O most holy Theotokos, save us! - 09/01/25
Dear parish family and friends of Holy Apostles,
We were blessed to have the Myrrhstreaming Hawaiian Icon of our Most Holy Mother of God of Iveron visit our parish of Holy Apostles in Beltsville on Labor Day, Monday, September 1st, for a grace-filled evening. Our rector, Fr. Christopher Johnson, served a moleben and akathist, beginning at 6:30 PM.
The parking lot, normally empty on Labor Day, was full of cars. Our small church at Twin Chimneys was packed, and an overflow crowd assembled outside the door, spilling out into the lawn and parking lot. Estimates by two of our parishioners place the attendance at two-hundred indoors, and another fifty outside, exceeding that of any service we have celebrated to date, including during Holy Week and Pascha.
The faithful outside were encouraged to stream the live service on their phones, and as they did so, in real time, they prostrated themselves to the ground at the appropriate times during the evening. All of the faithful were anointed with the fragrant myrrh, which streamed abundantly from the holy icon, accompanied, as ever, by Her faithful guardian, Fr. Nectarios Yangson.
Thanks be to God for this wonderful visitation from the Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, our True God!
- Watch the video from the livestream here,
- See our special page on the visits of the Hawaiian Iveron Icon to our parish,
- Learn more about this miraculous icon on the website of her home parish.
(16 images)
Posted January 18, 2025
This miraculous Myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon again visited our parish in September 2024
“Hearken unto me, ye holy children, and bud forth as a rose growing by the brook of the field: And give ye a sweet savour as frankincense, and flourish as a lily, send forth a smell, and sing a song of praise, bless the Lord in all his works. Magnify his name, and shew forth his praise with the songs of your lips….”
—Ecclesiasticus 39:13-15a
The visitation to our little parish, Holy Apostles in Beltsville, Maryland, of the Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, on the night of Monday the 9th of September, 2024, shone forth as a blessed, radiant, festal night. The light from our most pure Mother’s visit combined the radiance of Pascha with that of the Nativity of our Lord. [...]
Just like on Pascha, the children’s faces, and all of our faces, shone with the light of the Resurrection. Clergy present were Archpriest George and Priest Christopher Johnson, co-rectors of Holy Apostles, Deacon Christopher Capp, and Subdeacon Marc. Traveling with the Mother of God’s Icon were Priest Nectarios, Priest Octavion, and Reader Christopher Lasek.
This overall sense that pervaded the evening was further marked by a number of miraculous events, two of which we mention here...
Read the full article, with more photos, on the Eastern American Diocese website...
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Fr. Christopher Johnson processes with the Hawaiian Iveron Icon |
The 2022 visit of the Holy Myrrh-Streaming Hawaiian Iveron Icon to Holy Apostles in Beltsville, Maryland
On Saturday, September 10, 2022, through timing arranged by God's gracious providence, our parish was thrice blessed. His Grace, Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan, was able to join us to celebrate a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy in our chapel at Twin Chimneys Office Park, coinciding with the visit of the miraculous, myrrh-streaming, Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, brought by her faithful caretaker and guardian, Father Deacon Nectarios. Following the Divine Liturgy, the Icon was taken to our Historic Chapel and Campus to bless the property. A few images are posted here.
This holy icon has been streaming fragrant myrrh for 15 years, and travels the world, blessing the faithful. We are deeply grateful for her visits to our mission parish!
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The Visitation of the Icon to our Historic Chapel |
You can view videos of this blessed visit on our Facebook page:
- Fr. Christopher Johnson with the Hawaiian Iveron Icon (1 min.)
- Vesting of Bishop Nicholas (4 min.)
- Complete Hierarchical Liturgy (3 hrs.)
Learn more about the Hawaiian Iveron Icon through these links:
- Holy Theotokos of Iveron Orthodox Church - The home church of the Myrrh-streaming Hawaiian Iveron Icon
- Icon of Unity - The Hawaiian Myrrh-Streaming Icon of the Mother of God (VIDEO) - Includes report of the Icon's 2012 visit to the ROCOR Eastern Diocese of America, plus a brief history of the miraculour Icon, and interviews with her caretaker and others.
- Miraculous Healing of the Custodian of the Myrrh-Streaming Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God - A major recent (2018) chapter in the ongoing story of the Hawaiian Iveron Icon.
- Another Recent Miracle of the Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God - The raising of a man from a coma in 2016.
- The Montreal Iveron Myrrh-Streaming Icon of the Mother of God - Learn about the Montreal Iveron Icon, of which the Hawaiian version is a copy.
- ROCOR Gathering Documents towards the Canonization of Br. José Muñoz-Cortes - The cause for sainthood of the caretaker of the Montreal Iveron Myrrhstreaming Icon proceeds. Includes a link to a more complete Life of Br. José.
O most holy Theotokos, save us!
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Our Parish Family with Metropolitan Nicholas and the Hawaiian Iveron Icon, September 2022 |
Build Holy Apostles!
OUR VISION is to establish the parish in its new home, from where the parish can continue to thrive and grow as a living icon of Orthodox missions in America. Read our full Purpose and Vision Statement here, and join us as we Build Holy Apostles!
Read the classic message: 'St John of Shanghai and San Francisco, Zealous Builder of Churches'
"In building churches here on earth, we create for ourselves eternal habitations in heaven."
The blessing for the foundation of Holy Apostles Orthodox Church was given by Bishop Gabriel of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, on April 28th, 2001, on the eve of the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, [but there was an earlier blessing from Bishop Hilarion] in the spring of 1995, for us to openly pray for and work towards the eventual establishment of the new mission parish... Read the rich and edifying early history here...
Our first house church, followed by our move to Twin Chimneys Office Park, leading up to the gift of the Historic Chapel. Learn more here...
Since 2009 we have been restoring our beautiful chapel, gifted to our parish that year by the Christian Brothers.
To date, we have received and administered grants of approximately $400,000 so far, and continue to apply for the grants as they become available. Learn more here...
In October 2017, after spending two days with us and our beautiful chapel campus, noted Orthodox architectural designer Andrew Gould shared with us his vision for an attractive parish hall echoing the "Queen Anne" style of our historic chapel.
For the launch of our Capital Building Fund in mid-2018 Andrew provided us with a lovely watercolor of his design, and since that time we have been fundraising and moving towards building the parish hall, raising and administering approximately $300,000 in pre-construction costs. Once we complete the parish hall, we can begin holding the divine services in it, while we continue to work on the restoration and beautification of the chapel. Learn more here...
Our Dual-Timeline Display shows the progress of BOTH the Restoration & Renovation of our Historic Chapel, AND the Building Project for our New Parish Hall, projecting each out to completion.
Get up to speed quickly with this helpful overview, and see more detailed recent updates here...
Renowned Orthodox architectural designer Andrew Gould designed our parish hall and will also be involved with the design of the interior of our historic chapel.
Check out this special feature page with videos and more about the architect and our future parish home.
