There are always people in front of the icon of the Mother of God “The Healer” in our church of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco. They stand before it, make the sign of the cross, touch it with their lips and share their sorrows and misfortunes with the Holy Mistress in a long and silent whisper. Most often, they ask for the healing of someone they love and care about, petitioning the Mother of God for Her intercession. This fervent hope resonates deeply with the commemoration of the Icon of the Theotokos “The Healer”, on 1 October, which symbolically coincides with the International Day of Older People. The icon depicts an episode of miraculous healing that took place in 17th-century Moscow, offering solace and inspiration to those facing illness and infirmity.
The story centres on a clergyman named Vikenty, whose precise rank remains unknown. Some accounts identify him as Vikenty Bulvinensky, a singer at Navarninskaya Church. Though the nature of his affliction is unclear, he was confined to his bed, growing weaker with each passing day, and hope for his recovery dwindled. Sensing death approaching, Vikenty turned to the Most Holy Theotokos. However, instead of directly pleading for healing, as many do in such dire circumstances, he addressed the Mother of God with gratitude. Every hour, every minute, he fervently repeated: “Rejoice, Virgin Mary, Lord be with you!” The familiar Gospel words sounded in his heart:
“Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” (Luke 1: 26 - 28).
Worshipper at the icon of the Mother of God "The Healer" in the Convent
The cleric recovered, whether through his heartfelt faith or to manifest the glory of the Mother of God among the people. As he lay on his deathbed, losing breath and preparing to meet the Lord, the Mother of God herself appeared to him. A radiant glow filled his room. Behind her stood a youth in white royal attire, holding a staff — Vikenty’s Guardian Angel. The angel implored the Mother of God to heal the pious clergyman, and his prayer was heard. She approached Vikenty’s bed and touched him with her staff. Instantly, he was healed, and the Healer, accompanied by the angel, vanished from the room.
Joy, awe, and unwavering faith surged through the heart of the restored cleric. He swiftly returned to his service at the church, driven by a zeal reminiscent of Peter’s mother-in-law in the Gospel: “Now when Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.” (Matthew 8: 14, 15). Just as she rose to serve after her miraculous healing, Vikenty, too, rushed to the Kliros, eager to resume his duties.
The icon of the Mother of God Healer was painted to commemorate this wondrous encounter with the Heavenly Mistress. The depiction of the sick man and the Theotokos was copied from an original icon housed in the Tsilkan Church in Kartali, a key historical region of Georgia, dating back to the time of Saint Nino in the fourth century. That ancient image shows the Mother of God standing at the bedside of a sick cleric, possibly even depicting a similar scene with one or two ailing persons.
The present Healer icon, inspired by this earlier depiction, portrays the sick cleric lying with his eyes closed, while the Theotokos, adorned with a royal crown and holding a staff, comes to his aid. Adorning the corners of the icon are images of the Holy Martyrs Cyricus and Julitta, the Holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian, and the Holy Martyr Antypas, Bishop of Pergamum. Some copies of the icon even feature text describing the miracle, as narrated by Saint Dimitry of Rostov.
Nun Ekaterina (Lomonos)
The icon’s legacy of healing continues today, with many reports of miracles attributed to the Mother of God’s intercession. At the Church of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco in our convent, the icon of the Mother of God, the Healer, attracts many seeking comfort and help. With the blessing of our monastery’s spiritual father, Archpriest Andrey Lemeshonol, Nun Ekaterina (Lomonos) has recorded the healings that have occurred through the prayers of the faithful before this sacred image. Here are a few of them.
Ksenia Kusanovich, 20 January 2024:
“My prayers to the Healer Theotokos were answered. Our intercessor before God helped me conceive and give birth to a wonderful, healthy little girl, Ariadne. Glory to God for everything.”
“These people came to me with a pram,” nun Ekaterina recounts. “They hadn’t been able to have children for years... And you could see they weren’t young anymore.”
Valery Yasitenok, 28 January 2024:
“During the pandemic in November 2021, my wife Galina was in a critical condition in hospital. I visited St. John of Shanghai’s church and prayed before the icon of the Mother of God ‘The Healer,’ asking for her recovery. One day, I took our daughter with me to pray for her mother. She wept and prayed, and I prayed alongside her. That very day, Galina’s condition improved, and she asked to come home. She had pneumonia, her condition was dire, and she was on oxygen therapy. But after our prayers that day, she felt better, the illness stopped progressing, and she began to improve. On that day, they removed Galina’s oxygen mask because she could breathe without it (her blood sugar dropped from 24 to 7). Slowly, she started to recover and get better.”
Nun Ekaterina continues, “The next story took place at Christmas. A couple came with their nine-year-old daughter. They prayed at the icon of the Mother of God and then approached me to share their miracle:
“The woman had suffered from severe headaches for a whole year, and tests revealed cancer. She prayed continuously to the Mother of God, beseeching her help. Before her surgery, she had her final procedures and examinations. She took a small icon of the Theotokos with her, wept, and prayed. After the examination, they couldn’t find anything.”
Vitaly Bunek, 13 July 2024:
“After praying before the icon of the Mother of God ‘The Healer’ for the swift recovery of two patients who had undergone major heart surgeries and were in intensive care for a long time, they miraculously regained consciousness and began to recover.”
Nun Ekaterina adds, “During the pandemic, there were several cases where people had very little chance of survival, their illness progressed, and pneumonia worsened. Their relatives prayed before the icon, and the patients were healed.”
Nun Ekaterina with the monastery’s parishioners
“The most important thing is to live with faith,” Mother Ekaterina reflects. “The Lord fed thousands — 5,000, 4,000, not counting women and children – and so many people followed him. As it’s written in the Gospel, ‘Healing power went out from Him.’ To receive it, you need faith, an open heart towards God, and trust. Then, a person can receive it. But doubt and lack of faith act like a wall between a person and God. In the Gospel, we read how the sick were healed: the lame walked, the blind saw, and the lepers were cleansed. But to each of them, the Lord said, ‘According to your faith be it unto you.’ We need to have faith.”
“I recall a moment from the Gospel,” nun Ekaterina continues, “when they brought a paralysed man to Jesus. As it’s written, ‘Seeing their faith’ — meaning the Lord saw they had faith — he said to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven. Get up, take your mat and go home.’ The Lord forgave his sins, and his soul was healed, and then his body was healed. But faith is necessary for this. That’s why we need to confess, take communion, and repent of our sins.”
In 2018, iconographer Olga Tishkova worked on the icon of the Mother of God ‘The Healer.’ She shared her thoughts on this project:
“It just so happened that the church is located both on the monastery grounds and in the hospital area. Therefore, the church’s iconography was carefully considered because it was assumed the sick would come there. That’s how the idea for the ‘Healer’ icon came about.”
Parishioners of the Monastery near the Church Dedicated to St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco
Father Sergey Nezhbort and I developed the iconography for the church. There weren’t any examples of this icon that suited the church’s style, as our focus was on ancient examples from the 12th century. We tried to create new iconography in the style of that time, so our icon is unique in a way. The icon took quite a long time to paint, at least six months from the beginning of the process, from sketching.”
“It’s an unusual image, and I found it very interesting to work on. There were many examples, and I had to bring them together.”
“I think this theme is relevant to everyone because everyone gets ill, children get ill. To some extent, medicine helps us. But in severe cases, you don’t know who to ask or where to turn. In our difficult life situations, who else but the Theotokos should we ask for children?”
Fragment of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Healer” in the Church of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco of St. Elisabeth Convent in Minsk
“‘The Healer’ Icon isn’t just about physical health but also spiritual health. We are all unwell in some way, and we all need that kind of healing.”
The head of the icon-painting workshop, Priest Sergey Nezhbort, recalls how the interior of the Church of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco was created and how the icon of the Mother of God “The Healer” was painted.
Priest Sergey Nezhbort
“Initially, when we were designing the church of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, the idea was that it would be visited by people in the psychiatric hospital nearby. It was built on the hospital grounds.”
“When the church was ready, and we began planning the interior, the idea arose to paint ‘The Healer,’ as a special icon, before which one could pray for healing and help in difficult times.”
“This icon itself is quite recent. It was a great challenge for us to fit it into the existing interior because we had an iconostasis in the style of the 12th-14th centuries, as were all our other icons.”
Iconostasis in the Church of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco
“Our icon depicts a sick person lying on a bed, and the Mother of God stands beside him. But in the classic icon, the composition is very different. It’s semi-three-dimensional, with spatial depth, which didn’t quite suit us. Therefore, drawing on 12th century icon samples, we slightly modified the iconography without changing any fundamental elements.”
“In the margins of this icon, there are other small images of saints whom people typically invoke for healing,” Father Sergey explains. “These include the healers Panteleimon and Boniface, St. Luke of Crimea, Blessed Valentina of Minsk, the Unmercenary Healers Cosmas and Damian, and the Archangels Gabriel and Michael. We aimed for these smaller icons on the sides to complement the central image of ‘The Healer.’ Together, they form a beautiful ensemble of icons.”
The Icon of the Mother of God “The Healer”
“Creating this icon was a lengthy journey,” Father Sergey reflects. “And it certainly left a mark on my soul. We spent several years on it. It was fascinating because the church came alive before our eyes. It felt like the birth of something new. Now, I’m used to it. I come to the church, and everything is already there, and it seems like it’s always been that way. But in reality, someone had to conceive and execute all of this. And it wasn’t just one or two people, but a whole team, each playing their part in the icon’s creation. It was a truly remarkable experience.”
Priest Sergey Nezhbort at Work in the Icon-Painting Workshop of St. Elisabeth Convent
“Of course, when we turn to the Mother of God, we must approach with faith,” Father Sergey emphasizes. “This is essential. Perhaps the miracle of healing doesn’t come simply because we are in a special place or before a particular icon, although that does have significance. But the most important thing is the state of our soul. If a person truly appeals with faith, then the Lord always provides, always extends His hand.”
