On the day of the celebration of the Suknevichi Icon of the Mother of God, July 10, 2026, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus Metropolitan Veniamin of Minsk and Zaslavl, co-served by Archbishop John of Brest and Kobrin, Archbishop Stefan of Gomel and Zhlobinsk, Archbishop Anthony of Grodno and Volkovysk, Bishop Porfiry of Lida and Smorgon, Bishop Ambrose of Borisov and Maryinogorsk, Bishop Pinsk and George Luninetsky, He celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Transfiguration Cathedral in Smorgon, Grodno region of Belarus.
After the Divine Liturgy was over, Bishop Porfiry of Lida and Smorgon addressed Metropolitan Benjamin with a welcoming speech. The ruling bishop thanked the Patriarchal Exarch for their joint prayer and presented the icon of the Mother of God "Suknevichskaya".
Metropolitan Veniamin congratulated those present on the feast of the Mother of God, thanked them for their joint prayer and addressed them with a word of edification. In conclusion, the Patriarchal Exarch congratulated the communicants on receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ and gave them all an archpastoral blessing.
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According to legend, the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was revealed in the 17th century in Suknechevy (now the village of Suknevichi in the Smorgon district of the Grodno region). The locals saw her hanging on a pear tree. With great honors, the image was moved to the temple, but it disappeared and reappeared on the tree. Attempts to arrange the icon in a new place were repeated unsuccessfully. Perceiving this miracle as God's will, the pear tree was cut down and a chapel was built in its place around 1640, in which the newly found icon was placed.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, a new wooden church was built instead of the old chapel. In 1961, the church was closed, and the utensils and the miraculous icon were removed. The shrine was found many years later in the St. John the Theologian Convent of the village of Domashany, Minsk region. Its authenticity was established by the preserved fragment of the icon that was once cut off: when this part was attached to the image, the parts of the icon matched.
In 2004, the Suknevichi Icon of the Mother of God returned to Suknevichi. With the blessing of Bishop Guriy of Novogrudok and Lida (now Archbishop of Novogrudok and Slonim), the icon was restored. And in 2007, on the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, she received a new salary.
According to the established tradition, on July 10, the miraculous image is annually delivered for prayerful worship to the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the city of Smorgon.