Icon of Virgin Mary Rhodes Amaranto

The history of the icon of the Virgin Mary “Rodon Amaranton” begins around the year 1890 AD according to the testimonies of the old inhabitants of the area of Piraeus. Specifically, a fisherman retrieved an old icon from the rocks of Piraeus, which depicted the Virgin Mary holding Christ, holding a “Rodon” in her hand.

This fact was immediately communicated to the region. A God-fearing family, named Katsarou, had the desire to offer a “house” for the housing of the icon of the Virgin Mary and on their own initiative built a private chapel, which they gave the name of Virgin Mary “Rodon Amaranton”. This old icon was housed there and was worshipped by the inhabitants of the area.

The Rose of Amaranton, or the Rose of Jericho, or the Rose of Virgin Mary, or the Immortal Rose of the Resurrection is a plant that symbolizes eternity and the indestructible, immortal soul! The Apostle Paul says “Christ’s fragrance is the fragrance of Christ in those who are saved” (2 Cor. 2:15), meaning that Christ is “The Rose of the Eternal” and those who approach Christ feel a heavenly fragrance.

Jesus is the Root of Salvation that sprouted on the barren earth. The most beautiful flowers of the earth are polluted by the contamination of sin, but one flower is perfectly uncontaminated: Jesus Christ. For He was born of the Virgin Mary, without the hereditary contamination of original sin.

However, the Virgin Mother is also a “rhodon amaranton”, which reveals the immaculate and pure nature of the Virgin. God was looking for fragrance in the world and found it in Mary the Virgin, the only person in the world who is spotless, without defilement. When God saw her, the fragrance of her virtue was exhaled and that is why she is called “the osphridium of the King of all”. The flower of the ever-virgin Virgin Mary will remain untainted throughout the ages, for neither time can wither it nor the blasphemies of the wicked.

The Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos of Amarantos Rhodes is celebrated every year on April 3.