Orthodox Christians Visiting Russian Church In Washington To See Myrrh-Streaming Icon

Hundreds of Christian believers gathered on Tuesday at the St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Church in Washington, DC to see what they believe is a miraculous myrrh-streaming Hawaiian Iveron icon of the Holy Theotokos.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2018) Hundreds of Christian believers gathered on Tuesday at the St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Church in Washington, DC to see what they believe is a miraculous myrrh-streaming Hawaiian Iveron icon of the Holy Theotokos.

Theotokos is a title of the Virgin Mary and is especially used to refer to her by believers in Eastern Christianity.

"This year we celebrate 11 years of the Hawaiian icon myrrh-streaming," Viktor Potapov, the parish's rector, told Sputnik.

The icon is one of the most respected relics of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and was part of the parish's patronal fest of the Beheading of St.

John the Baptist.

The Hawaiian Iveron icon has been placed at the center of the church, where believers practice putting small paper reproductions of the relic.

The icon is said to have begun myrrh-streaming in October 2007 at the house of the American Orthodox Nectary Yangson in the US state of Hawaii. Since, believers say the icon has myrrh-streamed almost continuously and dries only at the holy week before Orthodox Easter.