The Panagia Portaitissa (Greek): Παναγία Πορταΐτισσα) also known as the Iveron Theotokos or Iverskaya in Russian, is an Eastern Orthodox icon of the Virgin Mary in the Georgia Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos in Greece, where it is believed to have been since the year 999. According to the  Sacred Tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church it was painted by St. Luke the Evangelist. The icon is referred to as “Wonderworking” meaning that numerous miracles have been attributed to the intercession of the Mother of God by persons praying before it. Today is the commemoration of the translation to Moscow of the Iveron icon.

The icon belongs to a family of images of the Theotokos known as Hodegetria: Όδηγήτρια, ( “she who leads the way”) after the prototype from Constantinople. In these icons, the Christ Child sits on his mother’s left arm and she is depicted pointing to Christ with her right hand.

A unique characteristic of this icon is what appears to be a scar on the Virgin Mary’s right cheek or her chin. A number of different traditions exist to explain this, but the one most commonly held by Orthodox Christians is that the icon was stabbed by a soldier in Nicaea during the period of Byzantine Iconoclasm under the Emperor Theophilos (829–842). According to tradition, when the icon was stabbed, blood miraculously flowed out of the wound. The original in Iveron is encased in a chased riza (frame) of silver and gold covering almost all the figures except the faces, as is common with the most venerated icons.

The tradition goes on to say that the following day, when the monks entered the church they could not find the icon. After searching they discovered the icon hanging on the gates of the monastery. This occurrence was repeated several times, until St. Gabriel reported that he had seen a vision of the Theotokos, wherein she revealed that she did not want her icon to be guarded by the monks, but rather she intended to be their Protectress. After this, the icon was permanently installed above the monastery gates, where it remains to this day. Because of this, the icon came to be called Portaitissa or “Gate-Keeper”. This title was not new for the Virgin Mary, but comes from a verse of the Akathist to the Mother of God: “Rejoice, O Blessed Gate-Keeper who opens the gates of Paradise to the righteous.” Orthodox monks and nuns throughout the world will often place an icon of the Theotokos Iverskaya on the monastery gates. It is also common in Orthodox temples to place an icon of the Theotokos Portaitissa  on the inside of the iconostasis above the Holy Doors, looking towards the
Altar Table..

As is common in the Orthodox Church, the icon is a prototype which has been copied numerous times. Several of the copies themselves have been known to be wonderworking, one of the most famous of which is the myrrh-streaming icon from Montreal in Canada. For fifteen years (1982–1997), as myrrh continued to flow from the Icon, Brother Jose Munoz Cortez devoted himself to its care, accompanying it on numerous trips to parishes all over the United States and Canada, to South America, Australia, and Europe.

The icon was stolen on one such trip, in October 1997, when Brother Muñoz Cortés was tortured and murdered in a hotel room in Athens, Greece; the icon has not been seen since. He had planned to return to Montreal the following day to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the appearance of the miraculous myrrh on the icon. A new copy of the Montreal Myrrh-Streaming Iveron Icon, which visited our St. George Church a number of years ago, began streaming Myrrh at the Russian Orthodox Church in Hawaii in 2007. Several feast daysduring the liturgical year celebrate a few of these miracles.  Brother Jose rests in peace at Holy Trinity Monastery in New York.  May his memory be eternal!

APOLYTIKION
From thy Holy Icon, O Lady Theotokos, blessed myrrh has flowed abundantly.  Thou hast thereby consoled those, in exile, faithful unto thee, and hast enlighten the unbelievers by thy Son’s light.  Therefore, O Lady, with tears we bow down to thee.  Be merciful to us in the hour of judgment.  Lest having received thy mercy we be punished as those who have been contemptuous of it.  But grant us through thy Prayers to bring forth spiritual fruit, and save our souls.