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| Wonderworking Icon of Panagia Varnakova |
Testimony of a Miracle Associated With Panagia Varnakova
(This miracle was recorded in September 2013 when the elderly woman who gave this testimony visited the Monastery of Panagia Varnakova with her children and grandchildren.)
We have family connections with the Monastery here of the Panagia [Monastery of Panagia Varnakova]. My parents often found work here, because in those years there was great poverty. So I too, just a 16-year-old girl, went to Athens to work in a house.
I was working hard for my age, away from the affection of my home. But once, for no reason, a man with his cruel behavior hurt me deeply. My soul was in so much pain, that night I went to my room, I hugged a wooden icon I had of the Panagia, I knelt on my bed, as I was dressed, and I let my pain pour out on Her with tears and sobs. I was asking for the consolation and help of the Panagia. The pain of my soul was indescribable.
In an instant I fell asleep for a while. When I came to, I thought, since it was only a few hours until dawn (I got up at 5:00 every morning), I would go under the covers and rest. When I got up, I looked at the icon of the Panagia that I still had in my arms. With pain, along with some awe, I saw that the wood had split! From the top of the head of the Theotokos, the slit went down Her Face and ended at Her shoulder! I believed that it was my fault, because I was pressing her to my chest, and again I began to cry very brokenly and asked Her forgiveness.
Then – I will never forget this in my life – the Panagia came to life in Her icon! Her look was full of sympathy and love and Her lips moved saying to me:
"Don't cry like that again, my child, over my icon. You broke my heart! I will be by your side throughout your life and protect you."
Then I understood that the icon split due to the compassion of the Panagia and not for any other reason.
The experience of that night was unforgettable. It is a fact that the Lady of the world kept her promise. Throughout the subsequent course of my life, Her protection was and is evident.
Source: From the book Theometoric Miracles of Panagia Varnakova. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
I was working hard for my age, away from the affection of my home. But once, for no reason, a man with his cruel behavior hurt me deeply. My soul was in so much pain, that night I went to my room, I hugged a wooden icon I had of the Panagia, I knelt on my bed, as I was dressed, and I let my pain pour out on Her with tears and sobs. I was asking for the consolation and help of the Panagia. The pain of my soul was indescribable.
In an instant I fell asleep for a while. When I came to, I thought, since it was only a few hours until dawn (I got up at 5:00 every morning), I would go under the covers and rest. When I got up, I looked at the icon of the Panagia that I still had in my arms. With pain, along with some awe, I saw that the wood had split! From the top of the head of the Theotokos, the slit went down Her Face and ended at Her shoulder! I believed that it was my fault, because I was pressing her to my chest, and again I began to cry very brokenly and asked Her forgiveness.
Then – I will never forget this in my life – the Panagia came to life in Her icon! Her look was full of sympathy and love and Her lips moved saying to me:
"Don't cry like that again, my child, over my icon. You broke my heart! I will be by your side throughout your life and protect you."
Then I understood that the icon split due to the compassion of the Panagia and not for any other reason.
The experience of that night was unforgettable. It is a fact that the Lady of the world kept her promise. Throughout the subsequent course of my life, Her protection was and is evident.
Source: From the book Theometoric Miracles of Panagia Varnakova. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.