Icons of the Mother of God
The Wonderworking Icon of the Valaam Mother of God
One of the greatest treasures in the possession of the Monastery of New Valamo in Heinävesi, Finland is the wonder-working icon of the Mother of God of Valaam. Painted on lime wood, the 132 x 79.5 cm icon depicts the Virgin Mary as a full-length figure standing on a cloud with lowered gaze,…
Icon of the Mother of God of Tolga
The Tolga Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos appeared on August 8, 1314 to the Rostov hierarch Prochorus (Tryphon in schema). Going about his diocese, the saint visited the environs of White Lake and from there traveled along the banks of the Rivers Sheksna and Volga, to Yaroslavl. Having stopped with…
Icon of the Mother of God of Constantinople
In the Constantinople Icon of the Mother of God, the child Christ is naked to the waist, and is carried in His Mother’s right hand. Her left hand rests on His knees.
Icon of the Mother of God “Of The Seven Arrows”
The “Seven Arrows” Icon of the Mother of God depicts the Virgin’s heart pierced by seven arrows. For a long time the icon was located at the belltower stairway entrance of a church in honor of the Apostle John the Theologian (near Vologda). Since it was face downwards, they…
Icon of the Mother of God “Of The Passion”
The Icon of the Mother of God “Of the Passion” The icon received its name because on either side of the Mother of God are two angels with the implements of the Lord’s suffering: the Cross, the lance, and the sponge. There was a certain pious woman, Katherine, who began to suffer…
Icon of the Mother of God of Navarsk
The Narva Icon of the Mother of God became famous in the year 1558, when the Russian army attacked the city of Narva. In one of the houses where Russian merchants had once lived, drunken Germans grabbed an icon of the Mother of God that had been left behind. Mocking the holy thing, they threw it…
Icon of the Mother of God “the Converser”
The “Converser” Icon of the Mother of God is so named since it depicts the Mother of God and St Nicholas of Myra conversing with the sacristan George. This event occurred soon after the appearance of the Tikhvin Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos in 1383, when the Most Holy Theotokos…
Icon of the Mother of God, the Enlightener of Minds
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Icon of the Mother of God of St Theodore
On August 16 we commemorate the miraculous finding of the Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of St Theodore. According to Tradition, the Theodore Icon of the Mother of God was painted by the Evangelist Luke, and resembles the famous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. This icon received its name from…
Icon of the Mother of God “of the Kiev Caves”
The Kiev Caves Icon of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos is one of the most ancient icons in the Russian Orthodox Church. The Mother of God entrusted it to four Byzantine architects, who in 1073 brought the icon to Sts Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves. The architects arrived at the…
Icon of the Mother of God, Donskoi
The Don Icon of the Mother of God was painted by Theophanes the Greek. On the day of the Kulikovo Battle (September 8, 1380, the Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos), the Icon was with the Russian army, giving it help, but after the victory it was passed on by the Don Cossacks as a…
Icon of the Mother of God “Georgian”
The Georgian Icon of the mother of God: In 1622 the Persian Shah Abbas conquered Georgia. Many Christian holy things were stolen, and many were sold to the Russian merchants in Persia. Thus, the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God came to a certain merchant named Stephen, who piously kept it. In…
Icon of the Mother of God “Of St Peter of Moscow”
The Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Of St Peter” was so called because it was painted by St Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow (+ December 21, 1326) while he was igumen of the Ratsk monastery near Volhynia. During a visit to the Ratsk monastery by St Maximus, Metropolitan of Kiev and All…
Icon of the Mother of God “Virgin of Tenderness” from Pskov-Pechersk
The Pskov Caves Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, named the “Tenderness” (1542), is famous particularly for the defense of Pskov and the Pskov Caves monastery from the army of Stephen Bathory in 1581. Its celebration is also on May 21, June 23 and October 7. The Tenderness Icon of…
Commemoration of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God and the deliverance of Moscow from the Invasion of Tamerlane
The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was painted by the Evangelist Luke on a board from the table at which the Savior ate together with His All-Pure Mother and Righteous Joseph. The Mother of God, upon seeing this image, exclaimed, “Henceforth, all generations shall call Me blessed. The…