Liquid-Streaming Crucifix in Pa.?

Published by The National Herald, May 30, 2005

NEW YORK - An icon of the Crucifix at Saint Nicholas Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has been exuding an unidentified liquid, according to the church’s pastor and council members.

The icon first ignited religious fervor and local publicity last year, during the first week of Pentecost when St. Nicholas Church Pastor Michael Varvarelis reported that he witnessed "a colorless and odorless liquid" streaking from the Crucifix’s body, feet and forehead and notified his Eminence Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh, as well as the community’s faithful.

According to Rev. Varvarelis, Orthodox and non-Orthodox Christians alike subsequently streamed to the Church "by the hundreds," to pray and ask for some of that liquid.

The priest said he has been seeing droplets on the icon periodically over the past year, with an increase in number on the Day of the Elevation of the Holy Cross last September 14. But at no time, he added, has he ever witnessed actual droplets at the moment they originated from a point on the icon.

The icon produced an increased number of droplets, for the first time since last September, during Great Lent, Rev. Varvarelis added. He held a procession of the icon around the Church on Holy Thursday, as was done on last year’s Holy Thursday, which he said "brought tears to many of the faithful who attended services."

But Metropolitan Maximos told the National Herald by telephone on May 3 that he had not been informed of any increase in droplets by Rev. Varvarelis and first read about them in an article published in the National Herald’s Greek edition (April 30-May 1 issue). He added that last year’s occurrences do constitute "a miracle," albeit a "smaller one" compared to similar phenomena which have taken place in his Metropolis in past years.

"God speaks to us in such ways," Metropolitan Maximos said. "I think that last year’s droplets were His way of rewarding the community faithful for their generous donations and strong faith," adding that he saw dry stains on the icon last year, as well as this past February, on three of his frequent visits to the parish and said he has proposed further investigation of the alleged phenomenon to the Church’s administration but has not been notified of any recent developments.

Rev. Varvarelis said that no chemical analysis of the liquid has been pursued. "I did not feel that there needed to be investigation into something that was sent to us from God," he said.

In the Herald’s Greek edition, the pastor also claimed that sick people suffering from various ailments, who had come into contact with the liquid, have been healed from their conditions, but he could not confirm the specific dates and names of anyone involved in the alleged healings, except of "a Catholic woman named Christina," who apparently told him that her brother had been healed from a serious form of paralysis.

Steve Kandianis, a member of the St. Nicholas Church Parish Council, also said he has met with a non-Greek woman who claimed she had been healed from an extreme case of asthma, as well as with the relative of a Greek man who had allegedly rid himself from eye degeneration. Mr. Kandianis could not recall either the dates or names of those involved, however, and said he has not seen them at the church since.

Neither Metropolitan Maximos nor George Stephanides and Panagiotis Dechtis (past and current parish presidents, respectively) could confirm more specific information about the alleged healings.

"With guidance from Father Michael, we did not question the droplets from a scientific standpoint," said Mr. Stephanides, who was the only member of the Parish Council to say he actually witnessed the mysterious fluid originating from the Crucifix’s body. "It is there for anyone to believe what they want," Mr. Dechtis said, "but I think Christ is crying out for us."



Volume 7 Number 22 - Tuesday, May 31st, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY