St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington, DC, was once more found worthy of God’s abundant mercy. On October 22-23, we were visited by the myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon of the Mother of God of Hawaii. Our church community was the final destination on a list of 52 parishes visited by the indefatigable Reader Nectarios Yangston, guardian of the wonderworking Icon, during his 30-day pilgrimage throughout the Eastern American Diocese. The Icon of the Mother of God visited not only our own diocesan parishes, but OCA, Greek, Serbian, and other churches on the East Coast, as well.

Throughout the week prior to the Icon’s visit, our parish office was inundated with inquiries about the time of the Icon’s arrival, the duration of its stay in Washington, and the possibility of acquiring paper copies, cotton with myrrh, and so on.

The Icon arrived at the cathedral on Saturday, October 22, at 4:00 PM, for the start of the English Vigil. The Icon came from Baltimore, where it visited two parishes – Holy Transfiguration (ROCOR) and Holy Trinity (MP). Archpriest Vladimir Danilevich led the All-Night Vigil, co-served by Deacons Damian Dantinne, John Dean, and Victor Klimenko. Throughout the service, parish Priests John Johnson and Alexander Resnikoff confessed the faithful who wished to commune of Christ’s Holy Mysteries with a clean conscience the following day.

It was the same at the Slavonic Vigil. Fathers John and Alexander continued hearing believers’ many confessions, while Archpriest Victor Potapov led the service, co-served by Protodeacon Leonid Mickle. Praying in the altar was Greek Archpriest George Alexson.

The following day, the Icon arrived at the cathedral before the start of the earlier English Liturgy. During this Liturgy, celebrated by Priest John Johnson, co-served by the three above-mentioned deacons, a multitude of the faithful communed from two chalices (during the later Liturgy – from three). Due to the limited amount of time between the two services, only a short moleben was served after the English Liturgy, after which all those who came to venerate the cross were anointed with holy myrrh from the Icon, and everyone received a piece of cotton with myrrh and a paper icon in memory of the Icon’s visit.

Parish rector Archpriest Victor Potapov celebrated the Slavonic Liturgy, co-served by Archpriest Vasily Raskovskiy, Priest Alexander Resnikoff, and Protodeacon Leonid Mickle.

In his sermon, Fr. Victor noted that October 23 of this year marked several events in the life of the Church – the feasts of the Holy Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council and the Venerable St. Ambrose and the other Elders of Optina, crowned with the presence of the myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon of the Mother of God of Hawaii – an exact copy of the Iveron Icon of Montreal, whose faithful guardian for over 15 years was Brother Joseph Muñoz-Cortes, who suffered a martyric death in 1997. Fr. Victor noted that this day was the namesday of Brother Joseph, as the Icon’s guardian accepted the name of that great elder of Optina in secret monastic tonsure. In modern-day Optina, Brother Joseph is revered as a martyr for Christ’s holy faith.

Fr. Victor further drew the attention of worshippers to the fact that on all of the feast days of the Holy Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils we are directed to a passage from the Gospel of St. John – to the words spoken by Christ mere hours before He was betrayed unto crucifixion. These words, this prayer "for them which thou hast given me," for His disciples and future follows – for all Christians – the Lord Jesus Christ directs to His Holy Father (John 17:9). In this prayer, He asked the Father to help Christians preserve unity, asking "that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us" (John 17:21). Christians in the centuries to come would not preserve this unity, entrusted to them by God – and now, twenty centuries later, unfortunately we see that many Christians in the world accept Christ and His Gospel in different ways, and reject the veneration of the Mother of God. According to Fr. Victor, the appearance of a new myrrh-streaming icon of the Mother of God in the world is a shining confirmation of the inherent rightness of Her veneration by the Orthodox. Her myrrh-streaming Icon also underscores God’s pleasure at the fulfillment by the two branches of the Russian Orthodox Church of His holy will. God’s answer to the Act of Canonical Communion, signed in 2007, was the giving of the gift of a new myrrh-streaming Icon (also in 2007) to the Russian Orthodox Church and the whole world. The rector of St. John the Baptist Cathedral completed his sermon with a call to cultivate and deepen that acquired unity, and to overcome any remaining disagreements in the spirit of Christ’s love.

Upon completion of the later Liturgy, a second short moleben was served. After the veneration of the Cross and a short recess, three separate akathists to the Mother of God were sung in Slavonic and English. All of the above-mentioned clergy served. Serbian Priest Aleksa Micich and a group of parishioners from St. Luke Church in Potomac, MD also came and served a moleben.

The Icon remained in the cathedral until 4:00 PM, after which it visited local Rock Creek Cemetery, where the founder, benefactors, and many parishioners of St. John the Baptist Cathedral after buried. Several years ago, through the actions of cathedral parishioners, a chapel in honor of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God of Montreal was erected at the cemetery. The chapel was consecrated by the ever-memorable Primate of ROCOR, Metropolitan Laurus.

That same evening, the Hawaiian-Iveron Icon was taken to St. Nicholas Cathedral (OCA), where it was triumphally greeted by the Primate of the OCA, His Beatitude Jonah, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America & Canada, and a large group of parishioners who lifted up their zealous prayers before the holy Icon. In his sermon after the akathist, Metropolitan Jonah expressed his gratitude to Metropolitan Hilarion for the joy of having the Icon visit his cathedral. The Icon’s visit took place one week before the opening of the OCA’s All-American Council, which will in many ways determine the future trajectory of the OCA.

The Iveron Icon departed for Hawaii early in the morning on Monday, October 24. Now parishioners of St. John the Baptist Cathedral are preparing for their next big event: on October 29, 80 parishioners will leave Washington at dawn for Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY for the 14th annual pilgrimage to the gravesite of the ever-memorable Brother Joseph Muñoz-Cortes, the murdered guardian of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God of Montreal. Our parish performs these pilgrimages in order to preserve the memory of the great labor undertaken by Brother Joseph for 15 years. It is noteworthy that Nectarios Yangston, guardian of the Hawaiian Icon, is absolutely convinced that the new myrrh-streaming miracle is directly related to the preservation of Brother Joseph’s memory.

I will conclude this piece by expressing my hope that our pilgrimage group will be joined by others who honor the memory of Brother Joseph, and that we will all pray together at his grave for the repose of his bright soul and that the Lord will not deprive us of His great mercy.

Archpriest Victor Potapov

In as much as St. John the Baptist Cathedral was the last parish visited by Brother Nectarios with the Hawaiian Icon in the fall of 2011, the Icon’s guardian left them a relatively large quantity of cotton with myrrh. If any of our readers did not have an opportunity to venerate the holy Icon, they can contact Fr. Victor and request that he send you a piece of cotton and an icon. Fr. Victor’s e-mail address is vpotapov@comcast.net.

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