Icon of the Mother of God of Pochaev

In the year 1340, two monks came and settled in a cave on the hill where the monastery is now located. After reading his usual Prayer Rule, one of them went to the top of the hill, and and suddenly he beheld the Theotokos standing on a rock and enveloped in flames. He summoned the other monk, who also witnessed the miracle. A third witness of the vision was the shepherd John Bosoy. He ran to the hill, and the three of them glorified God. The Most Holy Theotokos left the imprint of her right foot on the stone where she had stood, and this filled up with water. Since that time, many people have been healed at this miraculous spring.

In 1559 Metropolitan Neophytus of Constantinople, on his journey through Volhynia, visited the noblewoman Anna Goiskaya living at the estate of Orlya, not far from Pochaev. As a farewell blessing he left Anna an icon of the Mother of God which he brought from Constantinople. They began to notice a radiance coming from the icon. In 1597 Anna’s brother Philip was healed of an ailment before the eyes of a monk who lived on the hill at Pochaev. She then gave the wonderworking image to the monk. The icon was placed in a church which was built in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. A monastery was later established there, and Anna Goiskaya provided a large portion of the money needed for construction.

The following is one of the more famous accounts of help from the Queen of Heaven through her wonderworking Pochaev Icon.

A monk of Pochaev monastery was taken into captivity by the Tatars. Held as a slave, he thought of the Pochaev monastery, its holy things, the divine services, and the church singing. In particular the monk yearned to be in Pochaev for the approaching Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. He prayed tearfully to the Mother of God for deliverance from captivity, and suddenly, through the prayers of the Holy Virgin, the walls of the dungeon disappeared, and the monk found himself standing before the walls of the Pochaev monastery.

The Pochaev Icon is also celebrated on Friday of Bright Week and on July 23.