A reader asked me to talk a bit about the Greek Marian icon known as the Χοζοβιώτισσα / Khozoviotissa, also found as Hozoviotissa. It is quite an old icon, and the surface is rather dark. Here it is with its metal cover, surrounded by votive objects:
Dark as it is, the metal cover makes it even more difficult to see the positions of the figures clearly. They are better shown in a recent mosaic at the Khozoviotissa Monastery, where the icon is kept:
The name Khozoviotissa/Hozoviotissa is derived from the place in Palestine (Hoziva/Koziva at Wadi Qelt near Jericho) where a monastery dedicated to St. George is located. The Greek monastery where the icon is kept is called the Monastery of Khozoviotissa/Chozoviotissa, which is on the Greek island of Amorgos.
To me the icon is interesting because its traditional origin story combines motifs commonly found in mythic tales of Marian icons. In the case of the Khozoviotissa, the story is rather tangled and confused.
First, there is the “committed to the sea” motif, in which an icon is thrown into the sea, generally to save it from destruction or profanation, and the icon “miraculously” floats to a distant place where it is found in the water. Supposedly the Khozoviotissa was was thrown into the sea (others say placed in a boat in Palestine) by a pious woman in the 9th century during the Iconoclastic Period, and it floated off until it reached the bay of Hagia Anna at the island of Amorgos. There it was found by inhabitants and taken from the water.
Alternative stories say the icon was brought to Amorgos from Palestine by monks of the Hozeva Monastery escaping the Iconoclasts. On the way the icon became broken in two by attacking robbers, and the two pieces were found miraculously rejoined on Amorgos. Others say that the monks themselves put the two pieces back together during the journey, and eventually came to Amorgos, where, seeing a site similar in appearance (with the exception of the sea) to that where their monastery was located, decided to build a monastery there.
Some say simply and perhaps more reasonably that the Byzantine icon was brought along by monks of the Hozeva Monastery in Palestine escaping a plundering attack by Arabs. The monks journeyed by sea with the icon and landed on Amorgos, choosing the rocky site due to its similarity to the location of their own monastery.
Second, there is the “icon deciding its residence” motif, in which a found icon is to be installed in a certain location, but disappears to a new location it favors — or in this case it is that when the Khozoviotissa icon was taken from the sea, believers wanted to build a church to house it, but repeated attempts at construction were mysteriously destroyed during the night. Finally, the foreman asked Mary where she wanted the icon to be, and the next morning he found his chisel and other tools nailed up on a level spot about two thirds of the way up a high and rocky cliff overlooking the sea, so that is where the church to house the icon was finally successfully built. The monks there still have what is claimed to be the nail. Some say the icon was kept in a small chapel for some 30-50 years before the monastery was built for it.
The monastery is said to have been first built about 812-813, and was renovated in 1087-1088 — during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Alexios Komnenos I.
Now as you can see, there is much vagueness and uncertainty in the “history” of the icon.
Here is the Khozoviotissa monastery on Amorgos in Greece:
The cliffside site does look somewhat similar to the placing of the Hozeva Monastery at Wadi Qelt in Palestine — minus the sea, of course. There is only a very small stream running through Wadi Qelt:
ICONS AND THEIR INTERPRETATION 