The appearance of the Virgin Mary to Athanasios Syros
The miraculous icon of the Virgin Eleousa was hidden, at a depth of one and a half meters under the ground over centuries and found in a miraculous way. The Holy Mother of God appeared to the eight-year-old Athanasius Syros, while he was playing with other children on a hillside.
She appeared to him as an unknown woman, who was dressed in black and barefoot, to make repentance. Despite the fact that the place was dry, it became soft and sank like the dough, because of the repentance of the unknown woman. At the three spots, where the woman worshiped, the ground started producing a sweet sense. However, no one believed what the little Athanasius experienced.
The dialogue between Athanasios and the Virgin Mary
That same night, the unknown woman appeared in the sleep of little Athanasius, but this time she had a bright wreath on her head. Little Athanasius asked: «Old Lady, who are you and what do you want from me? I'm afraid!».
And then the black-dressed woman responded to him: «Do not be afraid, my little one, I am the Mother of Christ, whom you love so much and He sent me to reveal to you that you have a pure heart and a pure soul and at the place where you saw me praying, you will find an icon of me, if you dig. That place should become a place of worship, a temple, a holy place». With these words, Virgin Mary disappeared from the sight of little Athanasius.
Find here: Enamel icon of Panagia Eleousa
The mistrust to the words of Athanasios
The next morning, Athanasius recounted to his parents every detail about the second appearance of the Mother of God and begged them to dig where the Virgin Mary had suggested. However, once again, neither his parents nor the other villagers did believe him. Unshaken by the miracle that occurred to him, Athanasius decided to build a small church with stones on his own at the point where Holy Virgin Mary had shown to him and place an icon of the Virgin Mary there.
The mistrust of the residents in the village lasted for years until the beginning of June 1962 AD, when an excavating machine reached Xyniada in order to open the streets of the village. After this project was completed, the residents of the village requested the driver to dig and search for the icon of the Virgin Mary. And indeed, this is what happened!
The discovery of the miraculous icon
It took only three excavations to uncover the miraculous icon, next to the root of an oak. Thus, the icon bearing the inscription "Mother of God Eleousa" was revealed. The icon seems to belong to the era of iconoclasm. It was remarkably well-preserved despite its stay in the soil for centuries.
Since then, the arrival of the pilgrims has been so great that it has led to the foundation of a larger temple in 1965.Near the church, cells and the other necessary buildings were rebuilt. In 1972, the new Monastery was inaugurated, which soon gained a great reputation.
The celebration of the Virgin Mary Eleousa
The hymnographer Gerasimos monk Mikrayanannanitis composed the sequence for the Finding of the Icon, which is celebrated on June 21st. In the Monastery, with the tireless care of the abbot and the willing support of the pilgrims, a Nursing home for the elderly was erected to care for the needy elderly of the region.
Nowadays, the Icon of the "Virgin Mary Eleousa" has been covered with silver and gold and has been placed in a beautiful pilgrimage.
