The icon of “Suffering” Virgin Mary, which is considered to be miracle-working, was brought to the Metropolitan Cathedral “God’s Birth” in Chisinau from Ukraine’s Vinita region in the morning of July 5. They say the icon helps treat diseases.

Contacted by IPN, secretary of the Moldovan Metropolitan Church Vadim Cheibas said the name of the icon – “Suffering” – derives from the image of the two angles that are painted near Virgin Mary and that keep in their hands the cross, arrow and sponge that was put in vinegar, which were the objects of Jesus Christ’s suffering.

The icon was painted and blessed on the Holy Mountain Athos in 1903, but became known for its miracles after 2000. It will be at the Metropolitan Cathedral “God’s Birth” for a week and will be then taken to settlements of the country.