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October 29, 2011
"O Marvelous Wonder!..:" The Iveron Icon of the Mother of God of
Hawaii visited St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington, DC
St.
John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington, DC, was once more
found worthy of God’s abundant mercy. On October 22-23, we were
visited by the myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon of the Mother of God of
Hawaii. Our church community was the final destination on a list of
52 parishes visited by the indefatigable Reader Nectarios Yangston,
guardian of the wonderworking Icon, during his 30-day pilgrimage
throughout the Eastern American Diocese. The Icon of the Mother of
God visited not only our own diocesan parishes, but OCA, Greek,
Serbian, and other churches on the East Coast, as well.
Throughout the week prior to the Icon’s visit, our parish office was
inundated with inquiries about the time of the Icon’s arrival, the
duration of its stay in Washington, and the possibility of acquiring
paper copies, cotton with myrrh, and so on.
The Icon arrived at the cathedral on Saturday, October 22, at 4:00
PM, for the start of the English Vigil. The Icon came from
Baltimore, where it visited two parishes – Holy Transfiguration
(ROCOR) and Holy Trinity (MP). Archpriest Vladimir Danilevich led
the All-Night Vigil, co-served by Deacons Damian Dantinne, John
Dean, and Victor Klimenko. Throughout the service, parish Priests
John Johnson and Alexander Resnikoff confessed the faithful who
wished to commune of Christ’s Holy Mysteries with a clean conscience
the following day.
It was the same at the Slavonic Vigil. Fathers John and Alexander
continued hearing believers’ many confessions, while Archpriest
Victor Potapov led the service, co-served by Protodeacon Leonid
Mickle. Praying in the altar was Greek Archpriest George Alexson.
The following day, the Icon arrived at the cathedral before the
start of the earlier English Liturgy. During this Liturgy,
celebrated by Priest John Johnson, co-served by the three
above-mentioned deacons, a multitude of the faithful communed from
two chalices (during the later Liturgy – from three). Due to the
limited amount of time between the two services, only a short
moleben was served after the English Liturgy, after which all those
who came to venerate the cross were anointed with holy myrrh from
the Icon, and everyone received a piece of cotton with myrrh and a
paper icon in memory of the Icon’s visit.
Parish rector Archpriest Victor Potapov celebrated the Slavonic
Liturgy, co-served by Archpriest Vasily Raskovskiy, Priest Alexander
Resnikoff, and Protodeacon Leonid Mickle.
In his sermon, Fr. Victor noted that October 23 of this year marked
several events in the life of the Church – the feasts of the Holy
Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council and the Venerable St. Ambrose
and the other Elders of Optina, crowned with the presence of the
myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon of the Mother of God of Hawaii – an
exact copy of the Iveron Icon of Montreal, whose faithful guardian
for over 15 years was Brother Joseph Muñoz-Cortes, who suffered a
martyric death in 1997. Fr. Victor noted that this day was the
namesday of Brother Joseph, as the Icon’s guardian accepted the name
of that great elder of Optina in secret monastic tonsure. In
modern-day Optina, Brother Joseph is revered as a martyr for
Christ’s holy faith.
Fr.
Victor further drew the attention of worshippers to the fact that on
all of the feast days of the Holy Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils
we are directed to a passage from the Gospel of St. John – to the
words spoken by Christ mere hours before He was betrayed unto
crucifixion. These words, this prayer "for them which thou hast
given me," for His disciples and future follows – for all Christians
– the Lord Jesus Christ directs to His Holy Father (John 17:9). In
this prayer, He asked the Father to help Christians preserve unity,
asking "that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I
in thee, that they also may be one in us" (John 17:21). Christians
in the centuries to come would not preserve this unity, entrusted to
them by God – and now, twenty centuries later, unfortunately we see
that many Christians in the world accept Christ and His Gospel in
different ways, and reject the veneration of the Mother of God.
According to Fr. Victor, the appearance of a new myrrh-streaming
icon of the Mother of God in the world is a shining confirmation of
the inherent rightness of Her veneration by the Orthodox. Her
myrrh-streaming Icon also underscores God’s pleasure at the
fulfillment by the two branches of the Russian Orthodox Church of
His holy will. God’s answer to the Act of Canonical Communion,
signed in 2007, was the giving of the gift of a new myrrh-streaming
Icon (also in 2007) to the Russian Orthodox Church and the whole
world. The rector of St. John the Baptist Cathedral completed his
sermon with a call to cultivate and deepen that acquired unity, and
to overcome any remaining disagreements in the spirit of Christ’s
love.
Upon completion of the later Liturgy, a second short moleben was
served. After the veneration of the Cross and a short recess, three
separate akathists to the Mother of God were sung in Slavonic and
English. All of the above-mentioned clergy served. Serbian Priest
Aleksa Micich and a group of parishioners from St. Luke Church in
Potomac, MD also came and served a moleben.
The Icon remained in the cathedral until 4:00 PM, after which it
visited local Rock Creek Cemetery, where the founder, benefactors,
and many parishioners of St. John the Baptist Cathedral after
buried. Several years ago, through the actions of cathedral
parishioners, a chapel in honor of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of
God of Montreal was erected at the cemetery. The chapel was
consecrated by the ever-memorable Primate of ROCOR, Metropolitan
Laurus.
That
same evening, the Hawaiian-Iveron Icon was taken to St. Nicholas
Cathedral (OCA), where it was triumphally greeted by the Primate of
the OCA, His Beatitude Jonah, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan
of All America & Canada, and a large group of parishioners who
lifted up their zealous prayers before the holy Icon. In his sermon
after the akathist, Metropolitan Jonah expressed his gratitude to
Metropolitan Hilarion for the joy of having the Icon visit his
cathedral. The Icon’s visit took place one week before the opening
of the OCA’s All-American Council, which will in many ways determine
the future trajectory of the OCA.
The Iveron Icon departed for Hawaii early in the morning on Monday,
October 24. Now parishioners of St. John the Baptist Cathedral are
preparing for their next big event: on October 29, 80 parishioners
will leave Washington at dawn for Holy Trinity Monastery in
Jordanville, NY for the 14th annual pilgrimage to the gravesite of
the ever-memorable Brother Joseph Muñoz-Cortes, the murdered
guardian of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God of Montreal. Our
parish performs these pilgrimages in order to preserve the memory of
the great labor undertaken by Brother Joseph for 15 years. It is
noteworthy that Nectarios Yangston, guardian of the Hawaiian Icon,
is absolutely convinced that the new myrrh-streaming miracle is
directly related to the preservation of Brother Joseph’s memory.
I will conclude this piece by expressing my hope that our pilgrimage
group will be joined by others who honor the memory of Brother
Joseph, and that we will all pray together at his grave for the
repose of his bright soul and that the Lord will not deprive us of
His great mercy.
Archpriest Victor Potapov
In as much as St. John the Baptist Cathedral was the last parish
visited by Brother Nectarios with the Hawaiian Icon in the fall of
2011, the Icon’s guardian left them a relatively large quantity of
cotton with myrrh. If any of our readers did not have an opportunity
to venerate the holy Icon, they can contact Fr. Victor and request
that he send you a piece of cotton and an icon. Fr. Victor’s e-mail
address is
vpotapov@comcast.net.
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