On January 26^th, the faithful of Berati received something very special from Mount Athos; the icon of the God-Bearing Mary, the Attendant. This magnificent icon was written by two elders of the community of Danilenjve, Father Daniel and Father Damaskinoi. They have worked with great love and modesty to manifest not only their talent, but also to portray through their brushes both the humanity and the holy nature of the Theotokos.

In the afternoon, many people who had been previously informed of the presentation through the media, started to assemble at the Church of St. Spiridon, located in one of the most historical areas of the ancient city of Berati, which is known as Goricë. Hundreds of people were out on the streets, which were covered with laurel leaves. The priests were wearing their most ornate vestments for the occasion and were lead by His Grace Ignatios, the Metropolitan of Berati, Vlora, Kanina and the whole area of Myzeqe.

     Little children dressed appropriately with their churchly robes, were holding candles. Other children dressed in folk costumes carried bouquets of flowers and were standing in the reception lines. Everyone knew something very important was about to happen.

It was around four o’clock in the afternoon when the icon of the God-Bearer, the Attendant appeared magnificently. This moment could not be described in mere words! The reception ceremony was not only for the faithful of Berati but others from various cities in Albania as well. The children who were dressed in folk costumes greeted the icon of the God-Bearing Mary in both Albanian and Greek. On each side of the road the faithful held branches of laurel in their hands while groups of enthusiastic children welcomed the icon calling “Hosanna, Hosanna…”

The icon was received and accompanied by the leader of the Metropolis of Berati, His Grace Bishop Ignatios and the rest of the clergy. The choir of the Theological Academy “Resurrection of Christ”, St. Vlash, Durrës was invited to make the ceremony even more splendid. The powerful hymns they chanted added more excitement to the afternoon which will never be forgotten by the people.

The hymns and the glorifying chants accompanying the Most Holy Theotokos on the way to St. Spiridon’s Church, made the grand procession appropriate for all Orthodox Christians.

 After placing the icon in its place of honor, the Grand Doxology was chanted and a large crowd of faithful, who had come just for this occasion, venerated the icon. Then, the Saturday night vespers took place and Bishop Ignatios blessed the bread in honor of our All-Holy Lady.

At the end of the service, His Grace Ignatios delivered a special greeting in which he emphasized; “The Holy God-bearing Theotokos has the first place among the saints of our Church. She is firstly chosen of all generations as the domain of the Creator and King of everything to fulfill the Divine Economy. Through Him we were reshaped and renovated from our fallen nature to eternal life. She is the most grandiose saint of all.

     As St. Gregory Pallamas stated ‘she is the only border between the created and uncreated nature, and no one can approach God unless it is through her and the Master who was born of her. Let us supplicate her to protect and to lead us in the way of duty and virtue’. Let us repeat therefore the words that St. John Damaskas mentioned and prayed as follows; ‘Our will be done O benevolent Most Holy Lady to keep your eyes on us and to fulfill our prayers and make our salvation possible’.”

Then His Grace addressed the elders from the Holy Mountain, “Mostly honored guests and beloved fathers, Daniel and Damaskin, we welcome you on this blessed day to our ancient town and its historical church - of St. Spiridon. Your presence among the faithful has brought to our lives great delight because this is such a rare event in our spiritual life. We highly value your invaluable work and gift that you created for our people by bringing the full-grace icon of the Queen of Heaven, our Most Holy Lady, St. Mary the Attendant.

You have labored with love and constant prayers using your talents, which is a God-given gift. And with your brushes, which you have perfectly mastered, you managed to create a monumental piece that will be positioned in the place of honor it deserves.

It is not a coincidence that this spiritual and artistic treasure comes to the town of the famous iconographer clergyman, Onufri. Together with his son, Nikolla, he founded, in the sixteenth century, the well-known school of Iconography.

You can easily see the joy and exultation that you caused in the eyes of the faithful who came from Tirana, Durrës, Vlora, Fieri, Lushnja, Kuçova and other villages. They have come here to see you, listen to you and enjoy the spectacular image of the grand icon of the Virgin Mary. Among us, there are elders, students of the Theological Academy “Resurrection of Christ”, members of the Byzantine choir and little children. 

It is my great honor to express in the name of His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios, who could not be present today due to health reasons, our most heartfelt thanks and good wishes to you for this beautiful treasure that you made for our Church.”    

After His Grace’s speech, Father Daniel gave his greetings saying that, “We are really surprised with the reception to honor the All-Holiest. Such jubilation shows, in fact, humbleness towards Our God-Bearing Mother. We brought this icon as a gift to you because you deserve it.”

In addition, Father Daniel talked about the history of the icon which had been preserved on Mount Athos. He also emphasized that this icon has traveled to other places as well, but nowhere has it had such an enthusiastic reception as the faithful in Berati.

Surely the God-Bearing Attendant will be the conductor of all those who pray to her. And we hope that this holy icon, which will forever remain in the town of Berati, will be the Attendant of this town and of our faithful country. 

By Sotiraq Mishaxhi & Joan Qako

Translated by Juljana Pici

 Edited by Melanie Linderman