Русская Версия

January 31, 2010
Nashville, TN: The Kursk Root Icon visited St. Innocent of Moscow Mission

On Friday, January 29, the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God left Norfolk and began its trek by car to the west, through the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains to Nashville, the capital of Tennessee. On the road to the Nashville, the icon was greeted by a winter snowstorm, which so thoroughly covered the roads in snow and ice that the trip lasted over 15 hours. By God’s grace the icon arrived safely in Nashville around 2AM, where it was greeted by Priest Seraphim, rector of the mission, and Matushka Margaret Scheidler. The Mission of St. Innocent was formed in 2009; for the time being, its parishioners have no church of their own, and services are conducted in the local Antiochian Church of St. Ignatius. Due to the fact that the entire city was covered in ice, the service that was to be served in St. Ignatius Church was instead moved to the hotel where the icon was staying.

The following morning, no one knew how many of the faithful would come to the akathist, until the icon got to the elevator, from which vantage point we saw that over 200 people had gathered, including many children and five priests. The faithful of Nashville greeted the Heavenly Queen in a way hard to describe. The moleben with akathist was led by diocesan secretary Archpriest Serge Lukianov, co-served by Fr. Seraphim, Priest Steven Rogers, rector of St. Ignatius Church, and local clergy. The large meeting room in which the akathist was being served was filled to capacity, and many had to stand out in the hallway during the singing of the akathist. The faithful venerated the icon over the course of two hours, and did not want to part ways with it, even seeing her off all the way to the road. Truly wondrous are Thy works, O Lord, that Thou gavest us Thy Most Pure Mother in Her wonder-working Kursk Root Icon! Indeed, who would have thought 715 years ago that the icon would be traveling across America and pouring forth its grace on millions of people around the world? From Nashville, the icon departed by plane to Miami, to St. Vladimir’s Church, where it will begin its trip throughout Florida.

 

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese