The icon of the Most Holy Mother of God “The Softening of Evil Hearts” visited Vancouver

The wonder-working, myrrh-streaming Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, “The Softening of Evil Hearts”, visited Holy Trinity and Saint Nicholas Churches (ROCOR Diocese of Montreal and Canada) in Vancouver, B.C. on September 10-12, 2013. Please see the pictures and the video below for the Moleben with the Akathist Hymn served in honour of the Most Holy Mother of God at Holy Trinity Church, 710 Campbell Ave., Vancouver, B.C. on Sep 12, 2013.

The two local deans who served were Archpriest Serge Overt, the Dean of British Columbia, and the Rector of Holy Trinity Church (ROCOR), Vancouver. B.C. and Archpriest Michael Fourik, the Dean of British Columbia and Yukon, and the Rector of Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Sobor (OCA), Vancouver, B.C. The faithful of many Orthodox churches of Vancouver attended the services during the visit of the Icon to Vancouver, BC.

The history of the icon is connected with the name of St. Matrona of Moscow. On May 2, 1999 at the Pokrovsky Monastery in Moscow, Patriarch Alexy II solemnly proclaimed the canonization of the Blessed Matrona of Moscow. The next day, the monastery continued giving paper icons of St. Matrona to the faithful, many of whom touched them to the relics of the saint.

Already, on the way home, Anastasia Basharinaya saw the first drops of myrrh on her small paper icon of St. Matrona. The icon was wiped and put into a home iconostasis. At night, Anastasia and her mother, Margaret Vorobyova awoke to the fragrance of myrrh which filled the apartment. They discovered that all the icons in the kitchen were covered with small droplets of myrrh. The next day, the priest was invited to serve a moleben.

After a few days, Anastasia bought the icon "Softening of Evil Hearts" (also called "Seven Arrows") at the Sofrino church goods factory store, and then drove to the Pokrovsky monastery and touched it to the relics of the Blessed Matrona of Moscow. At home, the icon gradually started streaming myrrh, and became the centre of the home iconostasis.

The icon “Softening of Evil Hearts” bleeds in anticipation of tragic events, and scientific examination of the blood reveals that it is human blood. The flow of myrrh from the icon and the fragrance varies according to different happenings in the world. Since then, the streaming of myrrh and blood has continued, and the myrrh streams so abundantly from the face of the Theotokos in the icon that it is gathered by the litre.

In 1999, before the terrorist explosion of several apartment buildings in Moscow, dark circles appeared on the icon under the eyes of the Theotokos and the apartment was filled with the fragrance of incense.

On August 12, 2000, the day of the sinking of the submarine “Kursk” and all its crew, tiny bleeding wounds appeared on the icon. Prior to the attack on the Twin Towers in New York City in September 2001, the icon gave off the smell of blood.

On January 27-29, 2009 the myrrh-streaming icon of the Mother of God, “The Softening of Evil Hearts”, was in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow at the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, together with the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, “Fedorovskaya” (Theodore). They both were present at the election and enthronement of the new Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Those who come to venerate the wonder-working icon are affected in different ways. Some are healed; others are comforted or consoled, while others are held back from the icon and not able even to approach it. A beautiful frame was made for the icon which is kept in a church constructed in 2006 in the village of Bacharino, outside of Moscow.