The Troitsky skete of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery celebrates its patronal feast today.

The right side chapel of the Trinity Church was consecrated to the Iveron icon of the Most Holy Mother of God. The Lesser Vespers with the akathist, Vigil, prayer canon the Most Holy Mother of God with the blessing of water prayer service, and the Divine Liturgy was followed by the procession with the cross around the church. Hegumenia Sergiya took part in the festive services.

The Iveron icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, currently located at the Holy Mount Athos, was owned by a righteous widow who lived not far from Nicea in the 9^th century. At the time, when the church was fighting the heresy of iconoclasm, the emperor’s guards entered her home. One of them pierced the face of the Most Holy Mother of God with his spear. Immediately blood had streamed from the wound. The widow, in an attempt to save the icon, offered money to the soldiers to be allowed to keep the icon till the next morning. At night, she, with her son’s assistance, lowered the icon of the Mother of God into the sea.

Two centuries have passed and the monks of the Iveron monastery on Athos received this icon. It came to the holy mountain standing upright on the surface of the water. Venerable Gabriel, the righteous monk of the Iveron monastery, followed the command he received from the Mother of God to walk on water and retrieve the icon that he later placed inside the church. However, the next day the icon wasn’t found inside the church but standing on top of the monastery gates. The same miracle happened a few more times until the Most Holy Virgin revealed to St. Gabriel of Her desire in a dream that She does not wish to be protected by monks but to be their Guardian instead. The icon was then placed above the monastery gates and received the name of Portaitissa or the Gatekeeper.