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marian
anniversaries october
 October 25
Mother of God of Philermos, Cetinje, Montenegro
Believed to have come from Jerusalem where St. Luke painted it from
life, the icon of Our Lady of Philermos was already enshrined on Mount
Filerimos on the Greek island of Rhodes when the Knights Hospitallers took
over the island in 1309. The militaristic order adopted Our Lady of
Philermos as their patron and took the image with them when the Turks
drove them out of Rhodes in 1522. For many years, the Knights and the icon
resided in Malta. After Napoleon conquered Malta in 1798, the Knights
dispersed. The Philermos icon moved to Russia, where on October 12
(Julian), 1799, it was presented to Emperor Paul I, now Grand Master of
the Order, at his residence in Gatchina, 30 miles from St. Petersburg.
From then on, Russian Orthodoxy has honored the Mother of God of Philermos
on this date (October 25 in the modern calendar). The icon survived the
Russian Revolution of October 1917 because it had moved from the royal
palace in St. Petersburg back to Gatchina for the occasion. In 1920,
Empress Maria Fyodorovna took it with her when she fled to Denmark. After
her death the Orthodox clergy moved the sacred image to Belgrade, then, in
1941, to a Montenegran monastery to hide it from the Nazis. In fact, it
hid so well that it was believed lost until its rediscovery there in 1997,
with even most of its jewels surprisingly intact. The Mother of God of
Philermos icon now has a place of honor in the National
Museum of Montenegro, where it hangs in the Blue Chapel.
| Photo source: "Our Lady of Philerme," The Sovereign Military and
Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta,
www.smom-za.org/ smom/saints/philerme.htm |
Also commemorated this date:
 | Immaculata, Hardenberg-Neviges, Velbert, Mettman, North Rhine-Westphalia,
Germany. Foundation laid at great pilgrimage, 1681. |
| Our Lady of Fatima, Nauli, Western Region, Ghana. Shrine dedicated, 1952.
Annual pilgrimage in early December. |
| Maria Santissima del Rosario di Pompei, Palermo, Palermo, Sicily, Italy,
Cruillas district. Church dedicated, 1896. |
| Madonna ta' Damaxxena, Valletta, Malta (Our Lady of Damascus). Icon
crowned,
1931. Feast August 15. |
| Jerusalem Mother of God, Dormition Cathedral, Moscow, Russia (Oct. 12 old
style) |
| Nuestra Seņora de los Remedios, Buenavista del Norte, Tenerife, Canary
Islands, Spain. Town saved from locusts, 1659. |
| Rudnya-Ratkovo icon of the Mother of God, Rudnya, Mogilev, Belarus (Oct.
12 / 25) |
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