Initially, in the 20th century, the church dedicated to the Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Joy of All Who Sorrow” stood where the Cathedral Church in honour of Venerable Agapitus of the Caves is now located.

The current church, situated in Building No. 68, was constructed in stages.

Venerable Theodosius of the Caves built a church in honour of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr in the present-day guest courtyard of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, which existed until the 18th century. In 1844–1845, architect P. Sparro designed Building No. 55, which housed a hospital for pilgrims.

In 1849–1851, the hospital for pilgrims opened in a newly built two-story structure opposite, with the chapel located on the second floor. The L-shaped building stretched from north to south with a western-facing wing.

In 1866, architect E. Naumov (later Evkarpiy in monasticism) designed a church on the second floor, which Metropolitan Arseny of Kyiv consecrated in the same year in honour of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow.”

Later, a small western annexe was added, forming an “h”-shaped plan where the upper and lower parts of the left “leg” represented the building’s later extensions, and the church was housed at the top of this “leg.”

In 1868, a wooden iconostasis was installed. Inside the building, rooms adjoined the western wall of the church on either side of the entrance, allowing the sick to listen to services. The northern room housed a wooden model of the Dormition Cathedral, where a shrine with the Holy Gifts for Communion of the sick was kept.

In 1920, the church was damaged by artillery shelling and was closed, along with the hospital, the following year.

During the era of persecution against the Church, the church was destroyed, its interior decorations and frescoes obliterated, and the space repurposed for the needs of the “Museum Town.”

In the post-war years, the building was used as residential space and later for industrial purposes.

In 2003, the building was returned to the monastery. It underwent extensive renovations in subsequent years, during which the church and its domes were restored.

On November 6, 2007, on the feast day of the Icon “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” Archbishop Pavel, the Abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, performed the Rite of the Blessing of the church domes.

Current State

The church is situated on the second floor of Building No. 68, and it was returned to the monastery in 2003. Restoration work began in 2005, recreating the building’s original pre-revolutionary layout when the church was part of the monastery’s hospital for pilgrims. The monastery aimed to restore the shrine to its original appearance fully.

On October 24, 2009, the Rite of Consecration of the church in honour of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” took place after the complete restoration and fresco work.

The solemn consecration service was led by His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) of Kyiv and All Ukraine. He was joined by Archbishop Pavel, the Abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and the monastery’s clergy.

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