August
24, 2009
Mayfield,
PA: The faithful of the Pennsylvania Deanery held a pilgrimage to the
Protection of the Mother of God Greek monastery
On
August 17, the "Hawaiian" Myrrh Streaming Iveron Icon of
the Mother of God visited the Greek Orthodox Convent of the Protection
of the Mother of God in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Weatherly,
Pennsylvania. This visit would be the first time that the Icon of
the Mother of God has traveled to the East Coast from Her home in
Hawaii. Even though the Icon was scheduled to arrive at the monastery
around 6:30 PM, people began to arrive at the monastery early in the
day, in order to be present to greet the Most Holy Mother of
God. Mitred Archpriest John Sorochka, dean of the Pennsylvania
Deanery and pastor of Saint John the Baptist Cathedral in Mayfield,
PA, led a group of cathedral parishioners, as well as parishioners
from St. Basil's Church in Simpson, PA, and St. Stephen's Church in
Old Forge, PA, to venerate this most holy image and be anointed with
the heavenly myrrh.
Shortly
after 7:00 PM, the bells of the monastery began to peal as the Icon
arrived. Fr. Mark Andrews, a cleric of the monastery, received the
Icon along with Abbess Olympiada and the sisters of the
monastery. As the Icon of the Mother of God entered the crowded
monastery church to the beautiful Byzantine chanting of the
monastic choir, the presence of our most holy Lady could
be felt. As the sisters began a Paraklesis to the Mother of God,
the clergy, followed by pilgrims, began to venerate the holy Icon
of the Mother of God. It should be noted that with very short notice
and just a posting on the internet listing the Icon's visitation
schedule, nearly 300 people came to venerate the Icon of the Mother of
God.
Fr.
Zoran Radovic of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church in Elizabeth, New
Jersey and Fr. Noah Bushelli of St. Phillip Antiochian Orthodox
Church in Souderton, PA, anointed the many people in attendance with
the myrrh collected from the Icon. After the service was concluded,
the bearer of the Icon, Reader Nectarios, was asked to speak about the
history of this copy of the Montreal Iveron Mother of God. In his
address to the people, Reader Nectarios spoke about the unique
relationship of this particular copy of the Montreal Iveron
Mother of God and the bearer of the original Iveron Mother of
God, Brother Jose Muñoz-Cortes of blessed memory.
After
the brief but spiritually edifying talk, many people remained to
pray before the Mother of God up until the beginning of the
Monastic Liturgy at 3:00 AM. At the same time, a choir of
young girls attending summer camp at the monastery sang Orthodox
hymns in honor of the Mother of God.
The
scheduled itinerary for Icon can be viewed at www.orthodoxhawaii.org.
Oh
Most Holy Theotokos, save us!
Photo-report
of the pilgrimage.
