Miracles performed by the icon of Our Lady "Pantanassa" – the cancer healer

• On September 30, 1990, Hieromonk Evdochim, the spiritual father of the Vatopedi Hermitage of Saint Demetrius, after venerating the icons with the other monks during the Vespers, sat down in his place in the pew in front of the Pantanassa icon. Suddenly, he clearly saw countless rays of light emanating from the icon. He then asked the hieromonk sitting next to him if he also saw the light and rays emanating from the icon of the Mother of God. The latter replied that he did not, and immediately the radiance of the rays ceased. “Those rays and the light emanating from the icon of the Mother of God Pantanassa made my heart glad, for after 60 years on the Holy Mountain the Mother of God has made me worthy to see such a miracle,” confessed Father Evdochim.

• Elder Andrula Papahristodulu from Nicosia, Cyprus, tells us the following incident that occurred towards the end of 1990. One night, while she was sleeping, she let out a loud groan, lay down and, with her eyes open, fell into a coma. Family members thought she had died. After first aid, she began to show signs of life. At the hospital, many tests were performed on her, over several days, and it was discovered that she had a brain tumor, requiring emergency surgery. After confessing and receiving the Holy Unction, she went to the operation with trust in Our Lady of Pantanassa, whose icon she always had with her — even in the hospital — during the operation. However, during the operation, the tumor could not be completely removed, as there were some remains. Because of this, she had great difficulties (she was dizzy, she could not walk or speak well, noises bothered her a lot). However, she left the hospital, because Christmas was approaching. One day, while she was lying on the bed, with the Pantanassa icon above her head, she felt a pleasant, inexplicable fragrance that lasted about 10 minutes, becoming stronger and stronger. At first, the family members did not smell anything. Then they also noticed the fragrance and understood, excitedly, that it was the Virgin Mary’s visit. After a few days, the fragrance repeated, which convinced the patient that the Virgin Mary would heal her.
  
  Going back to the hospital for an examination, the doctor came to her with the results of the tomography and asked her in surprise: “Have you undergone any therapy outside the hospital?”
  
  “No,” the patient replied.
  “Okay, but the CT scan doesn’t show anything!”
  
  Then the patient confessed that she expected to find no trace of the tumor and told them what had happened. The doctor replied: “I also believe in the miracles of the Mother of God, because she also healed my 4-year-old daughter who suffered from leukemia, and how healthy she is.” Today, the presbyter is completely restored and thanks the Mother of God for the miracle.

• An 8-year-old boy named Mikhail Iacunin from the city of Tolyatti was hospitalized at the Children’s Oncology Center in Moscow, suffering from eye cancer. At the head of his bed, on the left, was a paper icon of the Mother of God, a copy of the Pantanassa icon. On November 11, 1991, the boy’s mother, who was standing nearby and praying to the Mother of God for the boy’s healing with a friend named Claudia Ohartina, saw rays of light coming out of the icon. A few days later, however, during the night, the boy’s mother painfully noticed that Mihail’s heart had stopped beating. She ran after the nurse. Returning together, while it was dark in the corridor and in the ward, they saw two rays of light coming from the icon towards the body of the dead child. Immediately, the boy’s heart started beating again. This case prompted the Moscow Patriarchate to invite a Vatopedian delegation, headed by Archimandrite Ephrem, to bring two copies of the Pantanassa icon to Moscow (the same size as those brought to Romania). Recently, a new copy was taken to the Valaam Monastery, two months before the pilgrimage of the Pantanassa icons to Romania.

• Pavel Ipaspistis from Drama, Greece, writes: “We visited the Vatopedi monastery in the summer of 1994. The monastery guide told us about the Pantanassa icon that cures cancer. Since my mother had such a problem with her facial skin, I prayed before the icon of the Mother of God, on my knees, to heal her, promising her that I would leave my little golden cross with the icon. When I left the monastery, I took with me some oil from the lamp that I gave to my mother. After she was anointed with that oil, the skin cancer subsided. When I went back to the hospital in Drama for the usual cauterization, she was told that it was no longer necessary, because the tumor no longer existed. Since then, my mother has been completely healed.”

• N. Papaevripidis, a refugee from Morphou, Cyprus, writes: “My mother was in the “Macarios” hospital in Nicosia, suffering from cancer in the nasopharyngeal region, with multiple hemorrhages from the nose and throat. The cancer was also certified by biopsies and tests. In two days she had to be operated on. In the evening I was at home and watching TV. There was a program on the “Logos” channel and the Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi, Archimandrite Ephrem, was speaking. At one point, he mentioned the miracles of the icon of the Mother of God Pantanassa. I immediately crossed myself, prayed to the Mother of God and made her a promise. All this happened in February 1995. The next day a team of doctors from the “Macarios” hospital came to my mother’s bedside for a check-up. The head of the examination committee, stunned, shouted to the others: “Do you believe in miracles? She has nothing left!” Indeed, she had completely recovered, no further surgery being needed. The mother’s name is Evdochia Papaevripidis, she is 80 years old and lives in Limassol, Cyprus.”

• Panaghiotis Iconomu from Larisa, Greece, writes to us on December 22, 1995: “I am writing to you about a miracle that happened to me, the unworthy one, through the icon of the Mother of God Pantanassa. I was suffering from a disease in both ears, from which a liquid with a disgusting smell came out. I also had an unbearable itch. When, with the grace of the Mother of God, I came to the Vatopedi Monastery in February 1995, I heard from the abbot of the monastery about a miracle of the Pantanassa icon. At that very moment, my hope for salvation turned to the miraculous oil from the lamp of the Pantanassa icon and I promised the Mother of God that, if I got well, I would leave my golden baptismal cross with the icon. After a period of three months, the bad smell in my ears disappeared, and the itching also diminished. Today, as I write to you, I am completely healed and I give glory to God and His Most Pure Mother.”

• On March 18, 1996, a woman told Archpriest Artemiy Vladimirov, the proestamen of the Church of All Saints in Krasanoe Selo, Moscow — where one of the copies of the Pantanassa icon was brought — a case that had occurred in her family after earnest prayers before the icon. Her son had been abusing very strong narcotics for many years. All attempts to get him to give them up were in vain. One day, when the woman returned home after praying in church in front of the Pantanassa icon, her son asked her to give him some of the holy water that had just been consecrated at the icon of the Mother of God, telling her that he had decided to permanently stop using narcotics and that he wanted to pursue a profession that would help drug addicts. Three months had passed since then. During the medical examination, the doctors found the complete absence of traces of drugs and the complete regeneration of the young man's body. Now he is undergoing training courses at the Oncology Center in Moscow. This is how the Mother of God saved this young man from death.

• Lyudmila had a malignant tumor, the size of an olive, in the area of ​​her face, which completely disappeared after she anointed her face with oil during the performance of the Pantanassa Icon Chapel at the Church of All Saints in Moscow (March 1996).

• Nadezhda, from Moscow, suffered a spinal injury (joint compression with displacement). She was constantly tormented by pain and could not take even twenty steps. She had also suffered a jaw injury and had eczema on her face. After praying in front of the Pantanassa Icon, she was completely healed (June 1996).

• A believer read the Pantanassa Icon Chapel daily in the Church of All Saints in Moscow for her atheist relatives. After a short time, they began to attend church (August 1996).

• Niki Anniva from Paphos, Cyprus, writes to us on September 5, 1996: “Two days ago, I called the Vatopedi Monastery to have a Chapel for me at the icon of the Mother of God Pantanassa (glorified be her name!) because I had a large ovarian cyst, and the doctor told me that I needed surgery. I was very scared, because my mother died last year of uterine cancer. But today, when I went to the doctor, he told me that I had nothing and that there was no need for surgery, because the cyst had disappeared. My joy cannot be described! Glory be to the Lord!”

• Moscow, December 1996. Liuboi had uterine cancer and the doctors suggested surgery. She immediately came to the church to participate in the Akathist of the icon of Pantanassa. Before the operation, during the medical examination, it was discovered that the uterine tumor had completely disappeared.

• Moscow, January 1997. Yuri, 48 years old, had a complete breakdown of his nervous system. His relatives began to read the Chaplet of the Mother of God at the Pantanassa icon for him. He was completely cured.

• Moscow, April 1997. Alexander, 20 years old, had a brain tumor. He began to pray in front of the Pantanassa icon. The tumor disappeared.

• Moscow, May 1997. Victor had a tumor in the spinal cord tissue. His mother read the Akathist to Pantanassa. Upon re-examination, no trace of the tumor was found.

• June 1997. Sofia, 50 years old, was suffering from a rare form of cancer and the doctors recommended her for surgery. The diagnosis was certified at the Moscow Oncology Center and urgent surgical intervention was proposed. The woman went to church, prayed in front of the Pantanassa icon, and at home continued to read the Akathist to the icon. A month later, upon re-examination, the tumor was no longer found.

• Moscow, July 1997. Maria had uterine cancer. She read the Pantanassa Chapel and within two weeks the cancer disappeared.

• August 1997. Alexander, from the city of Ulyanovsk, had been suffering from kidney, bladder and prostate cancer since January 1997. He began to pray to the Pantanassa icon. A short time later, during a check-up, it was found that the disease had completely disappeared.

• Moscow, September 1997. Olga had stage 4 uterine cancer. She read the Pantanassa Chapel in church and the Akathist to the icon at home for 40 days. During a check-up, the disappearance of the tumor was observed.

• January 1998. The church dedicated to Saint John of Kronstadt in Udmurtia (near the Ural Mountains) was presented with a copy of the Pantanassa icon and blessed oil at the Chapel performed in the All Saints Church in Moscow. Thus, many healings of incurable diseases took place, and today the Akathist to the icon is read weekly in the church.

• January 1998. A young man was praying in the Church of All Saints in Moscow for his mother who was suffering from cancer and who was also reading the Akathist to the icon at home. Shortly after, the cancer disappeared.

• Moscow, January 1998. Maria had cancer in one of her breasts, which was constantly swelling. She asked to have the Chapel of the Pantanassa icon performed at the church. After three days she felt better, and after a week she was completely healed.

• Moscow, February 1998. A woman was supposed to have surgery to remove her lymph nodes, but she did not want to. She began to read the Akathist to the Pantanassa icon. Three days later she went to the doctor, who told her that she had nothing left and that she was completely healthy.

• Moscow, March 1998. Talina had intestinal cancer. She underwent surgery. A subsequent check-up revealed that the tumor had metastasized to her liver and spleen. Praying in front of the Pantanassa icon, she was completely cured.

• Moscow, spring 1998. Roman had hepatitis C, which caused him stomach pain and drowsiness. His mother prayed in front of the Pantanassa icon and anointed him with oil from the icon's candle. Soon, the young man was cured.

• June 1998. A baby named Ana was hospitalized at the Children's Oncology Center in Moscow, diagnosed with stage 3 abdominal cancer. At home, the parents read the Akathist to the Pantanassa icon. Within a month, the tumor disappeared.

• A young woman named Ana was diagnosed with peritonitis. He read the Akathist to the Mother of God Pantanassa and was completely healed (Moscow, June 7, 1998).

• A child had been suffering from leprosy for four years. His mother read the Akathist to the Mother of God Pantanassa, attended the Divine Liturgy in the Church of All Saints, and took oil from the icon candle, with which she anointed the child. The child was completely healed (Moscow, August 13, 1998).

• Alexander of Moscow had bladder cancer. After reading the Akathist to Pantanassa and anointing himself with oil from the icon, he was healed (January 1999).

• Natalia Marinova, from Bulgaria, wrote on February 24, 1999, to the Vatopedi Monastery: “I learned about the miracle-working icon of the Mother of God called Pantanassa and I was very happy. I know that you pray for people suffering from cancer. Therefore, I gathered courage and decided to bother you, asking you to intercede for an elderly woman who has cancer. Her grandson goes to the “Saint Nicholas” church in our neighborhood. A few days ago, I saw in the church in the center of Varna the Akathist of the Mother of God Pantanassa (translated into Bulgarian), together with the icon that you have at the monastery. I took the Akathist to the sick woman — the woman’s name is Veselina — and she began to read it. Today, her grandson told me that, as she reads the Akathist, Veselina feels better and better. That is why I decided to write to you, to ask you to pray for her…”.

• A man from Moscow, named George, had a wife who was sick with breast cancer. He read the Akathist to the Pantanassa icon and took oil from the candel for his wife. In a short time, she was completely healed (March 1999).

• Angelica was suffering from cancer. The doctors were powerless, nothing could be done. She began to pray in front of the Pantanassa icon and anointed herself with oil from the candel on the diseased area, completely healing herself (Moscow, April 1999).

• Little Kirill Soprokov, aged 3 and a half, from the city of Oral, was diagnosed by doctors with leukemia. His parents began to pray fervently in front of the Pantanassa icon. After eight months, the boy was healed (June 4, 1999).

• A woman suffered from a serious pancreatic disease. The doctors could do nothing. Her daughter, Tania, began to pray to the Pantanassa icon, and after a few days her mother recovered. Upon re-examination, the doctors found nothing (Moscow, July 1999).

• Orthodox priest Ephrem of Worchester, Massachusetts (USA), in his letter of July 7, 1999, writes about an incident related to a copy of the Pantanassa icon, which he purchased from Vatopedi for the parishioners in his parish. One Sunday, he visited a woman who was unable to move due to a stroke. However, she did not suffer from cancer. The woman lived with her two daughters. When the priest arrived, one of the daughters greeted him joyfully. However, the other, Elisabeth, did not even speak to him, but sat by her mother’s bed with her eyes fixed on the floor, rocking on the edge of the bed. The priest thought that the girl was behaving this way because she was angry with him. After saying the prayer of communion for the sick woman, he placed the Pantanassa icon next to her, on the bed. At that moment, Elisabeth, as if waking up from a reverie, looked him in the eye, took the icon from his hands and brought it closer to the sick woman to kiss it, and together they said the communion prayers. Then she did not utter a word and, after Holy Communion, she began to look at the floor again and rock on the bed. Returning home, the priest called Elisabeth's sister to ask her about her strange behavior. The young woman replied that, immediately after he left, Elisabeth suddenly fell to the ground, unconscious. They quickly took her by ambulance to the hospital and thus learned the explanation for her behavior: Elisabeth had a large tumor on her brain, a relapse of breast cancer that had been stagnant for many years. The girl had nothing to do with the priest, but she could not speak or move because of the crisis she was having, except for the moments when she prayed with her mother and they worshiped the icon! After the tomography, the doctors gave the girl only a few weeks to live. However, at the next re-examination, it was found that the tumor had completely disappeared, and the doctors could only explain the girl's healing by a miracle.

• Eugenia Constantinova had trigeminal neuralgia, with unbearable pain. She read the Akathist of the Mother of God Pantanassa for 40 days, went to the Holy Liturgy in the Church of All Saints in Moscow and anointed herself with oil from the icon's candle, and was healed. This happened in September 1999.

• Lidia Bitcova Dimitrievna, from Moscow, had a discomfort in the stomach area. After a biopsy, she was diagnosed with a malignant tumor, and the doctors recommended surgery. In the end, the operation was scheduled for three months. During this time, the woman read the Akathist daily and anointed herself with oil from the Pantanassa icon candle. At the next medical examination, the cancer had disappeared (September 7, 1999).

• Nina, from Moscow, suffered from a profound deterioration of her vital organs (kidneys, pancreas, liver). She suffered for six years, without finding a cure. Someone told her about the miracle-working Pantanassa icon. She went to the Liturgy and then asked for oil from the icon candle. Shortly after, she was completely healed (January 9, 2000).

• Natalia Galit Gerknevna, from Orsk, Orenburg region, had breast cancer. After reading the Akathist of Pantanassa for 40 days, she was cured (January 29, 2000).

• Lyudmila had stage 4 colon cancer and cancerous tumors in the uterus and liver. After the operation, the doctors gave her only two weeks to live. The dying woman began to pray fervently and sing the Akathist of the Mother of God in front of the Pantanassa icon. Now, three years later, Lyudmila is alive and gives glory to the All-Empress for the miracle (Moscow, February 2000).

• Valentina, from the city of Orel, had a malignant tumor. The doctors could not help her. She began to read the Akathist of the All-Empress. Soon, the tumor disappeared (March 20, 2000).

• Lidia, from the Altai Mountains, had stomach cancer. A diseased portion was removed, but the cancer spread. She began to read the Akathist and drink a little holy water daily during the Chapel at the Church of All Saints. The metastasis stopped. She is now alive and well (May 2000).

• Olga Axenova has a sister in Nizhny Novgorod who was suffering from stomach cancer. The doctors recommended her for surgery. She began to pray while reading the Akathist to the All-Empress and soon she was cured (September 27, 2000).

• Archdeacon Sergius Reinhardt, from the Belgian city of Silly, had metastatic cancer that had attacked several internal organs. He sent a letter to the Church of All Saints in Moscow, where the copy of the Pantanassa icon is located, asking for prayers for her. After a short time, his health improved, and within a few months he was completely cured (January 14, 2001).

(Athonite Testimony in Romania, Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi, Mount Athos, 2004, 188-193)