The Appearance of the Mother of God

The story of the appearance of the Mother of God to a desperate pilgrim, whom the gatekeeper of the Athos monastery Iveron mistook for a pirate who pretended to be a beggar, and closed the gate in front of him.

The pilgrim was greatly grieved, and as he ascended the path leading from the sea to Karea, he was utterly exhausted.

- 'O Mother of God,' he whispered in tears, 'I wanted only to worship Your icon and to eat at least a piece of bread after such a long journey from Constantinople. Everything I had, I gave to people less fortunate than myself in life. And I was chased away like a thief...

- Who chased you away?

The pilgrim was astonished. Who was this woman speaking to him in silence?

- I beg your pardon, Madam...

He didn't even ask himself what a woman was doing on Athos... After all, the Byzantine emperors forbade women to appear there.

- Forgive me, Madam. And your baby is awake...

- Who chased you away? - He heard me again.

- I came to pray at the Iveron monastery down here, and the gatekeeper chased me away, not even giving me a piece of bread, though I had asked...

- Take this gold coin," said the Mistress and removed the coin from her breast, "go to the monastery of Iveron and knock at the gate. Give them this coin to let you eat and pray. Here I am the gatekeeper and gatekeeper.

And she disappeared.

Confused, with his eyes still moist, he gathered his strength and turned back toward the monastery. As he approached the large closed gate, he knocked. When the door opened, the pilgrim showed a gold coin:

- I want to pray, restore my strength. After that, I will leave. I am alone. I am a Christian. Please.

The monk outside the gate recognized this coin. It had been in its place until recently.

- Where did you get it from? - he asked in bewilderment.

- A lady up there gave it to me.

The monk opened the gate, let the pilgrim inside, and ran to beat the beater as if a fire had started. The fathers came down into the courtyard to see what was going on. The pilgrim, coin in hand, was telling what had happened, fearing he had been mistaken for a thief.

- I tell you, a lady gave it to me, up on the road. To give me something to eat, pray for a while, and leave. Take it. Mistress said she was the gatekeeper here. The coin was hanging around her neck, and she gave it to me. I didn't steal it. She gave it to me.

The monastic fathers had no doubt that the pilgrim was telling the truth. They knew the coin, and they knew the Mistress the frightened pilgrim had seen. They approached the chapel. The monk opened the door. How could the coin disappear from under the closed glass of the icon of the Virgin? They opened it and, preparing for the great canon of prayer, fearfully placed the coin in its place - on the neck of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where it remains to this day.

This story is depicted to the right and left on the walls of the great entrance gallery. The Icon of the Gates never leaves Mount Athos, or even moves, except on the eve of the Assumption, on August 15, when the procession walks to the "hagiazma," the place where the monk Gabriel took the icon out of the sea, nearly 1,000 years ago.