Orthodox Parables and Stories: "Miraculous icon of the Holy Monastery of Malevi.

 

About 10 years ago (1970), when I finished a speech I had made in Athens, I was approached by a serious, beautiful woman in black, she gives me an envelope, no sender on it and says:

"Mr. Panagopoulos, we send this from the Holy Monastery of Malevi. There is cotton in it with myrrh of the Panagia and we are waiting for you to come to the monastery."
I got the envelope and thanked her. I kissed the envelope and smelled a fragrance. I put it in my pocket. Now what happened to that envelope that I didn't open it, I don't know to answer you...
It's been exactly one year, again one night after my speech, a lady in black comes in and gives me an envelope. And she says the exact same words to me. I got the envelope, thanked her and put the envelope in my pocket. I didn't open this envelope either! Why I didn't open the envelope, I do not know..
Let's go to the third year now. Again, after the end of a speech, a serious,  beautiful woman in black approaches me and gives me an envelope. She said the same words to me. That this envelope is sent by the Holy Monastery of Malevi, that it has cotton with myrrrh and that they are waiting for me to go to the monastery.
At that moment, I felt inside me, like my mind opened and started to be controlled:
′′ What is this envelope that this lady gives me for the third consecutive year? Who is this lady? She didn't attend any of my speeches."

I then asked where this monastery was and so I organized a three-day trip to the monastery of Panagia Malevi, where the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary is kept. [Located in Arcadia county.]
When the bus arrived at the monastery, a fragrance began to flood us. We were all drowned by this fragrance of myrrh of the Virgin Mary. It was something wonderful!
All in awe, with emotion and crying we entered the monastery. We went and venerated the icon of the Virgin Mary and what we saw and felt cannot be described! Then I introduced myself to the abbess and thanked her and apologized to her, for showing negligence despite her notifications. But the abbess surprised me saying:

" Mr. Panagopoulos, I never sent anyone to notify you!!!"
[The woman who gave me the envelopes was the Virgin Mary herself.
The abbess then gave us a tour and told us about the image, history and wonders. That's where I asked:
- Why is this miracle icon not shared to the wider public, to the world and to people?
"The Bishop does not allow us," the abbess replied, "so that there is no noise from the malicious, that the nuns with the Archbishop ′′ invented ′′ this miracle, to raise money!"
At that time I was releasing a magazine, AGIA MARINA, and told the abbess, that in the next issue I would announce this miracle.
I said: "The Virgin Mary icon is miraculous and we should be silent about it?" 
So after getting approval from the Bishop, I posted this miracle in the magazine and it became known all over Greece.

Dimitrios Panagopoulos Preacher †