IF YOU HAVE FAITH AND DO NOT DOUBT... ARCHPRIEST SERGIY BARANOV. ORSK MONASTERY

SERMON AT POLIELEOS ON THE DAY OF THE IVERON ICON When the Iveron icon of Holy Theotokos appeared off the shore of Athos, all of the Iveron monks saw it, and all of them dashed to the sea. Everyone wanted to take this icon to his monastery as a blessing of God. They tried to approach it on a boat, and some made other attempts, but the icon drifted away. Only Elder Gabriel, a monk of the Iveron monastery, could come near it and take it into his hands. In order to do that, he needed to get there across the water. Not onboard a ship or a boat but by walking on the surface of the water. Therefore, Mother of God let Herself into the hands of the monk who had a pure faith to accept Her. And so, the Most Holy Theotokos, more honorable than the cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim, with all Her chastity and purity trusted Her holy image to the man of pure mind which excluded all doubts. St. Gregory the Theologian describes the state of faith with just one exact phrase: “Faith is not an in