Icon of the Mother of God of Konevits

According to Tradition, the Konevits Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was brought from Mount Athos by Saint Arsenios the wonderworker (June 12) in the year 1393. He was tonsured as a monk at Lisogorsk Monastery in Novgorod, and then spent three years living on Mount Athos. Igoumen John Zidon gave him a Greek icon when he blessed him to return to Rus’ and to build a monastery in honor of the Virgin.

Saint Arsenios sailed the Volkhov River to the great Lake Neva (Ladoga), praying that the Lord would direct him to the place where the monastery should be built. The boat was driven by the wind to Konevits Island. Regarding this as a sign from God, Saint Arsenios landed on the island and climbed a hill (now known as the Holy Hill). There he set up a wooden Cross.

He stopped at an island of Lake Ladoga which was quite near Valaam. This island was called "Konevitsa," or "the island of the horses." It was used as a summer pasture for horses, and was also a notable site for pagan sacrifices. According to local legend, evil spirits lived under a stone called "The Horse." Saint Arsenios expelled the demons with the Athonite Icon, holy water, and prayers. The Saint built a cell for himself, and then a church, which he dedicated to the Nativity of the Most HolyTheotokos. Almost immediately, monks flocked to the island, drawn by the reports of miracles which were wrought by the Mother of God through her holy Icon.

At that time the icon was called "The Holy Mountain" Icon (Святогорская). After a flood damaged the Monastery, the buildings were moved farther inland. After Saint Arsenios reposed (June 12, 1444), he appeared to a number of people, urging a certain blind man to go to the Icon in order to be healed.

Following the repose of the Monastery’s founder, monastic life continued peacefully under the heavenly protection of the Mother of God. However, in the XVI Century, the Swedes, who had recently become Lutherans, began to preach their faith in the Karelian lands. In 1577 they sought to destroy Konevits Monastery, which was a stronghold of Orthodoxy. In answer to the monks’ prayers, a strong wind arose and broke the ice surrounding the Monastery, preventing the foe from crossing over to the island. On July 10, 1576 a miracle took place, providing the date for the Icon's annual commemoration. There is no precise information concerning this miracle, except that it was somehow connected with an attack by the Swedes.

The Swedes invaded Karelia in 1610 during their war with Russia, so the brethren were forced to leave Konevits Monastery once again. The Icon was transferred from the Konevits Monastery to Novgorod's Derevianits monastery with the blessing of Archbishop Isidore of Novgorod. After defeating the Swedes in 1718, Tsar Peter I ordered that the Konevits Monastery be restored. It took more than fifty years for the restoration work to be done (in 1766). The Icon of the Mother of God remained at Derevyanitsa Monastery until 1798. Then, with the blessing of Metropolitan Gabriel of Novgorod and St. Petersburg, it was transferred to Konevits. The Derevyanitsa Monastery was given a copy of the Icon in the silver frame which had previously contained the original Icon.

It was only in 1798, however, that Bartholomew, a builder from Kamenets, received permission from the Holy Synod to return the Holy Icon to Konevits. On June 3, 1799, Igoumen Bartholomew departed with the Icon for St. Petersburg, where the Icon remained until September of that year. During those two months, the Icon performed many miracles. Through the efforts of certain benefactors in St. Petersburg, a silver gilt riza was fashioned for the Icon. When the riza was completed, Igoumen Bartholomew returned to Konevits Monastery with the Icon. There it was met with great solemnity by the monks on September 3, 1799. Miracles continued to occur after the Icon was returned to Konevits. Even today miracles take place, and the monks of the Monastery attest to them.

After its return to Konevits, the Icon remained there until 1940, when it was moved to Hiekka farm. In 1917 Konevits was part of Finland, and the Monastery became part of the new Finnish Orthodox Church. During the war years of 1939-1940 the Finnish authorities evacuated the monks from the island, and the monks took the wonderworking Konevits Icon with them.The community moved to Papinniemi, Heinavesi (New Valaamo) in 1956. To this day, the Icon remains at the New Valaamo Monastery in Finland, and only a recent copy is to be seen on Konevits Island.

The present Icon seems to have been painted in the late XV or early XVI century, based on the Icon given to Saint Arsenios. It has been painted over two times. On the reverse is the image of the Savior not made by Hands (August 16) on a dark blue background. The Icon was sent to Moscow for restoration in 1969 - 1970, with the permission of the Finnish Orthodox Church, and then it was returned to Finland. After restoration, the Icon was almost the same as it was before.

Before restoration, there were two doves in Christ's hand, but the original painting had only one. During the XIX century the Icon was in a church dedicated to the Meeting of The Lord in the Temple (February 2). A copy of the Icon from that time had two doves, probably representing the two doves offered by Saint Joseph the Betrothed and the All-Holy Virgin.

No purely Russian icon depicts the Theotokos with a blue maphorion. If it is blue, it is probably a Greek icon, or it is based on a Greek model. There is a connection between the Konevits Icon and Byzantine Hodēgḗtria icons of the Mother of God. Perhaps the painter of the Konevits Icon was influenced by the Tikhvin Icon, which was in Chicago's Holy Trinity Cathedral, and later returned to Russia.

The Icon may have been transferred to Finland as early as 1930. On several occasions during the 1950s the Icon stopped a number of fires. Although everything around it was burnt, the Icon remained unharmed. The latest of its many miracles took place during the 1960s.

The Icon measures about 20 inches by 16 inches. It is sometimes called Golubitskaya (Голубицкая), or the Icon “with the dove.” The veil of the Virgin is light blue instead of white. There are revered copies of the Konevits Icon in the Church of the Annunciation on the bank in Moscow, and in the Church of the Resurrection of Torzhok.