of the monasteries of Athos and bears the seal of 20 monasteries of the Holy Mountain, rarely leaves Athos, was greeted with honors due to the head of state.

Meeting Icons “Worthy to eat” at Athens airport

The Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Jerome, reportedly requested that the event be held on the occasion of the bicentenary of the Greek Revolution of 1821. The event was postponed due to the coronavirus epidemic.

So they met the icon on the square in front of the Athens Cathedral

The Byzantine-era icon depicts the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus, is covered with silver on all parts except the face, and is the object of great veneration associated with several miracles, including its discovery. “Worthy to eat” is the most important relic of Mount Athos.

The icon has been installed in the Athens Cathedral, and people are already lining up to pay their respects.

As the pilgrimage coincides with the pre-election period, a conservative government minister hurried along with the photographer to receive the blessing of the icon and “publicly declare that he is a devoted and faithful Christian,” as he told critics who mocked him.

In the cathedral on this occasion will be held special liturgiesincluding morning service and evening prayer. A larger liturgy led by prelates will take place on Sunday. May 7, Wednesday, May 10, and Sunday, May 14, the last day before the return of the icon to Athos.

The miraculous image of the Mother of God “It is worthy to eat”

(Translated from the Greek by George Theocharis).

Since 982, the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “It is worthy to eat” has been in the altar of the Assumption Church on a mountainous place. Together with the temple, she survived many hardships, but remained unharmed, and for the second millennium she illuminates the entire Orthodox world..

As it is clear from its very name, the history of this icon is connected with the Orthodox chant “It is worthy to eat”. In the 10th century, in a cave not far from Karei, an old priest-monk with a novice labored.

One day, towards Sunday, June 11, 982, the elder went to the monastery for an all-night vigil, while the novice remained at home. Late at night, an unknown monk knocked on the cell. The novice was not surprised by this – there are many monasteries on Athos, many hermits live in the mountains, sometimes going down to their brothers. The novice bowed to the stranger, gave him water to drink from the road, and offered to rest in his cell.

Together with the guest, they began to sing psalms and prayers. However, while singing the words “Most Honorable Cherub”, the mysterious guest unexpectedly noticed that in their places this song is sung in a different way, adding before the “Most Honorable” the words “It is worthy to eat, as it is truly Blessed Thee, the Mother of God, the Blessed and Immaculate, and the Mother of our God” . And when the monk began to sing these words, the icon of the Mother of God “Merciful”, standing in the cell, suddenly shone with a mysterious light, and the novice suddenly felt special joy and sobbed with tenderness..

He asked the guest to write down the marvelous words, and he traced them with his finger on a stone slab, which softened like wax under his hand.. After that, the guest, who called himself the humble Gabriel, became invisible, and the icon continued to radiate a wonderful light for some time. Shocked, the novice waited for the elder, told him about the mysterious stranger and showed him a stone slab with the words of a prayer.

The spiritually experienced elder immediately realized that the Archangel Gabriel, sent to earth, came to the cell to proclaim to Christians a wondrous song in the name of the Mother of God – another in the series of those that people learned from angels (“Glory to God in the Highest”, “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord of Hosts”, Trisagion “Holy of God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us”).

Since then, the angelic song “It is worthy to eat …” has been sung during each Divine Liturgy all over the world – wherever there is at least one Orthodox see or lives at least one Orthodox Christian. The elder and the novice told the prot about what had happened. He blessed to gather the Council of the Elders, at which the miraculous messenger and his words were told.

Here, at the cathedral, they offered up a prayer to the Mother of God “It is worthy to eat …”, while the stone with the words inscribed on it was sent to the Patriarch of Constantinople as evidence of a miracle. And the icon, in front of which this prayer was sung for the first time on earth, has since become known as “It’s worth eating.” Soon the icon was transferred with honor to the cathedral church of Karei, where it stands to this day.

Not far from Karea, on the eastern slope of the Holy Mountain near the Aegean Sea, is the Russian Skete of St. Andrew, and near it is that narrow ravine with a swift stream of water, near which stood the cell where the heavenly messenger descended.

It is worth saying in conclusion that before the image of the Mother of God “It is worthy to eat” (“Merciful”), they especially pray for the forgiveness of sins, including mortal ones.

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