Miracle in Fletcher? Rectors at St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church claim icon is weeping myrrh

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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stnicholas_church_fletcher_2_2014The leaders of St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Fletcher are claiming that an oily liquid recently began seeping from a wooden church icon. The church’s rector is calling the event a miracle.

Father Steven Webb, the church’s rector, reports via the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church’s page on Facebook that on Dec. 18, “the main icon of Christ in the nave began streaming myrrh.” Myrrh is a tree resin and is perhaps best known from a biblical reference as one of the gifts delivered to Jesus on the day of his birth.

From the church account of Webb:

Even after some myrrh was collected from the stream on the following Monday, a small pool formed shortly after. The icon was then moved to the Holy Table in the Altar. Then on Sunday, December 28th during the Liturgy honoring the Holy Forefathers, myrrh began to stream again during the Beatitudes. This miracle was witnessed by myself, Subdeacon John Cummings, Subdeacon Daniel Franzen, servers Dr. Andy Rudins and his son Alexander. The Myrrh-Streaming Icon of Christ is already drawing faithful who come and venerate the mounted print which is a copy of the Russian Christ “the Savior” original written in the Moscow School style in the 16th century.

Church subdeacon John Cummings has his own account. He sums it up this way:

I have seen streaming icons before, but have never been in the presence of one even as it was streaming. My rational mind has no explanation for what I saw this morning (other than to know that I saw what I saw) and I suspect that if someone interviewed the other four people in the altar, they would get an almost word for word explanation of the events. My spiritual mind knows that it’s not difficult for God to make little drops of (what I suppose is) myrrh appear on an icon of Christ.

Thanks to loyal reader Jen for the heads-up.

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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12 Comments

  1. hauntedheadnc January 2, 2015

    So, who confirms or denies the presence of an unexplained occurrence in the Orthodox church? Catholics have the Vatican to step in and investigate, but who would investigate this?

    Reply
  2. WHM January 1, 2015

    Weeping Myrrh is a wicked awesome band name!

    Reply
    1. Barry Summers January 2, 2015

      Yes, but you’d always have one or two people at your shows accusing you of being fakes.

      Reply
  3. jtroop January 1, 2015

    it’s a fletch-mas miracle!

    Reply
  4. kumbayah January 1, 2015

    Stranger things have happened. I note that Mr. Hitchens never offered any proof that God Does Not exist. His sort of logic works both ways.

    Reply
    1. Ron January 2, 2015

      Actually, no.
      “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” — Carl Sagan
      Otherwise, it’s just a leaky pipe behind the wall.

      Reply
  5. Dave January 1, 2015

    “That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
    Christopher Hitchens

    Reply
  6. Craig December 31, 2014

    Just the other day, my piece of toast had a burnt image of Jesus crying an apple butter tear. It’s not just Fletcher, it’s everywhere.

    Reply
  7. hauntedheadnc December 31, 2014

    You’d think God would pick some place less crappy than Fletcher to manifest.

    Reply
    1. Barry Summers January 1, 2015

      Mysterious ways, dude.

      Reply
    2. mary j January 1, 2015

      They said the same thing about anything good coming out of Nazareth.

      Reply
      1. hauntedheadnc January 1, 2015

        I’ll concede that, with the consideration that banal suburbs are the most godless places around. Maybe God felt there was a need.

        Reply

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