Icons of the Mother of God
“Reigning” Icon of the Mother of God
The “Reigning” Icon of the Mother of God appeared on March 2, 1917, the day of Tsar Nicholas’s abdication, in the village of Kolomskoye near Moscow. In February 1917, an elderly woman named Eudokia saw the Mother of God in a dream telling her to go to Kolomskoye to find a large…
Icon of the Mother of God of Volokolamsk
The Volokolamsk Icon of the Mother of God is a copy of the Vladimir Icon of the Moscow Dormition cathedral. The icon was brought from Zvenigorod to the Dormition monastery of Saint Joseph of Volokolamsk on March 2, 1572, during the second week of Great Lent and was solemnly met by Igumen Leonid…
Icon of the Mother of God “The Nurturer”
In the Icon called “Nurturing,” the Mother of God is depicted with her eternal Child sitting on her left arm. Christ’s right hand is extended upward to the face of the All-Pure Virgin. Before 1917, the holy image was located in the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square, but it was lost…
Icon of the Mother of God “the Blessed Heaven”
The wonderworking "Blessed Heaven" Icon of the Mother of God, is on the iconostasis of Moscow's Archangel Cathedral in the Kremlin, on the left side of the royal gates. The Most Holy Theotokos, holding the Pre-Eternal Child in her arms, is depicted in full stature and is surrounded by a bright red…
“Czestochowa” Icon of the Mother of God
The wonderworking Czestochowa Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is to be found in a Roman Catholic monastery at Yasna Gora near the city of Czestochowa, Petrov Province. It is believed to be one of the seventy icons painted by the holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke (October 18). Tradition says that the…
Icon of the Mother of God “the Surety of Sinners” of Odrino, Orlovsk
The Icon of the Mother of God “Surety of Sinners” is known by this name because of the inscription on the icon: “I am the Surety of sinners for My Son Who has entrusted Me to hear them, and those who bring Me the joy of hearing them will receive eternal joy through Me.” The…
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…
Icon of the Mother of God, “Albazin” or “The Word was made Flesh”
The Albazin Icon of the Mother of God “the Word made Flesh” is of great religious significance in the Amur River region. It received its name from the Russian fortress of Albazin (now the village of Albazino) along the Amur river, founded in the year 1650 by the famous Russian frontier…
Icon of the Mother of God Icon “Not Made by Hands” from Lydda
The wonderworking Lydda Icon is mentioned in the service for the Kazan Icon (July 8 & October 22) in the third Ode of the Canon. According to Tradition, the Apostles Peter and John were preaching in Lydda (later called Diospolis) near Jerusalem. There they built a church dedicated to the Most Holy…
Icon of the Mother of God of Saint Theodore
The Saint Theodore—Kostroma Icon of the Mother of God was painted by the Evangelist Luke, and it closely resembles the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. The Icon received its name from the Great Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (+ 1246), the father of Saint Alexander Nevsky, and in Holy Baptism…
“Sweet-Kissing” Icon of the Mother of God of Smolensk
The Smolensk “Tenderness” Icon of the Mother of God manifested itself in the year 1103 at Smolensk. There is another Smolensk “Tenderness” Icon from the vicinity of Okopa (down from Smolensk). This icon was in the encampment of the Russian armies of the military commander…
Icon of the Mother of God of Lubyatov
This holy icon, which dates from the fifteenth century, was in the Saint Nicholas monastery church in the Pskov region. There was once a silver plaque with an inscription from 1890 on the reverse of the icon. It told of how Tsar Ivan the Terrible came to the monastery of Saint Nicholas at Lubyatov…
Icon of the Mother of God of “the Uncut Mount” or “Clouded Mountain”
About 250-300 years ago1 this icon was in one of the men’s monasteries of Tver and the Superior gave it to Cosmas Volchaninov in gratitude for his fine work in the Monastery church. The Icon was passed down from generation to generation, but an irreverent grandson of Cosmas took the darkened Icon…
Icon of the Mother of God of Mount Athos, “Sweet Kissing”
Like the Panagia Portaitissa, the Glykophilousa Icon is one of those which were saved during the iconoclastic period and brought miraculously to Mount Athos. It originally belonged to Victoria, the devout wife of the senator Symeon. Victoria was one who venerated the holy icons, especially that of…
Icon of the Mother of God “of the Akathist”
There are other icons of this name which are commemorated on January 12 (Hilandar Icon “Of the Akathist”), and October 10 (Zographou Icon “Of the Akathist”).
Appearance of the Ivḗron Icon of the Mother of God
The Ivḗron Icon of the Mother of God (which is preserved on Mt. Athos) was kept in the home of a certain pious widow, who lived near Nicea. During the time of the emperor Theophilus, the Iconoclasts came to the house of this Christian, and one of the soldiers struck the image of the Mother of God…