The Vatopedi Icon of the Mother of God is located in the ancient Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos, in the Church of the Annunciation. It received the name Vatopedi from the fact that near this monastery the young prince Arkady fell into the sea from a ship and, through the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God, was transported to the shore unharmed. Here they found him standing under a bush, not far from the monastery. From this event the name “vatoped” (“youth’s bush”) came about. The Holy King Theodosius the Great, in gratitude for the miraculous deliverance of his son, decorated and generously endowed the Vatopedi Monastery. On the Vatopedi icon, the Mother of God is depicted with her face turned to her right shoulder, in memory of the fact that in 807, on January 21, she turned Her face to the abbot of the monastery, who was standing in prayer near the holy icon, and warned him about the intention of robbers to rob the monastery. The abbot took precautions, and the monastery was preserved. In memory of this wonderful event, an unquenchable lamp burns in front of the miraculous icon. On Athos, this icon is also called “Consolation” or “Consolation”.
Icon of the Mother of God “Ktitorskaya”
The story of the appearance of the “Ktitor” Icon of the Mother of God is as follows.
Not far from the Vatopedi Athos Monastery, built in 395 during the reign of Constantine the Great, during a strong storm, Prince Arkady, the son of Emperor Theodosius the Great, fell from a ship into the sea. Everyone thought he was dead. However, not far from the place where the monastery was located, under the shadow of one of the coastal bushes, Arkady's companions saw the prince calmly sleeping. Waking up, he told how he was miraculously delivered from imminent death through the intercession of the Mother of God. In memory of this event, the monastery located here was given the name “Vatoped”, that is, the youth’s bush.
Emperor Theodosius the Great, having learned about the miraculous salvation of his son, in gratitude for this, not only expanded, decorated and enriched the Vatopedi monastery, but also donated an icon of the Mother of God made from mastic to the monastery. This icon was called “Ktitorskaya” - in memory of the fact that the emperor was a ktitor (translated from Greek - the organizer and decorator of the monastery). This “Ktitor” icon was placed in the cathedral Church of the Annunciation in the altar on a high place. This was the reason for calling this holy icon “Altar Girl”.
In 862, when the Arabs, having ravaged and plundered Crete, Sicily and other islands, had already begun to rampage within St. Mount Athos and approached the Vatopedi monastery, the ecclesiarch, not wanting to allow them to violate Christian shrines, hid the Ktitor icon and cross in the well, which was located under the altar platform. Having placed a burning candle in front of the shrines, he pushed a marble slab on top, flush with the platform. However, the barbarians captured the priest himself and took him captive.
Only almost seventy years later the unfortunate captive received freedom. His soul strove to where he had previously served the Lord - to the Holy Mountain. Vatopedi, once magnificent, was now a miserable ruin. A small brethren worked to renovate the ruined monastery, and the captive elder joined them.
Recalling the events of his previous life and the circumstances under which he had to leave the Vatopedi monastery, the hierodeacon pointed out the place where he hid the holy icon of the Mother of God and the cross, and asked to move one of the slabs of the altar platform. Under it, the brethren actually found both an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and the life-giving Cross of the Lord. Even the candle was still burning in front of them.
This candle still burns unquenchably next to the holy Ktitorskaya Icon of the Mother of God: the monks, adding wax, preserve it in this way from generation to generation.
Since both shrines were found on Monday, starting from the time of their discovery, on this day in the Vatopedi monastery a solemn prayer service is held for the Mother of God in the cathedral, and the next day a solemn liturgy is served with the blessing of the koliva and the offering of part of the prosphora in honor of the Mother of God. This constant celebration has been going on for more than ten centuries and is the best evidence of the truth of the event, deeply imprinted in the traditions of the Vatopedi monastery.
Icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria – Xenophian”
According to legend, from time immemorial this miraculous icon was in the Vatopedi Monastery of Athos, in the cathedral. In 1730, behind closed doors, she disappeared not only from the church, but also from the monastery. The icon was discovered in the Xenophian monastery, located three hours away from the Vatopedi monastery. Returned to Vatopedi, the shrine was again placed in its original place, and the fathers of the monastery took the strictest precautions to preserve the icon from theft. However, the icon of the Mother of God left the Vatopedi monastery for the second time and appeared again in Xenophos. Convinced of the providence of this event, the brethren of the monastery refused to return the miraculous image to their monastery and left it in Xenophos. As a sign of reverence, the brethren of the Vatopedi monastery delivered candles and oil for her to Xenof for several years.
The Hodegetria icon in Xenothos is located in the cathedral church, at the column of the left choir, that is, in the same place in which it stood in Vatopedi.
St. Neophyte Prosmonarius of Vatopedi (Athos) (XIV century, commemorated January 21)
Our venerable father Neophyte shone in the monastery of Vatopedi. Once, while on monastic business, he became seriously ill and was already close to death: then he turned to the Mother of God with a warm prayer so that She would grant him health, and - lo and behold! - suddenly he hears a voice from the icon of the Mother of God that he is given another year in order to properly prepare for the departure from this life during this time. Having thus received health, he returned to the monastery. At the end of the year, on one of the days of the week, while preparing to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, he again heard a voice from the icon of the Mother of God that the time had already come for his departure from this life, which was fulfilled, for the communion of the Mysteries of Christ was followed by his peaceful exodus to the Lord. The Church gave him the name prosmonary (Προσμονάριος) - an unceasing prayer book.
St. Maxim the Greek († 1556, commemorated January 21, June 21)