All those who turn to the Mother of God in prayer before the icon sense an easing of spiritual and physical suffering. They begin to recognize that when they pray for their enemies before the icon, their feelings of enmity are softened, and that strife and hatred abate, giving way to kindness.
 
The icon depicts the boundless sorrow and pain of heart that the Theotokos experienced during her earthly life, as prophesied by Simeon the God-receiver, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also... (Luke 2:35).
 
Multitudes of people come to venerate the holy icon and to ask for healing from bodily illnesses (including cancer), for consolation in sorrows and afflictions of life, for the softening of their own hearts and those of their neighbors, for help and support for their spirits and souls.