Chicago Tikhvin Icon Blesses the Skies Above Chicago

dFriends of the monastery Fr. Alexander Koranda and Fr. Nikolai Lochmatow accompanied the Chicago Tikhvin Icon on an aerial blessing of Chicago and the surrounding region. From the OCA Diocese of the Midwest:

CHICAGO, IL [DOM] – In commemoration of the 20^th anniversary of the return of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God from Chicago to Tikhvin, a special flight was chartered to take the Chicago Tikhvin Icon over the territory of the Diocese of the Midwest.

With the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Daniel of Chicago and the Midwest, Priest Alexander Koranda and Priest Nikolai Lochmatow took the Chicago Tikhvin Icon aboard a plane that traveled over four states of the diocese and Lake Michigan. The flight was sponsored by Pilot Randy West, a parishioner of St. George Cathedral, Chicago, IL.

During the course of the flight the priests sang the Akathist Hymn to the Tikhvin Icon. The text of the service describes the Tikhvin Icon’s miraculous flight blessing the air in which she passed. This flight was chartered to honor the Mother of God and to ask her blessings upon all of the faithful below.

“Rejoice, for your visible image is invisibly borne by invisible hosts of angels! Rejoice, for the very air was blessed by your passing! Rejoice, O Lady, our merciful defender before God!”