Hundreds crowd to view ‘weeping’ icon of Mary

Press, 18 December 1986, Page 19

Hundreds crowd to view ‘weeping’ icon of Mary

NZPA-AP Chicago Hundreds of people have crowded into a small Albanian Orthodox church to view a painting of the Virgin Mary which some said appeared to be. shedding tears. “They have been coming through all day long,” said the Rev. Philip Koufos, pastor of the St Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church. “They have no doubt as to its validity.”

Moisture, said Rev. Koufos, has continued to streak down from the

eyes of the icon, which is painted on canvas and mounted on a wooden panel behind the main altar. Wads of cotton to absorb the moisture have been placed on the floor in front of the picture, along with an incense burner, poinsettia plants, flower arrangements and candles. The artist who painted the I.Bm icon, Constantine Youssis, said he had no explanation for the phenomenon. “This is the first time it has happened,” Mr Youssis said, in a telephone interview from his home in New York City.

He said he had not seen the painting since it was first hung in the northwest Chicago .church 20 years ago. The church, which holds about 250 people, is part of the Greek Orthodox diocese of Chicago. In a message sent from the New York headquarters of the Greek Orthodox archdiocese, Archbishop lakovos told Chicago church leaders: “Truly it is a miraculous sign that this occurred on the feast day of St Nicholas, your patron saint.” A “miraculous sign” differs from a miracle,

which requires improvement of a person’s physical condition, the archdiocese said. He instructed the parish to “venerate” the icon and to continue daily prayer services for the Virgin Mary, “who is reaching out to her divine Son’s people during this Advent season.” The Chicago Catholic archdiocese closed its investigation of a similar incident, involving a “weeping” statue of the Virgin Mary, in September, 1985. A year’s investigation found no evidence a miracle had occurred, officials said.