This is a story about my dad -- I love him and I always knew he was special, but this story is definite proof!!! The full story translated from a Greek newspaper follows in English but can also be viewed in the original Greek.

On Wednesday, June 27, 2001, Steve Triantafyllou and fellow friends and villagers Dimitrios Andreopoulos, Yiannis Dokatzis, Constantinos Andriopoulos, Thanasis Konstantellos, and George Granetas hiked up to the area of a nearby mountain called the "Eklissias I Rahi" or "Church's Clearing" where there was a farm that belonged to the Triantafyllou family. It was here that Steve saw dreams where the Virgin Mary asked him for freedom, to be found, and amazingly enough they all witnessed her freedom when she was discovered buried under the roots of a specific tree which in his dream appeared to have been hit by lightening Here are a few words from the people that were there, expressing their versions and feelings at that moment:

Yiannis Dokatzis, a former agricultural officer of the area and the only person who knew and remembered exactly where that farm was located, relays "since Steve was troubled by the dream, he expressed to us that he wanted to go the farm to see the area and if there was a burnt tree such as the one he saw in his dream. Even though I don't put much stake in dreams, I said to the others we should go there, mostly as a favor to Steve since he is such a good friend and villager. We all took off, prepared with a few tools. When we arrived, Steve asked that he get some time alone to look over the area and remember details of the dreams. He then pointed out a cedar tree of which half the trunk was burnt and there was a point which looked like it had been hit by lightning, and within a few seconds we began to dig around the tree, and within about 30 minutes we discovered the icon.”

George Granetas says he cannot describe his emotion and does not recall a time in his life where he felt the way he did at that moment.

Dimitrios Andreopoulos says, “when we got to the farm, I truly lost it. I saw in front of me exactly what Steve described in his dream, meaning the cedar tree and the burnt trunk.”

Thanasis Konstantellos relays, “when we saw the icon we all lost it - our legs gave out, Steve fainted and the rest of us were shaking, and laughing and crying at the same time.”

Costas Andriopoulos says as the rest have mentioned, “I was also shaken up by the events.”

The three dreams seen before this event, as Steve Triantafyllou himself has explained and described, were the driving force behind the finding of this icon. The first dream was seen in the United States approximately fifteen years ago. The second dream was seen five years ago, and the third dream was seen on Mother's Day (May 13th) of 2001.

Steve Triantafyllou explains: “In the first dream I saw myself at the farm and I was looking eastward and I saw a half-burnt cedar tree which lit up. I saw the Virgin Mary like a golden ray of sun, and three angels on each side flying toward the heavens and then disappearing, leaving a trail of light pointing to the spot where the icon was buried and later to be found. In the second dream I found myself at the same spot, and the area where the icon was to be found was cleared, approximately 20x30 feet around that area, while the rest was filled in as bushes and grass. I asked why this area had been cleared, and the Virgin Mary replied that “there is going to be a church built here.” In the third dream, which was seen in the early morning hours of Mother's Day 2001. I was standing at the edge of the farm where we would sit to take breaks and get some shade as we worked at the farm when I was a young boy. I looked towards the area the icon was soon to be found, and I heard noises of wind, hail, and rain though none of the above was physically occurring. And at the site where the icon would be found, I heard the Virgin Mary telling me that “I have come to you twice to show you where I am and you have still not found me to set me free.”

After this dream, I woke up in a start, sweating, my heart racing, and unable to speak for a while until I could tell my wife what I had just seen in my dream. I then decided to investigate this when I arrived at my village of Stromi, Greece, on June 25th. The second night of my visit, I went to the village cafe' in the square, and the above five people happened to also be there. As we sat visiting, I gathered up the courage to tell them about my dreams and asked if they would accompany me to the farm. They agreed wholeheartedly to join me and help me. The next day, June 27th, 2001, at 8am we got into two automobiles and we drove 15 minutes on a dirt road and we got to a certain point where Dokatzis said we needed to walk the remainder of the way, which was about 2 kilometers. When we reached the farm, Dokatzis said to me “this is your farm right here, what do you want to do now??” and I asked him to give me a few minutes to catch my breath and collect my thoughts. I recognized the large pine tree that we used to sit under for shade and I walked about 30 feet south, and pictured in my mind where I was standing in my very first dream. I was looking for the cedar tree, and eventually saw it and I told them “we need to look in this area” so we cleared some brush and limbs and we started digging in that area. Dimitrios Andriopoulos cried out that he, while digging, had come across a piece of metal, and another person shouted to be careful that it isn't anything dangerous left over from previous wars. So we very carefully started clearing the area, and on top of the metal was a big root, and three smaller roots so we sawed them all off, kept digging, and all of a sudden Dimitrios Andriopoulos and Thanasis Konstantellos shouted “IT IS AN ICON OF THE VIRGIN MARY” and it is indescribable how we all felt at that moment. My legs gave way and I slipped down the hill, and we all were overcome with tears and we crossed ourselves and kissed the icon and all hugged each other.

Steve (second from right) and friends after finding the icon and
a view near the site where the icon was found.

We took the icon back to Stromi and rang the church bell and everybody came to witness this miracle. We then called the local priest, Fr. Nicholas Ziakas, and he conducted a Paraklysis service and we notified the head of the Fokida Province Government overseeing the area of Stromi.