It is said that prayers before this icon protect us from poverty and hunger, as well as deliverance from famine and abundance of the fruits of the earth. As a spouse and parent, I find myself wanting to protect my family from those things. The Mother of God can and does help, and we should always turn to her with faith and love.
"Establisher
of the House", or "Ekonomissa" (Экономисса) Icon
(known in Greek as "Οικονόμισσα")
Commemorated July 5 / July 18
In the 10th
Century, the great elder Athanasios established the Athonite monastery known as
the "Great Lavra," to which a host of monastics came from all over
the world. In a certain year in which
the harvest failed, such a famine befell the lavra that all of the monks, one
after another, scattered. Even St.
Athanasius, an accomplished struggler, was unable to endure the temptation, and
with great sorrow decided to abandon the lavra. Carrying his staff, he walked for hours along
the road to Karyes, (capital of Mt. Athos –ed.), and being tired, decided to
rest. Suddenly a woman wearing a
sky-blue shawl came toward him. St
Athanasius became frightened, and made the sign of the cross. Where did this
woman come from, when entry into Mt. Athos is forbidden to women? The holy elder went towards her. She asked, “Where are you going?” St. Athanasius answered, “Why do you need to
know where I am going? You can see that
I am a local monk!” The woman said: “If you are indeed a monk, you should reply as
ordinary people do; you should be trusting, direct, and humble.” St. Athanasius told her of his woe. “And you could not endure this? For a daily piece of bread, you are abandoning
your monastery, which should be glorious unto generation and generation? Is this in the spirit of monasticism? Where is your faith? Turn around! I will help you: everything will be in
abundance, only do not abandon your solitude.” St Athanasius asked, “Who are you?” She replied, “I am the one whom you glorify in
your monastery. I am the Mother of your
Lord.” St. Athanasius said: “I am afraid to believe, for the nets of the
devil are many and various. How will you
convince me that your words are true?” She directed him: “Strike this stone with your staff, and you
will know who speaks with you. Know that
from this moment I will always be the Establisher of the House for your lavra.”
Athanasius struck the stone, and as if
struck by lighting and a thunderclap, the stone broke apart, and from the cleft
noisily gushed forth a spring of water, and coursed down the hill towards the
ocean. St. Athansius turned to throw
himself at the feet of the Most Holy Lady, but She had disappeared. He returned to the lavra and found that all of
the containers in the storerooms were filled with everything needful. In commemoration of this miraculous
appearance, the monastery has no steward, but only a helper to the Ekonomissa. An Icon of the Mother of God “Ekonomissa” was
installed in the Monastery. On this
icon, the Theotokos is depicted seated on a throne, in her lap is the Infant
Jesus; on the right is St. Michael of Synnada, on the left, St. Athanasius,
holding in his hands an image of his lavra. To this day, the life-giving spring continues
to flow, and to bring healing. A small
church dedicated to the Life-giving spring was built on the site of the
apparition of the Mother of God. In this
church there is an icon, with an eternal flame burning before it, depicting
that miracle.
http://www.stjohndc.org/Russian/theotokos/9807b.htm
http://www.stjohndc.org/Russian/theotokos/9807b.htm
The scroll held by St. Michael on the icon says:
“I worship (venerate) the Holy Icon of Jesus Christ our Savior and the Holy Mother of God…”
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Along the same lines of the story of the icon (the
Theotokos as the Steward/Provider of the Household), a very pious family
entrusted their household under the protection of the Mother of God (from
Father Michael Henning’s book, “Marriage and the Christian Home”, published by
St. Nectarios Press, ©1987, page 23):
“A
family with which I am familiar had a multitude of problems, one of which was
not enough money to purchase food. The
head of the family placed the household under the protection of the Theotokos
and Ever-Virgin Mary. As an offering of
faith and love, the family's head promised that the lamp in the icon corner
would burn only pure olive oil* and that it would be allowed to go out
only after there was no more food on the table and no money to buy either olive
oil or food. Because of the strong faith
shown by the family head, the Theotokos has miraculously provided the family
with enough money to purchase both olive oil and food for months on end.”
*(The use of pure olive oil may be objected to because of its high cost; however, God is beneficent to those who think first of spiritual matters and then of themselves.)
The prayers to the Mother of
God “Ekonomissa” protect us from poverty and hunger as well as deliverance from famine, and petitions for an abundance of the fruits of the earth.
Prayer before the icon: All-honored Mistress Mother of God, I humbly beseech You, accept my prayer offered up to You from a heart with great faith, and please help me, the sinner, the servant of God, and protect me with Thy veil from all evil, misery, and misfortune. Amen.
An Akathist I found in Russian for the Ekonomissa icon, which is also known as "The Abbess of Mount Athos":
http://pravoslavnyi.ru/new_site/component/content/article/38/199-ekonomissa-ili-igumeniya-gory-afonskoj-ikona-bozhiej-materi
Tropar to the Icon, Tone 4:
O good one, intercession awesome and unashamed, most hymned Theotokos, O merciful Steward of the faithful, disdain not our supplications; make steadfast the Orthodox commonwealth; save our land, and defend all the Orthodox who dwell therein: for thou gavest birth unto God, O only blessed one.
