* January 30 – Virgin of the Annunciation (Greece, 1823) - Saint John Chrysostom (in Eastern Churches)  * By all appearances, the icon had been buried for 850 years  --- An initiative of the Mary of Nazareth Association January 30 – Virgin of the Annunciation (Greece, 1823) - Saint John Chrysostom (in Eastern Churches)  By all appearances, the icon had been buried for 850 years  In March 1821, at the monastery of Kechrovouni, on the Greek island of Tinos (in the Cyclades), Michel Polyzoes and Sister Pelagia saw the Virgin Mary three times in a vision. She was wearing a gold robe and was surrounded by a bright, heavenly light. The Virgin asked them to dig in a field outside a nearby village, in a place she referred to as "her home." The excavations revealed the ruins of an old church. On the same foundations a new edifice was erected, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and the Mother of God, Source of Life. In 1823, construction workers unearthed an icon of the Annunciation, belonging to a Byzantine church that was destroyed by the Turks in the 10th century. By all appearances, it had been buried for 850 years... and was still intact. The shrine was built out of marble from the temples of Neptune, relatively quickly—the construction took just 8 years—despite the war of independence waged by Greece against the Ottoman Empire. The church was completed in 1830. Among the countless miracles obtained through the Virgin of the Annunciation was the liberation of Greece. The spirituality of this shrine resembles that of Lourdes: penance, conversion, reconciliation, trust and hope in the intercession of the Mother of God. www.mariedenazareth.com www.mariedenazareth.com Let’s pray together  Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen.