🔸 September 25 - Panagia Engymonousa 🔸
Today, we commemorate the Panagia Engymonousa (“the one who is pregnant”), the protectress and guardian of all child-bearing women and childless families. The icon of Panagia Engymonousa depicts the Virgin Mary as being six months pregnant with the Lord in her womb - a miracle and mystery so great that she is covered with a veil by the Holy Archangels.
The reason her six month pregnancy is commemorated today is because exactly six months ago, on March 25th, we celebrated her Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel which resulted in the conception, and in exactly three months, on December 25th, we will celebrate the birth of our Lord.
Though very rare, depictions of the pregnant Mother of God date back to the 11th century, most famously with the Theotokos of Blachernae, where the figure of Christ makes the sign of blessing within a medallion on her midsection as she stands with both her hands lifted in prayer; this is to signify that she is pregnant with God the Word.
In 2018, the Panagia Engymonousa icon was presented to the Church of Saint Stylianos in the village of Kallithea in Katerini, Greece. This is an appropriate home for the icon, for just as the Panagia Engymonousa is the protectress of pregnant women, St Stylianos is the protector of infants and children.