Myrrh-streaming - the view of a skeptic
In my opinion, this is a relatively easy miracle to reproduce, but due to the multitude of technologies, each case requires individual verification.

Now the mass nature of myrrh-streamings catches the eye. In post-perestroika Russia, the Mother of God Brotherhood, hostile to the Moscow Patriarchate, became the pioneer of myrrh-streaming, which even now from time to time invites people to another myrrh-streaming.

When it comes to mass myrrh streams, the most simple technology- put a few drops of oil on the icon or spray oil from a spray bottle. The trace of oil will remain on the icon for quite a long time, and it is easy to process overnight great amount icons.

In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the late Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod Nikolai Kutepov told an incident from the life of his diocese:

“We have a parish in the Bogorodsky district. Suddenly they raised a noise-din: 68 icons began to stream myrrh! I grabbed my head. Guys, you need to have some conscience! A commission was quickly formed. All icons have been removed. The temple was sealed and closed. It stood for a week. At least one drop appeared. So I take it with a certain caution” [NK].

LJ Written by Alex Kuleshov (journalru)
@ 2007-02-06 12:10:00
[journalru.livejournal.com]
grandma, did you add butter today?
“In my almost 7-year practice, there were not so many frank failures. so that I could not complete the task / order, maybe three times. Today, another such case has been added. I was ordered to photograph the icon, which began to stream myrrh.
I come to church. I am looking for a priest, I need to get permission, or if you want a blessing. They ask me to wait, because they confess to him. frost on the street wild. at the same time, the lens will warm up, I think, and I’m going to look at the icon itself for now. I stand and look. nothing drips, nothing stands out. I don't notice sweat. I look for a long time. concentrated. I'm afraid to miss that very moment of myrrh-streaming. and here the grandmother is running around, changing candles, dusting off with a rag. and now the grandmother comes up to me and also rests her pious gaze on the icon. and then it hit me. I don't know what I found. I don’t allow myself this, although the attitude towards all these ROC attributes is not very loyal. in general, I take it and blurt out for no reason:
- Grandma, did you add butter today?
and the grandmother, with her enlightened look, immediately answers:
No, I thought that was enough from yesterday...
and didn't even flinch. I ran further to change the candles and wash the dust. True, after a couple of minutes she returned and kicked me out of the church. I didn't take a picture... they didn't let me in anymore.
Damn, what a shame…”

Another technology of myrrh-streaming was described by Peter the Great. In 1720, one of the icons streamed myrrh, he personally came to the place, took the icon, took with him several priests from that temple, arrived at the palace and in the presence of witnesses, then I will quote the text itself: “His Majesty soon found in the eyes of the image a very small and almost completely inconspicuous holes, which the shadow cast in that place made even more inconspicuous. He, having turned the board, tore off the salary, and having broken out the translation or connection, which is usually the case with images on the other side, to his pleasure he saw the validity of his guess and discovered the deceit and the source of tears; namely: in the board opposite the eyes, near the image, pits were made, in which several thick wooden oil was laid, and which were closed with a rear cross. “Here is the source of miraculous tears!” - said the Sovereign. Each of those present had to come up to see with their own eyes this cunning deception.

Then the wise Monarch explained to those around him how thickened oil closed from everywhere in a cold place could hold on for so long, and how it flowed like tears into the aforementioned holes in the eyes of the image, melting from warmth, when the place against which it lay was heated by candles lit in front of the image "[B].

Another technology of myrrh-streaming was revealed by the well-known skeptic and debunker of miracles Joe Nickell, a member of the Society of Skeptics of the USA.

In September 1996, the Commission on scientific research paranormal phenomena at the Toronto Sun newspaper invited him to Canada, where great popularity purchased a weeping icon of the Holy Virgin for the Church of Our Lady in Toronto.

Next, I will quote the researcher himself: “Finally, I saw - drops were sprayed by an oil lamp hanging in front of the icon! (In the photo you see it in the priest's right hand - this is not an ordinary lamp, but really an oil lamp. If its wick is not screwed on well, it really "spits" hot oil, which I quickly checked at home with a cup of sunflower oil and a gauze wick - translator's note) "[N].

Interestingly, something similar happened in Russia.

Learn Writes bytopisatel (bytopisatel)
@ 2006-06-18 17:16:00
[bytopisatel.livejournal.com]
I personally saw many cases of indisputable myrrh-streaming, inexplicable by any physical reasons. But one very dubious thing happened in our Palestinians, which, by the way, served as a pretext for the "advertising" use of the icon. I will give this story below without comment - sapienti sat, so to speak.

In one of the districts of our region, the priests bought a batch of lamp oil (like from a visiting auto-peddler), which, when burning on the wick, began to “shoot” finely; if a lamp with such oil hung very close to the icon, then the smallest splashes remained on the surface of the image, gradually merging into a more or less large spot. The dean noticed this case and warned the fathers in his regional center to monitor the situation in order to prevent an unhealthy hype. And - right there, in a rural church not far from the regional center, the icon of the Mother of God "The Inexhaustible Chalice", of course, of modern writing, began to stream myrrh ))). That icon was painted by the local father himself, a pretty cunning and demagogue, not painfully loved by his brothers in the censer and sprinkler. This father immediately raised a fair amount of noise in the media; As a result, our hierarch found out about what was going on in the village from local TV news and sent the same dean to analyze the situation.
The Blessed One later said:
“I arrived, I look at the icon - a lamp is hanging in front of it and the picture is painfully similar to the already familiar splashes of oil. “What kind of oil do you have?” - I ask the rector. let's do that. We put the icon in an icon case with glass, close it and seal it with my seal, let's see if it will continue to stream myrrh." So they did. I come back after a while. no, and the icon case itself is open, and the icon lamp is right there ... "Where is the seal?" they are offended that the icon is closed;
The saint read the report and began to think. Thought and thought, watching local TV again - and there is another plot: the myrrh-streaming "Inexhaustible Chalice" from the village of N. was temporarily transferred to one temple regional center(where, by the way, the rector is very practical and says about himself: "I'm not greedy, I'm economical"), and the people there to worship in droves ...
So this story remained not completely clarified, although the “tour” of the icon through the towns and villages was nevertheless stopped by the strong-willed decision of the bishop. Rector with his own opinion, pop icon painter with his own, flock in agitation, bishop in thought

More from LiveJournal
Written by Alex Kuleshov (journalru)
@ 2007-02-06 12:10:00

An interesting technology was told to me by the pastor of one of the Protestant churches, which, in turn, was told to him by an Orthodox priest who repented in their church.

The icon board is dried and then soaked until the wood is soaked in the oil or substance that will flow from it. After soaking, they dry it a little, and then cover it like an ordinary icon. It should be noted that this coating protects the icon from the release of the liquid that the board has absorbed. Better icon keep in a damp room, like a basement. At the right time, the icon is taken out, in the places of the supposed outflow of the world, the protective layer is pointwise damaged and placed in the driest place. The tree will begin to give off liquid, dry out, and the icon, accordingly, will stream myrrh.
This technology is based on simple physical laws. But so far I have not seen anyone reproduce it or use it.

In addition to the described technologies, there are many others that are no less effective, but I want to emphasize that each myrrh-streaming is inherently individual and requires individual analysis.

As for the composition of the world, as a rule, I came across conclusions that olive, sunflower and others are used, quite famous sciences substances. Sometimes you can read that something unearthly flows from the icons, but the conclusions of the relevant laboratories are not provided. Therefore, the words cannot be verified.

scientific study
To begin with, it should be noted that scientific study is not when scientists study some phenomenon, but when the study is carried out according to a certain protocol, aimed at the most objective study. Such a study was not carried out in connection with myrrh flow. There is a commission on miraculous signs taking place in the Orthodox Church, which includes a number of Orthodox scientists.
But they are engaged not so much in studying as in describing what they are told or seen for themselves. They don’t conduct any research protocols (at least they didn’t say them anywhere or gave them a reason to think that they have them).
An example of their work:
“The hostess laid a clean tablecloth on the table, then a sheet of paper, put on top the icons brought by Florensky's colleagues. The edge of one sheet accidentally slipped out from under the board. The father served a prayer service. And then the hosts asked the guests to leave the room: they say, it is not worthwhile to be present at the miracle.
- We're back in an hour. All the icons laid out on the table were covered with droplets. Important point- a sheet of paper was also covered with oil, but only the edge that protruded from under the image, and the part of the sheet that lay under the icon was clean. What do we conclude? - Florensky is silent for a minute. - The substance appeared not from within, but from above. In this case, it was not the exudation, but the appearance of oil on the icon.
[www.radonezh.ru]
Why not conclude that the oil was applied by hand?

What does the analysis of the substance collected by the commission from myrrh-streaming icons show?
"Scientists collect the released oil in a test tube... And then it is examined by experts from the Institute of Forensic Science of the FSB, who are always present during the experiments. Their conclusion: "... in composition, the substance from the surface of the icon is identical to flavored sunflower oil... We took the oil for analysis from different icons, - explains Pavel Vasilyevich. - In composition, it is always akin to sunflower or olive. organic matter oil is so complex that substances from different icons are always different from each other. This is about the same as the vegetable oil of two different manufacturing plants, which is outwardly the same, but if it is decomposed into components, then the organic substances will be different. ”

And what thoughts does this suggest to the commission?
There.
“Let's say we conducted analyzes and showed that the composition of myrrh collected from the icon is flavored sunflower oil. So what? Any priest will explain that our country is God's chosen, because we grow sunflowers, from which myrrh is obtained. But, say, Greek icons more often exude olive oil, because their land is the birthplace of olives.

Among all the researchers of myrrh streams, this commission stands out from the positive side. But among the apologists there is a tendency to distort the results of the analyzes.
So, in the description of the miraculous properties of the world of relics in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, you can find the following reference to the study of scientists:

"The resumption of the activities of the Orthodox monastery on the territory of the Far Caves was marked by a sign of God - three myrrh-streaming heads began to exude myrrh. Was held chemical analysis samples "taken from bowls with myrrh-streaming heads No. 26, No. 9, No. 4". "The chemical analysis of the samples was carried out in the laboratory of the Department of Biochemistry of the Kiev Medical Institute ... The results of the analysis showed that all samples are highly purified oils that do not contain impurities of higher fatty acids, which is confirmed by the absence of a sterification and methylation reaction. The samples were highly soluble in chloroform and acetone and practically did not dissolve in water and methanol.The low electrical conductivity of the samples indicates the absence of an ionized medium (water and ionized particles).Inorganic phosphates and ammonium ions (NH4OH, H3PO4) were not detected in the samples, which indicates the absence of processes of decomposition of organic substances, containing nitrogen, and phosphates.The study of protein content (according to Lowry) was carried out in aqueous extracts of samples.

The study found that sample #26 has 20 mg of protein per 100 mg, sample #9 - 13 mg, and sample #4 - 73 mg. Such an indicator is characteristic only of a living organism.
[lavra.kiev.ua]

Oil cannot be highly purified if it contains a significant admixture of proteins, and even more so 13-72%. This is the same as if the water in a liter bottle were called high-purity, in which there were only 130-720 grams of harmful substances.

Therefore, when referring to conclusions of this kind, one should be skeptical and require the location of the study and the conclusion of the laboratory to be indicated. Such a case is not isolated. I had to talk with people who analyzed the world and, having issued a conclusion, found out that the people who provided the world for research said something completely different about the results of the study.

Myrrh-streaming literature

B. - “From R.Kh. 1720.
On May 1, [Peter] was present at the launching of a new ninety-six-pound ship, naming it the Friedrichstadt. According to this, the Great Sovereign went to work on the Ladoga Canal. His presence at these works revived, so to speak, the souls of the workers again and poured new strength into them.
In this time of the Monarch during these works, we will place what happened in his absence in St. Petersburg and recorded by Mr. Professor Shtelin. It is known that in the first years after the building of this city, there were many and strong obstacles to its Great Builder, not only from the enemy, among whom he built it, but also from malice and superstition and unreason, straining all the forces to prevent it; however, the courage and constancy of the Great Sovereign was stronger than all of it. In the same absence of His Majesty, a rumor suddenly spread that in one church, and it was Trinity, on the Petersburg side, a large image of the Mother of God sheds tears. People began to gather there in great numbers. Superstition has added to this the dangerous interpretation that the Mother is dissatisfied with this country, and with her tears heralds a great misfortune to the new city, and perhaps to the whole State. Chancellor Count Golovkin, who lived not far from this church, went there, but not only could not disperse the fleeing people, but he himself could hardly fight back through the tightness. He immediately sent a messenger to the Sovereign with the news of this incident and of the grumbling among the people.
The Great Sovereign, knowing from experience that even a single spark of superstition can set off a terrible fire, if it is not extinguished in advance, immediately set off on a journey, drove all night, and the next day in the morning, having arrived in Petersburg, he immediately went to the aforementioned church, where was met by the local priests and taken to the weeping image. His Majesty, although he himself did not see tears, many of those who were there assured him that they had indeed seen them recently. The sovereign, examining the image very intently for some time, noticed something suspicious in his eyes. However, not allowing others to notice, he ordered one of the priests to remove the icon from its place and carry it to the palace with him. There, the far-sighted Monarch examined this lacquered image very carefully in the presence of the chancellor, some of the noblest courtiers, high clergy and priests of that church, who removed the image from its place and brought it to the palace.
His Majesty soon found very small and almost completely inconspicuous holes in the eyes of the image, which the shadow cast in that place made even more inconspicuous. He, having turned the board, tore off the salary, and having broken out the translation or connection, which is usually the case with images on the other side, to his pleasure he saw the validity of his guess and discovered the deceit and the source of tears; namely: in the board opposite the eyes, near the image, pits were made, in which several thick wooden oil was laid, and which were closed with a rear cross. “Here is the source of miraculous tears!” - said the Sovereign. Each of those present had to come up to see with their own eyes this cunning deception.
Accordingly, the wise Monarch explained to those around him how thickened oil, closed from everywhere, could hold on for so long in a cold place, and how it flowed like tears into the aforementioned holes in the eyes of the image, melting from warmth, when the place against which it lay was heated from candles lit in front of the image. It seemed that the Sovereign was pleased with this discovery and proof of deception. He did not allow anyone to notice his intention to further investigate this matter and punish the inventors, but said only to those present at the time: “Now you all saw the cause of imaginary tears. I have no doubt that you will everywhere tell about what you have convinced yourself with your own eyes; this will serve to prove emptiness and to refute the stupid, and perhaps even malicious, interpretation of this false miracle. The image will remain with Me; I will put it in my Kunst-Kamera.”

Acts of Peter the Great, the wise reformer of Russia; collected from reliable sources and arranged by year. M., 1789. Part VII. pp. 93-97.
The text is taken from Basov D. Miracle of myrrh-streaming. St. Petersburg: A.V.K. - Timoshka, 2001, p. 38-40.

N. - Anomaly No. 16 (148), September 1, 1997, based on the materials of the magazine "Skeptical Inquirer", No. 2, 1997

NK. - From an interview with Mr. Nizhny Novgorod Nikolai Kutepov (Nezavisimaya gazeta, section Figures and faces, 26.4.2001, p. 11) [www.krotov.info]
Eze record from LiveJournal
O people!
Lord of the snowmen, 16/01/08 14:44
It's not that I hate priests and priests of all sorts... but! I’m telling you what I myself was a witness to and, to be honest, an assistant, or what? I have a friend, his father is a priest. Well, the guy was unlucky in life, to be honest. My friend does not want to become a "salesman from the temple" (his words), but my father makes me. Everyone heard about all sorts of myrrh-streaming icons? Perhaps there are miraculous ones among them, but definitely not the one about which below. They ordered it in Turkey, with a secret icon. Oil is poured into it from above and it "cries". So: it is announced in advance that such an icon will be brought to the church, everyone is in ecstasy, everyone rejoices. An icon arrives, everyone is rushing to touch these myrrh streams, and this is simple sunflower oil, refined (no smell, damn it!). Small bottles of oil are also sold here, allegedly with the addition of tears from the icon. 5 bucks a bottle. AND PEOPLE BUY! Not just one bottle. In general, one liter sunflower oil"Oleina" goes for an average of 500 bucks. The next day, there were even more people ... I myself helped pour oil for a friend (I didn’t know, however, for what, but a fact is a fact). Why are we such a gullible people?

For the Orthodox Church, an icon is a special form of divine revelation and an integral part of all faith. And it is not possible to doubt this, because the faces of the saints can not only listen to the prayer without moving, but also stream myrrh. Find out what this miracle is preparing believers for, it is worth waiting for a great disaster or salvation.

Why do icons cry?

Myrrh-streaming is a real Orthodox miracle, which appears to true believers at a particularly difficult moment in life. This may concern an entire nation, or an icon may cry for a person who finds himself in a terrible life situation.

There are cases when icons cried a few days before a big disaster. For example, in 2004, the icon depicting Tikhon Zadonsky began to stream myrrh, and the next day, a TU-154 passenger plane crashed.

The same thing happened in Beslan a few days before the school was seized by terrorists. On August 29, 2004, the image of Jesus Christ wept, and a few days later there was a terrorist attack that shook the whole country.

A weeping icon can become a harbinger of misfortune, not only to warn people about trouble, but also to strengthen Orthodox faith in God.

The myrrh-streaming image can also speak of an imminent deliverance from troubles and warn of upcoming joy. There are cases when in the house where the icon wept, terminally ill people recovered.

Bleeding icons

It happens that the faces of the Saints bleed, red tears on the images are a sign of universal repentance. The ministers of the church claim that the bloody tears on the images indicate that people have moved away from God and commit terrible sins.

In the convent in Leningrad region the icon bled Holy Mother of God on the day the conflict in Ukraine began. Red spots on the image still appear.

There are many such cases known. During wars in which innocent people die, the Saints shed blood to remind the world of God and humanity.

Authenticity of myrrh-streaming

Any miracle should be treated carefully and carefully. Unfortunately, many scammers tried to use crying icons. There are a few simple rules that will distinguish genuine crying from deceit.

  • Myrrh-streaming is never associated with a specific place.
  • The face of a Saint or the Mother of God never cries in the presence of any one living person, everyone is able to see this miracle.
  • True myrrh-streaming cannot stop just because the icon was brought to the temple.

A real Orthodox miracle can only appear to a truly believing person. Tears on images can portend terrible misfortunes and prepare people for a great salvation. But in any case, the Saints remind us that it is worth repenting and becoming closer to God. We must not forget that we are human beings first and foremost. We wish you good luck and do not forget to press the buttons and

26.07.2015 09:30

Many are faced with unrequited love, when all thoughts and dreams are focused on one particular person. ...

Damage to the blood can cause irreparable harm to health, deprive of good luck and lead to catastrophic consequences. ...

Most people do not believe in miracles, but they happen right before our eyes, and denying that this is really something unusual is simply pointless. Who leads them, where they come from, is difficult to figure out, but Orthodox Christians believe that a miracle comes from the Lord God.

The Bible tells that Jesus Christ performed miracles in front of people more than once, and today these miracles can also be observed. But it is important to remember that a miracle happens only where people really believe in it and where they want to see it with their own eyes.

How can icons cry?

A weeping icon does not at all mean that tears will flow from the eyes of the image, it is most correct to say that a special oil called myrrh begins to stand out, but this oil should not be confused with another oil that is prepared by priests and used for Orthodox rites.

Very rarely, oil begins to appear on the icons, which has nothing to do with the oil used for chrismation. The tears of an icon can be different in their consistency, for example, oil can be thick or liquid.

What does the weeping icon portend?

In fact, icons cry in churches extremely rarely and, as a rule, after that some terrible event occurs in the world, therefore it is generally accepted that the tears of an icon are a sign or a sign to humanity that warns people that it is necessary to repent. And then, perhaps, the Lord will forgive his children and prevent the threat. In no case should you count the tears of the icon bad sign on the contrary, it is a blessed sign sent by God.

The oil that comes from the icon is necessarily collected and given to parishioners in the church, it is considered healing, and many people can once again be convinced that miracles exist, because it can cure even the most serious diseases.

Historical cases and interesting facts about myrrh-streaming icons

For the first time, the weeping icon was seen in Veliky Ustyug. Here lived a holy fool named Procopius, who had a special gift of foresight. Procopius urged people to repent, otherwise they would all perish. No one took the words of Procopius seriously, and then one day a black cloud appeared over the city, which covered the whole city. People in fright rushed to pray near the icon in the church, which immediately began to exude myrrh. The parishioners collected it in vessels, and then smeared themselves and thanked God for forgiving them their sins.

Later, a miracle happened again, and already in 1953 in Sicily, the icon of the Virgin Mary with a baby in her arms began to stream myrrh. There was too much controversy around this case, but scientists wanted to verify the authenticity of the tears. And when they took the liquid for analysis, they were convinced that it was real human tears in terms of composition.

Another miraculous crying icon is "The Laying of a Crown of Thorns on the Head of the Savior." This icon is in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Myrrh began to stand out on the image as early as 1572. In that year, streams of fragrant oil were constantly flowing down the icon, which somehow resembled blood, and this was a sign before terrible tragedy that happened in France. Later this event became known as the St. Bartholomew's Night.

What icons are myrrh-streaming?

Neither scientists nor priests can answer many questions. For example, no one can say for sure why the icons are crying, since this is not always an omen of something bad. It is also worth noting that the crying of the icons can also be different. Icons are crying all over the world, but most of all such images, oddly enough, are located precisely on the territory of Russia.

The clergy say that Lately myrrh-streaming icons have become much more than ever. Not only old images can cry, but also icons that were painted not so long ago. The myrrh-streaming icon is considered a real miracle, and not a single scientist in the world has yet been able to study the origin of this oil, which is released.

A weeping icon does not have to be depicted on a tree. There were cases when myrrh appeared even in photographs of icons or photocopies.

A huge number of scientists constantly studied the consistency of the oil, and none of them could find out exactly what it consists of. Recently, they have even come to the conclusion that oil has great content protein, but as it turned out, such a substance can only be isolated from a living organism. Therefore, the tears of icons remain the biggest unsolved mystery in the world.

How should one treat such a miracle?

The weeping icon is a sign that is explained in different ways. Orthodox Christians treat this phenomenon with great trepidation. Priests are trying not to advertise the myrrh-streaming of icons, because modern people pay attention to the outward miracle and forget that Jesus did not recognize the sign. It should be remembered that a miracle must be a spiritual necessity, and it achieves its goal only if one believes in it.

Icon of the Mother of God weeping

The most famous is the weeping icon of the Mother of God. She streamed myrrh for 15 years. For the Orthodox, this was one of the greatest miracles of the last century. The keeper of this icon is Joseph Munoz, who, having seen the icon once, decided that it should stay with him.

There was an icon on Athos, and when Joseph first asked to give it away, he was refused, but later the abbot came to Joseph and gave the icon, saying that the Mother of God herself blessed him for this act. The tears that were collected from the icon helped many people to heal. To date, the fate of the icon Mother of God unknown, since in 1999 Joseph was killed and the icon was stolen.

Myrrh-streaming icon in Belgorod

Miracles do happen and not too far away. More recently, on the territory of the Belgorod clinic, where there is a hospital church, the icon of the Matrona of Moscow began to stream myrrh. The weeping icon in Belgorod caused a real storm of emotions among the Orthodox, who lined up in a huge live queue to see the miracle with their own eyes, and, of course, kiss it. As soon as it became known that the icon began to stream myrrh, a procedure was carried out that was supposed to testify that this was really a miracle, and not someone's cruel joke.

The Holy Matronushka is not the only weeping icon in Belgorod. In a small village near Belgorod there is a wooden church built in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The icon also began to stream myrrh in it, and everything happened on the evening before the great feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos.

All Orthodox Christians should know that it is impossible to prove the origin of such a miracle, a person should believe and see what the Lord shows him. No analysis has been able to prove that the oil is of earthly origin. Therefore, it is simply impossible to shake the faith of people who really believe with all their soul in the Lord God.

Wedge-9: smell and awe

In the military town of Klin-9 in 2001, elderly woman Icons were streaming myrrh at home. 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? “The miracle, as it began suddenly, can end like this - and then we will regret that we did not see everything with our own eyes, although we could - that's why we are 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 an 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 Miracle of Klin”, 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 being 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 demon-possessed scream, how the sick are healed, and many, many more stories, frightening by the proximity of the 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 for her great mystery 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 advised Holy Bible, then 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 icons lying in wooden cases have drops only on the outside, on the glass door, but most of them lie without salaries, 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 wet 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 on describing the miraculous events taking place in the Russian Orthodox Church, under the Synodal Theological Commission of the Moscow Patriarchate, chaired by Pavel Florensky, worked with the “Klin myrrh-streaming”: “Scientific expertise was carried out by the synodal group , and they, like us, can confirm that oily fluid leakage does indeed occur. 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 exactly in your place?”, 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 “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, as she said, take place here, but we could not find anything specific. 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: “Then she 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 church in honor of the Monk Martyr Seraphim of Klin, located in the garrison, priest Igor Kovalev, whose parishioner before the "myrrh-streaming" was Valentina, says that at first she brought him icons to show, but in the temple their "myrrh-streaming" 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, only one person came to the temple after watching the “myrrh-streaming,” he says.” Considering that Father Igor's church is the only one in the military town, 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, having discussed 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.

There are many miracles in life, that's for sure. Science finds natural explanations for some of them, debunks some as a trick, and there are miracles that even pundits reverently bow their heads. One of them is crying icons. The phenomenon when the tomb of a saint, an icon or a crucifix began to exude a fragrant liquid - myrrh, has long been known. A few years ago, the myrrh-streaming of an icon was considered the rarest and most formidable sign from above, which plunged entire generations of people into awe. However, now, this minute, thousands of icons are weeping simultaneously in hundreds of Orthodox churches in Russia and abroad.

The general “weeping of the saints” began in the mid-90s of the last century with isolated cases of myrrh-streaming images, but by 1999 it had acquired such proportions that the clergy were forced to establish a special Commission to describe the miraculous phenomena occurring in Russian Orthodox Church. The commission includes both theologians and scientists of an absolutely atheistic profile - physicists and chemists. The preliminary conclusions of the commission (precisely preliminary, since the wave of church miracles is growing rapidly) are as follows: something unprecedented is happening in the history of Russia, and perhaps in the entire two thousand-year history of the church.

Miro - wooden oil with red wine and incense, used in Christian rites. According to legend, the rite of chrismation was established by the apostles. The main components - oil and wine - are poured into cauldrons and boiled over low heat. At the end of the process, incense is added to the thickened mixture, the resulting myrrh is poured into consecrated vessels, sealed and sent to the dioceses. The chrism is kept in the altars on the thrones, it is used by the church when performing the sacraments of chrismation of Christians after baptism, during the coronation, and also during the consecration of the thrones of temples. So, the "heavenly" myrrh has nothing to do with the church and is named so only by analogy: it is oily, with a strong smell - usually roses or lilacs. However, this is not a rule - the "heavenly" world may not smell of anything. It also differs in chemical composition.

If before it was believed that only old, prayerful icons had the “right” to stream myrrh, now it has absolutely no meaning. Today, the metal casing, and the glass surface of the icon case, and reproductions, and photographs, and photocopies can stream myrrh. Repeatedly weeping icons were captured on a photo or video camera. Here are just a few examples that can outline the scale of events.

Near Orenburg, in the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Nizhnyaya Pavlovka, there are as many as five myrrh-streaming icons. The Tabynskaya Icon of the Mother of God was the first to cry. There was a phenomenon on the holy keys of Bashkiria, where the parishioners of the temple made a pilgrimage with the icon, and this is recorded in the annals of the local monastery.

On the mountain during divine liturgy a bright ray of sun fell on the Mother of God, - says the rector of the temple, hieromonk Anatoly. - And she began to stream myrrh. The icon literally expired: one “tear” flowed from right hand Savior, the other - from the right shoulder of the Virgin, and the third appeared below. The icon streamed myrrh all day, we put saucers to it, put cotton wool. When the cotton wool was soaked with an oily liquid, it was divided into small pieces and distributed to believers.

Then the icons of the Mother of God "The Inexhaustible Chalice" and Vladimirskaya were streaming myrrh. "Inexhaustible Chalice" - a personal icon of Father Anatoly. But since there are too many people suffering from alcoholism in the village, he often brings her to the temple. Then the Minsk icon of the Mother of God wept, and behind it was the image of Tikhon the Wonderworker of Zadonsk. By the way, Tikhon is usually asked to solve some problems. everyday problems He also helps in getting a job. All icons during myrrh-streaming are fragrant in different ways. The icon of the Tabynskaya Mother of God smells of roses, Tikhon of Zadonsky exudes a sweet smell, like caramel or cake. Minskskaya smells like coniferous forest.

On the day of the opening of the orphanage in the village of Raduzhny near Vladimir, its pupils received a gift from the Archbishop of Vladimir and Suzdal Evlogy - an icon depicting the Blessed Matrona. Three days later, the icon released myrrh. A subtle, unusual aroma, as it turned out later, was felt by everyone who went up in those days to the third floor of the shelter, where a small altar was equipped. But there was a bouquet of white lilies nearby, and therefore no one paid attention to the smell. special attention. Two days later, the flowers were removed and the fragrance became even stronger. Soon one of the pupils found drops of moisture on the saint's face. According to the orphanage's teachers, the girl kissed the icon with her burnt hand, which healed almost immediately.

In Voronezh, the face of the Valaam Mother of God streams myrrh in cave temple Kostomarovsky convent. The ancient icon has its own difficult fate - it is in bullet holes. It is believed that this icon was shot at one time by drunken Red Army soldiers.

Recently, a bleeding icon of the Savior was transported all over Russia. The icon belongs to a resident of the village of Derzhavino Orenburg region Antonina Efimova. The image began to exude blood drops with a characteristic smell of blood more than four years ago. Yes, so much so that the face of the Savior was covered with dried scabs, as it were, and became almost indistinguishable. Bishop Sergius of Samara said on this occasion:

The first time I heard about it, I had my doubts. The Church is always very scrupulous about such miracles, carefully checking their veracity. But when I saw this image, doubts disappeared. On the icon from the head of the Savior, straight from the thorns of the crown of thorns, red trickles flowed down, and I felt the natural smell of blood. When the Samara experts took this exuding red liquid for chemical analysis, it turned out that this was real human blood plasma, the fourth group.

It is impossible to list all the facts. Even from distant Chicago come similar testimonies.

Archdeacon Zacchaeus (Wood) spoke of the miracles taking place in America as follows:

In our diocese, the Lord has lately revealed weeping and myrrh-streaming icons. The first apparition took place a few years ago in the Albanian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas. We also know about another icon of the Mother of God from Cicero, a suburban area of ​​Chicago. She began to cry on the feast of St. George the Victorious. Another icon that belonged to the pious Arab woman streamed myrrh in her house. Surprisingly, the icons that were applied to the Antiochian icon in Cicero and to this one, even paper reproductions, began to stream myrrh and cry, which was an extraordinary miracle.

And, of course, everyone knows about the famous Moscow weeping icons: the Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II in the Nikolsky Church on Bolshaya Ordynka and the myrrh-bleeding icon of the Mother of God "Seven-arrows", which, although it is stored in private collection, managed with procession go around half the country.

Naturally, both church hierarchs and scientists have certain questions about so many miracles. The idea of ​​falsification in this case can be dismissed immediately. Studies have shown that myrrh is deposited on icons, crosses and oklads from the outside like condensate, so the humor about holes drilled by "cunning priests" is out of place here.

Here is the opinion of Vladimir PAVLOV, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, leading researcher MIAN them. V. A. Steklova:

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? “Out of nothing” matter is formed - myrrh, tears, drops of blood on the 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 nuclear power plant matter is converted into energy. It is 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. You just need to remember: 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 just 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, knowledge of its chemical composition does not bring us any closer to unraveling the phenomenon itself.

True, Christians around the world are not at all concerned about the scientific aspect of the problem, but for good or for worse, Orthodox icons wept en masse. The official position of the church was expressed by the head of the communication service of the Moscow Patriarchate Viktor MALUKHIN:

Like this. And in general - wait and see.

R. S. In the biological laboratories of Kiev University, an analysis was made of the world exuded by the relics of saints resting in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Miro turned out to be a substance with a high protein content - but this is not at all important. Biologists found it difficult to classify, but they said firmly: only a living organism can exude such a substance.