Traveling Icon in Oregon

The Eparchial Jubilee Year Icon of the Protection of the Mother of God arrived in the South-West Deanery.  Its first stop was at the Nativity of the Mother of God Church in Springfield, Oregon, where it was venerated at the Sunday Divine Liturgy on October 17th.  Fittingly, that Sunday was the Commemoration of the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, who upheld the use and veneration of icons:

"As the sacred and life-giving cross is everywhere set up as a symbol, so also should the images of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary--the holy angels, as well as those of the saints and other pious and holy men be embodied in the manufacture of sacred vessels, tapestries, vestments, etc., and exhibited on the walls of churches, in the homes, and in all conspicuous places, by the roadside and everywhere, to be revered by all who might see them…”

Attached to each of the icon cards that were distributed was the name of one of the eparchy’s nearly 50 parishes, missions and monasteries.  Included were the names of the clergy serving that parish, and the internet address of the church’s picture, or the parish’s website, if they were available.  The people were asked to pray each day during the following week for the clergy and faithful of the parish/mission/monastery whose name they received and to remember that even though the parishes “Out West” are far from one another, we are still united in Christ within our eparchy, under the pastoral care of our bishop, Richard.