Friday, September 24, 2021

The icon of St. Anna



Mother Christophera of the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Wayne Township opens a glass case to give a better view of the Icon of St. Anna on Saturday.

The Reverend Archimandrite Athanasy, takes the icon all over the United States. He was present at the Divine Liturgy on Saturday, and his message was "Love each other and forgive." Father Athanasy, also, shared the story of the Icon of St. Anna which for him started when he was a child and fell out of a window. He broke his arm so severely that they thought they would have to amputate his arm. His mother, who was devoted to St. Anna, took him to a church dedicated to St. Anna and prayed. His arm was saved and he told the congregation that he is still using it.

From 1980 to 1981 Father Athanasy served at the Mount of Olives Convent in Jerusalem. While he was there someone gave him a gift of a thousand dollars and he commissioned the Icon of St. Anna, the mother of the Holy Virgin Mary, and when it was completed she was blessed at the Sepulcher of Our Lord in the Jerusalem Church of the Resurrection and brought to the Russian Orthodox Church of Our Lady of Joy of All Who Sorrow in Philadelphia.

On May 9, 2004, Mother's Day, the Icon of St. Anna, the Mother of the Holy Virgin Mary, began to stream myrrh, an aromatic resin. One of the parishioners mentioned it to the parish rector, that the Icon of St. Anna seemed to be perspiring and he saw the visible liquid streams and droplets. Accumulations of the liquid were seen on the cuff on St. Anna's left hand and on her left shoulder veil. Droplets were also found elsewhere on the Icon. This fragrant, slightly oily liquid is commonly called myrrh and at first it looked like tear drops as if St. Anna was crying. More recently small, slow-moving streams of myrrh have appeared on other parts of the Icon.

Since the fall of 2012, the Icon has been at St. Tikhon's Monastery in Waymart, Pa. and has a pleasing fragrance but is not currently weeping.

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