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April 9, 2012
Associated Press
Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers from across Macedonia are lining up to visit a church where a cleric says frescoes of saints have begun to appear brighter in color without any obvious explanation.
Father Zoran of Saint Dimitrija Church in Skopje, the capital, said Monday that the murals, long obscured by the residue of candle smoke, began to appear clearer over the weekend, with red and gold colors becoming more noticeable.
That has prompted worshippers to flock to the church ahead of Orthodox Easter next Sunday.
About two-thirds of Macedonia's 2.1 million people have been baptized Orthodox Christian.
A couple of years ago an old, blackened icon of the Mother of God was taken to the Monastery of the Holy Protection in White Haven, Pennsylvania, in the hope that it might be able to be cleaned in some way. The sisters set the icon in the church for an all-night vigil service, and as the priest would go around the church censing during the service, each time it seemed as if the icon was brighter, cleaner. One small section after another appeared bright and colorful. By the end of the Divine Liturgy the icon had completely renewed itself.
ReplyDeleteThe icon is still at the monastery, and is kept by the iconostasis. Oil is taken from the oil lamp beside it for anointing people, and miraculous healings have taken place through the oil from the icon.
Especially for women having trouble conceiving or giving birth...
DeleteIn the church I used to attend and serve, a woman donated an icon of the Three-Handed Theotokos. At the time the church received it, it was completely black. In fact the icon had been completely black for so long, the woman forgot what the icon depicted. Several years later, someone noticed that a gold halo was starting to appear. There were several discussions about if someone had tried to clean it, but as the icon was in a location that was not easy to reach, and as no one indicated that they tried to clean it (we were a very small church), it was decided that it was happening on its own.
DeleteThe icon was put under glass and remains that way today. The process of the revelation of the icon was amazing and I feel blessed for having witnessed it. First the halo, then one hand, then another, then the face of the Theotokos, and then the face of Jesus. It took about 2 years for most of the icon to be revealed and about 5 more years for all of the black to be gone. Our bishop examine it and had no reservations about it but other than that, did not publish it outside of our church. The icon still occupies a prominent place in the church, but I am not sure how many of the new people know of the miraculous cleaning of the icon. Looking at it now, it would be difficult to convince anyone that when it came into the church, it was a completely black plank of wood.