The miraculous appearance of Jesus Christ to worshipers in 1946 at the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in the southern city of Elista.

On September 11, 1946, an apparition of Jesus Christ occurred in the Orthodox Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Elista. During a prayer service with an akathist before the icon of the Beheading of John the Baptist, the priest and 28 parishioners saw Jesus Christ standing in a stream of light, dressed in priestly attire.

The apparition of Jesus Christ lasted several minutes and filled all the worshipers with profound emotion and awe. One of the witnesses, the church warden and resident of the village of Troitskoye, Bondarenko Semyon Timofeevich, organized a fundraiser to create an icon in memory of the miracle.

That same year, based on detailed accounts from eyewitnesses, the icon “The Appearance of Jesus Christ to Those Praying” was painted, which has since been housed in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross.

Photo: Church of the Exaltation of the Cross