Icon of the Holy Belt

Celebration 31 August

According to the sacred tradition and history of our Church, the Most Holy Theotokos rose three days after her burial and ascended bodily to heaven. During her ascension, she gave the Apostle Thomas her Holy Belt.

And Thomas and the other Apostles, after opening the tomb, “did not find the body” of the Virgin Mary. Thus, the Holy Belt is evidence for our Church of the resurrection and ascension of the Virgin Mary with her body to heaven and, in a word, of her transfiguration.

According to tradition, the Holy Belt was made by the Virgin Mary herself with camel hair. Empress Zoe, wife of Leo VI the Wise, in gratitude for her miraculous healing, embroidered the Belt with gold thread, as it is preserved today.

Initially it was kept in Jerusalem and then in Constantinople, and in the ^12th century under Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180) it was officially celebrated on ³¹ August.

Finally, the Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (1347-1355), who had a special love for the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi, as is established by many relevant testimonies, donated it to the monastery.

Since then, the Holy Belt has been kept in the Holy Monastery of Vatopaidi, in a silver case of recent construction which bears the image of the Monastery. In the lower right part of the representation the maker created the figure of the donor Emperor Kantakouzenos and an inscription which refers to his donation to the Monastery.

There are countless miracles that have been performed to date with the Holy Belt. Its value is priceless, since it is associated with the Virgin Mary. She has the grace and to her she owes the miraculous power, which she imparts to the faithful in various ways.

The Holy Belt retains the grace of the Most Holy Theotokos “unstudied” because it is linked to her person and life and because the saints are spirit-bearers not only during their lives but also after their death.

The same phenomenon refers to the soudar and birch-cloths of the Apostles performing miracles, because they had the grace of the saints who wore them. That is why the Church gives it honorary veneration, as well as the Holy Cross of the Lord’s Cross.

The Holy Belt has the special grace to cure the infertility of infertile couples and cancer patients with a ribbon which has been blessed on it beforehand and then it is used for infertile women and patients.

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