Sacred icon in area
Traveling Russian Orthodox image due at Parma church next
Beacon Journal staff report
An important piece of the history of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church made a stop in the Akron area Thursday and will be in Parma this weekend.
The Kursk Root Icon of Our Lady of the Sign dates back to the 13th century and was one of the five most venerated icons in Russia before the revolution. It is associated with many miracles, including restoring sight to the blind and healing cancer patients.
Since 1950, the icon -- which depicts the Mother of God holding her son -- has been traveling to different parishes in the Russian Orthodox Church and its sister churches throughout the world to strengthen the faithful.
The icon is in the Midwest, making stops at all Russian churches in Ohio for the first time in its history.
The icon, considered the protectress of Russian immigration, was discovered on Sept. 8, 1295, by a hunter walking along the bank of the Skal River, near the province of Kursk.
The icon, which was face down near the root of a tree, is said to have performed its first miracle as soon as the hunter picked it up, by causing fresh water to gush forth from a spring in the wilderness.
When the city of Kursk was revived under the leadership of Theodore Ivanovich, a church dedicated to the life-bearing spring was built on the site where the spring appeared when the icon was revealed.
On Thursday, the icon stopped at Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church on Pickle Road in Springfield Township on its way to Erie, Pa.
It will return to Northeast Ohio on Saturday and Sunday for a stop at St. Sergius of Radonezh Russian Orthodox Church, 6520 Broadview Road, Parma, where Bishop Peter of Cleveland, Vicar of the Chicago Diocese, will celebrate special services at 6 p.m. Saturday and 9:40 a.m. Sunday.