ancora la Madre di Dio del 28 giugno

 Theotokos of Three Hands

June 28thTroparionSince thou art a well-spring of tenderness, O Theotokos, make us worthy of compassion; Look upon a sinful people; Manifest thy power as ever, for hoping on thee we cry aloud unto thee: Hail! as once did Gabriel, chief Captain of the Bodiless Powers

The original icon of this style was miraculously delivered to the Hilander Monastery on Mt. Athos by a donkey with no driver. At that time, the monks were trying to appoint an abbot to the monastery. They were having much difficulty deciding on who should take that position. One morning, the monks found the icon on the seat of the abbot. They marveled at this and replaced it on the wall where it had been. The next morning it was again on the abbot's seat. This continued until it was revealed to them that the abbot was to be the Theotokos. To this day, Hilander Monastery does not have an abbot, but considers the Theotokos the abbess of the monastery. The silver hand in the bottom corner is the hand of St. John of Damascus. His hand was cut off by iconoclast Emperor Leo the Isaurian in an effort to stop the saint from writing about the validity and importance of icons. St. John picked up his hand and fell down in prayer before an icon of the Theotokos, asking that his hand be restored to him. His hand was returned to his arm and he was healed. He attached a silver replica of his hand to the original icon in thanks to the Theotokos.