Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God “of the Sign”

In March of 1898, several intruders, hoping to undermine popular belief in the miraculous power of the Kursk Icon, decided to destroy it. During the All-night Vigil in the Cathedral of the Sign, they secretly placed a powerful bomb with a timer at the foot of the Icon of the Mother of God. At two o'clock in the morning there was a terrible explosion, so that all the walls of the Monastery shook.

The frightened monks hastened to the Cathedral to their shrine. When they entered the building, they beheld a terrible scene of destruction. The force of the explosion tore the cast-iron gilded canopy over the Icon to pieces. The heavy marble pedestal with several massive steps had been moved from its place and broken into several pieces; a massive candle holder before the icon was tossed aside. The iron-bound door near the Icon was damaged and pushed outward, and the wall cracked. All the glass in the Cathedral was broken, even in the upper dome. But in the midst of all this destruction, the Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Sign remained intact. Even the glass on the kiot remained undamaged. The vandals who hoped to destroy the Icon only added to its greater glorification. because of this miracle, When news of this spread throughout the city, everyone rushed to the Cathedral of the Sign to see with their own eyes the grace-filled power of the Mother of God, and to venerate her wonderworking Icon.

Every year on Friday of the ninth week after Pascha, the Icon of the "Sign" is solemnly transferred in a Cross Procession from the Kursk Cathedral of the Sign to the place of her appearance in the Kursk Root Hermitage, where it remains until September 12. On September 13 the Icon returns to Kursk with the same celebrations. This Cross Procession was established in 1618 in remembrance of the Icon's transfer from Moscow to Kursk, and in remembrance of its original appearance.

The wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God is small in size, and is adorned with a precious riza covered with pearls and precious stones. It is placed to the left of the main entrance of the Cathedral of the Sign, under a special cast-iron gilded canopy, supported by marble columns.

At various places in Russia there are copies of the Kursk Icon of the Sign, glorified in the same way as the original Icon, with many miracles. One of these copies is in the village of Pokoshichi, Krolev district, Chernigov Province; another is in the village of Lyubotin, Volkovsky District, Kharkiv Province. Regarding the Lyubotin Icon, the locals revere it as miraculous and resort to it reverently for their needs and with faith. From 1847-1848, during an outbreak of cholera, the inhabitants carried this holy icon to their homes for two months, with fervent prayers. By the intercession of the Mother of God, the cholera soon ended. In gratitude for stopping the devastating disease, all the parishioners of Lyubotyn unanimously decided to have a solemn Moleben before the Icon of the Mother of God on Sundays before the Liturgy. As to the origin of this Icon, there is an oral tradition that it had existed for about 200 years. This miraculous Icon was placed in In the Lyubotyn church in 1820 by the priest of this church, Father Theodore Litinsky, who received the Icon as a gift from his relative, the landowner Fesenkov.

In addition to these two copies, there is also a particularly revered copy of the Kursk Icon of the Sign, located in the city of Suma, in Kharkov province. This Icon was painted in 1870 by Kursk merchants, who used to come to Suma for the Entry of the Theotokos Fair on November 27, on the day of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos, to serve an All-night Vigil and prayers in her honor.