A column of fire on the sea

The Panagia Portaïtissa icon (Portaïtissa means Keeper of the Gate in Greek) is also venerated under the title of Mary Gate of Heaven. Here is the story of this icon:

In the 9^th century, under the reign of Theophilus Eikonomachos, an iconoclastic emperor, the icon belonged to a pious widow from Nicaea, who venerated it in her private chapel. When the imperial officials came to the widow’s home to seize her icons, a soldier pierced this one with a spear, and the image started to bleed. Since then, this icon is always reproduced with a small black mark on the cheek of the Virgin.

The widow obtained a delay of one night before she had to surrender the icon to be destroyed. She gave it to her son, who threw it into the sea after saying a fervent prayer for its preservation. This son became a monk at Mount Athos. One evening, a strange occurrence left the monks of Mount Athos perplexed: a column of fire was standing upright on the sea. Upon closer look, they saw the icon floating on the water!

The community carried the icon to the church of their monastery at Iviron, but once there it miraculously moved itself to a place just above the door. Hence its name Portaïtissa, guardian of the gate. Her presence at the monastery and on the Holy Mountain is considered to be a sign of the Mother of God’s special protection of Athonite monasticism.

The Mary of Nazareth Team