Handmade Byzantine Icon of Panagia "Axion Esti" or "It Is Truly Meet".
The miraculous Icon of Panagia, "Axion Esti", is the most famous icon of Mount Athos located in Protato in Karyes. She bears the seals of all twenty monasteries and is considered their common patron saint.
According to tradition, on June 11, 980 AD, in the cell where the icon was located, a unknown monk who asked for hospitality, sang for the first time to a disciple who was praying, the "Axion Esti..." hymn . As the disciple could not find paper and ink to write down this wonderful hymn, he gave the monk a stone tablet. Then, he wrote the hymn with his fingertips, that was miraculously engraved on the stone and, then, he disappeared.
After this miraculous event, the monks of Mount Athos sent the stone tablet to Patriarch Chrysovergis, who decided to include a hymn in the liturgical life of the Church.
Since then, on June 11 of each year, the feast of the Icon "Axion Esti" is celebrated, in honor of the Archangel Gabriel who was undoubtedly the foreign visitor.
Megalynarion
It is truly right to bless thee, O Theotokos, the ever blessed, and most pure,
and the Mother of our God.
More honorable than the cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim, who without corruption gavest birth to God the Word, the true Theotokos, we magnify thee.
The Icon of Panagia "Axion Esti" is an exact copy of Byzantine art and is created by experienced craftsmen using the method of gold printing where hagiographic leaves of 22 karat gold are applied in detail to decorate the background.
During the final processing, the icon is painted with dark red color around the perimeter and polished with a special varnish to maintain its shine.
It is offered in level or recessed wooden surface and is suitable for wall mounting.
Feast: June 11
Iconographer: Father Michael
Availability: Made to order, usually ships within 5 to 10 days.
