Today we commemorate one of the copies of the
Iveron Mother of God Icon, called the Montreal Iveron Icon, a miraculously
myrrh-streaming icon from which abundant grace poured forth to the Russian
diaspora and many other Orthodox Christians. As God’s Providence and the Mother
of God would have it, the man who was found worthy to receive this icon from
Mount Athos and become its custodian was in fact a convert to Orthodoxy from
Catholicsim—José Muñoz from Chile, now also known as “Brother José.” Archpriest
Victor Potapov spoke with the icon’s custodian on one of his visits to
Washington.
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The
Iveron Icon, which at present is preserved in a monastery on Mount Athos, was
according to tradition painted by the Apostle and Evangelist Luke. In November
1982, a copy of the Iveron Icon of the Mother God began to stream myrrh in
Canada. In 1983, the Icon was in Washington for the first time, and I then
asked its guardian, the Spaniard José Muñoz, how he had received the Holy
Object, and when it had begun to stream myrrh. Here are his own words, which
were recorded during our conversation with him:
“Once
during our pilgrimage on Athos, after several hours of walking, we got lost. It
began to get dark. We needed quickly to find shelter for the night. Going along
a path, we stumbled upon a small, poor skete. There the fourteen Greek monks of
the skete were engaged in iconography. They received us very cordially. Having
rested a little, we began to examine the icons of their work. One of my fellow
travellers, who spoke Greek, got into a conversation with the monks and told
them who we were and where we were from. I, though, taking advantage of the
moment, began more attentively to examine everything round about. Suddenly my
gaze stopped at an icon of marvelous artistry with dimensions of approximately
fifteen by twenty inches. I asked a monk if he could not sell it to me. He
refused, having explained that this image was the first to be painted in that
skete and therefore could not be sold. I could not tear my eyes from that
wondrous icon. We stayed the whole night in the skete and in the morning stood
through the Liturgy. During the singing of “It is truly meet”, I begged the
Queen of Heaven on my knees to let the Holy Image go with me... Bidding
farewell in the morning, all the monks accompanied us, but the hegoumen
[abbot.—O.C.] was not among them. And then at the last minute before our
departure from the monastery we saw him: he quickly descended the staircase
with the wrapped-up icon in his hands. He came up to me and said, “Take it. I
am gifting it to you. It must be with you.” I offered to pay for the icon,
knowing that the monks were needy; but the hegoumen said severely, “One must
not take money for such a holy object!” I crossed myself, kissed the image and
made a vow to myself that that image would never become the source of my
enrichment...
“After
this, we set out at once for Iveron Monastery in order to receive the
superior’s blessing and to touch the icon received by me to the original, which
is preserved in this famed monastery. But by far not everyone is allowed to
approach and touch the ancient wonderworking icon. Glory be to God, we were
permitted! In the chapel, we knelt, and gazing at the holy object, froze in
prayer before the image of the Iveron Mother of God. The image was so majestic,
so shiningly beautiful, and radiated such spiritual power that it was difficult
to gaze at it for long! A hieromonk helped me touch my copy to the Original.
“Soon
after this we went home to Canada. We returned on November 3, 1982. I put the
icon next to the relics of the saints of the Kiev Caves Lavra and the
New-martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna, which I had received from the reposed
Archbishop Leonty of Chile. A lampada flickered before it all the time, and
each day before sleep I read Akathists to it. On the 24th of November, I was
awakened at three o’clock in the morning by the powerful aroma of roses—the
whole room was filled with it. At first I thought that it emanated from the
relics or from a spilt vial of perfume; but upon approaching the icon, I was
struck! The whole icon was covered with oil—a fragrant oil! I froze on the spot
at such a miracle!”
Consolation of the faithful
Upon the
advice of a local Orthodox clergyman, the Icon was taken to church and placed
on the altar. During the entire liturgy, myrrh flowed from the hands of the
Christ Child. Since that time, with the exception of several days during Holy
Week, when the Icon is absolutely dry, the myrrh has continued to flow almost
uninterruptedly. (Holy Myrrh is a sweet, fragrant oil which was used in the Old
Testament for the anointing of kings. In contemporary Orthodox church practice,
a newly born Christian is anointed with Holy Myrrh during which the words “The
seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit” are said by the priest.)
In the
years since, Jose traveled to many cities and parishes where the Icon was
venerated to the great joy and consolation of the faithful.
Wherever
the Icon went, there are always many questions. Some people initially had
doubts. A scientist in Miami was astounded to see that the back of the Icon
remained perfectly dry. He later surreptitiously chipped off a small piece of
the board on which the Icon is painted for scientific analysis: it was found to
be ordinary pinewood, nothing more.
At some
times the myrrh would flow in greater abundance than at others. During the
consecration of a bishop in Montreal there was such an outpouring of the myrrh
that it streamed down from the analogion (lectern on which icons are kept in
Orthodox churches) onto the floor. On another occasion, in Florida, the myrrh
was seen to rise forth from the hands of the Mother of God and the Christ Child
as though it were being pressed from within. Nobody had any power to regulate
the flow of the myrrh, it would move at the will of God and His Most Pure
Mother.
The Icon
was kept in a frame about two inches deep and measures about 12 by 18 inches.
At first the myrrh flowed only from the hands of the Mother of God, from the
star on Her left shoulder and, occasionally, from the hands of Our Lord Jesus
Christ. Yet in March 1985, during a Lenten service, even the frame and glass of
the Icon began to exude myrrh in such quantities, that the cloth of the
analogion on which it lay was totally saturated. There was always a layer of
cotton wool placed at the base of the Icon to absorb the myrrh: pieces of this
cotton were distributed to the faithful.
Although
there have already been several cases of physical healing (not only among
Orthodox, but Catholics and Protestants, too), the purpose of the Mother of God
seemed to be directed more at the healing of souls. Many who have stood before
the Icon have testified to this, experiencing not only compunction and
repentance, but consolation as well.
As
mentioned earlier, the flow of myrrh would cease during Holy Week. It would cease
on Holy Monday. After the Liturgy on the morning of Great Saturday, a light dew
of myrrh would form on the Icon, its case and protecting glass. During Matins
(the midnight service at which the glorious Resurrection of Our Lord is
proclaimed), when the procession of clergy and faithful, holding icons and
banners, would leave the church, the Icon would begin to exude myrrh in such
quantities, that it would cover the hands of the person carrying it.
This is
not the first time that the Orthodox Church has witnessed such a miracle. In
the nineteenth century the Surety-of-Sinners Icon in Moscow exuded myrrh with
which the sick were anointed and received healing. Earlier, there was a
myrrh-streaming icon of the Mother of God in the Tolga monastery in Yaroslavl;
and there have been others.
What is
the meaning of this extraordinary manifestation of God’s grace in our time? It
has been observed that in the history of the Church such miracles have occurred
in times of great tribulation; we saw this in the Apostolic times, and, more
recently, in Russia, where the Church suffered cruel persecution for 70 years.
The miracles strengthen the faithful and prepare them to endure trials. The
appearance of the myrrh-streaming Icon in our time may well signify a period of
further great trials for the Russian Orthodox Church and, at the same time,
offer consolation that the Mother of God will be a Protectress of the faithful:
Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required.
The death of Brother Jose and the loss of the
icon
José
Muñoz lived a monastic life, and some say he was secretly tonsured. He spent
his entire life after the miraculous manifestation of the icon taking it to
different parishes the world over for veneration by the faithful, and when he
was at home he prayed continuously before it, commemorating names sent by
people requesting prayers. But such an angelic man soon became ripe for the
Kingdom of Heaven, and on October 31, 1997 he died a martyric death. In a hotel
in Athens, where he was staying before returning home from a grace-filled
pilgrimage to the holy places of Greece, this servant of God and His Most Pure
Mother was brutally tortured and murdered by unknown Romanian criminals.
Although he had not taken the Icon with him to Greece, the whereabouts of the
miraculous, myrrh-streaming Icon are still unknown.
However
the Mother of God did not leave her children without this consolation, and just
before the tenth anniversary of Brother Jose’s death, a printed paper copy of
the Montreal icon began streaming myrrh in Hawaii. Now this icon is taken to
parishes, bringing consolation and reconciliation.
Holy
Brother José, remember us also in your prayers where you abide in the Heavenly
Kingdom!
Source: http://www.pravoslavie.ru/98876.html
CONVERSATION