We hear so many stories in the Gospel of the incredible things that the Grace of God allows mankind to accomplish if it keeps its eyes fixed upon God in the midst of the stormy sea of life. I have often shared the image of Peter walking on the midst of the sea as one I am reminded of quite constantly in my own life. Regardless of the cares that are put at our feet… whether we are struggling to find our way through the complexities of a fallen world, or dealing with anxiety and stress within our families, or being overwhelmed by the sheer number of things happening in our life, if we keep our eyes fixed upon our Lord and if we continue to move forward towards Him in ALL THINGS, There is nothing that is impossible for us to accomplish!
Despite our best efforts, there are times when the storms of life become too loud and too distracting for us to keep our eyes fixated on the savior. This is what happened to Peter in the Gospel. He started off strong, and he was bold in his faith! “Lord, if it is you, command me to come out into the water!” Everything was going well until he became distracted and began to sink. Then came the plea: “Lord, Save me…”
“Kyire Soson Me!” “Lord…Save me!” This is our cry when the sea of life, raging with the storms of temptations becomes too much for us, and like Peter, we wait for our Lord to offer us a hand to pull us out of the waters.
There is a story that we read about in Church History surrounding another miracle of walking on water. It begins during a time when it was illegal to own or to use icons in worship. Those who loved icons were subject to soldiers going into their homes, destroying all traces of iconography, and then punishing those who were piously using them to hearken unto the saints.
In the town of Nicaea, there was a very pious widow who owned an incredibly beautiful icon of the Mother of God that her family had cherished. When the imperial guards found out about it they went into her home to take it away. Being the corrupt soldiers that they were, they accepted a bribe from the widow to allow the icon to remain for a just one more day. Upon leaving the house one of the men took out his spear and thrust it into the icon, striking the cheek of the Theotokos, which slowly began to bleed.
Imagine the impact such a miracle would have on your life! The widow, along with her son who was an eyewitness to these events, became emboldened in their faith. In the midst of their despair, they had been given strength! Without fear of reprisal, they took the icon by night to the seashore and threw it into the water, so that it could be saved from imperial wrath. They watched the icon rise to the surface of the sea, and float out into the open waters…putting the fate of the Mother of God’s icon into the hands of God.
Shortly after this miraculous event, the widow passed onto eternal life. Her son however, had become so strengthened by what he had seen, he became a monk and went to live on Mt. Athos where he shared the story of this miraculous icon.
The miracle was chronicled in the middle of the 9th century and was kept in the mind of the monastery for over 150 years until April of 1004. One morning, the monks of the Iveron Monastery began to notice a large pillar of light streaking up towards the sky from the sea. As they looked closer, they saw in the distance a beautiful icon of the Mother of God floating near them. After repeated attempts at retrieving the icon, the monks began to get discouraged. Every time they got into the boats and got near to the Blessed Mother, she would continue to float out of their reach.
At the time, there was a Georgian Elder who lived at the monastery named Gabriel. He was a very pious and strict ascetic who had an amazing vision of the Theotokos. She said to him:
“Go to the monastery and tell the abbot and monks that I am giving them my icon for their help and protection. Enter the sea and walk upon the waves, so then all should know my will and good pleasure for your monastery. I have chosen you, because you bear the name of the Archangel of my annunciation, Gabriel. Therefore, you shall retrieve my icon.”
The next day, Gabriel, with profound reverence, entered the sea on his knees. To the astonishment of everyone who was present, rather than sinking to the bottom, he began to crawl on the surface of the waters towards the blessed icon! Once he reached it, Gabriel took it into his arms and came back to shore, where the monks met him with great joy! After being strengthened by this miracle, the entire monastery spent three days and three nights offering prayers of thanksgiving and supplication!
The Mother of God never broke her promise, as even today the icon stands in a chapel near the gates of the monastery and has been the source of numerous miracles throughout the centuries!
Even copies of that icon have brought forth tremendous grace, the likes of which we have seen in our own Church, as it was a copy of this miraculous icon from Hawaii that we witnessed weeping here in front of our own eyes. Our Archbishop Alexander reminded us that day that we were given “a special visitation of Grace…one of the signs and one of the assurances that God is kind enough to show us from time to time of His presence in the world.
These miracles that we have the ability to see with our own eyes, and feel in our own hearts, are like our Lord calling out to us in the midst of the sea of life, reaching His hands out to us. Are our minds clear enough? Are our hearts pure enough to have the strength and the clarity of vision, given to us through the sacraments and the services, to grasp onto Him? May we take these moments of inspiration that our Lord (through His Church) offers us in order to move from sinking in the waves to being wrapped in the arms of True Salvation!