Testimony of a Miracle of the Holy Zoni from Monk Hesychios of Konstamonitou

When Monk Hesychios of Konstamonitou (+ 1979), who was then named George, first came to the Holy Mountain from Prousa during the population exchange with the Turks at the age of 18, he had no spiritual guidance, only spoke Turkish, and slowly learned Greek while at the Monastery of Konstamonitou, but he was inspired by the life of Saint Anthony the Great to imitate his example as a hermit with extreme ascetic practices in order to attain sanctification. He did not light a stove in his cell despite the humid climate, he would fast austerely and keep vigil. This led to his nervous system being shaken, he lost his strength and as a result he could not speak, eat or sleep. He was on the verge of going mad.

A revered monk named Dositheos took George to the various monasteries of the Holy Mountain in order to find healing for him. At Vatopaidi Monastery, George venerated the Honorable Zoni of the Theotokos and became perfectly well. He himself testifies of his healing as follows:

"When I venerated the case with the Holy Zoni of the Lady Theotokos which was brought out by the prosmonarios, it was as if the case became stuck to me. That is, I bent down, kissed it, and as I was getting up the case, which was four or five kilos, was coming up with me! The prosmonarios pulled at it, Elder Dositheos pulled at it, nothing! At that moment I came back to my senses and was able to speak! I was healed. With joy I returned to our monastery. I became a Great Schema Monk. From George I was named Hesychios."

 

Returning to Konstamonitou Monastery, he was obedient to the rule established for him by his spiritual father. He was to fast on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by eating nothing until after sunset. Then he would get his food and eat it in the reception area, where he served his duty to the monastery for a number of years. Only on feasts did he eat in the common dining room. From his portion of food he ate a little and fed the rest to the birds.  

 

He also had the office of bell ringer permanently. No one knew about his asceticism, because he was a man of few words. His whole behavior was unknown (being idiorrhythmic), thus he hid his struggle and his spiritual work. He reposed trying to light the lamp at the entrance to the Monastery. Despite never bathing, his body did not emit a stench, and in his empty cell no second change of clothes for his funeral was found.

 

Discourse on the Placement and Veneration of the Honorable Zoni of Theotokos (St. Germanos of Constantinople)

Discourse on the Placement and Veneration of the 

Holy and Honorable Zoni (Girdle) of Our Most Pure Lady 

the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

By St. Germanos, Patriarch of Constantinople

 

Through the Holy Spirit, David, the Prophet and King, sang, “Glorious things are spoken of you, the City of God”. In this way he revealed, as the City of the Great King, her of whom many wonderful things, praises and hymns have been spoken. But what is this City, in fact? It seems to me that David answers this clearly and beyond doubt when talking about her who was really chosen and is superior to all others. Not because of the excellence of its buildings, nor because it is higher than the highest hills and mountains of the earth. The all-immaculate and all-unblemished Mother of God is higher because of her great, divine virtues and because she excels in purity. The King of royal rulers and Lord of the overlords dwelt in her. Or rather, in accordance with the holy Apostle, we should say that “all the fullness of the deity in bodily form” dwelt in her.

Placement of the Honorable Zoni of the Most Holy Theotokos: Epistle and Gospel Reading

Placement of the Honorable Zoni of the Most Holy Theotokos

August 31

 Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Mode 3.
Luke 1: 46-48
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
Verse: For he has regarded the humility of his servant.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 9:1-7

English

Brethren, the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tent was prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence; it is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain stood a tent called the Holy of Holies, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, which contained a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go continually into the outer tent, performing their ritual duties; but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people.

The Soprano and the Miracle of the Holy Zoni

Gina Poulou, who is a soprano with the Greek National Opera, had the most astonishing experience. When the Holy Zoni, the relic of the Mother of God's girdle, was in Nea Ionia, Athens, in 2017, she venerated it. A few days before, a small tumor had appeared on her neck as had others in her breast. These unsettling symptoms, together with the pain she was feeling, terrified her and she was depressed at the thought of undergoing examinations and changing her daily routine.

Through the Internet, she learned that the Holy Zoni was in Athens and a friend of hers sent her a message, telling her to go and venerate it, both for help and also to gain strength and courage. She goes on to testify:

The Cholera Epidemic of Constantinople in 1871 and the Holy Zoni of the Panagia

In the year 1871 the city of Constantinople was plagued by a cholera epidemic that had traveled south from Russia and left thousands dead. In November, Patriarch Anthimos VI and the Holy Synod, after prayer, addressed a letter to the Holy Monastery of Vatopaidi on Mount Athos in order to bring the sacred relic of the Holy Zoni to the City to bring the grace and the blessing of the Panagia to the people under trial. The cholera was raging and the people had no other hope than the Panagia.

The Patriarch was aware of the history of the Holy Zoni, how it helped eradicate plagues before, and out of paternal care for the mental, but also the physical health and salvation of his spiritual children in Constantinople, and in order to drive away the plague of cholera, he corresponded with Vatopaidi Monastery, so that the Holy Zoni can be transported quickly and by steamer, since its most obvious miraculous power had been ascertained many times and in difficult circumstances and on the basis of indisputable testimonies and proofs.

Homily One on the Feast of the Deposition of the Honorable Robe of the Theotokos (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

Today our Church, beloved brethren, commemorates the Deposition of the Honorable Robe of our Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary in Blachernae. It is a celebration of an event that refers to our Panagia and refers to a garment of hers that was her "overcoat".

According to the author of the synaxarion of the day, two patricians, Galbios and Kandidos, during the reign of Emperor Leo the Great, as they were traveling to Jerusalem to worship in the Holy Land, upon arriving in Galatia, came across a most-pious Hebrew woman, who had in her home the holy Robe, namely the overcoat of the Panagia. This woman prayed day and night in imitation of the Prophetess Anna who was in the Temple and found worthy to see Christ, when He was brought by the Panagia forty days after His birth.

The Holy Zoni of the Theotokos and the Cholera Epidemic of 1864 in Constantinople

In 1864 the Holy Zoni (Girdle) of the Mother of God was brought to Constantinople by monks from Vatopaidi Monastery on the Holy Mountain, due to a cholera epidemic that ravaged its inhabitants. As soon as the ship arrived at the port, the cholera ceased and there were no longer any reports of death even by those infected.

Commemoration of the Consecration of the Church of the Theotokos in Blachernae

On July 31st we commemorate the consecration of the revered temple of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos in Blachernae.

In 450, Empress Aelia Pulcheria started to build a church near a fountain of holy water situated outside the walls of Theodosius II at the foot of the sixth hill of Constantinople. After her death in 453, the shrine was completed by her husband, Emperor Marcian.

Emperor Leo I erected near the church two other buildings: a parekklesion to the Holy Soros, since it hosted the holy mantle and robe of the Theotokos brought from Palestine in 473, and the Holy Bath edifice, which enclosed the fountain.

The Milk of the Virgin Mary in Constantinople

Milk Grotto in Bethlehem

By John Sanidopoulos

The image of the Virgin Mary breastfeeding the infant Jesus dates back to the second century, where it is depicted in the Catacomb of Priscilla in Rome. It is an image of both the reality of the incarnation as well as the nurturing nature of the Mother of God. The ancient Egyptians likewise depicted the goddess Isis on a throne with her divine son Horus being breastfed, as can be seen in a statuette in the Louvre of Paris. It is an image of a newborn God in his most vulnerable moment, dependent on the nourishment of his mother.

Translation of the Honorable Zoni (Girdle) of the Theotokos in 919 A.D.

Translation of the Honorable Zoni of the Theotokos (Feast Day - April 12)

On this day in the six-thousandth four-hundredth and fiftieth year from the creation of the world, the honorable Zoni [Girdle] of our Lady the Most Holy Theotokos was translated from the Diocese of Zela (which is a city in Cappadocia) to the Queen of Cities, by Constantine and Romanos Porphyrogennetos in the year 919. After this it was put away in the Holy Soros [Coffin] at the Chalkoprateion, on the thirty-first of the month of August, and it can be viewed there.

Verses

The honorable Zoni is given to the Queen city,
By the all-honorable Queen and Birthgiver of God.*

The Church of Chalkoprateia in Constantinople Today (One Time Home of the Holy Girdle of the Virgin)

Remaining wall of the fifth century Church of Chalkoprateia

The Theotokos of Chalkoprateia was one of the most important churches of Constantinople dedicated to the Virgin Mary until the church at Blachernae took its place, though even after it was a close second. It was located to the north of the Patriarchate and at a small distance from Hagia Sophia. The mid-16th century traveler P. Gilles notes that Chalkoprateia was not far from the Milion. According to a written source the name derives from the installation in the area of Jewish craftsmen who manufactured and traded bronze objects, already by the time of Constantine the Great. The district was also known as the district of Chartoprateia (of the paper trade), because there were workshops of writing material. By the late sixth century there was a procession with the garments of the Theotokos every Friday in Constantinople between the churches of Chalkoprateia and Blachernae.

The Byzantine Girdle of the Virgin Mary in Loches, France

In the Church of Saint Ours in Loches, France (Église Saint-Ours de Loches) there is preserved what was once considered to be the original Girdle (Zoni) of the Virgin Mary, at least until the 19th century. The Byzantine Girdle is 2 meters and 10 centimeters long by 3 centimeters wide. According to local tradition, it came from Constantinople in the 10th century. It is made of linen and silk. At both edges it has wool-embossed inscriptions in Greek letters. Unfortunately, the inscriptions are not visible in the photos found of the relic, but according to the author of an old study of the fabric of the relic (see below), at the edges of the Byzantine Girdle there are the following Greek letters: