Miracles of the Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary prayer in front of him Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary about what

The entire life of Orthodox Christians passes under the grace-filled Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. IN church calendar There are several holidays that are dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. September 13 is one of such days, it marks the Position of the Venerable Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

According to legend, Saint Mary herself wove a belt from camel hair. According to one version, the Most Holy Theotokos, after Her Dormition, appeared to the Apostle Thomas and gave him the belt. As is known from the scriptures, the apostle did not have time for burial Mother of God, at that time he was far away in India. To console the faithful disciple of Christ, She, through his prayers, handed the shrine into his hands.
In the first centuries, the Belt was in Jerusalem, and several centuries later, under Emperor Arcadius (395-408), it was transported to Constantinople and solemnly placed in the Chalcopratian Church, all-night vigils and prayer services on Wednesdays were established there. The only shrine remaining from the earthly life of the Mother of God was placed in an ark and sealed with the golden seal of Emperor Arcadius indicating the year and exact day this great event.
The Belt lay sealed in a closed casket for several centuries, until He helped the wife of Emperor Leo the Wise (886-911) Zoya, who had been suffering from an illness for a long time (perhaps it was an obsession). Doctors could not cure her illness with medical remedies.
Zoya, according to a vision, was told that her illness would recede if the Holy Belt of the Virgin Mary was placed on her. Having learned about this, the patriarch, at the request of the emperor, removed the seal, opened the shrine containing the shrine, and everyone saw that it had not been damaged at all for so many centuries.
With the blessing of the patriarch, the Belt was placed on the sick woman, and the empress was immediately healed of her illness. With gratitude to the Lord and the Mother of God, a prayer service was served, and the healed queen embroidered the Belt that saved her with threads of gold. The shrine was put back into the casket and sealed again.
Thus, the second position of the belt happened. In memory of the miracle that occurred and in honor of the double position, the holiday of the Position was established honest belt Holy Mother of God.
In the tenth century, the Belt of the Virgin Mary was divided into several particles. Time passed, and three parts of the belt of the Mother of God were discovered in Bulgaria, Georgia (Zugdidi) and Cyprus (Trooditissa Monastery).

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Georgia was admitted to Russian Empire and in gratitude to this event, the Georgian queen Nino presented the shrine to Emperor Alexander I. When the relic arrived from Georgia, the king decorated the casket precious stones and gave it back to the queen with instructions that she build a church in Zugdidi, which would be the place where the belt would be kept. The command was fulfilled, and to this day the shrine remains in this place.
The Mother of God, through Her Belt, showed the world a great many miracles; through Him, thousands of people and even entire nations were healed.

Some of the miracles that the Mother of God showed through the Belt:

1871
An unusually severe outbreak of cholera occurred in Constantinople, which literally wiped out its inhabitants. When the Belt was brought to the infected city, almost immediately after the arrival of the shrine, the epidemic receded. And people already infected with it were cured. At the same time, a case became known when the placing of the Belt of the Virgin Mary on a young man who had just died from a serious illness helped to resurrect him from the dead.
1894
Getting rid of locusts that devoured crops in the city of Madita (Asia Minor). As soon as the ship with the shrine moored to the shore, the sky darkened with insects, which immediately began to fall into the water. Residents were saved from imminent famine.
1915
There was also a saving of crops in the Greek provinces from a locust invasion. This time flocks of birds arrived and began to eat the pests.
1957
Elders arrived from the island, which is located near Athos, to the Vatopedi monastery and asked the monks to save them from a terrible drought. With the holy Belt he moved out of the monastery religious procession. As soon as the shrine appeared on the island, a heavy downpour began.
In the Vatopedi Monastery, copies of the Belt are sewn and blessed, which women suffering from infertility wear on their wombs. Probably, the Mother of God hears fervent requests, so God's grace, with the help of real faith and sincere prayers, descends through the shrine on childless spouses. The monastery keeps huge amount letters from happy people thanking God for the birth of a child.

In 2011, Archimandrite Ephraim, abbot of the Vatopedi monastery, brought an ark with a piece of the Belt of the Virgin Mary to our country. The shrine was put up for veneration in Moscow in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and immediately, from all over the country, pilgrims began to come for veneration. Despite the cold weather, a huge queue formed to worship at the Belt. Later, the ark visited some other Russian cities. During all this time, about three million were able to venerate the Holy Belt, which the Most Pure Virgin Mary held with Her hands. She blessed and helped a great many people, all who turned to Her with faith and hope for help and salvation.
You can venerate particles of the Belt of the Virgin Mary in Russia in the Moscow Church of Elijah the Prophet (2nd Obydensky Lane, 6), in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, in the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

On September 13, Orthodox Christians celebrate the position of the honorable Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The story of the discovery, travel and miracles of this shrine is breathtaking.

Consolation of the Apostle Thomas

As you know, the Apostle Thomas did not participate in the burial of the Virgin Mary - at that time he was in the region of India and spread the Good News there. Only on the third day did he arrive in Jerusalem. Grieving and wanting to say goodbye to the Mother of God, he asked the apostles to open her tomb. Having opened it, the apostles were amazed, because the tomb was empty. Only the funeral shrouds remained in it, from which a wonderful fragrance emanated. “Kissing the burial shroud remaining in the tomb with tears and reverence, they prayed to the Lord to reveal to them where the body of the Most Holy Theotokos had disappeared?” - writes Dmitry Rostovsky. In response to their question, the Mother of God appeared to the apostles at supper and greeted them with the words: “Rejoice! “For I am with you always.”

However, there is a legend that on the third day, that is, before this appearance, the Mother of God appeared to the Apostle Thomas through his prayer. To console him, she threw her belt to him from the sky. This legend is recorded on Orthodox icons, and on the holy Mount Athos there is a 6th-century fresco depicting Thomas bringing the belt to the other disciples.

Empress Zoe and the Evil Spirit

The Golden Ark, in which the belt, revered as a great shrine, was enclosed for a long time, was first discovered at the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century during the reign of Emperor Leo the Wise. This was done with the permission of the patriarch for the emperor’s wife Zoe, who was overwhelmed by an unclean spirit. The emperor prayed to God for the healing of his wife. And a vision occurred that she would be cured of her weakness if the belt of the Virgin Mary was placed on her. When the ark was opened, it turned out that the belt, which had lain in it for almost ten centuries, had not decayed. The Patriarch applied the Belt to the sick empress, and she immediately got rid of the unclean spirit. As a token of gratitude to the Mother of God, Zoya embroidered the entire Belt with gold thread. After these events, Saint Euthymius, the emperor’s confessor and Patriarch of Constantinople, composed a Homily “in honor of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, in remembrance of the miracle that occurred from Her Honorable Belt, by grace, mercy and love for mankind, Christ our God was born from Her.”

Belt division

In the 10th century, the Belt of the Virgin Mary was divided into parts, which eventually ended up in Bulgaria, Georgia (Zugdidi) and Cyprus (Trooditissa Monastery).

Helen, the niece of the Byzantine Emperor Romanos III Argir (Argyropoulo), received healing from the belt of the Virgin Mary. When in 1028, after the war with Georgia, the emperor made peace with her, he married Helen to the Georgian king Bagrat IV Kuropalates in order to seal the political alliance. With the permission of the emperor, the bride brought part of the Belt with her to a distant country. It is known that in early XIX century, the ruler of Megrelia Nino, daughter of the Georgian Tsar George XII, after accepting Russian citizenship, sent the shrine as a gift to the Russian Emperor Alexander I. The reaction of the Russian Tsar is surprising. Having decorated the ark with precious stones, he sent it back and ordered it to be built in Zugdidi stone church for storing the shrine. And to this day this part of the Belt is kept in the Cathedral of the Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God in a precious icon case.

Vatopedi Monastery

The Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos in Greece contains a part of the belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which the Byzantine emperors took with them on military campaigns and which the Bulgarians once recaptured from the Byzantines. This is a gift from the Serbian prince Lazar Hrebelianovich, who ruled in the 14th century - the last independent ruler of Serbia. This prince is glorified among the saints of Serbia Orthodox Church like a great martyr.

The history of the monastery is so closely intertwined with the history of the Belt that it can no longer be thought of separately from it. This is evidenced by the nickname “Agiazonites” (that is, “holy belts”), given to the Vatopedi monks on Athos.

Temple of the Belt of the Virgin Mary in Syria

In the city of Homs (ancient Emesa) there is a temple dedicated to the Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the famous “Umm Zunnar”. According to the tradition of these places, the shrine was placed in a silver flower on a stand. In the center of the plant, surrounded by openwork petals under glass, lies a thin woolen belt made of camel hair and gold threads, about 60 centimeters long, twisted into a ring. According to legend, this is part of the belt of the Virgin Mary. It was found in 1953 after an ancient manuscript in Aramaic was discovered in a monastery in Mardin (modern Türkiye). This manuscript indicated the place where half of the belt was kept, which Thomas took with him. Numerous healings also occur from this part of the shrine through the prayers of believers. In Umm Zunnar, next to a niche decorated with fresh flowers, where the Belt of the Virgin Mary is kept, there is a jug. Believers throw notes into it addressed to the Heavenly Intercessor.

Lots of belts

Orthodox believe that the list with miraculous icon as holy as the original, that a stone from a holy place, brought home, can work a miracle according to the faith of the pilgrim. Likewise, the small belts made by the monks of the Vatopedi Monastery and consecrated on the belt of the Most Holy Theotokos have the same power as the belt itself - the power of faith of the person praying. People pass these belts on to each other, divide them into parts, and send them to different countries. Many write about healings not only from the “original”, but also through these simple belts and their parts sent to them. It is believed that in a pilgrimage the path is important, in the queue to the shrine - prayer (pre)standing in this queue - that is, preparation, prayer and meeting with the shrine are one thing.

Divine measure and miracle of healing

The Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not only a relic and a shrine, but also a standard, a divine measure that was used in the construction of cathedrals. For example, the proportions of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Diveyevo Monastery are determined by the belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, the length of which is 1 meter 20 cm, and are twenty belts wide (24 m), thirty long (36 m), fifty high (60 m). Twenty, thirty and fifty, added together, are equal to one hundred, that is, the monastic centenary, which is performed using the rosary. The belt became a measure for the construction of a number of Theotokos churches in Rus', including the Assumption Church in Rostov and the Assumption Church in Suzdal.

Lots of evidence about miraculous healings from the belt of the Virgin Mary has been known since ancient times. Miracles continue in our time. Through the prayers of people, their troubles of all kinds are resolved. But most of the evidence related to the belt comes from people who suffered from infertility and were cured (the flow of letters with photographs of newborns does not dry up at the Vatopedi Monastery) and from those who were healed from serious illnesses, including cancer.

In Russia, parts of the belt of the Virgin Mary are kept in the Serapion Chambers of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, in the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg and in the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Obydensky Lane in Moscow, where you can venerate them at any time.

Usually I write about icons and shrines that help with infertility, which are constantly in Russia, but now this is an extraordinary case. One of the holiest Christian relics - the belt of the Virgin Mary from Holy Mount Athos - was delivered to Russia from Greece.
The head of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation (the organizer of this action in support of the “Sanctity of Motherhood” program), V. Yakunin, believes that “the shrine will help correct the difficult demographic situation in the country,” because among other miracles, she is famous for helping infertile couples have children.
The uniqueness of the event lies in the fact that the Belt of the Virgin Mary has not left the Vatopedi Monastery - its place of residence on Mount Athos for more than 200 years, and the territory of Greece for as much as 1600!

Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Holy Belt”

Place of storage of the holy relic

Position of the Virgin's Belt

Holy belt on Russian soil
(photo by Alexey Talipov)

Belt of the Virgin Mary in Nizhny Novgorod (nne.ru)

Queues for many kilometers to the shrine

Belt consecrated on the belt of the Virgin Mary

The belt of the Virgin Mary was handed over by Archimandrite Ephraim, the rector of Vatopedi, to the rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy Ambrose Bishop of Gatchina and delivered to Russia. Initially, it was believed that the Belt of the Virgin Mary would visit 11 cities of Russia - St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Norilsk, Vladivostok, Krasnoyarsk, Diveevo, Saransk, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Kaliningrad and Moscow, but the huge number of people who wanted to touch the shrine forced this to be adjusted list. It included 3 more cities - Tyumen, Volgograd and Stavropol.
The Belt will arrive in Moscow on November 19 and will be there in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior until the 23rd.

History of the Belt of the Virgin Mary

According to the legend that has reached us, the Mother of God wove a belt from camel hair herself and wore it until her dormition (death). This shrine and particles of the robe are the only things of the Virgin Mary that have survived to this day.
There are two versions of how the Virgin Mary disposed of her belt.
According to one, the Mother of God, after her death, appeared to the Apostle Thomas and gave him the belt as a consolation, because... He was the only one among the apostles who did not say goodbye to her, but appeared only on the third day after the burial and grieved greatly about it.
Another version is taken from the Minology of Basil II and states that the belt was given by the Mother of God shortly before her death to two widows living in Jerusalem, and then the relic was passed on by the heirs from generation to generation. (note: Minology of Basil II - an illustrated Byzantine manuscript in the genre of hagiographic literature, compiled in 979-989)
In the 4th century, the Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius brought the belt of the Virgin Mary to Constantinople to the Chalcopratian Church. The relic was placed in a golden ark, sealed with the royal seal. In 458, Emperor Leo I moved it to the Blachernae Church.
Until the end of the 12th century, the belt remained in Constantinople.
In the 10th century, the belt of the Virgin Mary was divided into parts. The emperors of Byzantium took one of the parts of the shrine with them on military campaigns as a talisman.
In 1185, during the struggle of Bulgaria for its independence from the Byzantine Empire, this part of the belt of the Virgin Mary was captured and ended up in Bulgaria, from where it later came to Serbia.
In the 14th century, the Serbian prince Lazar I donated the belt along with a piece of the true Cross of the Lord to the Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos, where it is kept to this day in the sanctuary of the main monastery cathedral.

The following claim to own the remaining parts of the Virgin's belt:
- Blachernae Church in Zugdidi (Georgia);
- cathedral city of Prato (Italy);
- Trier Monastery (Germany);
- Church "Umm Zunnar" ("Temple of the Belt of the Virgin Mary") in Homs (Syria).

The celebration of the belt, called the “Position of the Honorable Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos,” takes place on August 31 (old style), September 13 (new style).

Miracles of the Belt of the Virgin Mary

The wife of Basileus Leo VI the Wise (866-912), Zoya, was overwhelmed by an unclean spirit. The emperor asked the patriarch to open the ark with the holy relic. The belt turned out to be completely untouched by time. After it was applied to the patient, she completely got rid of her illness.
As a token of gratitude to the Mother of God for the miracle, the empress embroidered the belt with gold thread, after which it was again enclosed in the ark and sealed.

In 1827, the founder of the Hilandar monastery, Father Savva, writes: “In Enos, the pestilence of the plague stopped with the grace of the Holy Belt of the Mother of God,” and then, after the holy Belt was transported to Didimotikhon, the following entry appears: “Here, as in Enos, the pestilence ceased by the grace of the holy Belt.”

At the end of the 19th century, the Turkish Sultan Abdul-Aziz turned to the monks of Vatopedi with a request for a belt in connection with the cholera epidemic that was raging in Constantinople. As soon as the ship with the shrine on board approached the pier of Constantinople, the epidemic raging in the city stopped, and the already sick people began to recover. Abdul Aziz was so amazed by this event that he ordered the belt to be brought to his palace so that he could honor it.

In 1894, residents of the city of Madita (Asia Minor) were plagued by locusts that destroyed standing crops. Desperate people asked the fathers of the Vatopedi monastery to provide them with the belt of the Virgin Mary to fight this evil. As soon as the ship with the Belt approached the harbor, a cloud of locusts rising from the fields darkened the sky and then, to the amazement of those present, rushed into the sea.

The miraculous belt of the Virgin Mary still performs many miracles. He is especially revered for the help he provides to women suffering from infertility.
The Vatopedi monastery contains many letters in which women who have found the joy of motherhood enclose photographs of their babies born through this relic. “Agiazonites” (that is, “holy belts” - the nickname given to the Vatopedi monks) help infertile women without violating the rules of their male monastery (after all, visiting the monastery for women is strictly prohibited). On the ark, where the belt of the Virgin Mary is kept, they consecrate the ribbons and distribute them to the husbands of infertile couples. These improvised belts with prayer are tied around the woman’s waist and worn until the birth.

Address of the location of the belt of the Virgin Mary

Coordinates: N 40°18"51", E 24°12"40".
Greece, Holy Mount Athos, monastery Vatopedi (in the northeast of the Athos Peninsula, between the monasteries of Esphigmen and Pantokrator).

Vatopedi Monastery
63086 Karyes, Mount Athos
Greece
phone 8-10-30-23770-41488 (call time from 09.00 to 13.00)
fax 8-10-30-23770-41462

Belt of the Virgin Mary in Russia

As already written above, the miraculous belt will be in Moscow from November 19 to 23.
Small practical advice, based on the experience of those who have already touched the holy relic.
Because There are a huge number of people who want to venerate the belt, the time of unity with this holy miracle is, to put it mildly, small, and the number of ribbons given out for consecration is also small, so it makes sense to stock up on a small ball of ribbon and consecrate it. Subsequently, it will not be difficult to cut this braid into the required number of belts.
Those suffering who, due to various circumstances, will not be able to touch the belt of the Virgin Mary, should not despair. The monks of the Vatopedi Monastery, as mentioned earlier, consecrate ribbon belts on the holy belt. Upon request to the address of the monastery with a description of their problem, the monks send them by mail along with recommendations for use.

How to properly wear the belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Here are excerpts from the brochure-memoir issued with the belt: “...Believers gird themselves with this belt for a while, living in repentance, confession, prayer and communion of the Holy Mysteries. Spouses do the same, adding to this fasting and marital abstinence if possible and by mutual agreement..."
So nothing complicated - tie a belt, believe, live righteously and may you be rewarded according to your Faith.

Belt of the Virgin Mary - documentary Arkadia Mamontova

Currently, one of the great shrines of the Orthodox world has arrived in Russia - the Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Holy Belt of the Virgin Mary and Vatopedi Monastery

Belt Holy Virgin Mary, which today is divided into three parts, is the only surviving relic of her earthly life. According to Tradition, the belt was woven from camel hair by the Virgin herself, and after the Dormition during the Ascension, she gave it to the Apostle Thomas.

In the first centuries of the Christian era, it was located in. It is known that in the 4th century it was kept in the Cappadocian city of Zela, and in the same century Emperor Theodosius the Great again brought it to Jerusalem. From there his son Arkady delivered the Belt to Constantinople.

At first, the shrine was placed in the Chalkopration temple, from where in 458 Emperor Leo I moved it to the Blachernae Church. During the reign of Leo VI the Wise (886-912), the Belt was brought to the imperial palace, and with its help the basileus' wife Zoe was healed.

She was overwhelmed by an unclean spirit, and the emperor prayed to God for healing. She had a vision that she would be cured of her weakness if the Belt of the Virgin Mary was placed on her. Then the emperor asked the patriarch to open the shrine.

The Patriarch removed the seal and opened the shrine in which the relic was kept. The belt of the Mother of God turned out to be intact and undamaged by time. The Patriarch applied the Belt to the sick empress, and she immediately got rid of her illness.

As a sign of gratitude to the Mother of God, the Empress embroidered the entire Belt with gold thread. This is how it acquired the appearance it has today. With hymns of thanksgiving, he was again placed in the shrine, and the shrine was sealed.

In the 12th century, during the reign of Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180), the holiday of the Holy Belt was officially established, held on August 31. Before that, he was honored on July 1, in a joint celebration with the Honest Robes of the Virgin Mary.

The belt remained in Constantinople until the end of the 12th century. But among the consequences of the defeat of Isaac Angel from the Bulgarian king Asan in 1185 was that the Belt was stolen and taken to Bulgaria. Later he fell to the Serbs.

Prince Lazar I gave the Belt along with a piece of the true Cross as a gift to the Vatopedi Monastery. Since then, it has been kept in the sanctuary located in the katholikon, the main monastery cathedral.

During the reign of the Turks, the brethren of the monastery took the Belt with them when they went to Crete, Macedonia, Thrace, Constantinople and Asia Minor. They did this in order to spread the grace of the shrine, raise the spirit of the enslaved Greeks and save them from the epidemics that occurred.

The miracles revealed through the holy Belt in all centuries are innumerable. Here are just a few examples.

One day, the inhabitants of Enos asked that the holy Belt be delivered for them, and the priest sheltered the monks accompanying the relic in his home. His wife secretly cut off a piece of the Belt. When the fathers gathered back and boarded the ship, it did not move, although the sea was quiet. The priest's wife, seeing this strange incident, realized that she had acted unrighteously, and returned part of the Belt to the monks. The ship immediately sailed.

The flap remained separated. Subsequently, a similar incident occurred.

During the Greek War of Independence, the holy Belt was brought to Crete at the request of its inhabitants, who were suffering from a plague. But when the monks were about to return to their monastery, the Turks arrested them and took them away for execution. Meanwhile, the British consul Domenicos Sanantonio bought the holy Belt and it was taken to Santorini, where the diplomat's new residence was located.

Immediately this news spread throughout the island. The local bishop notified the Vatopedi monastery, and its abbot Dionysius went to Santorini. The consul asked for 15,000 piastres as ransom for the Belt. The islanders showed unanimity and were able to collect this amount. So the holy Belt was returned, and Abbot Dionysius took it to Vatopedi.

The consul's wife did the same as the priest's wife at Enos. She secretly cut off a small piece of the Holy Belt from her husband before it was returned to Abbot Dionysius. After a short time, her husband died suddenly, and her mother and sister became seriously ill. In 1839, she sent a letter to the monastery asking that the monastery send messengers who would receive the cut piece from her.

In 1864, the Holy Belt was brought to Constantinople when cholera was raging there. As soon as the ship carrying the Belt approached the harbor, the destruction ceased, and none of those struck by it died.

This strange, miraculous event aroused the Sultan's curiosity. He ordered that the Belt be brought to his palace so that he could honor it.

During the stay of the Holy Belt in Constantinople, a Greek from the Galata quarter asked that it be brought to his home. His son was seriously ill, but when the holy Belt was delivered, he had already died. However, the monks did not lose hope. They asked to be shown the remains, and as soon as the Belt was placed on them, the young man rose from the dead.

In 1894, the inhabitants of the city of Madita in Asia Minor wanted the holy Belt to be brought there because locusts were devastating their crops and spoiling their fruit trees. When the ship carrying the Belt approached the harbor, the sky was darkened by clouds of locusts, which then rushed into the sea, and the ship could not cast anchor. The Miditites on the shore, having seen the miracle, began to continuously sing the hymn “Kyrie eleison” (Greek Κύριε ελέησον - “Lord, have mercy!”).

Until our time, many miracles have been performed through the holy Belt. Thus, women suffering from infertility receive a braid from the reliquary where the Belt is kept. If they have faith, they find it in the womb.

Miracles that occurred through the Holy Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Ending the pestilence

“In Enos, the pestilence of the plague was stopped by the beneficial action of the Holy Belt of the Virgin Mary.”

From Enos the holy Belt was transported to Didymotikhon. In another letter, dated September 12, the same father reports:

“Here, as in Enos, the pestilence was stopped by the grace of the holy Belt.”

Getting Rid of a Locust Infestation

Father Cosmas Chrysoulas, in a report for the monastery, writes:

“In 1915, we asked that the Holy Belt from the Vatopedi monastery be brought to our village of Neochori, as well as to Kallipoleos. The reason for this was a locust invasion. When the Belt was delivered, flocks of birds appeared in the sky and began to eat the locusts. Thus we were saved from this disaster."

Holy Belt in Ithaca

On the island of Ithaca, a relic - a light brown belt embroidered with gold thread - was kept by Mrs. Euphemia Sofianou from Vafu. This holy relic of St. Joachim gave it to his maternal grandmother Maria Molfesi-Sofianu.

The belt was placed near home iconostasis, and it was given to girls who tied it around their head or stomach during the sacrament of marriage as a kind of sign of virginity. This was considered a great blessing. He was then returned to the Sofianou family.

The last time it was given to a refugee family was in 1935. This family had a custom of rebaptizing sick children with this belt. Unfortunately, the relic was lost during a devastating earthquake in 1953.

Rescue from drought

In 1957, several residents of Thasos arrived at the monastery. They asked for the holy Belt to be delivered to their island. The fact is that for several years there was no rain there, and drought threatened depopulation. The fathers agreed and decided to go to Thasos a few days later.

According to monastic tradition, when the holy Belt leaves the walls of the monastery, the fathers accompany the holy Belt on a solemn procession to the small port. They hold banners and censers, and the ringing of church bells can be heard. On the way to the sea they sing a prayer canon to the Mother of God.

So it was that day, and the fathers boarded a small ship sailing to Thasos, which was 2-3 hours away. The weather was clear and there were no signs that rain was coming.

When they reached the port of Thasos, there was already a downpour there, so heavy that they could not leave the ship. And they returned to the monastery, giving praise to the Most Holy Theotokos, who intervened and saved the pious islanders, seeing the goodness of their intentions and heeding their calls.

Translation by Sergei Akishin specially for Orthodoxy and Peace.

Prayers

Troparion of the Position of the Honorable Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Ever-Virgin Mother of God, covering of men,/ the robe and girdle of Thy most pure body,/ Thou hast granted sovereign taxation to Thy city,/ remaining incorruptible through Thy seedless Nativity,/ for in Thee both nature and time are renewed./ In the same way, we pray to Thee to grant peace to Thy city/ and to the souls to our great mercy.

Your God-pleasing womb, Mother of God,/ your generous belt is honorable/ the power of your city is unconquerable/ and the treasure of good things is infinite,/ the only one who gave birth to the Ever-Virgin.

Kontakion of the Venerable Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The honorable belt of Thy position/ is celebrated today by Thy, Thrilling Temple/ and diligently calls upon Thee:/ Rejoice, O Virgin,/ praise to Christians.