Wonderworking Sitka icon on pilgrimage across “Lower 48”

Hundreds of faithful gather inside St. Spiridon Cathedral, Seattle, WA, as Litya is served before the Sitka icon during Great Vespers on September 7, 2005.

SEATTLE, WA [OCA Communications] — Saint Spyridon Cathedral here was filled to capacity on September 7, 2005, as Great Vespers and the Akathistos Hymn were celebrated in the presence of the wonderworking Sitka Icon of the Mother of God.

The cathedral was the first of five dozen parishes the icon is slated to visit during its two-month pilgrimage across the US.

His Grace, Bishop Nikolai of Sitka, Anchorage, and Alaska initially presented the proposal for the cross-country pilgrimage to His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman and the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America in 2004. In the summer of 2005, the icon visited numerous parishes and communities across Alaska in preparation for the pilgrimage.

Annunciation Church in Milwaukie, OR was filled to capacity on September 9, 2005 during the Akathist service for the Sitka icon of the Mother of God.

Commissioned by Saint Innocent Veniaminov, the first ruling bishop in North America, the Sitka Icon has been enshrined in Archangel Michael Cathedral, Sitka, AK, since the mid-1800s. Numerous miraculous healings have been ascribed to the intercession of the Mother of God as a result of prayers offered before the icon. The icon miraculously survived the fire that destroyed the cathedral in the mid-1960s, and it subsequently was enshrined in the rebuilt cathedral several years later.

While the icon had visited a number of parishes in the “lower 48” during the past three decades, the present pilgrimage marks the first time that it is being made available to the faithful in so many parishes coast-to-coast.

Accompanying the icon during the pilgrimage are clergy from Alaska, who in addition to concelebrating at services in the icon’s presence are offering an overview of the life and needs of the Diocese of Alaska, the “mother diocese” of the Orthodox Church in America.

Record-breaking crowds gathered in many areas such as this seen here during an Akathist service at St. Anne Church, Albany, OR on September 11, 2005.

After the celebration of the Divine Liturgy at Saint Spyridon Cathedral on the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God on September 8, the icon visited several other parishes in the Pacific Northwest, including Holy Resurrection Church, Tacoma, WA; Annunciation Church, Milwaukie, OR; Saint Nicholas Church, Portland, OR; Saint Anne Mission, Albany, OR; and Saint Gabriel Mission, Ashland, OR, before making its way south to San Francisco. Holy Trinity Cathedral, San Francisco, was also filled to capacity on September 13 and 14, the Great Feast of the Elevation of the Cross, as faithful from throughout the city came to venerate the icon. Thousands of faithful also filled Christ the Savior Church and Holy Virgin Cathedral [ROCOR], San Francisco; and Holy Protection Church, Santa Rosa, CA, where the icon was venerated. Large numbers of faithful also offered prayers before the icon as it visited Holy Virgin Cathedral, Los Angeles, CA; Saint Innocent Church, Tarzana, CA; Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos Church, Irvine, CA; Saint John of Damascus Church, Poway, CA; and Saint George Greek Orthodox Church, Palm Desert, CA.

A child receives help venerating the Sitka icon from his mother during an Akathist at Holy Virgin Cathedral, San Francisco, CA on September 15, 2005.

After its departure from the west coast, the Sitka Icon visited Saint John the Baptist Church, Glendale, AZ and Saint Paul the Apostle Church, Las Vegas, NV, before making its way northeast for veneration at Saints Constantine and Helen Church, Colorado Springs, CO; Holy Dormition Church, Calhan, CO; and Denver’s Holy Transfiguration Cathedral, St. James Church, Ft. Collins, CO, and Holy Assumption Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

On Tuesday, September 27, the Sitka Icon was welcomed at Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, Wichita, KS, after which it makes its way to Holy Trinity Church, Overland Park, KS; the Nativity of the Virgin Church, Madison, IL; Saint Mary Cathedral, Minneapolis, MN; and Saints Cyril and Methodius Church, Milwaukee, WI.

The Rev. Eric Tosi of St. Paul the Apostle Church, Las Vegas, NV helps carry the Sitka icon after the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on September 24, 2005.

On Sunday morning, October 2, the icon will begin its visit of Chicago-area parishes at Saint Joseph Church, Wheaton, IL. Later that evening, it will be available for veneration at Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Cathedral. While in the Chicago area, it will also visit Holy Trinity Cathedral on Monday, October 3, and Saint Nicholas Church, Kenosha, WI on October 4, before making its way to the Detroit area.

Information, resources, and a complete schedule of the icon’s visits to Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, the Washington DC area, the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, and Texas is posted on the OCA web site and on the web site of the Diocese of Alaska. Photo galleries of the icon’s visit may also be found on the Diocese of Alaska’s web site at dioceseofalaska.org.