October 26, celebration of the Aybron icon of the Mother of God. In the 9th century, the Aybron icon (which today guards Mount Athos) was in the possession of a pious widow who lived near the city of Nicaea. Under the emperor Theophilus (829 - 842), the iconoclasts, who destroyed holy icons, came to the house of this Christian woman, and one warrior struck the image of the Mother of God with a spear. Blood immediately flowed from the injured area. The widow, who feared the destruction of the temple, promised the imperial soldiers money and asked them not to touch the icon until morning. When they left, the woman, together with her son (later an Athenian monk), lowered him into the sea to preserve the holy icon. The sergeant, standing on the water, sailed to Athos. The Athonite monks, after seeing a pillar of fire rising to the sky for several days at sea, reached the shore and found a holy image standing on the water. After a prayer for the donation of the temple that appeared to the monastery, the pious monk of the Iberon monastery, St. Gabriel the Georgian (July 12), at the command of the Mother of God, who appeared to him in a dream, walked on the water, received the holy icon and placed it in the temple. However, the next day the icon was found not in the temple, but above the gates of the monastery. This was repeated several times until the Most Holy Virgin revealed her desire to Saint Gabriel in a dream, saying that she did not want to be guarded by the monks, but wanted to be their guardian. The image was then placed over the monastery gate. Therefore, the holy icon is called on the stairs, the gatekeeper. The Aberon icon of the Mother of God, located on Athos, became famous for many miracles. Word of the miraculous image spread throughout Russia through pilgrims. His Holiness Patriarch Nikon (then still the Novospesky Archimandrite) appealed to the Archimandrite of the Eybron Athos Monastery Pachomios (who had come to Moscow to receive alms for the Athos Monasteries) with a request to send a copy of the miraculous Eybron Icon of the Holy Mary. The Athenian monk Iamblichos wrote a copy of the miraculous image, and a year later the icon, accompanied by Athenian monks, arrived in Moscow.

October 26, celebration of the Aybron icon of the Mother of God. In the 9th century, the Aybron icon (which today guards Mount Athos) was in the possession of a pious widow who lived near the city of Nicaea. Under the emperor Theophilus (829 - 842), the iconoclasts, who destroyed holy icons, came to the house of this Christian woman, and one warrior struck the image of the Mother of God with a spear. Blood immediately flowed from the injured area. The widow, who feared the destruction of the temple, promised the imperial soldiers money and asked them not to touch the icon until morning. When they left, the woman, together with her son (later an Athenian monk), lowered him into the sea to preserve the holy icon. The sergeant, standing on the water, sailed to Athos. The Athonite monks, after seeing a pillar of fire rising to the sky for several days at sea, reached the shore and found a holy image standing on the water. After a prayer for the donation of the temple that appeared to the monastery, the pious monk of the Iberon monastery, St. Gabriel the Georgian (July 12), at the command of the Mother of God, who appeared to him in a dream, walked on the water, received the holy icon and placed it in the temple. However, the next day the icon was found not in the temple, but above the gates of the monastery. This was repeated several times until the Most Holy Virgin revealed her desire to Saint Gabriel in a dream, saying that she did not want to be guarded by the monks, but wanted to be their guardian. The image was then placed over the monastery gate. Therefore, the holy icon is called on the stairs, the gatekeeper. The Aberon icon of the Mother of God, located on Athos, became famous for many miracles. Word of the miraculous image spread throughout Russia through pilgrims. His Holiness Patriarch Nikon (then still the Novospesky Archimandrite) appealed to the Archimandrite of the Eybron Athos Monastery Pachomios (who had come to Moscow to receive alms for the Athos Monasteries) with a request to send a copy of the miraculous Eybron Icon of the Holy Mary. The Athenian monk Iamblichos wrote a copy of the miraculous image, and a year later the icon, accompanied by Athenian monks, arrived in Moscow.