The Tinos Mother of God

THE MIRACULOUS ICONS OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

THE TINOS MOTHER OF GOD

The most popular of the wonderworking icons of modern Greece is a dark icon of the Annunciation which is the object of a vast pilgrimage twice each year to the island of Tinos. This account of its revelation in 1823 is a detailed illustration of the direct intervention of the Mother of God in the lives of men for their salvation.

THE FIRST REVELATION OF THE THEOTOKOS IN A DREAM (1821)

A FEW DAYS BEFORE the 25th of March (the Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, and the beginning of the Greek Revolution), Michael Polyzoes, an old gardener from Andros who had lived for many years in Tinos, a virtuous man in his eighties, in a dream at night saw the Theotokos entering his room adorned in white raiment. Standing before his bed, she said to him: "Go to the field of Anthony Doxaras which is outside the city; dig there and you will find My Icon. Build a church, as there was once one there, and I will help you in this work." The old man became frightened and woke up because of the strange dream. He arose, crossed himself, and ascribing all to a temptation of the devil, he lay down to sleep again. But sleep would not come to his eyes, for the dream tormented his mind and made him continuously think of everything he had seen and heard. Being in such a state, and before sleep had overcome him, he saw once again the divine Woman coming toward him. Upon Her appearance a gentle white light from some unknown source flooded the room and illumined everything. The old man opened his half-closed eyes, rubbed them to be sure that it was not a dream, and arose, trembling. The Woman stood before his bed, and about Her head there was a crown of divine light. Upon Her virginal countenance there was infinite grace and sweetness, and in Her large and expressive eyes there was apparent the infinite goodness of Her divine heart. The old man arose, his body trembling from emotion and his teeth chattering from fear. The divine Woman then said to him, "Why are you afraid? If you believed you would not fear. Your fear comes from unbelief. Hearken," continued the Woman; "I am Panaghia.; There in the field of Anthony Doxaras is buried My Icon. Go and dig there that you may find it: I wish it, and ask it of you as a favor, old man. There you will build a church such as existed once before. I will help you." With these words the Woman disappeared.

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1. The All-boly One: the Greek term commonly used in reference to the Mother of God.


The old Michael arose on the next day very early and went to the priest of the village and narrated to him the events of the night. The priest, however, attributed the things concerning the dream to the error of the old man's imagination and sought to quiet him, adding that the dream came from the devil, and exhorted him to receive the immaculate Mysteries that he might be cleansed from his sins. However, the old man did not become quiet and could not believe that all he had seen and heard was merely a dream and therefore a lie and work of Satan. He told his vision to all the inhabitants of the village, some of whom laughed at him, considering him a crazy old man, while others said that through his storytelling he sought to present himself as a saint who had seen the Theotokos in his sleep. Only two believed and, being moved rather out of curiosity, they decided to go by night to the field that had been pointed out by the old man and help him in the excavation, although they feared the Turks, to whose domination the island was still subject, and who might look upon them with suspicion.

They went one night with the old man to the field, taking with them their tools. Since the field was large, they dug in many places testing, but in vain, because nowhere could they find the remains of an ancient structure. Finally they decided spontaneously to dig in one certain place. They had not gone very far when their pickaxes struck an old wall from which they took out a goodly amount of bricks. They worked in this manner the whole night and found nothing else but bricks. The morning approached and, out of fear lest they be discovered by the Turks, they departed discouraged, attributing the vision of the old man to his imagination.

THE FIRST MIRACLE

In spite of this, Anthony Doxaras, the owner of the field, upon finding the bricks which the workers and the old man Michael had dug up in abundance during the excavation, decided to take advantage of this and use them. Hiring some builders, he began building an oven with the bricks. But how great was the amazement when he and the workers saw that the mortar would not stick to the bricks and consequently, as much as they attempted to build even one part of the oven, it would collapse immediately as if some invisible power were pushing and destroying it, showing in this manner that it did not wish the bricks which had come from the temple to be profaned, being thus used by him for the construction of the oven.

THE DREAM OF THE NUN

A whole year had passed from the time of the vision of the virtuous old man, Michael. The vision and the excavations that followed, and the agitation of the people and the comments which have been made at that time, had been forgotten and no mention was made concerning these things. At this time, on the morning of one Sunday in June, 1822, the Theotokos once again appeared in a dream as a resplendent Woman adorned with inexpressible glory and radiance, to one chaste and virtuous nun, eighty years of age, named Pelagia, who was living in the convent of the Dormition of the Theotokos which was located about one hour from the village of Tinos upon Mount Kechrovounios. This nun had been in the convent since childhood and was an example of the virtuous Christian life, for which reason everyone in the convent and the island reverenced her greatly for her virtues and piety, and she was known everywhere. No one knew of her past or her family background. Her name in the world had been Lucia.

To this virtuous nun the Theotokos appeared in a dream and told her, "Arise quickly and go to Stamatelos Kangades" (one of the prominent men of the village who was a trustee of the convent) "and tell him to uncover My house which is buried in the field of Anthony Doxaras, so that he himself may direct the building of an illustrious and majestic temple." Pelagia, terrified because of the vision, arose immediately and began to pray, attributing the dream to her imagination. For this reason she did not dare to tell anyone about it.

After exactly seven days the Theotokos appeared to Pelagia again and reminded her of Her desire. Since, however, the nun continued to be silent and would not confide the vision to anyone, the Theotokos appeared for a third time to her, with sternness this time, and standing before her bed in inexpressible majesty She reprimanded her for her unbelief and indifference and added in a commanding voice, "Go as I told you and be obedient." Because of this sternness and the commanding tone of voice, Pelagia woke up terrified. Her body was trembling. and she arose. With her eyes open she saw the same Woman she had seen while asleep, still standing unmoving before her with a majestic stance and gaze, sending forth a mysterious and gentle white light about Her, and looking fixedly upon the nun with Her large and beautiful eyes. Being then filled with terror, Pelagia was just able to gather her strength to ask the mysterious Woman, "And who are you, my Lady, who are thus angered with me and command me to do such things?" At this question, the mysterious Woman raised Her hand and, as though She were indicating the whole world, said in great majesty, "Proclaim, O earth, glad tidings of great joy."1 No doubt remained in the nun that the woman who stood before her was the Theotokos, and that she had been foreordained by Her to recover Her wonderworking Icon. Wherefore, being full of joy, Pelagia cried out, "Praise, O heavens, the glory of God!''2 and arising she ran quickly to the Abbess and told her all that she had seen and heard. The Abbess, knowing Pelagia's virtue and piety, believed her and sent immediately for the trustee of the convent, Stamatelos Kangades, who had been designated by the Theotokos, and who lived in Karya, a picturesque village about one hour from the city. To him also the pious nun recounted the vision with godly fear. Kangades hastened to speak to Gabriel, bishop of the island, who was a Godfearing and virtuous man, to whom also he presented the nun. As Gabriel knew also about the vision of the old man Michael Polyzoes, and seeing that these things agreed in many ways, he believed Pelagia and hastened to call a council the next day of the foremost citizens of the island and announced to them the wish of the Mother of God. All were in agreement to act according to the wish of the Theotokos, and gave full authority to Bishop Gabriel.

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1. The first phrase of the megalanarion of the Ninth Ode of the canon for Orthros (Matins) of the Annunciation
2. The second phrase of the megalanarion spoken by the Mother of God.


Thus, the day after the council, he sent out an encyclical letter to all the churches of the island in which he exhorted the inhabitants to cooperate in this great and God-pleasing labor of the finding of the wonderworking Icon and the all-revered temple.

All the inhabitants of the island showed themselves to be eager, and they sent to Bishop Gabriel whatever each one could. Thus a sufficient amount of money was gathered.

THE EXCAVATIONS FOR THE HOLY ICON

In September of 1822 the excavations began under the supervision of Stamatelos Kangades, and after some days there were discovered the foundations of an ancient temple of the Forerunner. However, though the whole area which the temple occupied was excavated, nowhere was there found the sought for Icon. All that was found was an ancient well, seventy-two feet in depth, close to the Beautiful Gate.

The money that had been collected was exhausted. Because of this the work was abandoned, and no one thought any longer concerning the building of a temple upon the foundations of the discovered temple of St. John, as the All-holy One had commanded Pelagia in the dream.

THE SECOND APPEARANCE OF THE THEOTOKOS

The nun Pelagia once again saw a dream in which the All-holy One appeared and exhorted her to tell the inhabitants of the island to take up once again the work that had been abandoned in the field of Doxaras for the finding of Her Icon. The next day Pelagia announced her dream to the Bishop, who again invited the inhabitants by an encyclical letter to contribute whatever each one could for the building of the temple of the All-holy One. Within a few days a goodly amount of money was collected, and it was decided to build another temple upon the foundations of the discovered temple of St. John. To this end three more of the foremost citizens of the island were elected, and they, together with Stamatelos Kangades, took upon themselves the supervision of the building of the sacred temple.

A MIRACLE

The day on which Bishop Gabriel was to place the foundation stone with doxology so that the work might begin, he first asked for a little water for the service of Holy Water, but nowhere could any be found. He decided, therefore, to delay a short time while they sent a man to the village of St. Nicholas to bring a little water. Suddenly a child approached the Bishop, saying that the well which was behind the Beautiful Gate was full to the top with water. Everyone doubted the child's words because it was known that the well was dry. With great surprise, however, they saw that it was full to the brim. There was no doubt in their minds that they were witnessing a miracle of the All-holy One.

Within a short time the temple was finished, and it was honored with the names of St. John and the Life-Giving Spring.1 Because the water had strangely welled up, it was also called Holy Spring. Even today the pilgrims to Tinos drink of this water, and it is considered a holy spring.

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1. A holy spring, revealed to the Emperor Leo the Thracian in the fifth century by the Mother of God, which is located outside the walls of Constantinople. To this day it is famed for many healings. The feast of the Life-Giving Spring in the Greek Church is the Friday of New Week.


A FEW HISTORICAL FACTS

Close to the gate of the old temple of St. John, there was found a marble column upon which was carved the following:

House of the Light of Life Concern of My Master the Holy Isidore From this inscription it appears that the ancient temple of St. John had been built by a bishop of the island called Isidore, but it remains unknown as to what time he lived. In the ruins of the temple of St. John, there were found many pieces of marble, bricks, and tiles from which it appears that this temple had been built with the remains of an ancient, majestic temple. Athenaios, the historian, mentions that there was once located there an illustrious temple of Poseidon, "god" of the sea. Around it was a great grove and close to it was water which was most clear and abundant. It appears that the Christians destroyed this temple and with the marble slabs, stones, tiles, and bricks they built the temple of St. John. The temple of St. John was burned around the year 1200 by the Saracen Arabs who at that time burned and plundered all the islands of the Aegean Sea.

THE FINDING OF THE HOLY ICON

The temple of the Life-giving Spring had almost been finished and there remained only the final adornment and laying of the stone floor to be done. On the 30th of January, 1823, the day of the feast of the Three Hierarchs, some workers were leveling the ground of the temple in preparation for the laying of the stones. It was almost noon when a worker named Emmanuel Matso, digging at a place six feet west of the well, saw his pickaxe strike a piece of wood which it broke in the middle. Out of curiosity, he took one piece of wood into his hands and saw that on one side it was burned. On the other side, however, it had traces of colors. He cleaned it with his hand and with great amazement saw that it was an icon. There was no doubt that the two pieces of wood which he had found were the sought for Icon of the All-holy One. Being beside himself, with emotion he took into his hands the two pieces of the Icon and attempting to fit them together he crossed himself and kissed it.

With shouts he called the other workers, who hastened to venerate the holy Icon. The Icon was cleaned with care, and it became clear that it was an icon of the Annunciation of the Theotokos. From an artistic standpoint, it was a masterpiece. The cleft was exactly in the middle of the Icon, between the Theatokos and the Archangel Gabriel, without at all touching them – which was considered a miracle. The Icon is considered to be a work of the hands of the Apostle Luke, one of the seventy icons which were painted by him. The same day the Icon was given over to Bishop Gabriel, who had shown so much interest in earnestly exhorting the inhabitants to begin the excavations which brought to light this precious jewel of Orthodoxy. Full of joy and with tears of emotion, the virtuous Gabriel, like another Simeon, took the wonderworking Icon to his bosom, and full of reverence he repeatedly kissed it, crying out in joy, "Great art Thou, O Lord, and wondrous are Thy works!"

THE ALL-HOLY ONE SAVES THE ISLAND FROM THE PLAGUE

The great and gladsome event of the finding of the all-venerable Icon was spread abroad and was quickly known throughout the whole island and the inhabitants hastened in masses from all parts to venerate and kiss it, calling upon the help of the Mother of God. A plague was afflicting the island at the time, causing the death of many and attacking many more. But how great was the amazement of the inhabitants when they saw that from the moment the Icon was found, the plague ceased attacking the inhabitants and after a few days the disease was completely wiped out from the island and those who had been attacked by it were cured. The miracle was evident. The Mother of God had saved the island from the plague.

THE TEMPLE OF THE EVANGELISTRIA1

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1. A title of the Mother of Cod, referring to the Annunciation, meaning literally: She Who is Evangelized.


After the finding of the all-venerable Icon and the verification of the dreams of the virtuous old man Polyzoes and the pious nun Pelagia, a true and sacred enthusiasm overcame all the inhabitants of the island, who resolved to fulfill to the letter the holy will of the Mother of God by the building of a great and beautiful temple for Her, honored with the name of Evangelistria. Priests, foremost citizens, and the ordinary people hastened, one to offer his fields, upon which today stands the beautiful structure, another a part of his possessions, another his wife's jewelry, another the silver vessels of his house; and the poor offered their personal labor for the building of the all-beautiful temple. Thus, above the aforementioned temple of the Life-giving Spring, which today is called the temple of the Finding (of the Icon), were placed the foundations for the building of the temple of the Evangelistria. But with all the holy enthusiasm of the inhabitants, and with all the eagerness of the towns and villages, the money collected from them was not sufficient, their personal labor alone did not suffice, and there was need of money for the building of the temple. The people with heavy hearts saw their labor, barely begun, in danger of ceasing. The Theotokos, however, could not leave the inhabitants in their holy labor without the aid which She had promised to the old man, Michael, and to the inhabitants of the island. How many times, as the old men have said, did they sleep with heavy hearts, thinking that the next day would bring the cessation of the work since the treasury of the temple was empty. And yet the morning would dawn with a miracle of the Theotokos: with a most generous offering. Thus the help of the Theotokos in the work continued mightily. We could mention a multitude of miracles here, but we will limit ourselves to two, the first of which occurred after the building of the foundations.

THE ONE-HUNDRED DOUBLE COLUMNS

The foundations of the temple had just risen a little above the surface of the ground, and the money in the treasury was exhausted. Saddened, all saw that in a little while the work would cease. In grief and despair the bishop and the foremost citizens of the island took counsel concerning what should be done. One morning a ship from England approached the island, bringing the English vice-consul, E. Flick. Both he and the ship's captain, F. Tack, were Roman Catholics.

When the ship anchored at Tinos, which was then without a harbor, there suddenly arose a terrible storm in the sea. Enormous waves broke with terrible fury upon the broken rocks of the shore and threatened to wash away anything that chanced to be there. Small boats anchored in the little inlet of the island were washed up on the shore. The English ship, As You Like It, which was anchored in the middle of the little inlet, began to be tossed and sorely endangered. Its anchors which had been thrown into the sea began to break one after another, and the great ship was on the point of being crushed upon the rocks The English captain saw the great danger – his ship being anchored only by one rope and tossed in the midst of the fury of the elements and with fear he turned his gaze from the ship to the dry land. There, high upon the hill, he saw the temple that was being constructed. With tears he called upon the divine intervention of the Mother of God, promising Her one hundred double columns if his ship were saved.


The miraculous Tinos Icon, with metal covering, in its shrine.


Then those who were on the shore, beholding the terrible fury of the storm, found themselves in the presence of an awesome sight. The whole sea continued to be frenzied, and only around the English ship was there calm, as if some invisible hand were spread out above it to hinder the wild waves from breaking against it.

The ship was saved!

The English captain, though of another faith, believed in the supernatural power which had saved him from destruction, and he did not forget his promise to the Theotokos. The morning of the next day, as soon as he disembarked from the ship, he recounted the miracle to the leaders of the island, and with them he kissed the Icon with reverence and fear and offered to the trustees of the temple the one hundred double columns, with which the work of building continued.

AN OFFERING OF ENTIRE POSSESSIONS

Alivizios Kalabrios, a native, one of the rich inhabitants of the island, being one of the foremost merchants, was attacked by the terrible plague during the time of the Revolution, and had been driven out of his mind from his affliction. Being abandoned by the doctors, who had despaired of his ever being cured, he threw himself into the sea that he might drown and be freed from his pains and torments. However, even while he was sinking, he called upon the All-holy One for his salvation and healing from the terrible disease, promising to serve for the whole of his life in the temple, dedicating even his entire possessions. He came out of the water unharmed and entirely healed of his dreadful disease. Full of gratitude, the pious man hastened to kiss the wonderworking Icon with tears because of his cure. In fulfilling his promise, he began to dispose of his place of business, which was filled with merchandise, and the money which he collected from this disposal he would spend every Saturday by going up to the temple and paying the weekly wages of the builders who were working there. Afterwards, he gradually disposed of the whole of his property – that is, storehouses, houses, fields, gardens and orchards, which are shown even to this day as once having belonged to him – and with this money the construction continued for a long time. Having thus become a pauper, he donned the raso of a monk and was dedicated both soul and body to the service of the temple and the veneration of the Theotokos. He lived there unto great old age, serving and being a living history of the construction of the beautiful temple and a narrator of the boundless miracles of the Theotokos. Being loved and honored by both inhabitants and strangers, he reposed in the year 1872.

Thus, with Her divine aid, as the Mother of God had said to the pious Pelagia, the work progressed quickly. The fame of Her innumerable miracles being spread from day to day was the cause of limitless offerings which provided the money for construction. The narthex, the temple, the bell tower, the iconostasis, and whatever other illustrious and comely things are found in this temple are but one page of the limitless miracles of the Mother of God through Her all-venerable Icon. It is an unfolding of the great and supernatural event through which the Mother of God, in showing Her divine power, incited the gratitude of those who had been benefacted so that they made known the benefaction by a generous gift to the temple. Even the Moslems themselves, who were often witnesses to the limitless cures of the Mother of God, some of them also receiving healing, offered not a little toward the construction and adornment of the temple.

THE MIRACLE OF THE MOSLEM COMMANDER

As a true testimony of the offerings and the faith of the Moslems toward the wonderworking Icon, there is to the right of the worshipper as he enters the court of the building an ornamented marble font in which there is performed the Great Blessing of Water on Theophany. This fountain is an offering of the Turk, Mustafa Agha, a commander of the (at that time) governor of Crete. Being paralyzed, he came, at the advice of his doctor who was a Christian, into the temple with his entourage and servants and remained there for some two months. He became completely well on a certain day when prayers were being said for him before the all-venerable Icon. Suddenly he jumped up before the astounded spectators, rushed and covered the Icon with kisses, and promised to send 500 piastres every year (which he sent till the end of his life). He also built the font as a testimony of the miracle.

THE CONSECRATION OF THE TEMPLE

Thus, through the supernatural wonders of the Theotokos, offerings were sent abundantly to the trustees of the temple, and in 1823, within the year of its beginning, the temple was completed. Bishop Gabriel, with the whole of the clergy, performed the consecration amidst a throng of all the inhabitants of the island, who rejoiced and praised the Mother of God, for She had been well-pleased, as the Psalmist has said, to have little Tinos as Her dwelling.

Here shall I dwell, for I have taken pleasure in it (Psalm 131:14).