Panagia Gerontissa The 'Πυροσώτειρα'. Portable image.

Η Πυροσώτειρα
(‘The Saviour from fire’)

Η Πυροσώτειρα (‘The Saviour from fire’)

Other more recent miracles by the Virgin acting through her icon have been recorded. On 2 December 1948, a fire broke out in the guest house, which became out of control and threatened the entire monastery. The monks quickly placed a small copy of the icon in front of the flaming wing and prayed to the Virgin. Suddenly, the wind blew in the opposite direction, driving the fire into the already burnt structures, thereby extinguishing it. The monks gave the epithet ‘The Saviour from fire’ to this small copy of the Prioress icon, and since that time, celebrate this miraculous intervention every year on 2 December. In Orthodox monasticism, the relationship with the saints is direct, practical, and natural, a part of everyday life.