Weeping icon at Homer Glen church attracting crowds

HOMER GLEN – “I was speechless.”

That was the Rev. Sotirios “Fr. Sam” Dimitriou’s reaction in July when he saw that the icon of St. John the Baptist at his parish, Assumption Greek Orthodox Church of Homer Glen, was emitting oil.

Until recently, news of the icon spread slowly, with visitors calling in advance for a good time to venerate the icon, Dimitriou said.

But as Orthodox Easter – or Pascha, which is Sunday – drew near, crowds began appearing. Dimitriou doesn’t mind, although he wishes they would call first.

“People have come and said how they were blessed with this icon,” Dimitriou said. “The only thing we ask is for people to keep our church in their prayers.”

John Price of New Lenox said he was the first to notice the oil.

“Of course it’s a miracle,” Price said of the oil.

People are attributing healings to the icon, Dimitriou said. Full mobility restored to an injured shoulder. Heart blockages reversed. Precancerous lesions vanished.

“I look at this as a blessing, not just for our church, but for the entire community,” Dimitriou said.

Peter Mihalopoulos, the painter of the icon, recovered from hip surgery in two days, Dimitriou said. Since the icon began weeping, Dimitriou’s frequent hospitalizations to treat his autonomic neuropathy stopped – and so did the medication to treat the condition, he said.

However, the Orthodox church doesn’t take an official position on such occurrences, Dimitriou said.

“If it brings people closer to God, that’s the important thing,” he said

Dimitriou estimates he’s distributed 5,000 vials of the collected oil since July. The amount the icon produces varies day to day, he added.

“It comes from the halo, the wings, the beard – everywhere except the eyes,” Dimitriou said. “It has a sweet fragrance, like sweet incense.”