Moscow, March 5, 2021
Photo: Facebook
The wonderworking and myrrh-streaming Icon of the Mother of God “Softener of Evil Hearts” is one of the great sacred treasures of the Russian Orthodox Church today. The icon has traveled throughout the world, bringing consolation to the faithful, and indeed, softening the hearts of those who opposed to God.
The icon is kept in the village of Bachurino in the Sosenskoe Municipality outside of Moscow, where a chapel was built for it with the blessing of Schema-Archimandrite Iliy (Nozdrin), a respected Optina elder.
A story recently circulated on Facebook that the guardian of the icon had reported that the icon bled on February 21. OrthoChristian contacted a parish in Moscow where the icon recently visited and was advised to contact the Church of the Archangel Michael in the village of Letovo, outside of Moscow, for information about the icon.
The church responded that the icon has streamed red, blood-like tears two times in the past year—on Pascha, and closer to Theophany:
The icon is constantly streaming myrrh. The myrrh forms between the surface of the icon and the glass of the kiot and settles in the form of dew on the surface of the icon and the glass, flowing to the base of the kiot, where it is collected on cotton for the anointing of the parishioners.
But on Pascha night (2020), bright red drops resembling blood appeared on the icon. Then (over the course of three to four months) they were almost washed away by the new myrrh, leaving brown streaks and smudges. And closer to the feast of the Theophany of the Lord, 40 days ago, they appeared again, just as vividly and intensely. We are praying.
The guardian of the icon, Sergei Fomin, recently posted a video from the early 2000s, showing the phenomenon:
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