Chimeevo, Russia, December 3, 2019
Photo: kurganvera.ru On October 31, His Eminence Metropolitan Daniel of Kurgan and Belozersk of the Russian Orthodox Church personally returned the newly-restored wonderworking Kazan-Chimeevo Icon of the Mother of God to the Kazan-Chimeevo Monastery in the Kurgan Province.
The wooden Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, where the icon was housed, burned down on July 3. A charity fund was established on July 12, dedicated to restoring the church, an historical monument of the Kurgan Province. The fund is headed by Met. Daniel.
The inhabitants of the monastery say they never felt they were without the Mother of God’s protection, and soon after the icon returned, they began to receive reports of miracles from people who had prayed at the icon, reports the Kurgan Diocese.
“On the feast of the Kazan Mother of God on November 4, a couple from Tyumen came to us, who for many years could not conceive a child. They were with us in the summer, after the fire, prayed at the holy place, and asked the Most Holy Theotokos for help. And the day before the patronal feast of our monastery, the doctors told them about the long-awaited pregnancy,” said the monastery treasurer, Hieromonk Athanasius (Korenkin).
Fr. Athanasius also noted that all the pilgrims say they feel the grace of God the same at the monastery both before and after the fire. “We can draw an analogy with Diveevo: When someone goes there, he realizes that this place is special, that the Mother of God is always invisibly present there. Chimeevo has the same feeling. I myself feel this presence. I have been convinced of this throughout my 4.5 years in the monastery,” he commented.
Photo: kurganvera.ru
Another report came from a woman who visited the monastery more than once and stayed and worked for several days. “Sometime after the fire, she called me and told me about a dream she had. The icon of the Chimeevo Mother of God appeared to her in a dream, and the woman heard a voice: ‘They didn’t save me, but I’m here.’ These words are beyond human logic but within the will of God,” Fr. Athanasius explained.
Speaking of the Mother of God’s continuous presence in the monastery, even while her wonderworking icon was away being restored, Fr. Athanasius said: “There have already been five fires at the monastery at Ganina Yama, but it still remains under the protection of the holy Royal Passion-Bearers.”
“There is no sense of orphanhood in Chimeevo. The Mother of God is here; a lot of people have noted it. The place itself is Theotokial. Chimeevo is like a small Diveevo... Even the names are consonant—Diveevo and Chimeevo. It should be developed in this spirit. I do not know how the Lord will rule, what the hierarchs will decide, but this is how I see this place,” said Fr. Athanasius.
Another wonderworking copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was also recently restored and returned to the Kazan Church in Kurba in the Yaroslavl Province.
