Panagia Gorgoepikoos: the Icon 'Quick to Hear' Commemorated on October 1

October 1 is the feast of the icon of the Mother of God called Panagia Gorgoepikoos, meaning 'She who is quick to hear' or 'She who grants requests quickly'. The title expresses the belief that the Mother of God swiftly responds to the prayers and intercessions of the faithful, and it is associated with a miraculous icon as well as churches and monasteries in Greece.

The origin of the name comes from an 11th-century wall-painted icon at Docheiariou Monastery on Mount Athos. Tradition records that in 1664 a monk named Neilos was temporarily blinded after repeatedly letting soot from his torch obscure the icon. After repentance and continuous prayer before the image, his sight was restored, and a voice from the icon proclaimed that the Virgin Mary would give swift aid to all who seek her protection.

The name is also tied to the Church of Panagia Gorgoepikoos in Athens, known as the 'Little Metropolis' or Agios Eleftherios, which stands in Mitropoleos Square next to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. This compact Byzantine church dates to the late 12th or early 13th century and was built on the ruins of an ancient temple of Eileithyia, the pagan goddess of childbirth.

Its exterior is built entirely of ancient Greco-Roman marble blocks and spolia, with over 90 reused classical, Roman, and early Byzantine reliefs set into the walls. Pagan images such as zodiac signs and sphinxes were modified with embossed Christian crosses. Inside, most medieval frescoes have been lost, but a 13th-century depiction of the Virgin Mary survives in the apse.