The miraculous icon of the Virgin Eleousa was hiden, at a depth of one and a half meters under the ground over centuries, and found in a miraculous way. The Holy Mother of God appeared in the eight-year-old Athanasius Syros, while he was playing with other children on a hillside. She appeared to him as an unknown woman, who was dressed in black and barefoot, to make repentance. Despite the fact that the place was dry, it became soft and sank like the dough, because of the repentance that this unknown woman made. At the three points, where the woman worshiped, the place began to produce a sweet sense. However, no one believed what the little Athanasius experienced.
That same night the unknown woman appeared in the sleep of little Athanasius, but this time she had a bright wreath on her head. Little Athanasius asked \"Old Lady, who are you? and what do you want from me? I\'m afraid!\". And then the black-dressed woman responded to him, \"Do not be afraid, my little one, I am the mother of Christ, whom you love so much, and He sent me to reveal to you that you have a pure heart and a pure soul and at the place where you saw me praying, you will find an icon of me, if you dig. That place should become a place of worship, become a temple, a holy place\". With these words, Virgin Mary disappeared from the sight of little Athanasius.
The next morning, Athanasius told his parents in every detail the second appearance of Mother of God and begged them to dig where the Virgin Mary had suggested. But again, neither his parents nor the other villagers did believe him. But he was unshaken by the miracle that had happened to him and decided to build a small church with stones on his own at the point, where Holy Virgin Mary had suggested him and place an icon of Virgin Mary there.
The mistrust of the village residents lasted for years when at the beginning of June 1962 AD an excavating machine reached Xyniada in order to open the streets of the village. After this project was completed, the residents of the village asked the driver to dig and search for the icon of the Virgin Mary. And this is what happened indeed! It took only three excavations to reveal the miraculous image next to the root of an oak. Thus, the image bearing the inscription \"Mother of God Eleousa\" was revealed. The image seems to belong to the era of iconoclasm. It was maintained in good condition despite its stay in the soil for centuries.
Since then the arrival of the pilgrims has been so great that it has led to the foundation of a larger temple in 1965. Near the church were rebuilt cells and the other necessary buildings. In 1972, the new Monastery was inaugurated, which soon gained a great reputation. The hymnographer Gerasimos monk Mikrayanannanitis composed the sequence of the Finding of the Image, which is celebrated on June 21st. In the Monastery, with the tirelessly care of the abbot and the willing support of the pilgrims, a Nursing home for the elderly was erected to care for the needy elderly of the region. Nowadays the Image of \"Virgin Mary Eleousa\" has been covered with silver and gold and has been placed in a beautiful pilgrimage.
