The Iveron Icon, which at present is preserved in a monastery on Athos, by
tradition was painted by the Apostle and Evangelist Luke. In November 1982, a copy of the
Iveron Icon of the Mother God began to stream myrrh in Canada. In 1983, the Icon was in
Washington for the first time, and I then asked its guardian - the Spaniard José Muñoz -
how he had received the Holy Object, and when it had begun to stream myrrh. Here are his
own words, which were recorded during our conversation with him:
"Once during our pilgrimage on Athos, after several hours of walking, we got lost. It began to get dark. We needed quickly to find shelter for the night. Going along a path, we stumbled upon a small, poor scete. There the fourteen Greek monks of the scete were engaged in iconography. They received us very cordially. Having rested a little, we began to examine the icons of their work. One of my fellow-travellers, who spoke Greek, got into a conversation with the monks and told them who and from where we were. I, though, taking advantage of the mo-ment, began more attentively to examine everything round about. Suddenly my gaze stopped at an icon of marvellous artistry with dimensions of approximately fifteen by twenty inches. I asked a monk if he could not sell it to me. He refused me, having explained that that image was the first which had been painted in that scete and therefore would not be sold. I could not tear my eyes from that wondrous icon. We stayed the whole night in the scete and in the morning stood through the Liturgy. During the singing of "It is truly meet", I begged the Queen of Heaven on my knees to let the Holy Image go with me... Bidding farewell in the morning, all the monks accompanied us, but the hegoumen was not among them. And then at the last minute before our departure from the monastery we saw him: he quick descended the staircase with the wrapped-up icon in his hands. He came up to me and said: "Take it. I am gifting it to you. It must be with you." I offered to pay for the icon, knowing that the monks were needy; but the hegoumen said severely: "One must not take money for such a holy object!" I crossed myself, kissed the image and made a vow to myself that that image would never become the source of my enrichment....
"After this, we set out at once for Iveron Monastery in order to receive the superior's blessing and to touch the icon received by me to the Original, which is preserved in this famed monastery. But far from everyone is allowed to approach and permitted to touch the ancient Wonderworking Icon. Glory be to God, we were permitted! In the chapel, we knelt and, gazing at the holy object, froze in prayer before the image of the Iveron Mother of God. The image was so majestic, so shiningly beautiful and radiated such spiritual power that it was difficult to gaze at it for long! A hieromonk helped me touch my copy to the Original.
"Soon after this we went home to Canada. We returned on 3 November 1982. I put the icon next to the relics of the saints of the Kiev Caves Lavra and the New-martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna, which had been received by me from the reposed Archbishop Leonty of Chile. A lampada flickered before it all the time, and each day before sleep I read Akathists to it. On the 24th of November, I was awakened at three o'clock in the morning by the powerful aroma of roses - the whole room was filled up by it. At first I thought that it emanated from the relics or from a spilt vial of perfume; but, on approaching the icon, I was struck! The whole icon was covered with oil - a fragrant oil! I froze on the spot at such a miracle!"
Soon after the beginning of the Iveron Icon's myrrh-streaming, news of it spread instantaneously around all the parishes of the Russian Church Abroad and other Orthodox Churches. Since 1982, the Icon has visited Orthodox parishes in many countries of the world. At the end of 1995, it was in Bulgaria, where more than sixty thousand of the faithful prayed before it, and each was individually anointed with its holy oil. Everywhere it has brought comfort and, by the prayers of the faithful, miracles.