Days of celebration: January 8
In the newly built Holy Dormition Church in the village of Baibuzi of the Cherkasy diocese, the blessed icon of the Mother of God of Baibuz is kept. According to legend, this sacred image appeared in the village on the roof of a well back in 1832. The first church here was built in 1796 by Fyodor Ladan, a well-to-do resident of the village, in collaboration with local peasants. A hundred years later, a new stone church was built, which became famous for its shrine-the blessed Baybuz icon. At the beginning of the 20th century, Countess Balashova built another wooden church, where the holy image of Baibuz was transferred. However, in 1933, the church was destroyed and a school was built in its place, later destroyed during the Great Patriotic War. Local residents hid the icon in their homes and even in straw sheaves. During the war, the icon was surrounded around the village, and the village suffered much less from fascist aggression than neighboring settlements. The first known miraculous healing from the icon was the case of a five-year-old girl in 1832. The girl, who could not walk, after several hours of prayer in front of the icon suddenly felt strength in her legs and ran to her mother on her own. After this miraculous healing, the Baibuz icon was revered as a miracle-working icon. To confirm its grace-giving power, the icon was sent to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. She was absent for some time, but then was returned at the request of Fedot Maksimovich, the church elder of the village. Upon the icon’s return, another miracle occurred: during the extreme heat and drought, after the icon was brought by the peasants, heavy rain began to fall. For the last thirty years, the icon has been kept by a resident of the village, Sofia Yefimovna Nastenko. Later, it was moved to a new church, built with the participation of local residents and with the financial support of various benefactors, such as Alexey Marchenko, Leonid Shiyaty and Ivan Gritsenko. His Eminence Sofroniy, Archbishop of Cherkasy and Kaniv, sent a priest, Priest George, to the village, who is actively engaged in educating the villagers. Recently, the icon once again showed its miraculous power, and the healing of a girl from thyroid cancer was a testament to its gracious influence.
