An Encounter with the Mother of God

Dear listeners, how many of you have seen a miracle? Certainly we can say that all of life is a miracle and a mystery, but how many have seen something that could only be called a sign from heaven? Over the past nine years, thousands upon thousands of eastern Pennsylvanians, as well as faithful Christians from across the United States, and indeed from all over the world, have seen a true sign from God that continues to manifest his glory and the maternal love and presence among us of the Theotokos, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary.

I am, of course, speaking of the myrrh-streaming icon of the Panagia of St. George Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox Church in Taylor, Pennsylvania, known as the Kardiotissa. An entire podcast on Ancient Faith Radio could be dedicated just to this amazing sign happening in our times. Perhaps someday all of the stories of the miraculous encounters with Kardiotissa will gathered into books, which will fill entire shelves in libraries and bookstores, but for now we must be content with hearing these stories one by one as they are told by those whose first-hand experience with Kardiotissa leaves them changed forever.

One of the chief inspirations to start this podcast was my own experience of witnessing many of these stories and hearing many more from the guardian of this miraculous icon, Fr. Mark Leasure, the parish priest at St. George. We could not be telling this story today if not for receiving Fr. Mark’s blessing. Fr. Mark has, from the beginning, insisted adamantly that there be no publicity about the continuously streaming myrrh and countless miracles, saying that the Panagia is not for the paparazzi. Instead, he says that she is a magnet of suffering, and those who are suffering find their way to her.

Here is a brief description of how it all began, from Fr. Mark himself, written in 2013.

On Wednesday, October 12, 2011, St. George’s was blessed with the visitation of the holy myrrh-streaming Hawaiian Iveron icon of the Mother of God. The holy icon arrived after 1:00 p.m. and was enthroned on the tetrapod for veneration. Hymns to the Virgin were sung throughout the afternoon as faithful came to be anointed and witness this great blessing. A molieben to the Theotokos was celebrated at 4:00 p.m.; following the molieben, Reader Nektarios, guardian of the icon, presented St. George’s with an 8x10 replica of the Iveron icon as a remembrance of her visit. This icon was anointed with the myrrh and touched to the miraculous Hawaiian icon. It was left on the tetrapod for veneration.

The following morning, Thursday, October 13, when I entered the church, I immediately noticed a sweet fragrance. I assumed it was the lingering aroma that had accompanied the miraculous icon the day before. When I went to venerate the icon on the tetrapod—the one Nektarios presented the previous day—I found that the fragrance was very strong and seemed to be coming from the icon itself. Upon examination, I noticed an expanding area of perspiration forming around the spot where the icon had been anointed. I thought it was likely just a residual effect from the initial anointing and went about my business.

Later, while working in the rectory, I was thinking about Nektarios’ account of how he discovered the myrrh streaming from his icon. It had been left on the top of a bookshelf, collecting dust and forgotten. I felt a twinge of guilt at having allowed the same thing to happen to several icons I had acquired over the years, one in particular, the Kardiotissa Theotokos (Tender-heart), had been given to me by Fr. Lawrence Barriger, on behalf of the deanery, when I was elevated to protopresbyter by His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of blessed memory. It was made by the nuns at Holy Protection Monastery in White Haven, Pennsylvania. I decided to bring this icon to the church for veneration, as the next day, Friday, October 14, was the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, October 1 on the old calendar.

When I placed it on the analogion, I noticed that even more perspiration had formed on the replica of the Iveron icon. I proceeded to anoint the Kardiotissa icon with the fragrant oil-like substance. By the time Pani Beverly, Peter, and Adam got home from school, both of the icons were fragrant and forming areas of moisture. When I came to church Friday morning for the feastday Divine Liturgy, the fragrance was extremely intense. Both icons were sweet-smelling and exuding small droplets of moisture that appeared like sweat. Faithful began arriving for the liturgy when I was doing the proskomidi, and they immediately observed what was happening. No one, including myself, knew what to do or say about what we were witnessing.

Over the following days, the moisture gradually increased on the icons and began to stream. They were left fully exposed for veneration. The surfaces quickly became smudged with kissing and wiping, obviously in need of cleaning. I wiped them both down with cotton and placed them in shadow-boxes for protection. Within 24 hours, they were both streaming again.

Multitudes of people from all [jurisdictions] have witnessed the icons actively streaming, including His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarch; His Eminence Archbishop Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church; Bishop George of Mayfield; His Grace Bishop-elect Grigorios who witnessed and described the active streaming of the icons as a “tsunami”; our full diocesan consistory; Archimandrite Athanasy, guardian of the myrrh-streaming icon of St. Anne; the nuns from Holy Protection Monastery in White Haven; the monks from St. Nektarios Monastery in Roscoe in New York; the monks from St. Tikhon’s Monastery; and countless Orthodox clergy and faithful from all [jurisdictions]. Thousands have come to venerate and pray before the holy icons.

Since May 2012, there has been a significant decrease in the amount of myrrh streaming from the replica of the Hawaiian Iveron icon. The Kardiotissa, however, remains completely saturated, front and back, and continues to stream heavily. The myrrh even appears in streams from the glass covering the icons as well as from the wood cases in which they are contained. The flowery fragrance that they exude has at times been so intense that it has been evident throughout the grounds outside the church. Numerous healing and miraculous occurrences have been attributed to the icons.

For reasons known only to God—“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever” (Deuteronomy 29:29)—St. George’s has been chosen and sanctified as the place where grace has been revealed and the presence of the holy Mother of God has been made manifest through these icons. At every moleben service, I am struck by the words of St. Elizabeth as she greets the Virgin Mary: “But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43)

Why here? Why us? I wish I had an answer. Possibly for the same reason God chose the small, obscure village of Bethlehem to be born according to the flesh. Maybe for the same reason he chose a simple, poor peasant girl to be his Mother. As St. Paul explains:

God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. And the base things of the world and the things which are despised, God has chosen; and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).

No one knows how long the icons will continue to stream. What we do know is that we, as a parish, as a community, as the Orthodox Church, have been greatly blessed. For as long as they continue, we will thank God for the blessing, rightly honor the holy Virgin, and struggle to live a life worthy of the calling we have received (Ephesians 4:1).

What has happened here at St. George’s has not been advertised. The icons will not be subject to media scrutiny or spectacle. They will not be seen in the newspapers, on TV, or the internet. The Mother of God is not a celebrity to be haunted by paparazzi. She is the Panagia, the most-holy. We will do everything possible to guard and protect this great blessing in all of its sanctity and mystery. This is a holy gift, a holy place, and nothing will ever interfere with that. There will be no photography or video permitted.

People have and will continue to come and offer her due veneration, to pray and ask the blessings and help of the Theotokos. We welcome all of them. Everyone is welcome and invited to come and see. As we have been doing since October of 2011, the moleben of the Theotokos will continue to be celebrated every Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m. until the second coming of Christ. We cannot explain what is happening. All we can say is: Come and see! “The humble shall see this and be glad, in you who seek God, your hearts shall live” (Psalm 69:32).

As we continue this sacred journey together, may the words of the Virgin Mary be on our lips and in our hearts: “Then Mary said, ‘Behold the maidservant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.’ ” (Luke 1:38). Through the prayers of the most-holy birthgiver of God, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us and save us.

Amazingly, listeners, Kardiotissa has continued to stream myrrh for years since that account was written. Fr. Mark has vowed to never stop holding the moleben on Wednesday nights to her for as long as he lives. God willing, we may be able to share some of the countless healings of hearts and souls that have happened in future episodes. But for now, this sign from heaven was recorded on Ancient Faith Radio, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ and that, believing, you may have life in his name.