Taken from a pamphlet published by the Monastery of St. Siloan.
“”History of the Icon “The Inexhaustible Cup”
Commemorated May 5/18
Herein follows a translation of an official pamphlet pirnted in Serpukov, Russia, in the Year 1912.
The miraculous Icon of the Mother of God “The Inexhaustible Cup” is located in the main Cathedral of the Serpukov Women’s Monastery, dedicated to the Mother of God. It resides in a separately made iconostasis next to the sepulcher of St. Varlaam, the original builder of the Monastery. This icon is widely renowned, for people come to pray in front of it from everywhere, not only from within Serpukov but even from far away.
For many people, however, the meaning of this Icon’s title of “The Inexhaustible Cup” is incomprehensible. “The Inexhaustible Cup” is an inexhaustible cup of joy, consolation, healing, life; in other words, the inexhaustible spring of all blessings and gifts. (The “Cup which draws forth joy,” as it says in the Akathist.) By calling the Mother of God “The Inexhaustible Cup” one understands this in the sense of Her being quintessentially pure. One can see thereby the deep spiritual reason as to why the Icon “The Inexhaustible Cup” has become the source of salvific hopes and healings for those who, by coming to this Icon, run to Her when fighting their passion of drunkenness.
The Mother of God prays for all sinners. She desires the salvation of all. She is merciful. Witnessing the sufferings of those who have fallen into the passion of drunkenness, She sees that many of them sincerely desire to renounce this terrible tyrant, to be healed of this sickness, but that they do not have enough power within themselves to fight this enemy and overcome it.
So the Mother of God through Her icon “The Inexhaustible Cup,” as it were, entreats all these sufferers to appeal to her, the heavenly Queen, for help. She is the inexhaustible spring of spiritual joy; She will pour into their hearts from Her inexhaustible cup the spiritual gifts of heavenly sweetness after which they will hate and reject that destroying cup of strong drink which so strongly attracted them before.
You unfortunate sufferers who are subject to this drinking passion: At every place and at all times, come to the powerful protection of the heavenly Queen; make a rule, if you want to be healed, to read three times a day the angelic greeting, “O Theotokos and Virgin, rejoice! Mary full of grace the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou amongst women, and blessed is the Fruit of Thy womb, for Thou hast borne the Savior of our souls!” It doesn’t matter how strongly this passion has overpowered you, it will be powerless against the heavenly help of the Mother of God. No one who comes to Her will be turned away.
In the end, O sufferer, there will be joyful salvation for you and all your household and there will be glory to our God who have to us sinners the gift of such a powerful helper, comforter, and giver of mercy–His Mother. From the following account the reader will see when and on what occasion the icon of the Theotokos “The Inexhaustible Cup” was reveled and glorified.
This story truly belongs to the whole monastery because only 35 years have passed since that time and many still remember it. Yet this story is mostly the story of Nun Elizabeth (+1910) because it was she who had the obedience of caring for the Church where the wonder-working Icon, “The Inexhaustible Cup”, was at that time revealed. Moreover, this nun had a remarkably sharp memory and time seemed to be powerless in stealing away any detail from what she knew. It may be added that Nun Elizabeth was noted for her simple, compassionate heart, and for that reason everyone loved her. She tended the holy Icon of the Theotokos, “The Inexhaustible Cup” until her death. Here is her story. . .
All of this happened in the first year of Mother Maria’s abbacy (1878). A certain peasant of the Tula province (in the district of Efremov), a retired soldier on pension, had a weakness for wine* [*This was in actuality a “passion for alcohol”, which describes the spiritual condition of addiction. One may similarly be bound by other addictions, such as to drugs.] He would drink away all his pension, everything that he possessed and anything that could be found in his house. As a result he ended up in absolute misery. From excessive drinking, his legs became paralyzed but still he continued drinking.
One day, the man, who was in such disorder—in body, should, and material resources—had an unusual dream. In it a venerable elder came to him and said: “Go to Serpukov, to the Monastery of the Theotokos. There, in the Church of Saint George, is an icon of the Mother of God called “The Inexhaustible Cup”. Have a molben served before it, and you will be healed—both spiritually and physically.”
The rest is in the pinned comment.
"Without a penny to his name and having no use of his legs, the man did not dare to begin the journey.**[Serpukov is a city situated on the southern edge of the province of Moscow. The distance the inform man would have covered, from somewhere near Efremov itself to Tula, and then on to Serpukov, was in the rands of over 120 miles.] But the holy man came to him a second and then third time. He was so adamant in his admonition to obey his instructions, that our peasant ventured immediately to start on his way.
He crawled on his hands and knees. In one of the neighboring villages, where he stopped for rest and food, an old woman took him in for the night. She gave him food and drink; then, to ease the pain in his legs, she massaged them and then put the sick and wary wayfarer to rest on top of the stove (a customary place for the old or sickly, because of the warmth). During the night, the traveler felt a pleasant sensation in his legs. With great caution, lowering his legs from the stove, he attempted to stand on them and, although they were feeble, he could stand on his legs! Impatiently he waited for the morning so as to continue on his way—now possibly not of his hands and knees but on his legs, with the help of walking sticks. But the old woman kept him for another day. Again, that night she massaged his legs. Evidently the sick man started to feel better. And so, first with two walking sticks and then with just one, he arrived in Serpukov and found the Monastery of the Mother of God.
Once in the monastery, he revealed his wondrous dreams to Novice Zakaria (the future Nun Elizabeth), whose obedience was there at the Saint George Church, and pressed for the serving of a molben to the Mother of God before her Icon “The Inexhaustible Cup”. But his request brought the monastery to great embarrassment because no one there knew of an icon of the Mother of God with such a name. Then a thought came: Is it not that icon which hangs in the passageway from Saint George Church to the bell-tower or to the vestry, on the left side next to the Icon of the Mother of God of Kaluga? There is a portrayal of a chalice on that icon. To the astonishment of all, on the back of that icon was written: “The Inexhaustible Cup”!
In the same monastery the infirm man saw an ice of Saint Varlaam, whom he immediately recognized as the holy elder who had appeared to him in his dreams. Joyful and now quite healthy, he departed the Monastery and continued onto the Monastery of Saint Sergius of Radonezh. On his return, he came again to the Monastery of the Mother of God in order to render thanks to Her for Her wondrous care for him.
News of the appearance of the miraculous Icon spread quickly throughout Serpukov and then further and further beyond its precincts. Those bound to the passion for alcohol began coming from all over in order to pray to the Mother of God for Her newly revealed Icon. Some came two or three times in order to thank the heavenly Queen for Her great mercies towards them. Even those who suffered severely with the passion for alcohol, whom it seemed impossible to heal, with ease were able to abandon the destructive alcoholic drink and return to a quiet sober life, bringing happiness to their homes. They attributed all this to the Mother of God. In just such a way was the Moscow merchant Stephen Fedotov completely healed from this passion. In appreciation and as a memorial of his healing he built a beautiful iconostasis for the Icon and adorned it with a silver and golden riza to replace the foil one. For his own home he made an exact copy of this wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God.
Soon after its glorification, the holy Icon was transferred from its former location to the main Cathedral and placed in a suitable spot. And now it is as if in that very spot the Mother of God Herself in Her holy Icon comes near to all these suffering ones and to all who seek her intercession. (Those who visit the Monastery of the Mother of God know about this very well.) The holy Icon of “The Inexhaustible Cup”is very beautiful and anciently depicted. The holy face of the Mother of God is as if absolutely alive.
What does the Icon portray? clearly, this is an exact image of the icon “Of the Sign”, only the Christ-Child is painted standing in the chalice of Holy Communion, out of which flow all blessings granted to sinful mankind by the redemption of our Lord Jesus Christ, for those who approach it with faith. This chalice is truly “inexhaustible” because its Lamb is “always eaten and never consumed”. And the Mother of God, with Her uplifted, most-pure hands, as a mighty high priest is evidently interceding so that this Sacrifice—within this holy chalice—having adopted Flesh from Her most pure blood, would be accepted upon the heavenly Altar of oblation for sinful mankind. She, the merciful one, interceding before God, offers Her slaughtered Son as food for all the faithful.
It is believed that poor and wretched people, afflicted with the passion for alcohol will never and in no other place find such a singularly powerful remedy for their severe sickness as in the cup of Holy Communion, when they come with love and nourish themselves by partaking of the holy Mysteries, the Body and Blood of Christ. In addition, there is no other more authentic way to acquire the love and benevolence of the Mother of God as through the communing of Christ’s Holy Mysteries because by this we become Her true children. She prays, intercedes, shields, and protects us from all misfortune and disaster and asks Her Son and God every blessing, especially life eternal.
—Priest James Brilliantov
CONCERNING THE ICON TODAY
After the Icon of “The Inexhaustible Cup” was glorified as being miraculous (1878), the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Serpukov organized the “St. Alexander Nevsky Brotherhood of Sobriety.” After the Revolution, the Icon was moved to Saint NicholasCathedral. During the years 1919-1928, eight copies of the Icon were painted, with the blessing of the bishop. After the Cathedral was closed (in 1929) most of its icons were burned and the fate of the wonder-working Icon and the eight copies is unknown.
During Soviet times, there were only two Churches in the Serpukov region: the one in Serpukov and the one in the village Kuzenkia, wherein was a simply copy of the Icon painted in a “village” style.
In 1991 the Vysotsky Men’s Monastery was reopened. In 1993 a copy of “The Inexhaustible Cup” Icon was painted in Byzantine style and very soon became widely known for its miracles.
In 1995 the Vvedensky Women’s Monastery was re-opened; this is the monastery, dedicated to the Entrance of the Theotokos, where the original Icon “The Inexhaustible Cup” first appeared. In 1996 a copy of the icon was made, very similar to the original Icon, preserving all the original proportions. Unfortunately, the actual size of the original icon is not known, although it is known that it was not large. The copy that is kept in the Vvedensky Women’s Monastery is also known for its miracles in healing the passion of alcoholism, drug addiction, and psychological problems.""
Thank you very much brother, God bless. Hail the theothokos.