…Could you send me some soil and a few blades of grass from the grave of brother Joseph, curator of the Myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, and [Joseph’s] photograph as well. Allow me to say a few words about martyred brother Joseph: While he was taking the Myrrh-streaming Icon throughout the world, the people’s attention was directed exclusively toward the miracle of myrrh-streaming, toward healings from sickness, and toward requests for him to offer prayers for their health before the Most-holy Theotokos. No one expressed concern about the curator’s own problems, about his state of health: was he ill, was it not difficult for him to travel… We didn’t give such things a thought. Yet, in fact, brother Joseph was in need of our prayers, and the Mother of God, in fact, expected to hear from us prayers for her chosen one. Had we prayed, everything would have turned out differently, and the miraculous streaming of myrrh would be continuing today. But we asked healing only for ourselves, and lo, because of our unworthiness, the Lord took everything from us: both the Icon and its curator. Now the Icon is hidden from us, and people say that it has returned to Mount Athos…. Can we pray this Miraculous Icon back to us? For it is written: Ask, and it shall be given unto you. Whatever you ask of My Father with faith, ye shall receive. Now, it seems to me, many are forgetting, or have already forgotten, about this miracle….
Nikolai, town of Kolomna