My Visit to See the Miraculous Myrrh-Streaming Icon of Hawaii

When you are a “theo-head” (= theology + head) and have great interest in the mystery of God like me, and someone asks, “Would you like to join me in seeing an Icon that miraculously began streaming myrrh?” Your answer is something to the effect, “Heck, yes, I would!” So, that’s what I did. I took a visit last Thursday morning to St. Stephen’s Orthodox Cathedral in Philadelphia, where the Myrrh-Streaming Iveron Icon made a visit from Hawaii on its tour around the United States. Now, when my wife and I were dating, I would constantly pass this cathedral on the way back and forth from her house to mine, and I always was interested in visiting. So, I was able to “kill two birds with one stone.”

Going in, I only knew this about the icon–it has apparently begun to weep myrrh miraculously and some have claimed to been healed in the anointing from the icon’s myrrh. When I got there, I realized it was more than just a visit to check it out (as if one were visiting the Liberty Bell), but it included a 20-minute service in dedication to the miraculous event in the icon = score! During the service, I was more an observer because I didn’t know the liturgy, and, because the icon was of the “Holy Theotokos ” (mother of God; i.e., Mary) holding the Christ child, the liturgy was dedicated to her (which rubbed my Protestantism the wrong way). With this being said, I appreciated the reverence for God that was apparent in the Orthodox Church. Evangelicalism makes God too much like our “buddy.” So, it was refreshing.

Back to the icon! At the end of the service, Father Victor invited everyone to pay tribute to the icon. So, I did kiss the icon and was anointed by Father Victor with the icon’s myrrh since everyone else was doing it. My thought was, “When in Rome…”, even though the East wouldn’t like that (maybe, “When in Constantinople…”?).

Cool, Evan. But you don’t really believe in that ‘relic’ stuff, do you? You don’t really believe the icon miraculously streamed myrrh? What kind of wood was it? Couldn’t that have been the explanation? What about those weeping statues in Roman Catholic churches that have been hoaxes? Isn’t this the same thing as “I saw the Virgin Mary in my toast?”

I’m really not sure what to make of it all. Yes, there have been hoaxes before, but I believe the Eastern and Western Churches have been doing their research to make sure this doesn’t happen. No, I don’t think it’s the same thing as finding Mary in your toast or Big Mac. And, yes, there could be an explanation, but Father Victor had a whole vile of the stuff and apparently there is enough of the myrrh for people to request it to be mailed to them. And I saw the myrrh and its condensation on the glass of the icon so obviously something could have happened. Why would myrrh come from an icon? Well, why would water come from a rock in the dessert during the Exodus?

Here’s the deal–I have spent way too much of my life being a rationalist. I have spent way too much time saying God has to act a certain way and only acts a certain way. Neither can I explain this nor do I want to. There is something special about this icon. There is something mysterious about God. I believe he still does miracles. I believe he can and has used inanimate objects to do so. So, do I believe there is no natural, logical explanation for it? Even if there is, I’d rather believe in a world where God works like that than not. I’d rather believe in miracles and God showing up in crazy ways. I’d rather believe in a world where God uses rocks to give water, dew to produce manna, mud from spit to heal the blind, and where the dead rise. And that’s where I am with this…