On Wednesday, June 24, 2026, a festive Liturgy and a procession in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "It is Worthy to Eat" were celebrated in the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos of Nizhneivkino.
The venerated image resides in the church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Nizhneivkino. The icon of the Mother of God "Worthily is" ("Merciful") was painted and consecrated on Mount Athos in the Holy Dormition Monastery of the Mother of God of Ksilurg in 1884.
The divine service was performed by Priest Alexy Adamov, cleric of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Nizhneivkino, Priest Sergiy Okulovsky, rector of the Church of the Intercession in the village of Adyshevo, Priest Stefan Izhik, rector of the Trinity Church in the village of Sredneivkino. Verkhoshizhemye Priest Tarasy Sidor, rector of the Trinity Church in the village of Istobensk, Priest John Shapoval.
Liturgical hymns were performed by the folk choir of the Vyatka Diocese. The festive service was attended by parishioners of the church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Nizhneivkino, villagers, guests and pilgrims from Kirov. During the Liturgy, many partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
The cleric of the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, Priest Alexy Adamov, addressed the faithful with a sermon, telling about the history of the icon and its miraculous return to the temple: "The icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was painted on Mount Athos in the Holy Dormition Monastery of the Mother of God in 1884. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the icon, like many shrines, underwent trials. There was an attempt to destroy it, it was taken out of the temple, but the Lord saved this shrine for us through believers. The shrine was preserved and transferred to the temple in our time.
Seven years ago, with the blessing of Metropolitan Mark, the first procession was held with the icon of the Mother of God "It is worthy to eat." In the procession, we always follow Christ, always moving along the path to the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Most Holy Lady Theotokos leads us. The icon is worn out of the temple, and we walk around the village, visiting important places for this settlement: where the monastery once stood, where the chapel of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica is located, and the springs."
After the service, a procession was held with the venerated icon. The clergy, choristers, and parishioners of the temple carried the Athos shrine, the icon of the Mother of God, "Worthily eaten," through the entire village. Water was consecrated at the springs of the village of Nizhneivkino near the chapel of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica. Happy and inspired, the believers returned to the temple. According to tradition, a meal prepared by the parishioners awaited all the crusaders.
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The story of the icon's return
In the 30s of the last century, the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Nizhneivkino was closed and destroyed. The bell tower of the church was turned into a firebox, part of the temple was occupied for the needs of the secular authorities. All the church utensils and icons were taken out and burned.
- Mom told me that our grandmother went to the village of Russians. The weather was slushy, mud was everywhere, and the roads were washed away. In the area of the village of Prosvet, she suddenly felt that she had stepped on a hard board, looked down and saw the cross rails running along this board. She was interested in this, somehow she got the whole board out of the mud and brought it to her house on her back. There, together with my mother, they washed her at the well and saw the wonderful face of the icon "It is worthy to eat," recalls Tamara Tyulkina.
Grandma was a religious woman, and at her own risk, she kept the icon - she brought it into the hut and put it in a corner. Since then, she kept praying and venerating the image, and when she was dying, she said that soon the temple in Nizhneivkino would reopen and it would be necessary to return the icon there. At that time, communism was being built in the country, we just brushed off such speeches, and in 1994 the temple was actually opened. That's when the icon was handed over.