Thousands of UOC faithful venerate wonderworking Pochaiv Icon

Procession on the feast of the Pochaev Icon. Photo: Khmelnytskyi Eparchy

On August 5, 2025, the feast day of the Pochaiv Icon of the Mother of God, a multitude of clergy and thousands of faithful from across Ukraine gathered at the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra to pray before the wonderworking image. The Lavra's press service published a video of the celebration.

Festivities began on August 4. In keeping with tradition, the miraculous icon was solemnly transferred from the Dormition Cathedral to the Transfiguration Cathedral, where the main services took place.

On the eve of the feast, thousands of pilgrims gathered in the Transfiguration Cathedral for an all-night vigil and akathist before the icon of the Theotokos. Many of them had arrived on foot as part of processional pilgrimages.

The festive services were celebrated by a host of hierarchs, the Lavra brethren, and guest clergy, led by Metropolitan Sergiy of Ternopil and Kremenets.

On the feast day itself, August 5, the Divine Liturgy in the Transfiguration Cathedral united Orthodox Christians from all corners of Ukraine in prayer.

During the service, prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine, for the armed forces, for the God-loving people, and for all those suffering or displaced by war.

After the Liturgy, the wonderworking icon of the Mother of God was solemnly carried back to the Dormition Cathedral in a large and reverent procession. There, the feast concluded with a thanksgiving moleben and prayer to the Theotokos.

At the end of the celebrations, Metropolitan Volodymyr of Pochaiv, the abbot of the Lavra, offered congratulations to the hierarchs, clergy, and countless faithful gathered for the commemoration of the Pochaiv Icon of the Mother of God.

As previously reported by the UOJ, August 5 (July 23 according to the Julian calendar) marks the feast day of the Pochaiv Icon of the Mother of God – one of the most venerated sacred images in the Orthodox world.

The icon is known for numerous miracles. The most famous took place on August 5, 1675, when the monastery was saved from a Tatar siege. On that day, the Mother of God appeared in the sky over Pochaiv, accompanied by St. Job of Pochaiv and a host of angels, driving away the invading army.

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