Orthodox Icon Miraculously Producing Oil with Healing Powers in Illinois

An icon of St. John the Baptist in Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Homer Glen, IL is apparently miraculously producing oil – and some say it has healing powers.

“I see a blessing from God,” Fr. Sam Dimitriou, pastor of the church, told CBS Chicago. “There’s a sweet fragrance that’s coming from this oil.”

The oil was first noticed in July of 2015 by two parishioners and an altar boy, but the small congregation of just 200 families decided to keep it quiet – until a local news report spread the news. Since then, the church has been inundated with visitors, some coming from as far away as Greece.

The oil is “not a heavy stream, but it is a consistent stream,” John Ackerman, spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, told the National Catholic Register. “And unlike other ones [icons], this is not from the eyes. It is emitting fluid from wings, the halo, hands and feet, but not the eyes.”

The church catches the oil with cotton balls, which they hand out to pilgrims. They estimate they’ve given away around 5,000 of them so far.

Some say the oil has had healing powers for them. “They’ve been healed, to a degree,” Fr. Dimitriou says of some pilgrims – including himself. Ackerman says the priest stopped needing to take medication for nerve damage a few months and attributes his improvement to the oil.

Kathy Limber is another example, who told ABC 7 Chicago she thinks the oil has helped her fight her leukemia. “Ever since I’ve gotten anointed by the oil,” she told them, “… [m]y numbers have just gotten better and I just have more energy. I just feel amazing”

Here’s a local news report on the miraculous icon:

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