Nižná Rybnica, Košice Region, Slovakia, August 20, 2024
Photo: Diocese of Michalovce and Košice
The Orthodox faithful of Slovakia festively honored the revered Klokočov Icon of the Mother of God over the weekend.
This year marked the 9th annual pilgrimage in honor of the icon, to the Pilgrimage Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Nižná Rybnica. About 40 pilgrims of all ages walked 15 miles to reach the church in time for the All-Night Vigil on Saturday, August 17.
Photo: Diocese of Michalovce and Košice
The Vigil service culminated in a nighttime Divine Liturgy. In the morning, another Liturgy was celebrated by His Eminence Archbishop Juraj of Michalovce and Košice and local and visiting clergy, the diocese reports.
In his homily after the Gospel, Abp. Juraj focused on the theme of peace as one of God’s greatest gifts for our church community, families, and each of us.
“Christ’s peace isn’t the apathetic tranquility of the Stoics, but the dynamic stance of God’s children liberated by the Messiah, who spread it as part of the joyful message of Jesus’ Gospel to the whole world,” His Eminence preached.
He also called on everyone to discover the gift, mystery, and joy of Christ’s peace, following the example of the Most Holy Theotokoks, who kept the words of life in her heart (cf. Lk. 2:19).
Photo: Diocese of Michalovce and Košice
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Abp. Juraj entrusted the entire diocese to the protection of the Mother of God before the miraculous Klokočov-Nižná Rybnica Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, blessed the kollyva, and together with the clergy and faithful, broke the festive bread.
After the services, local parishioners and volunteers prepared a generous feast for the pilgrims.
Watch a video from last year’s pilgrimage:
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The site of the pilgrimage church tells the history of the icon:
Photo: novyklokocov.webnode.sk The Mother of God has shown and continues to show her love for us in many places through her miraculous icons. In our region under Vihorlat, her maternal love has been poured out for over 300 years through her miraculous Klokočov Icon.
In 1670, in the small Ruthenian village of Klokočov, an icon of the Mother of God began to weep in the wooden, then still Orthodox church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The pious people always turned with love to the protection of the Heavenly Mother, and so it was when the Theotokos began to shed tears over the people of Zemplín. People had reason to pray for protection, as Hungary was at that time embroiled in bloody political and religious struggles. In these difficult times for the Orthodox people, when the powerful tried to tear the ancestral Orthodox faith from the hearts of the people through the unia, even then the people sought protection and comfort in churches, at the feet of the Mother of God.
The people of Klokočov were also praying fervently before her icon when enemy troops were already standing near Michalovce and everything seemed hopeless. Then, according to historical testimonies, the icon of the Theotokos began to weep. The news spread quickly around the area, and enemy soldiers also came to Klokočov to see this miracle. They didn’t want to admit that the icon was actually crying, so they tore it from the iconostasis, threw it on the ground, and trampled it. They allegedly damaged it, but when the faithful put it back in place, it began to weep much more intensely. This is evidenced by the text on a copy of the miraculous icon in Klokočov: “A true icon of the Theotokos, which in 1670, in the church of the Ruthenian village of Klokočov, belonging to Viňanský Castle in Upper Hungary, wept before the eyes of many. When a heretic then pierced it with a knife, it wept, shedding tears.”
When this miracle happened before the eyes of the heretical soldiers, many of them fell to their knees and begged for forgiveness of their transgression. Others fled to the camp and reported what had happened in the Klokočov church. At night, the soldiers set fire to the wooden church, and it burned to the ground. The icon of the Mother of God was saved by a God-fearing officer who took it and donated it to the Prešov magistrate.
From another account, we learn that at the time of the miracle, the surroundings of Michalovce were besieged by Hungarian Calvinist troops who were destroying everything. It was probably a Sunday or a feast day because there were many people in the church who had gathered because they had heard about the weeping of the wooden icon of the Theotokos, which had been going on for several days. People didn’t even notice that Calvinist troops had entered the village. They only realized it when soldiers burst into the church shouting and began cutting icons with knives and bayonets. When they stood before the icon of the Theotokos, they saw tears in her eyes. A soldier raised his bayonet to pierce the icon, and then people saw tears streaming from the eyes of the icon. The Most Holy Theotokos was weeping... Whether the soldier was frightened and retreated from the icon, or whether people blocked his way to the icon, is no longer known. But they fled with the icon into the forest, and the soldiers burned the church to the ground. The icon was saved to tell future generations about this miracle and about the loving maternal heart of the Mother of God.
What happened to the icon after the miracle? The icon was transferred to Prešov, where it remained for a relatively long time. The faithful held it in great reverence. From historical sources, we learn that Countess Sofia Báthory often prayed before it, and later had it transferred to the castle in Mukachevo, where it was placed in the castle chapel. The Countess had the icon adorned with pearls and precious stones. After her death, the precious icon, as a family treasure, was inherited by the daughter-in-law of Countess Báthory-Ilona Zrinska. Later, the icon changed location a few more times, until finally, in 1711, it was transferred from Mukachevo to Vienna and became the property of the Habsburgs.
In 1769, Empress Maria Theresa had a faithful copy of the miraculous icon made, which she donated to the city of Prešov, where this image remained until 1907, when it was acquired by the then Uniate Bishop of Prešov, Ján Vályi, who placed the icon in the bishop’s chapel.
The further fate of the original icon, as well as its first copy, is unknown. At the beginning of the 20th century, two more images were painted, which were copies of the Prešov icon. One was placed in the Uniate Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Uzhhorod, the other was painted for the Klokočov church, which currently also belongs to the Uniate church.
Even though we don't have the original miraculous Klokočov icon and holy Orthodoxy was pushed out of Klokočov, this doesn’t change the significance of the Klokočov Mother of God—the Protectress of Zemplín for us Orthodox living in this piece of land under Vihorlat.
The Mother of God has always been with us; let us return under her omophorion, which she has been holding over us, the people of Zemplín, for over 300 years. In these days, by God’s grace, a new copy of her miraculous icon has been written, which has been placed in the Dormition Church in Nižná Rybnica, where everyone will be able to come and venerate it, ask for help in our daily troubles, or share in the joy with which God blesses us, and God willing, a new Orthodox Klokočov will be born, which with its spiritual history, and not the tears of the Mother of God, but the grace of God and her maternal love will pour out among us.
The Mother of God was and is always with us; let us return under Her maternal protection.
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