From June 3 to June 8, 2025, the annual Velikoretsky Cross Procession was held in Russia’s Kirov region (the Diocese of Vyatka) to the site of the appearance of the miracle-working icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker—the banks of the Velikaya (“Great”) River. During the procession, some pilgrims shared their observations, experiences and miracle stories, as well as why they are making this pilgrimage with St. Nicholas’ icon to the Velikaya River and what spiritual experience they receive.
Cross Procession participants give their confessions on the banks of the Velikaya River
“Even animals honored the site where the icon had stood by swimming from the other bank of the river”
Photina Votintseva, Head of the Pilgrimage Service of the Monastery of the Holy Dormition and St. Tryphon, the city of Kirov:
Photina Votintseva I take part in the Velikoretsky Cross Procession to the best of my ability; I try to walk some sections of the route behind the icon. I remember the year when we walked through the Medyansky Forest: it was twenty-five degrees Celsius, most of the pilgrims had run out of water, we desperately needed rain and prayed for it. But instead of rain we were caught by a hailstorm. Through the prayers of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Lord “sprinkled” us with hailstones the size of a two-ruble coin [about a U.S. nickel]. It was unexpected and even fun to be confronted with such a natural phenomenon on a hot day. The children were especially delighted and surprised.
The parishioners of the Church of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Girsovo told me an amazing story. When the procession left their village, some wild boars came to the place where the wonderworking icon had just stood. The boars swam from the other bank of the Vyatka River (there is a railway bridge there, and the river current is swift). Despite the strong current, about ten wild boars swam over. It’s incredible how, with their hooves, they climbed up on the concrete slabs that line the steep slope of the riverbank in Girsovo, came to the very spot where the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker had recently stood, stopped, buried their snouts in it, stood this way for ten minutes and swam back. That’s a real miracle! Just imagine: Even animals honored the site where the icon had stood by swimming from the other bank of the river. Glory to God for everything!
Now we are in the village of Zagarye, which the pilgrims reach on the morning of the second day of the procession. This village is the birthplace of my grandparents Alexei and Anastasia Kirillov. Their house used to stand here, but, unfortunately, it has not survived. They rest here in the cemetery, and, of course, I always try to come or walk here in procession and prayerfully honor the memory of my ancestors. I so want the Church of the Ascension of the Lord in Zagarye to be restored; it was beautiful in olden days, and everybody admired it. And it is gratifying that a cross has been installed on its bell tower and that the color of the church building will be beautiful turquoise.
“Once we embarked on the procession, the pain in my leg subsided”
Lydia, from Udmurt Republic:
Lydia (right) with her friend Svetlana When we were going to take part in the Velikoretsky Cross Procession last year, I hurt my leg and it swelled up. But I told my friend Svetlana: “I’ll go on crutches!” I couldn’t walk at all, but I joined the procession anyway. Once we left church after the service in Kirov and embarked on the procession, the pain subsided, my legs were not swelling anymore, so I removed the bandage and walked as far as the village of Velikoretskoye—our point of destination. I walked around fifty-five miles without feeling any pain at all. But on arriving in Velikoretskoye, my leg made itself felt again and hurt for two months. This year, my friend and I are here again and walking to Velikoretskoye in procession.
“The most important thing is that your faith is strengthened”
Alexei Fyodorov, an auto electrician, the town of Mozhaisk (Moscow region):
Alexei Fyodorov Since I come from the town of Mozhaysk, I would like to note that St. Nicholas the Wonderworker has always been especially venerated in our town. Everyone knows the Mozhaisk icon of St. Nicholas (“Nikola of Mozhaysk”). The history of this icon is associated with the legend of the miraculous salvation of the town of Mozhaisk in the fourteenth century. When the town was besieged by the enemy (possibly the Mongol-Tatars), through the prayers of the townspeople there was a vision of St. Nicholas over the town, and the foes fled in terror. After that, the town residents made a famous wooden sculpture of the saint:1 in one hand St. Nicholas holds a sword, and in the other, the town of Mozhaisk. It’s miracle-working. In the early seventeenth century, during the Time of Troubles, the icon was stolen by the Poles and taken to Lithuania. However, in 1618, the relic was returned to Mozhaisk. Since 1933, the wooden sculpture has been kept at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, and before that it was be at the New St. Nicholas Cathedral in Mozhaisk. Nevertheless, a church would be a more appropriate place for the holy object.
And since St. Nicholas is the patron saint of Mozhaisk, cross processions are also held in our town on May 22 on St. Nicholas Day. I learned about the Velikoretsky Cross Procession in the early 2000s, and I wanted to prayerfully honor the saint on this pilgrimage as well. And St. Nicholas heard my petitions.
At that moment, there were serious problems in my family, and I believe they were resolved thanks to St. Nicholas’ intercessions. It was after the Velikoretsky Cross Procession that what I had wanted was fulfilled in my life in the best possible way. This is the fourth time I have joined the Velikoretsky Cross Procession. Sometimes I have some specific prayer requests, but the most important thing is that my faith is strengthened. In addition, participation in the procession and prayer strengthen concentration and attention. Unfortunately, nowadays people have a very short attention span; for example, young fellows come to us to work right after graduation; we offer them good salaries, they will work for a month or two and then leave for no particular reason—they don’t feel like working, just don’t have enough patience, and don’t concentrate. But faith cultivates such qualities and virtues in people. Sometimes it’s hard to keep the fast, it seems you don’t have enough strength, and then you cry out to God for help. Participation in cross processions, prayer and fasting helps you get to know God, because God is living, not virtual.
“There has been a generational change this year in our family of processors
Daria, from the city of Kirov:
Daria For many years my mother walked in the Velikoretsky Cross Procession to the Velikaya River. My family—my husband, our young children, and me—would come to join her in Velikoretskoye, wishing to immerse ourselves in the blessed waters of the Velikaya River.
Last year my mother asked me to accompany her to the village of Makarye. When I found myself among thousands of pilgrims, I felt this prayerful atmosphere and spiritual power. I was so enthralled by all this that I wanted to walk as far as the village of Bobino. When I got there, I found that my cellphone was dead, so I had no idea how I was going to travel back home. Nevertheless, I received such a blessing and such an indescribable feeling that I wanted to participate in the procession again. I decided that I would join the Velikoretsky Cross Procession next year. A man who brought his wife there helped me get home. He saw that another woman and I were walking through the village in the direction of Kirov and offered us a lift. This is how St. Nicholas took care of us through that man. Last fall I signed up for the Velikoretsky Cross Procession—this year it coincides with my vacation. That was what I wanted!
Now my mother can no longer walk here because my father needs her continuous care due to his poor health. So this year there has been a generational change in our family of processors. I told my mother, “Now I’m going to walk for you!” And she, as a seasoned pilgrim, gives me instructions on various aspects of the walk. Of course, for me the prayerful procession means the purification of my soul.
“Saints walk with us in procession”
Elena, a primary school teacher and volunteer at the military hospital in St. Petersburg:
Elena That year we were walking in the Velikoretsky Cross Procession. And on the third day, just before reaching Velikoretskoye, at a turn, after taking a break, I fell behind the parishioners of St. John the Baptist’s Church with whom I was walking. My feet were blistered and bleeding. A very young lady was walking before me, singing the troparion to St. Nicholas. I was scolding myself for not knowing the troparion by heart. And I was fumbling with the nettles I had picked, in order to switch my attention from my bleeding feet to my stinging hands, and walk on somehow. Suddenly two elders caught up with me. A sheet of paper fell from one of their hands, and when I bent down to pick it up, that man passed ahead of me. Their sheets of paper were old, and the other elder had a book resembling an apostolikon in Old Slavonic.
I read prayers with them as we walked together; I felt wonderful, and my feet stopped hurting. When we were walking along the river, one of the elders said, “It would be good to bathe in the river.” I replied that it was cold and the area was swampy, so we couldn’t approach it. Then the young lady who sang the troparion from memory caught up with me, and with her presence and singing of prayers she helped me reach Velikoretskoye. Meanwhile, the two gray-haired elders started climbing down to the water. I wondered why they were going into the swamp, but when I turned around, they had vanished! I recognized St. Seraphim of Sarov in one of them, and I think the second one was St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Remarkably, we were all dirty from the road and the rain, but they were clean, wearing simple old Russian shirts, linen trousers, straw hats, and bast shoes. I thought to myself when I saw them, “They are like kaliki perekhozhye!” In old Russia these were itinerant minstrels who used to sing spiritual hymns. Now I realize that saints walk with us in procession, and in a difficult moment they appeared to me in a tangible way to encourage me. “Don’t scold yourself! Go along, and pray with us.” It was such a miracle that it cannot even be expressed in words. This strengthened my faith for life. I flew here again this year with great enthusiasm!
“The cross procession is a spiritual ascent to Heaven”
Mikhail, from Moscow, a member of the Russian Writers’ Union, author of books under the penname Miguel Severo:
Mikhail The Velikoretsky Cross Procession can be compared to mountaineering in some sense. But if the latter is vertical climbing, then the former is a spiritual kinship with the faithful and with the saints, even though it passes through flat terrain, horizontally. Climbers ascend the peaks, and it’s certainly very hard. A friend of mine was one of the few people to conquer Mount Everest. And how much fortitude he needed to do it: from their team of 100 only thirteen reached the summit! As for the Velikoretsky Cross Procession, it is a truly spiritual ascent. In spiritual terms, the “intersection” of these paths forms a cross: without horizontal growth (for example, participation in cross procession, the path of a believer) there will be no vertical growth—the strengthening of your spirit. How else can it get training? Ascending to Heaven makes sense when it is based on faith in God.
As for me, I participated in the Velikoretsky Cross Procession seven times, and I reflected on my impressions, meetings with people, and their stories about their path to God, in my book. Many people who had stumbled in their lives became Orthodox Christians after taking part in the Velikoretsky Procession. This is the most important thing.
And here is a remarkable observation: There is always a rainbow in the sky during every cross procession. One day my friend Nikolai Lodnikov, a newspaper editor, captured on his camera a triple rainbow above the church gate. But for me personally the rainbow symbolizes the gates of Paradise; as they say, if you see a rainbow, there will be no flood. In the Bible the rainbow is a sign of the covenant between God and man. When the waters of the flood receded and Noah and his family returned to solid land, God confirmed His relations with him. The rainbow became the token of the covenant (Gen. 9:12–13) between God and Noah. As such, it serves as an expression of the new relationship established between man and his Creator.
“Paradise on earth, visible and invisible”
Veronika Zlygosteva, from Kirov:
Veronika Zlygosteva Meditating on the spiritual experience... This emotional state is known and felt by many participants of the Velikoretsky Cross Procession, and I hope that everyone will experience it, if only once in their lives. Paradise on earth, visible and invisible, St. Nicholas with his boundless love, a sense of your inner strength based on faith in God, and an awareness of how little people need in order to be happy. All this will be sensed by those walking, or rather, running in the footsteps of the icon (of course, without knocking others off their feet; figuratively “running”—aspiring, “flying with all their hearts” after the icon). And if you suddenly find that you’re the only one left out of 21,000 pilgrims to carry the icon right to Velikoretskoye in fulfillment of a vow made by your ancestors... That’s what the Velikoretsky Cross Procession is for me. As for miracles: I met my future husband in Velikoretskoye, where we both ended up with no means of communication or any chance of meeting, but found each other in a huge sea of people.
