On Friday, October 2, the wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign arrived at Koltsovo Airport in Yekaterinburg, Russia, accompanied by His Eminence Herman, Metropolitan of Kursk & Rylsk, and His Grace Nicholas, Bishop of Manhattan, vicar of the Eastern American Diocese. The Icon was greeted by His Eminence Kyrill, Metropolitan of Yekaterinburg & Verkhotursk.

At a news conference upon completion of a short moleben before the wonderworking Icon in the VIP terminal of Koltsovo Airport, Metropolitan Kyrill, Metropolitan Herman, and Bishop Nicholas spoke about the history and signification of the wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God, about the veneration of this wonderworking Icon in Russia and abroad, and about the largest procession in the history of the Russian Empire that would proceed with this great holy image.

Metropolitan Kyrill: It so happened that the Icon left the borders of our Fatherland, but it always remained in our loving hearts. This is one of the most important and most revered icons of the Orthodox Church, the Kursk Root Icon. And today we give thanks to God and to the Mother of God for the mercy occasioned upon us, and also thank His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill, and the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Metropolitan Hilarion, who blessed the first-ever visit of this Icon to our city.

Miracles occurred from the Kursk Root Icon during difficult, tumultuous times. We hope that this Icon will make our lives today more peaceful and humble our hearts, that we might live in joy and thank God for every moment of our lives.

A short question to Bishop Nicholas: We welcome you to our land and would like to know if you think that this visit of the Icon from America will help unify and reconcile our peoples?

Bishop Nicholas: Without a doubt, we will be spiritually strengthened and unified. The Mother of God is also our Mother. She hears our prayers and petitions. That is why we must all pray before her icon, beseeching her aid, consolation, and the forgiveness of sins – this is the path toward unity.

Please tell us about some of the miracles that have taken place through the Icon.

Bishop Nicholas: One cannot, of course, briefly describe all of the miracles. A multitude of miraculous healings and other forms of aid have occurred. The Mother of God hears our prayers, but the most important thing is that we receive everything with a pure heart and mind. Bring prayers and repentance, and the Mother of God will grant everything we need for salvation.

How did the Icon end up in New York, and how do Orthodox believers venerate it there?

Bishop Nicholas: The Icon is housed in the Synod of Bishops in New York City, and for the faithful it is a great intercessor, a great object of veneration. The Icon left with the emigration from Russia in 1920, and by 1951 was brought to New York, and is now kept in the cathedral dedicated to this holy image.

Your Eminence, Metropolitan Herman, since 2009 the Kursk Icon had been visiting the site of its miraculous discovery. Please tell us how the Icon is greeted in the land of Kursk?

Metropolitan Herman: The Icon is greeted in the Kursk lands with great ceremony: many pilgrims from other cities, tens of thousands of faithful, an enormous procession goes from Kursk Root Hermitage to the Cathedral of the Sign, which was built in the Icon’s honor in 1825. This is our greatest holy icon, for it appeared, as Metropolitan Kirill noted, in 1295 on the site where the Kursk Root Hermitage now stands. The city of Kursk itself was given new life from this Icon. Even before the Time of Troubles, our city was razed to the ground, and by order of the pious Tsar Theodore Ioannovich, who heard about the miracles stemming from this Icon, the city of Kursk was rebuilt from its ruins. And all of the main events surrounding our city are connected with the Kursk Root Icon; every family has experienced some event, some grace-filled help from the Icon. As a child, Venerable Seraphim of Sarov was healed from a debilitating illness by this Icon – his mother brought him up to the Icon with faith and piety, and he was completely healed. When the Icon was brought into the dusty fields plagued by many years of drought, abundant rains began, and the Kursk region became the breadbasket of the surrounding governorates. During wartime, the Icon was often brought to visit our armed forces. Sovereigns and emperors came to venerate the icon when they visited Kursk. Today, the Icon has a special mission – it travels throughout the world and awakens faith in human souls, it unifies them. It remains the main holy icon of Kursk and is now also the main holy icon of the Russian Diaspora. After the historic reconciliation in 2007 of the two branches of the Russian Orthodox Church here and abroad, beginning in 2009, the Icon has come to Kursk annually, and gathers a multitude of people. Day and night, people stream to venerate the holy image – some 200,000 people on average. We call the days of the visit of the Icon in Kursk "the Autumnal Pascha." There is a general uplifting of the spirit of the people, because in our land, they sense it, understand it, and they stand joyfully for hours to kiss the Icon. I hope that we see the same in Yekaterinburg, as well.

Metropolitan Kyrill: Metropolitan Herman, I would like to add, too, that the procession of the cross from Kursk Root Hermitage to the Cathedral of the Sign was always the largest in the Russian Empire. Nowhere else did so many people gather: not the Velikoretsk procession, nor any other. It was a procession of the greatest number of people, it was truly a procession of the people, which is reminiscent of the July procession in honor of Emperor Nicholas II.

After the press conference, the archpastors of the Russian Orthodox Church departed for the Church-on-the-Blood – built on the spot where the Royal Family ended their lives in martyrdom– to perform the divine services before the wonderworking Icon.