Thousands in Sofia flock to see Hawaiian Myrrh-Streaming Icon of Virgin Mary

At the beginning of the Dormition Fast on 1 August, the Hawaiian Myrrh-Streaming Iveron Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos arrived in Sofia. The revered icon was brought by Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), accompanied by Fr. Nectarios Yangson, the icon's guardian, and other ROCOR clergy.

Thousands of Orthodox Christians gathered on Sunday at Saint Nedelya Metropolitan Cathedral in Sofia to attend the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy celebrated by Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniil and to venerate the sacred icon. Also present at the service was Eleonora Mitrofanova, the Russian ambassador to Bulgaria. Her attendance prompted criticism and protests from a group of citizens and sparked mixed public reactions.

Long queues of worshippers wishing to pray before the miraculous icon continued on Monday.

According to the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the icon will remain on display for veneration at St Nedelya Cathedral until 4:00 p.m. each day through 5 August. It will then travel to the dioceses of Nevrokop, Vidin, Vratsa, Lovech, Varna and Veliki Preslav, Veliko Tarnovo, and Sliven, before concluding its visit at the Rila Monastery.

The faithful will be able to venerate the icon at the Rila Monastery on 17 and 18 August, praying to the Mother of God for protection and good health. The icon is scheduled to leave Bulgaria on 19 August.

The history of the shrine dates back to 2007, when a small printed copy of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God at an Orthodox Christian parish in Honolulu, Hawaii, began miraculously exuding myrrh and emitting a strong fragrance of roses. Following a thorough ecclesiastical investigation, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia officially recognised the icon as miraculous in 2008 and blessed it to visit Orthodox churches around the world.

Since then, the icon has travelled to thousands of churches across North America, Europe and other parts of the world, where millions of faithful have come to venerate it, BTA reported.

Edited by Miglena Ivanova