| As twilight fell over St Vladimir’s Seminary, His Grace Nikolai, Bishop of Sitka, Anchorage and Alaska, gave blessings to the members of the community as they entered Three Hierarchs Chapel. His Grace stood at the top of the steps ready to greet the wonderworking Sitka Icon of the Mother of God. There was silence in the packed chapel as the faithful waited. Soon the icon was in the center of the church, the deacon intoned “Bless, Master,” and an Akathist service to Our Lady of Sitka began. The voices of the choir filled the chapel with the poetic prayers to our beloved Mother of God. “Rejoice, mother of the Most High God. Rejoice queen of heaven and earth. Rejoice intercessor to your Son Jesus Christ for all of us. Rejoice protectress of those who run to you. Rejoice, giver of what is needful to all who pray before your wonderworking icon.” (Akathist Service to Our Lady of Sitka, Oikos 4). | 
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 | The wonderworking icon is on pilgrimage to over 60 Orthodox Christian parishes across the US from September 7 through November 7, 2005. As a prelude to the pilgrimage to the “lower 48” states, the Sitka Icon was taken to numerous parishes, communities and villages across the Diocese of Alaska last summer. The St Vladimir’s Seminary community, faculty, staff, students, and their families were blessed to pray before this icon. His Grace Bishop Nikolai celebrated the Akathist together with six priests from the seminary and the Diocese of Alaska. Also attending the service was His Eminence Job, Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest, along with many SVS alummi who were on campus for the beginning of the 2nd SVS Alumni Reunion. | | Over the years, several miracles have been attributed to the Sitka Icon of the Mother of God. Many faithful believe that the icon’s delicate and peaceful gaze has led to the restored health of those who pray to the Theotokos. The icon has been described as “so delicately and artistically done that the more one looks at it the more difficult it is to tear one’s gaze away.” One little girl, the daughter of a St Vladimir’s seminarian, seemed drawn to the icon as she stood and offered silent prayers to the mother of us all. With her stuffed animal under her arm, she reverently kissed the icon and was anointed by His Grace Bishop Nikolai with oil from the lamp that hangs before the icon. In the early 1800s, Saint Innocent (Veniaminov) commissioned the icon for the main iconostasis of Sitka’s Archangel Michael Cathedral. The icon, 36 x 17.5 inches in size, is attributed to the hand of Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky, a revered iconographer and a leading artist of the time. When not traveling the country, the icon is permanently enshrined in a place of honor in the Sitka Cathedral. |  | | Throughout October and November the icon is traveling to many parishes in the Midwest, Northeast and Florida. For more information about the pilgrimage visit www.oca.org. To see more photos from the Akathist service, visit our photograph gallery. |
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