The Mother of God can “save” us through her intercession. At Vatopaidi Monastery there is a miracle-working icon of the Virgin Mary called Paramythia, the “Comforter”. This icon saved the monks of the monastery from pirates, even though the Lord placed His hand over her mouth in order to prevent her from warning the monks, because of their sinfulness and neglect of their monastic promises.

The Mother of God drew Christ’s hand down from her mouth and repeated her warning to the monastery’s abbot, Saint Gennadius, as he was about to hand over the keys for the main gate to the gatekeeper, that there were pirates in hiding outside the walls waiting to invade the monastery. According to her instructions, the monks mounted the walls and drove the pirates away.

Since that time, the icon has retained this unusual pose of the Virgin Mary drawing Christ’s hand down from her mouth.

Of course, this was a spiritual “setup” on Christ’s part in order to move the monks to repent and change their lives, while at the same time showing the power and efficacy of the prayers and interventions of His Holy Mother.

In the photo, the icon in its small chapel.

Scroll to see much more images from the feast of Paramythia. Click on ‘Show Description’ to read the captions.

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