Queens church revived by presence of relic

NEW YORK – The hand of St.Irene – or what worshipers believe to be the remains of it – rests on a bed of red velvet in an engraved silver box carefully balanced atop an altar pedestal in a Greek Orthodox church in Astoria, Queens.

To the untrained eye, it is nothing but a piece of bone immersed in beeswax, and some doubt it is from the saint at all. But to the legions of faithful who go to see it every Sunday at St. Irene Chrysovalantou Greek Orthodox Cathedral – a small church that belongs to a splinter branch of Greek orthodoxy -the hand is a most precious holy relic, a powerful symbol that their beloved saint has followed them to their new home in America not only in spirit but also in body.

As for the church, the possession of the hand is a sign that the denomination it belongs to, the Genuine Orthodox Christian Church, is cementing its place in America, 25 years after it ventured out of the Old World and six years after a string of events, fluctuating from miraculous to scandalous, threatened to dislodge it from its niche in the heart of Astoria’s Greek community.

Since 1990, the church has been the site of a proclaimed miracle (a weeping icon of St. Irene), a theft (of the same icon, by masked men with guns), another “”miracle” (the return of the icon by mail, though without its jeweled frame), a legal squabble (a $ 30 million libel suit, since settled, over suggestions that the theft was a hoax), a fraud investigation (now closed, by the Queens district attorney’s office after an insurance company also asserted that the theft had been staged), an ongoing court fight (to get the insurance company to pay for the stolen jewels) and a clerical mess (the defrocking of a priest after it was revealed that he had worked at a brothel in Greece).

The church’s zig-zagging, from the evening news to police headquarters and from there to assorted New York courtrooms, brought notoriety and recognition to its leaders, but not the kind they craved. The events of the last six years have marred the church’s reputation and raised questions about its once low-profile leaders: Are they saints or schemers? Victims or villains?

Now comes the “hand,” or what is said to be a piece of the saint’s right index finger. Church leaders contend that it is the only known relic from the body of St. Irene, a ninth-century abbess who preferred the austere life of a convent to marriage and whose name is Greek for peace.

“”We think she will bring us good things,” said Archbishop Paisios Loulourgas, leader of the Genuine Orthodox Christians in America. “”We feel blessed and renewed by her presence among us. She will bring us peace. ”

She will also bring them people, hundreds a week. On some Sundays, busloads of visitors of all faiths have flocked to the church at 26-07 23rd Ave., where membership already stands at 2,000.

The hand will be on display every Sunday until Jan. 7.After that, security-conscious priests said, it will be stored in a vault.

The surge of attention and new members represent an important step in building not only the Queens church, the nerve center of the Genuine Orthodox Christians in the United States, but also in strengthening the group’s influence among all Greek immigrants, who tend to follow Greece’s official Greek Orthodox Church.

Although overshadowed by the Greek Orthodox Church, which is recognized in Greece’s constitution as the state church, the Genuine Orthodox Christians have opened 22 churches in the United States. Six are in New York, two of them in Queens, where the majority of Greek immigrants in this country reside.

Some, like Michael Gamurakas, come to St. Irene’s looking for a miracle. On a recent day, he prayed in front of the icon of St. Irene and asked the saint to restore health to his 5-year-old niece.

“”St. Irene is my helper,” said Gamurakas, 51, who is unemployed. “”I know she will help me now, too.

The fascination with the icon and with the hand is part of Greek culture and religion, observers say.

“”Greeks are very religious. They want to have holy items brought here, things that physically connect them to the
saint,” said Apostoli Zoupaniotis, editor for community affairs of Proini, a local Greek-language newspaper. “”It’s an extension of the ties between the motherland and the community abroad. ” Harry J. Psomiades, director of Greek and Byzantine Studies at Queens College, said the relic serves a more contemporary purpose: clever marketing. Devout Greek Orthodox people, he said, “”will go there, anywhere where there is a so-called miracle, a weeping icon, a hand, whatever. ”

The hand, which was given to the church by monks who had kept it since 1922, was transported from Athens in October by security guards and three black-robed bishops. It traveled on Olympic Airways in a first-class cabin, where it was revered by crew and passengers. It arrived in Astoria in a black stretch limousine. Three blocks were closed to traffic near the church, where a huge party awaited. Local officials attended the party, or, as Gov.George Pataki did, sent letters congratulating the church on its acquisition.

It was a crowning moment for a religious group that for years has struggled to find its place in the modern world, here and in Greece.

A prophecy became true for St. Irene

Before she was a saint, Irene was “”a very beautiful girl of great virtue and the daughter of noble parents” who lived in Cappadocia, in what is now eastern Turkey. In 851, she was chosen to marry Michael, son of the Byzantine Emperor Theophilos and Empress Theodora, supporters of the Orthodox Church. But on her way to the palace, Irene met a saint who lived near Olympus. He told her that she was destined to become the abbess of the Convent of Chrysovalantou.

By the time Irene arrived at the palace, another bride had been chosen. Other men proposed marriage, but she declined.

Giving away all her possessions, Irene entered a convent. She lived on bread and water and prayed all night, every night.

She started performing miracles and telling the future of those who sought her wisdom. When she died at the age of 103, she looked not a day older than when she first entered the abbey.