Hawaiian Myrrh-Streaming Icon Blesses Patients at Sofia Hospital

SOFIA, BULGARIA — Patients at the N. I. Pirogov University Hospital and Medical Center received a special pastoral visit on Aug. 3 as the Hawaiian Myrrh-Streaming Iveron Icon of the Mother of God was carried through hospital wards, bringing prayers and blessings to those undergoing treatment.

Patr. Daniel led the procession, accompanied by Bp. Irenei of London and Western Europe, Fr. Nectarios Yangson, custodian of the icon, Archpriest Spasimir Ivanov, and Fr. Ilia Marzev. The clergy were welcomed by hospital director Dr. Valentin Dimitrov, together with physicians and members of the administrative staff, before visiting patients throughout the medical center.

During the visit, the clergy anointed the sick and distributed cotton that had been blessed with myrrh flowing from the revered icon. The pastoral outreach formed part of the icon's first-ever pilgrimage to Bulgaria, which began on Aug. 3 and will continue through Aug. 19, allowing faithful across the country to venerate the wonderworking image.

The Hawaiian Myrrh-Streaming Iveron Icon is a copy of the lost Montreal Iveron Icon and has become known throughout the Orthodox world for the fragrant myrrh that flows from it. After its arrival in Sofia, where hundreds of faithful gathered to welcome the icon, it is scheduled to visit several Bulgarian dioceses — including Nevrokop, Vidin, Vratsa, Lovech, Varna and Preslav, Veliko Tarnovo, and Sliven — as well as the historic Rila Monastery before concluding its pilgrimage.

Previously, the UOJ reported that the wonderworking Donskoy Icon returned to a historic Moscow monastery.