Virgin Mary Myrovlitisa - Holy Monastery of St Paul

The founder of the monastery is Saint Paul of Xeropotamou, who was also the founder of the Xeropotamos monastery near Dafni, the port of Mount Athos. In fact, during the 10th and 11th centuries there are two monasteries with the name Xeropotamou on Mount Athos, since the current monastery of Agios Pavlos was established with this name permanently from 1108 onwards. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Monastery of Agios Pavlos was looted, destroyed and deserted. The successive hardships suffered by the Monastery made it a Cell, i.e. a part of the Xeropotamou Monastery. However, in 1365 the Monastery came under the jurisdiction of two Serbian monks of aristocratic origin, Gerasimos Radonias and Antonio Pigasis. Their presence particularly benefited the Monastery, which was recognized as eighteenth in the hierarchy of holy monasteries in the third Typical of 1394. A few years later, in 1401, the Holy Monastery of Xeropotamou recognizes for the first time as independent the Monastery of Agios Pavlos in an official document of the Patriarch Matthew.

The icon of the Theotokos Three-Handed (Trojeručica in Serbian or Tricherousa in Greek), one of the miraculous icons of the Serbian Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos. The icon was an heirloom of Saint John of Damascus and was kept with great reverence in the chapel of his house. During the Iconoclasm, the Emperor of Constantinople was Leo III the Isaurian. During this period, the veneration of holy icons was forbidden. However, Saint John of Damascus was a fervent defender of the icons. Through his writings, he sought to fight off the pillars of Iconoclasm.

In the Christian life believers need to communicate with God through prayer. All the prayers must be said with deep faith and reverence.  Here are five powerful prayers you can say during the day.