MOTHER OF GOD OF OZERIANKA

Day 184: November 12

MOTHER OF GOD OF OZERIANKA, Kharkiv, Ukraine

This icon represents the Virgin Mary, who was shown to be alive in the 1600s in Ozeryanka (Озерянка), about 15 miles outside the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine. Recognized as miraculous by Catholics, Orthodox, Ukrainians and Russians for its many and extraordinary miracles.

One of the most venerated icons of the region is the Slobozhanskiy – Ozeryanska Madonna. The name given to this miraculous image comes from the place where it was found, precisely the banks of the Ozeryanki River. Currently, the lowest village of Ozeryana, located 30 kilometers southwest of Kharkov, is 3 km from Merefa.

According to legend, a local farmer was mowing the grass in the meadow when he heard a moan and bent down to realize that there was an icon among the vegetation and the scythe had partly cut off the face of the Virgin represented in it. Saddened by this involuntary gesture, he took the icon to his home, but the next morning he found it in the exact spot where he had found it. Not only that, but the cut caused by the scythe had been reabsorbed, in fact only a microscopic scar remained.

This first miracle attracted many pilgrims, sick and suffering in soul and body. The miracles were not long in taking place and were immediately all well documented: feet, hands, throat, eyes, every part of the body and spirit seemed to heal the tender Mother, not neglecting the spirit, in fact there were also several liberations of obsessed. Like the young Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko who in 1778 was healed of blindness while seeing a light coming from the icon.

A wooden church dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built and here the sacred icon was placed that did not cease to bring thanks to all its devotees. By grace received, the monastery dedicated to the Transfiguration in Kuriazh was created, builtfollowing a vow made by a monk for the healing of a foot. Even during the cholera epidemic between 1833 and 1871, the people saw the disease disappear after invoking and praying to the Blessed Virgin, whom they passed from house to house through the holy icon.

In 1844, at the request of the residents of Kharkiv, Bishop Innocent (Borisov) received permission from the Holy Synod to transfer the icon for the winter period to the Kuryazhsky Monastery in St. Basil's Cathedral through two processions, on September 30 and April 22, from Kharkov to Kuryazh. Everyone during the procession closed their shops, schools and went to see the passage of the Virgin Ozeryanska.

After the October Revolution, worship in the parish church of St. John the Baptist continued until November 1935 when the church was closed and destroyed. Now only a wooden cross remains on the place in memory, since the church was destroyed and every effort was made to eliminate any sign indicating its previous construction, but the spring that had gushed out after the first miracle was never able to stop it. Even the ban on meeting and prayer in this place was never respected, because believers continued to approach to obtain consolation and graces.

The icon, 40 cm high and 34 cm wide, was rebuilt at the beginning of the 21st century and on September 16, 2010, it was consecrated to Ozeryanah. It is currently in the Church of the Holy Cross of the Monastery in the Kharkiv diocese.

Now everyone is free to pray openly. The last decade of the last century was the time of the revival of Orthodox life in Ozeryane. In the summer of 1991 work began on the construction of a chapel which was completed in the summer of 1994.

Now, in Ozeryanska there are two icons: an old one, handed down by the archpriest Nikolai Baranenko, who for many years served as rector of the Ozeryanska Kharkov church, the second made by the artist painter Inna Boyko. Even today these icons are miraculous for his faithful.

Several years ago, an elderly woman due to a bad illness deprived of the ability to move independently, after an ardent prayer and bathing in the water of the spring obtained the grace of healing, so much so that she was able to drive a car home.

A resident of the city of Sumy in Ozeryanu arrived with his son, who had lost his sight following an accident in the chemical industry, after praying with love and hope to the Virgin Mary, and after washing his face in the spring he obtained healing.

To this day, the pilgrim crowds continue to kneel in supplication at the feet of the Mother of God in Ozeryanka for grace and comfort.

St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"Glory to the Most Blessed Trinity in you, O Mary! Glory to you, O Mary, in the Blessed Trinity, for your flight to Egypt with Jesus and Joseph, for your exile in Egypt with Jesus and Joseph, for your return from Egypt with Jesus and Joseph, for your stay in Nazareth with Jesus and Joseph, for your ascension to Jerusalem with Jesus and Joseph, for the loss and search for Jesus by you and St Joseph, for the adolescence of Jesus with you and St Joseph, for the years of Jesus' youth with you and St Joseph, for your interior life."

(Ascension, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, New Jersey, 1997, pp. 396-397)