O Lord and Master of my life,
Grant not unto me a spirit of idleness,
of discouragement,
of lust for power,
and of vain speaking.
But bestow upon me, Thy servant,
the spirit of chastity,
of meekness,
of patience,
and of love.
Yea, O Lord and King,
grant that I may perceive
my own transgressions,
and judge not my brother,
for blessed art Thou
unto ages of ages.
Amen.
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Rejoice, thou through whom joy shall shine forth. Rejoice, thou through whom the curse shall be blotted out.
Rejoice, thou the Restoration of fallen Adam. Rejoice, thou the redemption of the tears of Eve.
Rejoice, Height hard to climb for human thought. Rejoice, Depth hard to explore, even for the eyes of Angels.
Rejoice, for thou art the Throne of the King. Rejoice, for thou sustainest the Sustainer of all.
Rejoice, Star that causest the Sun to appear. Rejoice, womb of the divine Incarnation.
Rejoice, thou through whom creation is renewed. Rejoice, thou through whom the Creator becometh a babe.
Rejoice, thou Bride unwedded.
Tradition tells of this icon that the original expression on the faces of the figures and position of the bodies of Christ and the Blessed Virgin changed when the following strange miracle occurred: when pirates had secretely landed on the shore of the Monastery and were hiding, waiting for the gates to open in the morning in order to launch an attack, the Abbot, who had remained behind alone after the end of Matins in order to continue his prayer, heard these words from the icon of the Blessed Virgin “Do not open the gates of the Monastery today, but go up on the walls and drive away the pirates”.
Gerontissa Gabrielia (Gavrielia) was born in Constantinople more than a hundred years ago on October 15, 1897 to Helias and Victoria Papayanni and was the fourth and last child of the family. She grew up in Constantinople until her family moved to Thessaloniki in 1923. She went to England in 1938 and stayed there throughout the Second World War. She trained as a chiropodist and physiotherapist. In England they honored her for her services during the war and after.
