The icon of Theotokos “the Formidable Protection” is placed in the Katholikon of the Koutloumousiou Monastery. The sweetness of the depiction of the Virgin Mary, as well as the reminder of the Divine Passion and the Christological doctrine, make the icon an ornament of infinite beauty, as well as a carrier of the theological truth of our faith.
As for her name, the Virgin is described as "Formidable Protection" because she covers the lives of the monks and of all the faithful of our church. She is a guardian who surrounds the lives of all Christians with her embrace. She controls powerfully the dangers that often threaten us. She performs miracles in unexpected manners and saves her faithful in unconcealed ways.
According to tradition, her protective power miraculously saved the monks of the monastery from pirates who wanted to plunder the place. When they arrived, the Blessed Virgin Mary made the monastery invisible. The monks could hear the pirates looking for them, but they understood that they could not see the monastery and were unable to locate them. The pirates abandoned their efforts and left. Our Lady's protection is thus described as "formidable" because she intervened with all the power and strength of the Mother of God.
The icon follows the iconographic type of the Virgin of Passion. Theotokos holds the Divine Infant in her arms. Her gaze is turned towards the faithful, while in her right hand she holds the hands of her Son and God. Jesus is seated in her arms. His legs are crossed, His hands are clasping the hand of His Blessed Mother, and His gaze is turned to the angel standing at His left. The latter bears the symbols of the Passion, the cross, the spear and the reed.
In the frame surrounding the icon there are represented the prophets, certain saints and angels. There is even a miniature of the icon of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the upper part. The background is decorated with a vineyard, as a symbol of the Christological truth of the orthodox Christianity.
In front of the icon there is a great number of offerings, which demonstrates its miraculous quality and the manifestation of the grace of the Most Holy Virgin through its icon.
