Vatopedi Icon of Comfort and Consolation

 

 

On January 21, 807. the Mother of God portrayed in the icon turned Her face to The Father Superior standing in prayer before the holy image and warned him that a gang of robbers were going to raid the monastery, 'Do not open the gates of the cloister today,' She said, "but go to the monastery walls and scatter the robbers." The Infant, however, held out His hand and covered the lips of the Most Ho]y Virgin, saying, "No, Mother, do not tell them about this: let them be punished/' Yet the Theotokos, having moved to the right from Her Son. repeated the same words once again, The Father Superior gathered the brethren and told them about the miraculous conversation. When they looked at the icon, they were surprised to see that the outlines of the faces in the icon had changed. The brethren went to the walls and the robbers were repulsed. In Russia a cop> of this icon has been known since the 19th century. Feast day; January 21/February 3.