“Conversational” Icon of the Mother of God

The “Conversational" Icon of the Mother of God received its name because it depicts the Mother of God and Saint Nicholas of Myra conversing with the sacristan George, also called Yurysh. This event occurred soon after the appearance of the Tikhvin Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos in 1383, when the Mother of God herself commanded George to say that the metal cross on the newly-built temple at Tikhvin should be replaced with a wooden one.

A chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker was built on the spot where the vision occurred. The chapel burned down several times (the first time was in 1390, at the same time as the church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos). In 1515, a wooden church was built, and a Monastery was also founded in honor of the Icon.

One of the most revered of these "Conversational" icons was in the town of Pavlovsk in the Zvenigorod district of Moscow. A young peasant woman, Theodosia Vasilieva, lived in Pavlovsk. and suffered from attacks of a severe illness: she would be stricken with terrible pains in her head, and limbs, exhausting her strength and forcing her into bed. In 1848, during a particularly harsh and prolonged attack, she had a dream in which she held an Icon of the Mother of God, chipped and blackened with age. From the Icon, Theodosia heard a voice say: "Restore me, I shall be a helper of Christians. How many years have I been lying in this forlorn place, and no one has bothered to find and restore me?"

"How shall I find you?" asked Theodosia.

"When you mind, you shall find," came the reply.

Three days later, Theodosia felt well enough to make her way to the local church. Entering the narthex, she saw on the wall the same "Conversational" icon she had beheld in her dream. The old Icon had been relegated to the church basement, where it had lain neglected for many years until, in 1846, a church custodian rescued it and placed it in the narthex. Theodosia collected some money and the Icon was taken to Moscow for restoration.

On the night before the Icon returned to Pavlovsk, Theodosia saw the restored Icon in a dream and heard a voice directing her to take the Icon home and have a Moleben served before it, which she did. At the start of the Moleben, Theodosia had a seizure, but after she was sprinkled with holy water, she came to herself. She drank some holy water and then afterward she felt strong enough to carry the Icon back to the church by herself. Soon she made a complete recovery.

When Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow was informed of the miracle, he instructed the priests to make a weekly report of any other miracles. Among these were the healings of another peasant girl named Natalia, and of a peasant named Paul, both of whom suffered from epileptic seizures.

We pray before the "Converser" Icon of the Mother of God for success in building, for construction in general, and for the restoration and preservation of Orthodox churches and monasteries.