"Hearer" Icon of the Mother of God
This wonderworking Icon is at Zographou Monastery on Mount Athos. The name of the Hearer Icon of the Mother of God (Παναγία Επακούουσα, or Услы́шательница in Russian) is explained by the following miraculous sign.
The venerable Cosmas was living a life of asceticism at Zographou Monastery in the XIV century. When he was still a young man, he visited Vatopaidi Monastery on the Feast of the Annunciation, which is that Monastery's Feast Day. There in the church during the service, and later in the trapeza, he saw a beautiful, majestic woman. Saint Cosmas was astonished and troubled to see her there on Mount Athos, because no woman is permitted to set foot on the Holy Mountain, so he was unable to understand why the monks allowed her to be there. While he was pondering these things, he returned to his Elder, who noticed his disciple's confusion and asked him, "Why are you so sad and pensive?"
Cosmas told him what he had seen at Vatopaidi Monastery, and revealed all of his doubts and thoughts about seeing a woman there with the monks.
"What sort of woman was she," the Elder asked, "and how was she dressed?"
Cosmas described her appearance in detail. Then, with a reproachful sigh, the Elder rebuked his disciple: "Didn't you bother to find out what sort of woman was at the monastery? This was not an ordinary mortal woman; she is the Queen of our Holy Mountain and of all creation herself!"
For some time after this, the venerable Cosmas remained alone in the monastery church, praying fervently before an Icon of the Mother of God. He exclaimed, "Most Holy Theotokos, pray that your Son and God may set me on the path of salvation!"
As soon as he uttered these words, he heard the voice of the Mother of God coming from the Icon and saying, "My Son and my God, teach Your servant how he may be saved."
At once the Lord replied, "Let him leave the monastery to live in solitude and in stillness" (ησυχία).1
With the Superior's blessing, Saint Cosmas left his monastery and went into the wilderness, where he dug a cave out of a cliff, spending the rest of his life there in continuous asceticism. He made great progress in the hesychastic life, and so he was found worthy of the gifts of clairvoyance, working miracles, seeing divine visions, and even predicting the time of his death, which occurred on September 22, 1323.
The Icon before which Saint Cosmas prayed, and from which he heard the voice of the Mother of God, was named "The Hearer," because she heard his prayer. It is still in the katholikon of Zographou Monastery, in the altar, on the eastern wall, which extends into the diakonikon.2
1 In the Lives of the Saints, and the writings of the Holy Fathers, stillness, or quiet, is essential for mental prayer, or prayer of the heart. In order to be effective, the Jesus Prayer requires the greatest inner and outer quiet or stillness. It is also called pure prayer because it presupposes a mind and heart free from fantasies, passions, and thoughts.
2 The διακονικόν is a room on the south side of a church, behind the iconostasis, where vestments, books, charcoal, etc. are stored. There is a sink, towels, and other necessary items used in the services.