Panagia Kitrinopetritissa: the wonderworking icon of Yellow Rock, Australia

October 4 marks the commemoration of the holy icon of the Theotokos known as Panagia Kitrinopetritissa, Our Lady of Yellow Rock. The wonderworking icon is housed at the Holy Monastery of St George in Yellow Rock, New South Wales, and is described as the first miraculous Orthodox icon formally named after an Australian location. The Greek title translates as All-Holy Mother of the Yellow Rock.

The account traces the icon's origin to prophetic visions received by a Greek woman, Eleni Federikou, while she lived in London. In these dreams the Virgin Mary commanded her to travel to a distant overseas country and build a church, showing her an unfamiliar landscape of wild bushland, winding creeks and native eucalyptus trees beneath a massive glowing silver cross in the sky.

Eleni and her husband Dimitrianos migrated to Australia in 1958. Their search, at first focused on northern Sydney, was redirected by another dream telling them to move further into the rural west. It ended when they reached the small village of Yellow Rock, which Eleni recognized as the exact property from her visions.

With the blessing of Archbishop Ezekiel, the couple purchased the land on October 4, 1962, laying the groundwork for Australia's first Orthodox monastery. The icon now stands in the monastery's main church and draws Greek Orthodox believers from across Australia and beyond, including students, parishioners and pilgrims seeking blessings and intercession.