The Virgin Mary the Healer, 1750 CE - 1900 CE
Oil on Wood Panel
10 x 11.75
PF.5183
This icon was once owned by the hospital of the St. Virgin the Healer in St. Petersburg. According to the story associated with it, a friar of the church of...
This icon was once owned by the hospital of the St. Virgin the Healer in St. Petersburg. According to the story associated with it, a friar of the church of Nazarene was very ill and near death. On the day of the Holy Bliss he was healed as if by an angelic miracle. The icon shows the sick man lying in bed propped up on a thick pillow. The Virgin stands next to him with white rays of light emanating from her crown and from her hand. A heavy green drape frames the left side, while a lone cypress tree can be seen through the archway at right, stark against the night sky. From this simple scene we derive a comforting message, of renewed health both physical and spiritual through prayer, and the sense that miraculous intervention is possible in an hour of need.