Virgin Mary Eleousa – Aged Lithograph – Mount Athos

Description Aged Icon of the Virgin Mary Eleousa This particular icon features a depiction of the Virgin Mary Eleousa. The original icon of Eleousa was discovered thanks to the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to an eight-year-old boy, Athanasios Syros, in the Thessaly region in 1954. According to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to the young boy twice, but neither his parents nor the villagers believed any of the things he claimed to have seen. In 1962, when an excavation machine arrived in the village of Xyniada to open roads, the icon of the Virgin Mary was found buried at the base of an evergreen tree, precisely where the eight-year-old boy had indicated years earlier. When the villagers saw the icon, they asked for forgiveness from the boy, who had now grown, but even more so from the Virgin Mary herself. It is believed that the icon dates back to the period of the iconoclasm and was buried there to be saved from destruction. The Icon of the Virgin Mary Eleousa The icon is hand-finished. Subsequently, it undergoes the technique of aging, which adds to its charm. The handmade details make the image of the Virgin Mary even more vivid.