The miraculous icon of Panagia of Axion Esti is considered the most important relic of Mount Athos, it is kept in the holy temple of Protatus in Karyes and rarely leaves Athos.

On May 3rd, the icon will be exhibited in a popular pilgrimage to the Metropolis of Athens where a trisage will be held in memory of the victims of the train accident in Tempi

It is considered the most important icon of Mount Athos, since it is the “Ephesian” and “Patron” of the 20 Agioritei Monasteries, a copy of which can be found in each Monastery. It celebrates with great religious splendor on Easter Monday with a litany in the area of ​​Karea.

Also on June 11, a Divine Liturgy is held in Protato and a celebration is held in the Holy Pan-Imperial Cell of “Axion Estin”, in memory of the miracle, from which it got its name.

The Miracle of Archangel Gabriel

At the end of the 1st century, the icon was in a cell near Karyes that today bears the same name “Axion estin” because of the following miracle.

On a Saturday evening of June 11, 982 AD, the Elder of the cell set out to go to the vigil in the Temple of Protatos. His disciple, who was left alone at night, was visited by an unknown monk, who asked him to stay the night in the cell. Early in the morning as monks, they got up to sing the liturgy of Orthros in the small church of Kelli. However, arriving at the 7th ode, while the student was about to sing “The Most Honorable of the Cherubim” (the ancient hymn of St. Cosmas of Melodos) in front of the image of the Virgin, the stranger interjected before this the following:

“” It is right that they truly bless the Theotokos,

the bloodiest and most blameless,

and Mother of our God.”

Then he attached “Timiothera” to the end…

This prelude caused so much admiration to the local monk that he asked for it in writing, so that he too could sing it.

But since ink and paper were not found in the cell, the mysterious foreign monk – who was the Archangel Gabriel – he engraved the hymn with his finger on a stone tablet and added that this is how it should be sung henceforth.

Then he disappeared.

According to tradition, the image of Christ on the iconostasis of the church was transferred in a flash to the left, and the image of Theomitoros to the right. This arrangement is preserved to this day, in the wood-carved iconostasis of the cell.

The Saints sent the plaque to the king and the Patriarch, while the icon, in front of which the angelic hymn was sung for the first time, was taken to the Primate.

The submissive who received the Archangel’s visit is today honored as Saint by the local tradition of Saints. In fact, it is said that his name was Gabriel for this and he is referred to as “Holy Gabriel o xenisas ton Angelon”, i.e. the one who “hosted the Angel”.

The image of “Axion Estin” – Details

The icon was probably painted in Constantinople, during the iconoclasm, after the model of the Virgin Mary of Kykkos of Cyprus, which is the work of Luke the Evangelist.

In general, the whole technique of the image is strictly Byzantine and its appearance is imposing, with sweet seriousness, characteristic of many old icons.

In the year 1836, the greater part of the image was covered with a stone-encrusted silver-gilt cover (undershirt), a fan of the art of Agioreita, which bears on its exterior the seals of the twenty monasteries. It measures 70.5×44 cm., without the silver case that surrounds it.

Due to the passage of time, the figure of the Virgin had been altered, but after conservation it is kept in a satisfactory condition and the later inscription reads “Mother of God Karyotissa”.

Its main feature is that the Most Holy Mother of God holds Jesus Christ (child) in her right lap. She is the type of Theotokos of the Right-handed.

The left hand of Jesus penetrates under the maforium and the cocoon of the Virgin, towards her nape and heart. This also shows the dependence of Christ’s human nature on His nurturing Mother.

Jesus Christ holds a scroll in His right hand that writes the prophecy of the Prophet Isaiah: “Spirit of the Lord upon me, do not anoint me…” (Proph. Isaiah 61: 1).

Images like this were used against heretics, for the pictorial declaration and formulation of the orthodox doctrine of our Church regarding the incarnation of God’s Word.

With information from monastiriaka.gr, wikipedia