Elista, Republic of Kalmykia, Russia, September 9, 2026
ria.ru
A wooden cross placed in the hand of a witness to a miraculous appearance of Christ began streaming myrrh following his reburial, according to Archpriest Alexy Grishchenko, rector of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God Cathedral in Elista, Republic of Kalmykia.
On September 11, 1946, during the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Forerunner, worshippers at the Divine Liturgy in Elista’s Exaltation of the Cross Church saw Christ appear in rays of light, dressed in priestly vestments. Among those who witnessed the event were Semyon Bondarenko and his wife, Maria.
With the blessing of Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Elista and Kalmykia, their remains were reburied at Elista’s Kazan Cathedral on September 5, 2026, reports RIA-Novosti.
During the reburial, workers found a wooden cross that had been placed in Semyon’s hand at his original burial. The cross had survived intact, and after it was removed from the grave, it began to stream myrrh.
Fr. Alexy told RIA-Novosti that Bondarenko’s grandson, who received the cross at the exhumation site, noticed it starting to weep myrrh shortly afterward.
“When his grandson got it, the cross started to stream myrrh,” Fr. Alexy said. “It happened right after the exhumation, when the search team dug up the cross and said, ‘Take it, this is your family’s holy object.’“ The grandson placed the cross on the dashboard of his car and went to give an interview to local journalists. “When he came back, he saw the cross was wet, giving off fragrance, with liquid running right down the dashboard. The stain’s still there to this day,” Fr. Alexy said.
The cross recovered from Bondarenko’s grave was carried by Fr. Ioann Popov during the Moscow procession on September 6.
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