Icon. Theotokos Gorgoepikoos, Hodegetria, on fabric

The icon is printed on yellow silk fabric, within a linear frame. At the center is a half-length image of the Mother of God with the Infant Christ on her left arm. The Mother of God wears a tunic and a maphorion with stars, a crown on her head, a round halo around her head; her face inclines toward the Child, her right hand pointing to him. The Infant is shown with a cruciform halo bearing the letters "Ho Ōn," holding a scroll in his left hand, his right raised in a gesture of blessing. On either side of the central image are two architectural columns, in whose niches stand the figures of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon (left) and the Venerable Mitrofan (right). The columns end in depictions of chapels, positioned on either side of a two-tiered, arch-shaped vault. In the upper tier is an arch with a floral ornament and a depiction of three cherubim; in the lower tier are stars and a ribbon with the Church Slavonic inscription: "The Image of the Most Holy Theotokos, Quick to Hear." In the corners of the vault are the letters "MR ΘU"; beside the Infant's halo is the inscription "IIS. KHRS."

On the reverse of the icon, in the lower right corner, is the impression of a round blue seal depicting an altar cross with radiance (at the center) and the inscription "SCHEMAMONK GEORGE HAJJI 1828" (around the circumference).

At the top of the icon is a three-line handwritten text [From Elder George to Agafia Filipova].

The icon is mounted on a greenish-gray passe-partout with a white band.

The icon was donated to the museum by Tetiana Petrivna Kotliar of Kharkiv in 1985.

George Hajji was a monk of an Athonite monastery (1809–1886).

Legend: the wonder-working icon of the Mother of God "Quick to Hear" (Gerontissa) is kept in the Dochiariou Monastery on Mount Athos. The icon first performed a miracle in 1664, when the monk Neilos, passing by night with a lit torch into the refectory, heard a voice from the image of the Mother of God hanging above the door, warning him not to walk there again with a lit torch and smoke up the image. The monk, however, did not heed the Voice and continued to pass through with the smoking torch, for which he was punished with blindness.

After long prayer and repentance he received forgiveness and healing from the Merciful Theotokos. She commanded him to tell the whole brotherhood of this mercy: "From this time forward, this My icon shall be called 'Quick to Hear,' for I shall grant swift mercy and the fulfillment of requests to all who come to Me."

To this day the Most Holy Mother of God fulfills Her promise, offering swift help and comfort to all who turn to her in faith.