For Bright Monday, we
meditate upon the words of Saint Paul and Saint Clement to the
Corinthians about the signs of the Resurrection.
"If
Christ be not risen, then is our
preaching vain, and your faith is also vain"
(1 Corinthians.
15:14).
As Lent was a
time of conforming ourselves to Christ, the Easter season is a time of
opening ourselves to the many signs of God at work in our lives. The
most visible sign of this is through the celebration of the Eucharist,
where - just like those on the way to Emmaus - we find the most visible
sign of Christ's resurrection and glorification. As Saint Clement shows
us, there are others as well.
On Bright Monday the Church
commemorates the Sweet-Kissing Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The Sweet-Kissing Icon was saved from the
iconoclasts by a pious woman in the ninth century. It traveled
miraculously upon the sea, arriving at Mount Athos, the "Garden of
the Theotokos," where it was honored by the monks.
A nobleman named Simeon was an iconoclast who
shared the Emperor Theophilus's hatred for the holy icons.
Simeon's wife Victoria, on the other hand, venerated icons, especially a
certain icon of the Mother of God before which she prayed each day.
Simeon could not tolerate his wife's piety, so he demanded that she give
him the icon so he could burn it. Victoria threw the icon into the sea,
hoping that it would be preserved through God's providence.
Years later, the icon appeared on the shores of
Mt. Athos near the Monastery of Philotheou. The igumen and
the brethren of the monastery retrieved the icon and placed it in the
church, where it worked many miracles.
In 1830 a pilgrim came to the monastery from
Adrianopolis. He listened to the history of the icon and the
miracles associated with it, but regarded such things as childish
fables. The monk who had related all this was surprised and grieved by
the pilgrim's disbelief, fearing that such doubts indicated an unhealthy
spiritual state. He did all that he could to remove the pilgrim's
skepticism, but the man stubbornly adhered to his opinion.
The Mother of God, in her compassion, finally
healed the pilgrim's soul in a rather dramatic way. On the very day that
he had his discussion with the monk, the pilgrim was walking on an upper
balcony. Suddenly, he lost his footing and began to fall. In his
distress he called out, "Most Holy Theotokos, help me!"
The Mother of God heard him, and he landed on the ground completely
unharmed.
The icon is one of the Eleusa (Tenderness)
type. It is unusual in that it shows the Virgin kissing her Child.
Christ raises His hand as if to repulse His mother's caress.
Other Sweet-Kissing (Tenderness) icons are:
