According to tradition, in Krupets, a village located several kilometers from the city of Minsk, an Icon which came to be known as the Krupets Icon of the Mother of God was miraculously revealed in a local spring in the year 1612, and a chapel was erected in its honor. Parishioners/visitors would pour out their feelings before the Image of the Mother of God, and would quench their thirst with water from the spring. The water, which poured out from beneath the Altar, was pure, and was considered to have healing properties. Later, in 1856, at the initiative of Shklyarevitch, the Governor of Minsk, a large church dedicated to the Protection of the Most-holy Theotokos, was erected in place of the chapel. In that church, the Miraculous Icon of the Mother of God stood in a gold shrine to the left of the entrance. In 1884, it became the practice to carry the Icon in solemn procession to Minsk each October, and to return it to Krupets each May. For over seven months each year, it would remain in the Minsk Holy Protection /Holy Cross Church in the Bishop’s Metochion.
The fate of each of these churches was unfortunate. In 1936, the first was taken apart by workers of a local collective farm. To date, it is not known what happened to the Krupets Icon of the Mother of God, as the Holy Protection /Holy Cross Church in the Bishop’s Metochion was destroyed, and on its site was erected the House of the Red Army (now the Officers’ Club) – on Skobelevsky (now Red Army) Street.
However, the people did not allow the path they had worn to the spring to become overgrown. A constant stream of people would come to Krupets in order to drink of and wash in the water, which brought them help, especially in the cases of ocular disorders. Beginning in the fall of 1992, they began to serve Moleben services at the spring. To this day, people continue to draw water from beneath the cupola topped with a Cross. Construction of an entire parish complex on the site is being planned.