Testimony of Priest Vladimir Kuku about a Miracle of Healing on the Occasion of the Invention of the Relics of Elder Avvakum on Mount Athos

I, priest Vladimir Kúku, a clergyman of the Diocese of Kamenets-Podolsky of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Rector of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the village of Skipche in Gorodok District of Khmelnitsky Region, by the will of God was witness to a miracle and received healing.

For over 10 years, I frequently had to seek medical help owing to a problem with my spleen, and a few years ago this was complicated by a liver condition. Owing to this I was prescribed a special diet. Yet through prayers to the Athonite elder Avvakum (Vakarov) and after coming into contact with his venerable relics, I was cured of these ailments.

This happened as follows. I often go on pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain of Athos. One of these trips was in May 2017. It was then that, for the first time in nearly 50 years, an exhumation of the remains of a departed monk took place at the cemetery of the Russian Monastery of St Panteleimon, beginning anew the traditional practice of uncovering the relics of the departed brethren of the monastery. The monk whose relics were then being uncovered was Hieroschemamonk Avvakum (Vakarov), who had lived in the monastery for nearly 50 years and died in 1972. As one of the brothers in the monastery told me, when the relics of Elder Avvakum were taken out of the grave and washed according to the ancient Athonite rite, everybody saw that the skull and bones had an amber-like, waxy hue. According to the local tradition, this indicates that the monk had been a righteous and holy man.

This moved me to turn to Fr Avvakum for help in my prayers. After the bones had been washed, I was allowed to enter the cemetery and venerate his relics. I prayed to Fr Avvakum to be cured of my ailments. At the very moment when I was venerating the relics, I could feel a kind of warmth emanating from them. Several days later, on the way home from the Holy Mountain with the other pilgrims, I continually asked Fr Avvakum for help in my prayers and soon started to feel better. Within a short time of this I regained my health and I no longer have any problems with my liver and spleen.

I believe that this is merely the first miracle that has been revealed by Fr Avvakum, and in the future many others like myself will obtain healing through the relics and prayers of this great ascetic who spent his entire life on Mount Athos. I thank God for the opportunity to venerate the relics of this holy man and to be cured of the illnesses that had afflicted me over the course of many years.

Elder Avvakum, pray to God for us!

30 August 2017