Inexhastible Chalice Icon of the Mother of God

Commemorated on May 5.

In the Monastery of the Sovereign Lady, he told the nuns about his wondrous dreams and asked that a Moleben be served before the Inexhaustible Chalice Icon of the Mother of God. His request confused the nuns, for no one in the Monastery knew of such an icon. Only after some time did they find the Icon hanging in the passage from the temple to the sacristy. On the reverse side was the inscription "Inexhaustible Chalice." In the countenence of Saint Barlaam of Serpukhov (May 5), the disciple of the Metropolitan Alexei, the peasant recognized the Holy Elder who had appeared to him in his dreams. The former soldier returned home from Serpukhov already freed from his pernicious passion.

News of the wonderworking Icon quickly spread throughout Russia. People suffering from drunkenness, as well as their relatives and friends, hastened to offer prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos asking her to heal them of their affliction. Many came afterward to thank the Sovereign Lady for her great mercy.

The wonderworking Inexhaustible Chalice Icon was kept in the Monastery of the Sovereign Lady until 1919, and after its closure, it was moved to the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas the White on Kaluzhskaya Street. The further fate of the original Icon is unknown.

In 1993, in Serpukhov's Vysotsk Monastery, and in 1995 in the revived Monastery of the Sovereign Lady, copies of the wonderworking Icon were made, and all the proportions and style characteristic of the original were preserved. All this marked the beginning of the revival of the Icon's veneration after many years of atheism.

People come from all over Russia, and from other countries, to venerate the Inexhaustible Chalice Icon. The wonderworking Icon is renowned as a speedy healier of those suffering from the ailments of drug addiction, alcoholism, and smoking. Notice that the Icon not only heals, but also helps to change a person's way of life, leading him to acknowledge his sins, repent, and return to a godly life.

Unfortunately, the exact day on which the Icon was revealed is not known. In the XIX century, the celebration in honor of the Inexhaustible Chalice Icon took place on November 27 (the same day as the icon of the Mother of God of the Sign) since both of these icons are similar in appearance.

At the end of the XX century, after the restoration of veneration of the Inexhaustible Chalice Icon, its celebration was made to coincide with the Feast Day of Venerable Barlaam of Serpukhov (May 5), since the revelation of the wonderworking Icon occurred through the intercession of that Saint. In 1997, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexei II, it was decided to celebrate the Church-wide Feast of the Inexhaustible Chalice Icon of the Mother of God on May 5.