Kazan Icons of the Mother of God in Kazan, St. Petersburg, and Moscow
The wonderworking Kazan Icon has great significance for the faithful of Russia, and Russian Orthodox families treat it with unparalleled reverence. The magnificent Kazan Cathedral was built in Saint Petersburg, to house the Icon.
For the most part, it is this Icon that blesses the young to the crown, and its peaceful radiance of an unsleeping lamp illuminates the children. The meek face of the Mother of God looks lovingly at the growing children. In Moscow, the Kazan Cathedral stands on the historic Red (Beautiful) Square, opposite the Kremlin walls, two dozen steps from the Ivḗron chapel, in view of the monument to Pozharsky towering on the square. It stands as an unshakable remembrance of the mercy of the Mother of God toward the Russian land during one of its most terrible years.
The Kazan campaign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible resembled a Cross Procession. It seemed that the goal was to bring a new flock to Christ rather than to subjugate the new kingdom to the Muscovite Tsar. Kazan fell on the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God. An explosion from the wall and towers of Kazan was heard when, during the Liturgy in the mobile royal church, the deacon intoned the petition of the Great Litany: "That He may aid him and subdue beneath his feet every foe and adversary...."
After entering Kazan the next day, the Tsar immediately laid the foundation for a cathedral in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. At the same time, the Tsar determined a place for the construction of other churches, and the following year a Diocese was established in Kazan and Saint Guria became the first Bishop of Kazan.
Under the zealous disseminator of the light of Christ, Bishop Guria, and his successor, Saint Germanos the affirmation of the Faith in Kazan was successful, but then the Moslems made a strong resistance. At this time the Mother of God decided to strengthen Orthodoxy, and she was pleased to glorify her Icon.
In 1579, after a terrible fire that destroyed half of the Kazan Kremlin and part of the city adjacent to it, the Moslems began to say that the Christian God had no mercy for the Russians and showed His wrath by this fire. "The faith of Christ," the chronicler remarks, "has become a proverb and a desecration." Then the Lord showed His mercy.
A certain archer intended to build a new house on the site of the conflagration. In a dream, the Mother of God appeared to his nine-year-old daughter Matrona, ordering her to tell the Archbishop and the city chiefs that they would remove her Icon from the bowels of the earth, and in another dream, the Mother of God pointed out the place where the Icon was hidden on the ashes of the burnt house. The girl told her mother about her dream, but she attached no importance to her daughter's words. The vision was repeated, but the mother did not pay attention to the command of the Mother of God, transmitted through the mouth of her child. Finally, for the third time, in a dream, the girl saw the Icon itself, from which a formidable voice was heard: "If you do not reveal my words, I will appear in another place, but you will perish."
The girl woke up shocked and frightened and began to call her mother,demanding that she obey the command of the Queen of Heaven. Then, finally, she agreed and she took her daughter to the officials and to Archbishop Jeremiah. But none of them believed the girl's words.
On July 8, returning from fruitless walks, the mother stood at noon and began to dig at her daughter's direction. Others also helped her, but the Icon did not appear. Then Matrona began to dig, and near the place where she was in the burnt house, soon the treasure was found. She saw that the Icon of the Mother of God was covered with an old sleeve of cherry-red cloth. The face on the Icon was fresh, unspoiled, as if the Icon had just been painted. Those who were present at the discovery of the Icon immediately spread the news throughout the city. When the authorities learned about the event, everyone gathered at the archer's house; the Archbishop of Kazan made a Cross Procession with the clergy to the place of the apparition, and the Icon was solemnly transferred to the parish church of Saint Nicholas, whose Icon is popularly known as "of Tula." Its rector was the priest Errmogenes, later Metropolitan of Kazan, and later Patriarch of All Russia (+ February 17, 1612), who reposed during the Time of Troubles for Orthodoxy. He described the event of the appearance of the Icon.
A solemn Moleben served at the church of Saint Nicholas, and then the Icon was carried to the Annunciation Cathedral. On the way, the first miracle occurred. a man named Joseph, who had been blind for three years, was able to see. Then, in the cathedral itself, another blind man named Nikḗtas was healed. Afterward, it was noticed that many healings took place before the Kazan Icon, especially for those who suffered from afflictions of the eyes.
Soon the Archbishop and the officials sent the Tsar in Moscow a detailed report on the discovery of the Icon with an exact copy. The Tsar ordered a convent to be built for forty nuns on the site of the apparition, and to keep the Icon there. The young girl Matrona and her mother were the first to be tonsured in the new monastery. In addition to the original churches, a new stone church was soon built, with a trapeza. One hundred souls were given for the maintenance of the monastery. In 1594 a new extensive cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God was built and consecrated by Metropolitan Errmogenes the following year. At the same time, the number of nuns was increased to 64; rich contributions of utensils, icons, and vestments were brought to the monastery; the Icon was covered by a riza adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls.
New magnificent decorations were placed on the Icon by Empress Katherine. In 1798 she decided to build another church to replace the dilapidated temple which had stood for two hundred years. She donated 25, 000 rubles for this purpose, and the church was consecrated in 1808.
The mind of a believer is involuntarily struck by one circumstance. The appearance of the Kazan Icon signified the triumph of the Russians over the Moslem Tatars. And all the time, while the cherished shrine remained in Kazan, they considered themselves safe from the east.
On the night of June 29, 1904, several thieves broke into the cathedral church of the Kazan Monastery and after stealing it, took the miraculous Kazan icon with them. The robbers have never been found, and the Icon disappeared without a trace. Then we were defeat came from the east. There are two opinions egarding the fate of the true Kazan Icon.
Some believe that the original Icon was kept in Moscow and transferred there at the pious desire of the Tsars, But without publicity, so as not to upset the residents of Kazan. The Russian Tsars liked to concentrate these shrines in Moscow, from all places. The Hierarch Ermogenes could have brought this Icon from Kazan with him, when he moved to the patriarchal cathedral. At the transfer of the capital to St. Petersburg, supporters of this opinion say, it was this Icon that was among others, that was moved to the new capital; therefore, the real Kazan Icon was in the St. Petersburg Kazan Cathedral. Others claim that the original Kazan Icon was with Pozharsky's army and, arriving in Moscow, she stayed in the cathedral built for her by Pozharsky on Red Square. The dimensions of this Icon were much less than the missing Kazan Icon, which remained in St. Petersburg.
Be that as it may, all three Icons were great sources of the grace of the Mother of God. The St. Petersburg Kazan Icon is the most cherished and beloved shrine of St. Petersburg. The faithful always stand before her, and many businessmen with a strong religious feeling come every day to venerate the Icon, as if in the midst many activities they took a minute to go and greet their Mother.
In the Kazan Cathedral, Kutuzov rests from his immortal historical exploit. When in 1812, heeding the voice of the people, who demanded that he be placed at the head of the Russian armies, Alexander I appointed Kutuzov as commander-in-chief, the latter, before leaving for the army, stopped by to pray in the Kazan Cathedral. People harnessed the horses of his carriage and cried out: "Drive out the French!" After a Moleben, the Kazan Icon was placed on Kutuzov, who was always known for his piety, The Mother of God did not reject the hopes which the old commander entrusted to her. And the field marshal, with indescribable glory, returned in a coffin to repose in the Kazan Cathedral.
There is another memory from that time - a magnificent iconostasis was cast in silver. The silver was stolen by the Cossacks from the French after they had looted the Moscow churches, and they brought the silver as a gift to the Kazan Cathedral. Beneath the wonderworking Icon, in gold letters, there is a brief notice: "The diligent offering of the Don army."
Something wonderful blows under the highest arches of the Kazan Cathedral between the majestic granite pillars with banners attached to them, symbols of past victories. Both the Moscow Ivḗron Icon, and the St. Petersburg Kazan Icon stand in the center of noisy and lively metropolitan life. There, beyond the walls, is the world and its deeds. And here — eternity, a quiet, thoughtful eternity. After standing for at least a few minutes in this thoughtful silence, you already feel, how much further one becomes from the temporal world, and how much closer to the world of eternity. And there, before the Icon, they light their candles with fervent supplications, and from the ground tises the hymn to the Mother of God: "O fervent intercessor...."
The origin of the Icon in Moscow's Kazan Cathedral is as follows. She was sent from Kazan to Prince Pozharsky, who went to liberate Moscow with the squads of the northern cities. The Russian soldiers prayed fervently to the Mother of God, asking her to help them rescue the capital. The Poles locked themselves in Kitay-Gorod, which surrounds the Kremlin in a narrow ring. In the Kremlin the Greek Archbishop Arsenios languished as a captive of the Poles..Saint Sergius of Radonezh appeared to him and said that through the prayers of the Mother of God, the reigning city was delivered from its enemies. The news of this appearance reached the Russians and animated them. On October 22, they drove the Poles out of Kitay-Gorod, and then the Poles surrendered the Kremlin. The clergy came out to meet the Russian army with the cherished Moscow shrines, and at the head of the Russian squads was the Kazan Icon.
In remembrance of this event, another commemoration of the Kazan Icon was established on October 22, first in Moscow, and then throughout Russia.
The original Kazan Icon disappeared during the chaos of the Revolution, and thieves stole the jeweled riza from it. It has been suggested that they may have destroyed the Icon, since they were more interested in the jewels.