The walls of a church dedicated to the Icon of the Mother of God “The Joy of All Who Sorrow” in Mukačevo in Carpatho-Rusyn streamed myrrh. This happened right before a fire broke out in a neighbouring church under construction. According to the rector of the parish, Fr Nikolai, parishioners first noticed drops of myrrh on a wall with frescoes of the Mother of God, the Saviour, and St John the Baptist in the summer of 2008. A visiting Archbishop also confirmed that this phenomenon was myrrh, the website Gazeta.ua reported on Friday. “Subsequently, myrrh exuded from a neighbouring wall, but it was weaker. We could not understand what this might mean. A month later, our new church burnt down. The appearance of the myrrh was a warning, for the new building caught on fire on 28 September 2008”, Fr Nikolai related. He told us that, because of the fire, the unfinished church in honour of All Saints was heavily damaged from the inside. The community suffered a loss of more than 1.8 million roubles (60,826 USD 42,298 Euros 37,386 UK Pounds). However, drops of myrrh began to emerge on the walls afterwards, especially before major holidays. The clergy do not collect the myrrh, and, Fr Nikolai told us, then, the moisture is absorbed into the wall. “Many people come here. They believe in the miraculous power of the monastery. Miracles have occurred here. In May 2009, near the icon of the Mother of God, dried lilies began to bloom. They bloomed for two weeks”, he said.
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