The
Kozelshchansk Icon of the Mother of God was glorified in the late nineteenth
century, though it is older than that. This icon is of Italian origin and was
brought to Russia by one of Empress Elizabeth’s (1741-1761) maids of honor, who
was Italian. The owner of the icon married a records clerk of the
Zaporozhsky-Cossack army, Siromakh. So, the icon went to the Ukraine with them.
During
the nineteenth century it belonged to the family of Count Vladimir Kapnist, and
was one of their sacred possessions. The icon was in the village of
Kozelschina, Poltava governance. During Cheesefare Week in the year 1880,
Maria, the daughter of V. I. Kapnist, dislocated some bones in her foot. The
local doctor said the problem was not serious. Dr. Grube, a noted surgeon in
Kharkov, agreed with the diagnosis, and he applied a plaster cast to Maria’s
foot. He also prescribed hot baths and iron supplements. To lessen the
discomfort of the foot while walking, a special shoe was made with metal bands
that went around the girl’s leg. Lent passed, but the girl did not feel any
relief.
After
Pascha, Maria’s other foot became twisted. Then both shoulders and her left hip
became dislocated, and she developed pain in her spine. The doctor advised
Count Kapnist to take his daughter immediately to the Caucasus for the curative
mineral waters and mountain air. The journey to the Caucasus and the curative
treatments caused even greater affliction. The girl lost all feeling in her
hands and feet, and did not even feel pinches.
Because
of the advanced degree of the illness, and since therapy was not helping, they
were compelled to return home.
In the
month of October, the father journeyed with his sick daughter to Moscow. Here
he consulted specialists, who declared that they could do nothing for Maria.
The
parents and the sick girl began to despair. However, an unexpected opportunity
for help from a foreign professor presented itself. Since it would be some
while before his arrival in Moscow, the sick girl asked to return home. The
Count sent her back to the village, and his wife promised to bring their
daughter back to Moscow when he received news of the the professor’s arrival.
On February 21, 1881, they received a telegram saying that the professor had
arrived in Moscow.
On the
day before the appointment, Maria’s mother suggested that she pray before the
family icon of the Mother of God. She said to her daughter, “Masha [a
diminutive form of Maria], tomorrow we go to Moscow. Take the icon, let us
clean its cover and pray to the Most Holy Theotokos that your infirmity be
cured.”
The girl,
who had no confidence in earthly physicians, placed all her hope in God. This
icon had long been known as wonderworking. According to Tradition, young women
would pray before it to have a happy family. It was also the custom to clean
the cover of the icon, and the one praying would wipe it with cotton or linen.
Pressing
the holy icon to her bosom, the sick girl, with the help of her mother, cleaned
it and poured out all her sorrow and despair of soul to the Mother of God. All
at once, she felt the strength return to her body and she cried out loudly,
“Mama! Mama! I can feel my legs! I can feel my hands!” She tore off the metal
braces and bandages and began to walk about the room, while continuing to hold
the icon of the Mother of God in her hands.
The
parish priest was summoned at once and celebrated a service of Thanksgiving
before the icon. The joyous event quickly became known throughout all the
surrounding villages. The Countess and Maria went to Moscow and took with them
the holy icon of the Mother of God. News of the healing quickly spread about
Moscow and people began to throng to the hotel, and then to the church, where
they had brought the icon.
The icon
continued to work several more healings. When the family returned home to
Kozelschina, people had already heard about the miracles of the Kozelschansk
icon of the Mother of God in Moscow, and many came to venerate the icon. It was
no longer possible to keep the icon at home, so by the order of Archbishop John
of Poltava, the icon was transferred to a temporary chapel on April 23, 1881.
Every day from early morning, services of Thanksgiving and Akathists were
served before the icon.
In 1882 a
chapel was built on the grounds of the estate, and then a church. decision of
the Holy Synod on March 1, 1885 a women’s monastery was established, and on
February 17, 1891 it was dedicated to the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.
At
present, the Kozelschansk Icon is in the Krasnogorsk Protection women’s
monastery (Kiev diocese). In the lower left corner of the icon is a table with
a cup and a spoon. It is believed that this symbolizes the Mother of God as a
“bowl for mixing the wine of joy” (Akathist, Ikos 11). A Service and an
Akathist have been composed for the Kozelschansk Icon.
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