Why icons bleed scientific explanation. Why icons stream myrrh

Christians often observe how an oily or red liquid, very reminiscent of blood, begins to stand out from the icons. Moreover, as a rule, this happens precisely from the eyes of the one depicted on the shrine.

It is difficult for people who have not watched this to believe in such an unusual phenomenon. However, it has a place to be and there is a huge amount of real evidence for this. Why do icons stream myrrh and what does it mean?

It is difficult for people who have not watched this to believe in such an unusual phenomenon.

Before you figure out why icons stream myrrh and what it means, you should find out what myrrh streaming is.

This word comes from the term "miro", which is translated from ancient Greek as "oil having a fragrance." Christians use it to consecrate a newly built temple, or to perform the rite of Chrismation. The creation of the world is also a kind of sacrament that was carried out during the life of the apostles of Christ.

The creation of the world is also a kind of sacrament that was carried out during the life of the apostles of Christ

In the Orthodox Church, the patriarch blesses the creation of the myrrh. This sacrament takes place once every few years and is combined with the singing of songs and the reading of a large number of prayers.

After making the myrrh, it is poured into special containers, then sealed and transported to the dioceses.

After making the myrrh, it is poured into special containers, then sealed and transported to the dioceses.

So, it is this liquid, as a rule, that is distinguished by various icons. A few drops may appear on its surface, or it may also happen that the shrine is completely covered with myrrh.

According to the Holy Scriptures, the relics of Theodotus, John the Theologian and the Apostle Philip annually release oil. When icons stream myrrh, not all Christians understand what this means, but everyone knows that this phenomenon is miraculous and serves as a sign from above.

When icons stream myrrh, not all Christians understand what this means, but everyone knows that this phenomenon is miraculous and serves as a sign from above.

What kind of icons distinguish the myrrh is also unknown. It can be either an ordinary shrine located in the house, or one that has been preserved since ancient times.

Myrrh streams of past centuries

What does it mean when the myrrh-streaming icons, tried to find out in the past centuries. The first cases of the release of an oily liquid were described in Holy Tradition and non-canonical apocrypha.

The myrrh-streaming of icons took place as early as the 7th century.

It is known that the phenomenon first occurred in 1040. John Skylitsa wrote about this in writing. But Dmitry Rostovsky stated that the myrrh-streaming of icons took place as early as the 7th century.

However, Christians observed the phenomenon long before that - in the III century. A striking example was the myrrh flow from the remains of Fedot of Ancyra and the Apostle Philip.

A vivid example was the myrrh flow from the remains of Fedot of Ancyra and the Apostle Philip

The world flows of the last decades

Many reports that the icons are streaming myrrh began to arrive at the end of the 20th century. So, in the early 90s, a rumor spread among Christians that they began to massively “cry” the shrines of the Virgin called “Derzhavnaya”.

This phenomenon first occurred in the Nikolo-Perervinsky Church, and then in the Assumption Cathedral, when droplets of liquid appeared on the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.

Liquid droplets appeared on the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

And what is history worth when the image of Tikhon of Zadonsky became myrrh-streaming in 2004. After that, residents of the whole world learned that the TU-154 plane crashed along with passengers and pilots.

The same phenomenon was observed before the terrorist attack in Beslan and the military conflict in Ukraine. From all this, we can conclude that the icons “cry” just before terrible events that take a huge number of lives.

Icon of the Iberian Mother of God

It is worth telling about the case when, located in Montreal, streamed myrrh for 15 years. The blood tears of the shrine of the Mother of God “Softener of Evil Hearts” deserve special attention. This happened in Sevastopol during a service in 2009.

What to do if the icon of the house is streaming myrrh

What this means and why the icons of the house are streaming myrrh, no one knows except the Lord God. But we are sure of one thing. This phenomenon is miraculous and is directly related to the message from heaven. Therefore, in no case should you wipe the myrrh from the shrine.

You need to treat the icon with care and respect, because it was you who was honored to watch this miraculous event.

Why are myrrh streaming, crying Divine icons in church, at home: folk signs

It is commonly believed among the people that if the myrrh stands out from the eyes of the one depicted on the icon of the Saint, then global changes should be expected. Tears are dark? Expect bad news and grief. If they are bright, then events will develop for the better.

If the surface of the shrine is completely covered with drops of peace, then expect good news. Is the holy face emitting large amounts of oil? This is a harbinger of kindness and auspicious events.

Why does the icon flow with blood

If the icon bleeds, this is a harbinger of terrible news. The Orthodox Church claims that this happens when people separate from God. From this, the hearts of the Saints and the Mother of God begin to break from pain, and bloody tears flow.

One of the confirmations of this is the case that happened to a resident of Kurgan. The icon that lay on her table began to cry bloody tears. Then the woman realized that by her alienation she had greatly offended Saint Irene. After repentance, the shrine stopped crying.

In addition, icons can bleed when some terrible event is coming. The Sacred Chronicles indicate that one of the shrines of the Mother of God wept tears of blood before the persecution began and mass kill Christian.

What icons are streaming myrrh in Russia now: a list

On the this moment in Russia, the allocation of myrrh on:

• the shrine of the "Hodegetria of Dorogobuzh" of the Most Holy Mother of God;
• the icon of the Mother of God "Cyprus";
• the face of the Mother of God "Iberian".

The point of view of the ministers of the church

Even the priests do not know the answer to the question of what it means when the icons are streaming myrrh, despite the presence of numerous videos on the Internet. However, some of them have their own opinion on this matter.

Many of the servants of God urge not to treat this phenomenon so enthusiastically, and, moreover, to consider it a sign from above or a harbinger of some event.

So, one of the priests, Andrei Kuraev, claims that pagan statues also streamed myrrh at one time. And even now, in one of the most terrible sects, the “Orthodox Sovereign Church of the Mother of God,” this phenomenon is observed.

Therefore, it would be wrong to say that myrrh-streaming is a sign of the holiness of this or that image.

Nikolai Kutepov, Bishop of Nizhny Novgorod, thinks the same way. He argues that this phenomenon should be treated with caution. After all, liquid can be released on the icons for other reasons - vapor condensation, capillary effect, unfavorable conditions in the place where the shrine is stored.

Sometimes miracles happen in life. One of these manifestations is the myrrh-streaming of icons. What is peace? And what does it mean if it streams? Let's try to find answers to these frequently asked questions.

Holy peace: known facts

Before the 20th century, there are very few facts of this in the literature. unusual phenomenon. There is only a little scarce information that the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker, John the Theologian, John Skylitsa and Dmitry Thessalonica streamed myrrh. And only with the onset of the 90s of the last century, the icons began to "cry" in many places: monasteries, temples, small churches and in ordinary apartments.

“Crying” or “streaming myrrh” means that an unusual oily moisture appears on the icons or particles of relics, sometimes it is released in small drops, and sometimes it flows down in streams. At the same time, an incredible aroma emanates from it. Each icon has its own smell: sweetish apple or delicate dandelion.

The most massive myrrh-streaming began in 1991, when, first, an icon wept in Moscow in the Nikolo-Perervinsky Monastery Holy Mother of God. Then, at once, in several monasteries and churches in Russia, a variety of images streamed myrrh. A special commission was created from the abbots and specialists to study this phenomenon.

The version of the clergy

The Church explains the fact of myrrh-streaming as follows: the Lord warns us about some global changes that need to happen. This is, in fact, a holy sign of some event. It is believed that icons cry before a war or natural disaster.

In order for people to believe in these signs, the material evidence is myrrh. This liquid has healing properties, she is able to cure a serious illness and get rid of problems.

If the icon in the house became myrrh-streaming ordinary person, he should turn to God, pray more and attend the temple. It also indicates that God is very favorable to the owner of the icon, and everyone can come and touch this miracle. You can ask for some holy myrrh and bring it to your home.

Lab version

In addition to those who believe in the miraculous appearance of the world, there are those who are skeptical about this. Laboratory studies were even carried out, which did not establish the true cause of the appearance of moisture on the images.

Only one thing is clear: the composition of myrrh fully corresponds to the composition of human tears. Scientists assumed that the myrrh-streaming appears from the material and the term of the icon. But how can one explain that tears appear both on small paper icons and on large glass icons, on ancient ones that have lain in basements for more than a dozen years, and on new ones that have only recently come out of icon-painting workshops.

The consistency of myrrh is also unusual and varied. Sometimes it is very thick and viscous, and sometimes light and transparent, like a teardrop. Sometimes, if the icon was blasphemed, blood appeared on it. This is evidence that the shrine must be protected from the influence of external forces.

When they want to give icons the status of a shrine, some people commit forgery and put any oily liquid on the image. In other cases, there is a spontaneous, unintentional application of oil to shrines:

• accidental ingress of lamp oil and candle wax;
• after the ceremony with the use of holy oil, parishioners venerate the icons and leave oily traces on them;
• accidental ingress of liquid with adjacent icons.

But these cases are rare and are easily distinguished from real myrrh-streaming by the aroma and the constant release of drops of liquid.

Peace or tears?

It is also necessary to distinguish between myrrh flow and lacrimation. Miro is a good sign, the grace of God, and tears are a warning of impending disaster. Therefore, it is so important to take a closer look and understand what the icon exudes, myrrh or tears. This warns us of trouble and strengthens us in faith.

If suddenly you hear about such a miracle, you should definitely visit this holy place and think: “What does it mean if an icon streams myrrh?” And suddenly this is a warning of an impending disaster, or, perhaps, the mercy of the Lord. In any case, you should turn your eyes to this holy phenomenon and believe in a miracle.

Since ancient times, myrrh-streaming has been presented to people as something mysterious and unknown, sometimes even mystical. This is due to the fact that so far it has not been possible to fully unravel the mystery of this phenomenon. Many scientists have conducted experiments to identify the nature of the origin of this phenomenon, but to this day it remains a mystery and a miracle. There are also many falsifications, which is why some even deeply religious people have long lost faith in the veracity of the “weeping” icons.

Myrrh-streaming is a phenomenon unique in its nature. In the Christian world, it is considered nothing more than a miracle, and the oily liquid that emerges from them is miraculous.

Mirra - This is an oil with a pleasant smell, which is made from the grains of oilseeds and essential plants.. It is this liquid that appears on the surface of the image, from where the name itself comes from. It sometimes has a different consistency: thick, like spruce resin, or more liquid, resembling dew. Therefore, sometimes this process is called "smoking" or "growth".

However, the bleeding of icons should not be taken literally. In fact, it has a different nature. It is known that the blood from the icons does not ooze, as is commonly believed. As a rule, this is the same oily liquid that appears on the surface of the image during myrrh flow. The only difference is that it is mixed with dark paint on the canvas, as a result of which brownish smudges resembling blood are formed.

It is believed that such a phenomenon is a harbinger of any bloody events: wars, terrorist attacks, diseases, and so on. Tears of blood can serve as a reminder that people have distanced themselves from God and commit terrible misdeeds, sinful deeds. Holy faces shed blood as a reminder that humanity should come to its senses and become more humane.

Usually this happens on the eve of any significant events in history: wars, disasters, cataclysms. It is as if a sign sent down from heaven, so that people think about their deeds. There have been repeatedly recorded cases when the icons cried the day before any incident. So, in 2004, an icon with the image of Tikhon of Zadonsk began to stream myrrh, and the next day a TU-154 plane with passengers on board crashed.

A few days before the terrorist attack in Beslan, namely on August 29, 2004, the holy face began to stream myrrh, warning of terrible event which subsequently horrified the world.

Another example is the bleeding icon convent in the Leningrad region on the day when the conflict in Ukraine began. And there are many such examples.

However, such a phenomenon may not always carry a negative omen. The ministers of the church claim that such a sign can mean God's grace sent down to people. It is believed that such an image is miraculous, able to heal from any disease, protect from danger, avert troubles and misfortunes from the person who touches it. Thousands of parishioners from all around flock to the monastery, where the icons stream myrrh.

However, the miracle of myrrh-streaming can take place both in a monastery and in the home of believers. There are cases when not one, but all the icons in the house or in the church began to stream myrrh. This is a truly wonderful phenomenon, but people have always been wary and ambivalent about such an event.

On the one hand, such a sign always carries a bit of uncertainty: what this phenomenon portends - good or evil, and what should be prepared for, no one knows. On the other hand, even deeply religious people sometimes doubt the authenticity of such a phenomenon. This is because history knows many cases when, in a similar way, the clergy tried to deceive the people and the authorities in order to achieve certain goals.

So, under Peter I, the clergy of one of the churches said that they had a phenomenon of myrrh-streaming icons in their cathedral. The revelation was not long in coming. Despite the fact that the king was a believer, he still doubted the authenticity of what was happening. The priests unanimously declared that in this way God mourns the old order, which was abolished by the Great Tsar. Peter I dared to suggest that, using this event, the priests want to persuade him to cancel innovations and return to the old order.

He was rather skeptical about such a "divine" manifestation and ordered the myrrh-streaming image to be taken away from the cathedral. After arriving at his palace, the tsar ruined the icon and found capsules with liquid in it, located inside it in the area of ​​​​the eyes. In turn, small holes were made in the eyes through which the liquid came out.

In this regard, the king issued a formidable decree, which read: “If icons cry in any other church, then priestly asses will cry with blood”. Since then, the images no longer "wept".

It is noteworthy that when dew appears on the icon, a special commission, which includes scientists and clergymen, immediately arrives at the scene of the event to testify to the authenticity of this fact. For the purity of the experiment, it is placed in a special capsule.

Unfortunately, at all times there were scammers who tried to falsify such a miracle. Many succeeded in this: gullible people went in droves to the church, where a similar phenomenon took place, and carried alms. Some imitated the phenomenon for selfish purposes, others - to glorify themselves and their church. However, there are certain patterns, thanks to which it is possible to determine how authentic such a phenomenon is:

1. Myrrh-streaming is not tied to a specific place.
2. The crying of the Holy Faces can be seen by everyone, and not by one or several people, since this is a true miracle.
3. The image does not cease to stream myrrh because it was transferred to another place.

If the phenomenon that happened contradicts any of these signs, then most likely it is a hoax.

Trying to find out why the myrrh-streaming icons, people have identified some features of this process. On the basis of such features, signs were compiled, thanks to which this manifestation can be timed to coincide with a particular event:

• The weeping icon is a sign of great changes to come. Light tears are positive changes, dark or "bloody" ones are bad changes.
• An icon weeping with "dew" is a good omen, promising a change for the better.
• The abundantly myrrh-streaming face of the saint is a harbinger of good news and events.
• The icon began to stream myrrh in the church - good news for the parishioners, the church and the city as a whole.
• The image streams myrrh at home - a miracle will happen in the family, perhaps a miraculous healing.
• The icon of the Almighty is crying - to favorable events, changes, harmony in business and happiness in life.
• The icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is a good sign, positive changes in life.
• The face of the Mother of God - the birth of a child, healthy children, healing from ailments.
• The seven-shot icon - peace and tranquility in the family, protection from the evil eye.

It is also known that myrrh-streaming can be either single, when one or more icons are crying, or massive and even spread to several states.

It is known that in Russia it is not allowed to conduct experiments on the icons of the Saints, especially those that are located directly in the church. However, some facts were nevertheless established experimentally. What must happen to the faces of the saints so that they “weep”? It is impossible to doubt the fact that there really are images that stream myrrh. Nevertheless, many scientists doubt the authenticity of the myrrh-streaming icons. They have been trying to find a scientific explanation for this process for many decades. Some believe that this is nothing more than a natural process of moisture formation under specific conditions.

Also, the following events may be involved in the appearance of such a phenomenon:

• The precipitation of oil due to the contact of parishioners with the Holy Face. After anointing with oil, the person kisses the icon, leaving oil drops on it.
• Condensation of oil vapors: often oil drips onto the images from the lamps that hang in front of them.
• Capillary effect: moisture that comes to it from the outside can seep through the icon. The sources of this moisture can be very diverse, depending on the specific case. There were situations when such an effect was not created intentionally.

Today, people from different parts of the world are interested in the fact why icons stream myrrh, the scientific explanation of which cannot be interpreted unambiguously. Many skeptics refer to the fact that such a phenomenon, from the point of view of science and common sense, is impossible. However, the fact remains: all over the world from time to time there are myrrh-streaming icons, over which observations and experiments are carried out in order to determine the essence of such a phenomenon.

If suddenly an icon began to cry in the house, then you need to take this event seriously. Firstly, it should not be wiped, let alone washed. Secondly, it is best not to disturb the image and invite a priest to the house, who could testify to this fact. It should be remembered that such a phenomenon can last a very long time. It should be treated with respect and respect to the icon that brought a miraculous sign.

Whatever message the weeping face of the Saint carries with it, people should pay close attention to such a sign from above. Perhaps it is worth thinking about the mission of man on Earth, about what we bring to this world, and what it will be like after us. Of course, this miraculous phenomenon is a call to keep God's commandments, which many people have forgotten, and a reminder that life is given to a person once. It is necessary to live it with dignity, leaving a bright memory of yourself for future generations.

Myrrh-streaming icons. Why do icons cry?

Every moment something unusual happens in the world. Someone wins the lottery, someone is reciprocated by a loved one, or a hopelessly ill person suddenly recovers. But all these are fleeting miracles, and in search of eternal people often turn to God. There has been as much debate about the existence of God as there has been religion. And what to say about myrrh-streaming? Is this really another miracle of the Lord, given to people to bring them back and strengthen them in the faith, or just someone's masterful joke?

The “classic”, if I may say so, myrrh is a wooden oil with red wine and incense, which is used in Christian rites. They say that the rite of chrismation was established by 12 more apostles who followed Christ. Its main components - oil and wine - are personally brewed by the patriarch, over low heat in cauldrons every few years at a special service, and when the mixture thickens, incense is added there. The resulting substance is poured into consecrated vessels, sealed and sent to the dioceses. The chrism is kept in altars on thrones and is used by the church when performing the sacraments of chrismation after baptism, during coronations, and also during the consecration of the thrones of temples.

If you follow the logic, then myrrh-streaming is the outflow from the icons of the very substance that is described above. But ... it was named only by analogy with the church world - for its oiliness (and even then not always) and a very strong aroma of roses or lilacs. There is absolutely nothing more in common between the two worlds.

The first case described in Russia of myrrh-streaming occurred at the end of the 13th century in Veliky Ustyug. In those days, the holy fool Procopius lived in the city, possessing the gift of "clairvoyance" - clairvoyance. 1290 - he began to appeal to the townspeople: "Repent and reform, or die from a fiery hail," but people only laughed. But, as the holy fool predicted, a few days later, on Sunday afternoon, a black “stone-fire” cloud appeared over the city.

Ustyug plunged into darkness, broken only by thunder. The townspeople rushed to the temples with prayer and repentance. Most of the people gathered in the cathedral, where Procopius fervently prayed before the icon of the Annunciation. And then so much peace began to emanate from the icon that they were able to fill the church vessels with it. Then, almost immediately, the clouds moved away from the city, a thunderstorm broke out in 20 miles and destroyed the whole forest. And the inhabitants of the city were smeared with myrrh that had expired from the icon, and many "received healing from all sorts of diseases."

More famous in our time is, perhaps, the Iberian Montreal Icon of the Mother of God, which has been streaming myrrh for 15 years since 1982. Orthodox consider the streaming of this icon to be one of the greatest miracles of the last century. Its history is considered wonderful. The curator of the icon, Joseph Muñoz Cortés, who taught art history at the University of Montreal, went that year to Greece, to Athos, the earthly abode of the Most Holy Theotokos.

There, in the Danilov Skete on Mount Athos, he saw the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God - a list from the famous Iberian Goalkeeper. Joseph asked the monks to sell him this list, feeling that the icon should be with him in the West, but he was refused. However, the next day, when Cortes was about to leave, the abbot caught up with him and blessed the icon of the Mother of God, saying that the Queen of Heaven herself blesses this icon for him.

1982, November 24 - Joseph woke up from the fact that an unusual fragrance was heard in his room - fragrant streams of peace flowed over the icon of the Virgin. Cortes took the icon to the temple, and from that time on it streamed myrrh for exactly 15 years, remaining dry for only one week - on Holy Week of Great Lent, before Easter. And all these years, Joseph flew with the miraculous myrrh-streaming icon all over the world: from Australia and Argentina to Bulgaria.

Healings by the world, the weight of which over the years has exceeded the weight of the icon itself by several times, were recorded in huge numbers, including those from incurable diseases. But in 1997, the custodian was killed in Greece, and the traces of the icon, about which there are legends to this day, were lost, and they can’t find it in any way ... True, there are rumors that it stopped streaming myrrh after the death of its keeper.

There are also more mysterious cases of myrrh-streaming. So, every year for 24 hours, dried blood at the bottom of a bowl stored in the Naples Cathedral suddenly turns into a red liquid, which Catholics consider to be the blood of St. Januarius, Bishop of Benevito, who was beheaded by the Romans in 305. scientists, as well as adherents of Catholicism. And there is no explanation for this phenomenon.

1953, August 29 - a pregnant woman named Antonietta Januso, who lived in Syracuse (Sicily), found that a plaster figurine of the Virgin and Child ... was crying. The local church authorities wanted to verify its truth for themselves, and when they analyzed the samples of the liquid flowing from the eyes of the Madonna, it turned out that they could not be distinguished from real human tears. The church immediately recognized the miracle and erected a reliquary where pilgrims venerate the statue to this day.

The miraculous icon “The Laying of the Crown of Thorns on the Head of the Savior”, located in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, is also known throughout the world. The plot of the icon tells about last days Christ, when the Roman soldiers, mocking Jesus, placed a crown of thorns on his head. Since the beginning of the Christian era, this icon has bled only three times.

For the first time, the icon in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher began to stream myrrh in 1572. In those days, in the place of the current image, there was an ancient fresco on the same religious subject. And on the eve of Easter, the pilgrims were horrified: the fresco “came to life”, trickles of liquid began to flow along it, similar to blood. And a few days later, on August 24, 1572, during the infamous, almost a third of the population was destroyed.

On the eve of Easter in 1939, several monks at the Jerusalem monastery witnessed the second bleeding of the “Laying on…” and reported the miracle to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who passed the message about the sign to the Pope. It is known that in September of this year the Second World War… 2001, April — not only the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Hieromonk Feofan and Patriarch Irenaeus of Jerusalem, but also thousands of pilgrims from all over the world became witnesses of myrrh-streaming.

On the night from Good Friday to Great Saturday, when Irenaeus blessed the faithful, a liquid appeared on the cloak of Christ, flowing in a scarlet stream onto his feet. The flow of myrrh did not stop all day and stopped just before Easter… On September 11, as a result of a terrorist attack, the New York twin towers collapsed, claiming hundreds of lives…

The list of cases of myrrh streams can be endlessly long, and each of them is marked by its own unique history. But, continuing the theme of the icon “The Laying of the Crown of Thorns on the Head of the Savior”, I would like to note two more formidable signs that are known, perhaps, to every inhabitant of the CIS.

So, the beginning of the bloody war in Chechnya was marked by the fact that in the village of Zelenchukskaya, the icons of the “Quick Acolyte” and “Iverskaya” wept in the temple. On the eve of the beginning of the 2004 academic year, the icon also wept - on September 1, hostages were taken in an Ossetian school. In fact, there is an inexplicable connection between myrrh streams and tragic events, and the words of the old people immediately come to mind: if the icon begins to cry with tears or blood, it will be a big disaster ...

Myrrh streaming, “crying” icons all over the world, but Russia is still recognized as the “record holder” in this “area” of the miracle. But there is also a kind of global statistics: if until the end of the 19th century, “weeping” icons were quite rare and were considered divine signs, then at the end of the past - this century, the number of myrrh-streaming icons has become simply incredible!

We are talking about thousands and thousands of myrrh-streaming faces - in churches, monasteries and even the apartments of ordinary believers. At the same time, a general myrrh-streaming began not only for old images (after all, this was previously considered the privilege of only ancient, prayed icons), but also for young ones painted in the 20th century. And neither the church, nor, moreover, science can fully explain this sharp increase, as well as the very fact of myrrh-streaming.

The attitude towards the myrrh-streaming of religious and secular authorities in Russia is curious. Before the revolution of 1917, there was a strict procedure for checking such miracles. The myrrh-streaming icon was first examined by a commission of the local diocese, after which experts appointed by the patriarch arrived. If they also believed that they were seeing a miracle, the icon was placed under glass and guarded. If even then the icon continued to stream myrrh, then the miracle was officially announced. But always the very first to start the “investigation” were not churchmen, but… employees of the nearest police station, because there were always enough speculations on the faith of the parishioners.

There is a known case when the monks, for their selfish momentary political purposes, announced the “weeping” of icons from the reforms. The “tears of blood” turned out to be nothing more than cherry juice skillfully brought through a system of tubes, and Peter then issued an injunction: “Lords, saints! I order that the Mother of God should not weep from now on. And if the Mother of God at least once cries with lamp oil, then the backsides of the priests will cry with blood "...

Now all over the world there are also special commissions for the establishment of a miracle, which include both theologians and chemists and physicists. In particular, in Russia in 1999, under the department of catechesis of the Moscow Patriarchate, a Commission was established to describe information about miraculous signs occurring in the Russian Orthodox Church, which investigates the myrrh-streaming, lachrymation of icons, the renewal of icons and the repetition of the image of icons on the glass of the kiota. The preliminary conclusions of the commission (precisely preliminary, since cases of church miracles were growing rapidly) for the first 5 years of its work are as follows: something inexplicable is happening in the history of Russia, and possibly in the entire two thousand-year history of the Christian church ...

Two especially large waves of myrrh streams have also been identified. The first falls on the beginning of the 1920s. Petrograd, Pskov provinces, Ukraine, southern Russia, Far East, Primorye - dozens of cases of updating icons were observed there. The dark faces on the images were illuminated, became bright, shining. This happened both in churches and in the homes of ordinary believers. And the second wave is our time...

In general, myrrh-streaming is one of the few earthly (or is it heavenly?) miracles for which science cannot find at least some plausible explanation. There are only dry facts and test results. They look like this. First of all, it should be noted that the name is common, and there is, in fact, the myrrh-streaming itself and its already mentioned “subspecies”, depending on what kind of moisture is released from the icon. And the type, color and consistency of the resulting liquid are different: from thick, viscous resin to transparent dew, therefore they speak of “spillage” or “growth”. It smells of rose, lilac or incense, and the smell is thick, stable, capable of filling an entire area.

Myrrh flow and lacrimation also differ, and cases when icons cry blood stand out in a separate niche. The shape and size of the droplets are also very different. At times they cover the entire image, sometimes they seem to flow from certain points. There are cases when the world flowed from the bottom up, contrary to the law of gravity. Miro can disappear for a while and then reappear, it is this that leads to the renewal of images, when the colors suddenly acquire the original saturated colors ...

Myrrh-streaming and paper photocopies, lithographs, frescoes, photo icons and even metal icons. The connection of myrrh-streaming with certain events, but not only with catastrophes, has been noticed. Thus, one can note the case when members of the Romanov family were recognized as martyrs, at the same time myrrh-streaming many images, while from the lithographic image of the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God there was a strong smell of the favorite perfume of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, later renamed “Red Moscow”.

Many cases of healing with the help of myrrh have also been recorded, in particular, the mysterious liquid collected from a one and a half meter wooden crucifix in a small temple in the city of Mount Prichard (Australia), for some reason, is best for cancer and asthma ... And its spectrographic analysis showed only that in its own way Its composition is similar to olive oil...

The composition of the myrrh is generally a topic for a separate discussion. So, Vladimir Pavlov, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Leading Researcher at the Moscow Institute of Astronomy. V.A. Steklova says: “The myrrh-streaming icon, on which the sacred myrrh is formed “out of nothing”, violates the scientific concept of the universe. After all, what happens with it? Matter is formed “out of nothing” – myrrh, tears, drops of blood on icons. For a scientist, this is an amazing discovery! From the position modern science this can only happen by converting energy into matter, a process that is the reverse of that in which matter is converted into energy in a nuclear power plant. It’s easier to doubt and consider yourself deceived…

There is, of course, the corpuscular-wave theory that a single matter can manifest itself both as a wave and as matter, a particle. Perhaps myrrh-streaming is one of such manifestations. It should only be remembered: not all knowledge in the world is obtained by scientific means. There is knowledge about which we cannot say at all where it comes from. We simply know that it is. But there are aspects in the manifestations of miracles that can be studied within the framework of science. For example, the chemical composition of the world. In Klin, the icons feature organic oil, which is similar in composition to sunflower oil. But, of course, knowing chemical composition does not bring us any closer to unraveling the phenomenon itself.

And the Moscow Patriarchate, which was also involved in the analysis of myrrh, said that "most often this is a protein substance of unknown origin." Laboratory experiments show that some types of myrrh are similar in composition to known oils, others are real human tears or blood plasma.

Some of the latest research was carried out in the biological laboratories of Kyiv University. Scientists did an analysis of myrrh exuded by the relics of saints resting in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and it turned out to be a substance with great content squirrel, however... All biologists find it difficult to classify it and say only one thing: only a living organism can exude such a substance ... And in addition to all the mysteries of myrrh-streaming, one more is added - are icons really alive ?!

Wedge-9: smell and awe

In the military town of Klin-9 in 2001, icons were streaming myrrh at home at an elderly woman. And not one or two, but absolutely everything! Television, the press: then only a lazy person could pass by such a “picture”, no matter if he was a believer or a non-believer. NS correspondent Natalya BESSONOVA, at that time a young neophyte, went on a pilgrimage to myrrh-streaming icons.

I visited Valentina Zhuchkova in 2003. The myrrh-streaming of icons in her apartment had only just begun, but it was already widely known outside the Moscow region. My confessor advised me to go - to strengthen my faith. He offered to take an icon with him from home. As I was told before the trip, for some people, the brought icons begin to stream myrrh in their hands when they just enter the apartment, but this is a rare case. For everyone else, Valentina herself anoints them with cotton wool with the world.

So, I got ready to go. I was joined by a skeptical friend and a hieromonk, a resident of a monastery near Moscow. Batiushka had already visited Valentina, left his icon with her, and now wanted to take it back. On the way in the car, we discussed the reasons for our trip. What drives us? Curiosity? Yes. The desire to have a personal "home miracle" - a myrrh-streaming icon? Yes. It's good? No. So what are we going? “A miracle, as it began suddenly, can end like this - and then we will regret that we didn’t see everything with our own eyes, although we could - that’s why we’re going,” we justified ourselves to each other.

We felt the sweet floral smell when we had just approached the five-story block building, in the second entrance of which there was unusual apartment. There was such an aroma in the entrance that the air seemed thick. From the smell and trembling before meeting with a miracle, his head was spinning. Valentina greeted us warmly, led me and my friend into the living room and turned on to watch the film “The Klin Miracle”, where she tells how it all began, and she herself went with the priest to look for his icon.

After we watched the "introductory" film, Valentina led us into the next room, the former bedroom, lined up to the ceiling with icons. There were a lot of them: paper, metal, wood; old and new. Myrrh streamed all the icons. Different images smelled differently. For example, the icons of the blessed Matrona smelled of lilies, regardless of where they stood and what they were made of. Under all the icons lay neat rags, towels and cotton wool, so that the myrrh did not drip onto the floor (Valentina distributed this cotton wool to everyone who came).


The priest began to serve a prayer service, after which Valentina led us to a plastic cell, where the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God "floated" in the world. She poured all the myrrh from the cuvette into pharmacy bottles and gave them to us, and rubbed the icon, put it back and offered to take a closer look at its surface. Fountain bubbles appeared on the printed image and the cuvette again began to fill with a fragrant composition. If someone told me that the cuvette is larger in volume than the icon, it can be filled to the brim, I would not believe it. But I saw it with my own eyes and even photographed it.

Valentina told how old icons are updated, how the room smelled of damp earth before the September 11 terrorist attack, how a physicist came and said that it was condensation in the air and laughed at her, but when he held Iverskaya and myrrh flowed down his hands, he believed and was baptized, how the demoniac screams, how the sick are healed, and many, many more stories, terrible closeness spiritual world. Poor woman. I listened to all this and thought that, God forbid, this would happen to me - I would go crazy in a matter of hours, if not from pride, then from the complete impossibility of existing next to a constant miracle, but she is holding on, somehow reconciled.

Although she looks somewhat blissful. But since the situation in which she lives is not ordinary, then some enthusiastic mysticism is probably forgiven for her ... She says that it is a great mystery to her why it all started in this apartment, and that she does not know for what purpose the Lord arranged all this . But since it pleases Him, she is ready to receive endless crowds of people in her apartment, which now looks like a subway car at rush hour, to distribute bubbles of peace to everyone, to tell again and again how it all began, and how the physicist believed.

After about an hour of all these conversations and thoughts, touch and smell, the brain turns off in emergency mode. That part of it that is responsible for recognizing reality and analyzing what is happening is blocked. You start taking everything for granted. Yes, indeed, fresh blood has appeared on the paper icon cut out of the calendar and it smells “naturally” of blood; yes, but a drop of peace also flowed from my icon, brought from home ...

We returned in silence. My “skeptical friend” reached Moscow with her mouth open in surprise - the icon that she brought with her to Klin began to stream myrrh in her hands. After this trip, the girl began to regularly go to church, go to confession and receive communion. The myrrh on the icons brought home froze in drops and soon dried up, but the dizzying smell lingered for a very long time.

Judging by the fruits, as the Holy Scripture advises, what we saw strengthened us in faith, and this is a positive fruit. But there is no desire to go there again, because it's scary. The supernatural nature of what is happening in Klin is obvious. But who is it coming from? From God or not? Not clear, and therefore scary. It is not possible to understand this with your mind. It is terrible to make a mistake, because this mistake will be too large-scale.

Myrrh-streaming in Klin: why do icons cry?

Seven years later, the endless stream of pilgrims and onlookers in Klin-9 dried up. The Klin "myrrh-streaming" was almost forgotten not only by journalists, but also by church people. Why? Our correspondent Dmitry REBROV tried to find out.

Icon Keeper

From Moscow, more than an hour and a half by train, from the station by bus to the suburbs - the apartment of Valentina Zhuchkova, the "keeper" of the Klin miracle, is located in a military garrison on the very outskirts of the city. Here, to the left of the entrances, in a five-story panel building, icons have been streaming myrrh for seven years now. At the entrance to the entrance is a recently built chapel, deserted. "Are you at the reception? Come in,” Valentina herself opens the door. She looks no more than fifty, short in stature, her head is covered with a scarf. - "Here, it's here!" She points to the door of the room. “They come from all over the CIS, from Canada, from Belgium, Washington, New Jersey,” Valentina readily explains, but when she learns that we came not just “on a pilgrimage”, but to write a report, she becomes taciturn. “I don’t need publications, journalists constantly add thousands of distortions to my words. I don't need ads. I'm tired of taking five hundred people a day in seven years. Yes, and the neighbors are offended, they are not satisfied with all this ... ”. But since today there are no other visitors besides me, Valentina Mikhailovna tells how icons “wept” at her house seven years ago.


“For many years I have become convinced that the myrrh does not appear from icons, but descends like a cloud. It happens imperceptibly,” explains Valentina Zhuchkova. Practically on all icons there are large drops - “miro” everywhere: on faces, on clothes. Some of the icons in wooden cases have drops only on the outside, on the glass door, but most of them lie without frames, and there the drops are evenly distributed over the entire surface. It smells like something like caramel, however, not as strong as the media described seven years ago. The main shrine - the Iberian icon in an open icon case - is almost completely immersed in oil. “This icon still streams myrrh the most,” Valentina says. “Look. Do you see how the drops appear?” she says, taking out the icon. (the format of the icon is no more than 15-20 cm diagonally). "Miro" slowly flows down from the icon, and on its shiny and damp surface, several swellings, like drops, become noticeable as the oil slides down. A little later, the surface begins to become covered with small bubbles, as if from air. "You see? And then some look at the icon and say: how it streams myrrh, show me, I get them, we both look, I see, but he doesn’t! Valentina worries. “That is, they simply do not believe their eyes, they see and do not believe!” I believed my eyes.

“Is this all a forgery? No, it’s not,” Archpriest Alexei Tyukov, a cleric of the Sorrowing Church, a member of the deanery’s special commission to study the phenomenon of myrrh-streaming, explains to us after some time already in Klin itself. In addition to this commission, whose competence included theological and pastoral expertise, an expert group also worked with the "Klin myrrh-streaming" to describe the miraculous events taking place in the Russian Orthodox Church, under the Synodal Theological Commission of the Moscow Patriarchate, chaired by Pavel Florensky: “The synodal group was engaged in scientific expertise, and they, like us, can confirm that the outflow of an oily liquid really occurs. We have no reason to say that this is a fake."

However, the clergy who minister to the parishes of the Klin deanery carefully choose the words when talking about the “miracle”: “We call this phenomenon not myrrh-streaming, but the outflow of an oily liquid,” Father Alexei notes, “after all, the fact of “myrrh-streaming” in itself does not make it possible to speak that it is from God." And such caution is not accidental. According to the Apocalypse, there is no miracle that the Antichrist cannot fake. Much confuses the hierarchy in the "Klin history".

“Many miracles, conversions, healings take place here,” Valentina continues. - As an example - my own family her life has been completely turned upside down. What I could not even dream of happened: the daughter, who could not give birth to a child for a long time, now has four children. All my children were unbelievers, and now they came to faith, got married, and live in a church marriage.


Now no one lives in the apartment with icons: the children moved to Klin, and Valentina herself to Tver, where she tries not to talk about her miracle: “I go to the church there as an ordinary parishioner,” she admits. Twice a week, Valentina comes to the garrison, where she receives pilgrims: laymen, monks, and clergy. To the questions: “why did the miracle happen to you?”, he modestly answers: “I don’t know, probably, this is connected with the place itself, because I am an ordinary sinful person, and I don’t consider myself worthy for some merit of this miracle, I'm just the keeper of these icons."

There is a miracle, there is no obedience
“If you go to the dean, he will tell you such things, I don’t even want to argue with all this!”, sighs when asked about the attitude of local clergy to the miracle of “Mother Valentina,” as pilgrims sometimes call her in a monastic manner.

Seven years ago, a conflict arose between Valentina Mikhailovna and the pastors of the Klin deanery. It all started with the fact that after several questions from the priesthood, the “keeper of the miracle” drove away the commission that had come to her from the deanery. “Then we came to see, we wanted to see everything with our own eyes, to talk,” says father Alexy Tyukov, “but suddenly we saw on the shelves “myrrh-streaming”, in addition to icons, very dubious images, such as a portrait of Ivan the Terrible, some photographs of confessors Valentine. After our question about the non-canonicity of the images of Ivan the Terrible, Valentina Mikhailovna interrupted the conversation and asked us to leave the room. We tried to get at least some information about the healings that she said were taking place here, but we could not find anything concrete. Valentina Mikhailovna herself explains the lack of such information from her by the fact that she simply “does not need it”, at first she “recorded it somehow”, and then she got tired, “you just can’t rewrite it!”

From the pastoral meeting, to which she was invited by the local hierarchy, Valentina left herself: “She then fell upon us with a storm of criticism: why do we not recognize “her” miracle, and why we did not publish about it in the church newspaper, when we print about other miracles , - says the dean of the Klin district, Archpriest Boris Balashov. - The fact is that in the village of Nudol, Klinsky district, in the church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the icon also began to stream myrrh. We published a short note about this in the church supplement to the local newspaper. We did not write about the Valentina icons, because we treated them with caution, chose a wait-and-see attitude. We invited Valentina to talk to the meeting, but from the very beginning she began to resent us, reproach us, accuse us of “unbelief”.

The rector of the temple in honor of the Monk Martyr Seraphim of Klin, located in the garrison, priest Igor Kovalev, whose parishioner before the “streaming of myrrh” was Valentina, says that at first she brought him icons to show, but in the temple their “streaming of myrrh” each time stopped. “At first I gave them to the church, but why take them if they don’t stream myrrh there?” Zhuchkova now remarks reasonably.

Priest Igor Kovalev is inclined to regard the nature of the "myrrh streams" in Valentina's apartment as "absolutely non-church". “Of all the people who visited Valentina in our microdistrict, without visiting the church at all before, after watching the “myrrh-streaming” only one person came to the temple,” he says. Considering that Father Igor's church is the only one in the military camp, and almost the majority of the inhabitants of the garrison visited Zhuchkova's apartment, the "missionary catch" of the miracle is really small. “We never forbade anyone to go there, although we didn’t bless, but now not a single parishioner in our church visits Valentina’s apartment, even though at first there were huge queues for her,” Father Igor continues. “Today, there is much less travel, and many of those who come visit our church on the way, and after talking with the parishioners or with me, discussing this, they often decide not to go to the apartment at all. And vice versa, those who are already returning from the apartment, as a rule, do not come to our temple.”

According to the observations of the local priesthood, an exalted audience very quickly gathered around Valentine and the "myrrh-streaming" icons. “In the end, all this was expressed in the fact that Valentina Mikhailovna stopped participating in parish life, stopped confessing and taking communion in the churches of our deanery, preferring to arrange independent prayers at home, in front of the icons. This, of course, is not yet a schism, but already a kind of unhealthy independence,” says Archpriest Boris Balashov, dean of the district. “Some clergymen from other dioceses began to come to her on a “pilgrimage”, read akathists there, some “elders,” to whom she began to take women she knew for “treatment.”


“A miracle for the sake of a miracle is pointless. God does not act just like that, He always has a very specific purpose in terms of human salvation. And, falling under the authority of Valentina, people who are carried away by her charisma get the wrong idea about God, about spiritual life, says Father Alexy Tyukov. “For example, Valentina told one of our parishioners that “you don’t need to come to the priest, communion will not help you.” Of course, we cannot demand the heights of ascetic sobriety from every grandmother, and, indeed, we ourselves cannot say anything with certainty about the nature of the “Klin miracle”, but if there is a miracle, but there is no obedience, but on the contrary - scandals, divisions, we, as shepherds, are alarmed by this and determine our attitude towards this “miracle” as in the highest degree cautious. The fruit of the spirit is peace, not division. Therefore, we do not bless our parishioners to visit this apartment. Do not blaspheme and do not accept if you cannot determine with absolute certainty what spirit this miracle is - this is an ancient patristic principle in relation to "miraculous" phenomena. We are guided by them."

Valentina confirms that she does not go to the temple, where they do not believe in "her" miracle. Her current confessor lives far away, in the Pochaev Lavra, and, as she says, it was he who advised her not to give any interviews. But while we say goodbye, already at the door, she, without any questions from my side, recalls about “different approaches in the Church to the same things”, and more specifically, about the sore point: “I don’t have any passports with chips I’m not going to take any cards, she says. - I after all refused the pension, and all the benefits. It's easier for me. Why will I go under the number? I want under my name! Now they say about Diomede that they say that this is a schismatic, they say he is such and such ... But he was here, and was more than once! And even if one bishop was like him, he would express his opinion in such a way, this is just a martyr!”

“Why do you think the icons are crying?” she asks at the last moment, and she herself answers her own question: “Maybe that’s why they are crying, because everything around is“ chipped ”, these cards are everywhere ... It’s just that God sees how we live, that’s why they cry!” Perhaps without noticing it herself, Valentina Zhuchkova said “we”. But who she meant by this “we”: whether she was herself, the pastors of the deanery, someone else, or all together, remained a mystery.