Icon of the Mother of God of Saint Theodore
Tradition ascribes a very ancient origin to this famous Icon. It is regarded as one of the icons painted by the Holy Evangelist Luke. It is not known by whom or when the Icon was brought to Russia, but at the beginning of the XII century it was kept in an old wooden chapel near the city of Kitezh.
This Icon got its name from the Great Prince Yaroslav (+ 1246), who in Holy Baptism was named Theodore, in honor of Saint Theodore Stratēlatēs (February 8). According to Tradition, his elder brother, Saint George (February 4), found the Icon in the wooden chapel near Gorodets. When he attempted to take the Icon from the chapel it could not be moved. Realizing that the Mother of God wanted her Icon to remain there, Prince George built the Monastery of Saint Theodore on the site.
During Batu Khan's invasion in 1238, the Gorodets Monastery and other Russian monasteries were burnt and left in ruins. When the citizens of Gorodets fled the city at the approach of the Khan, they did not have time to take the Icon with them. Even though objects made of stone and iron were destroyed, the wooden Icon was preserved and later revealed.
On August 16, 1239, Saint Alexander Nevsky's younger brother, Prince Basil of Kostroma, later the Great Prince of Vladimir, got lost in the woods while chasing a wild animal. He saw an Icon in a pine1 tree, but when the Prince tried to remove the Icon from the tree, it suddenly rose up into the air. Struck by this miracle, Prince Basil returned to the city and told the clergy and the people about his vision. Then the people went into the forest and there they found the Icon where Prince Basil said it was. Everyone fell to their knees and prayed to the Mother of God. Then the priests were able to remove the Icon and take it to the cathedral church. Soon people flocked to the newly-revealed Icon from the Kostroma region. The residents said that when the Prince was hunting in the forest, some sort of soldier, who was dressed in rich clothing, walked through the city, carrying an Icon in his hands. The warrior resembled the icon of the Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratēlatēs (February 8), to whom the Kostroma cathedral was dedicated. Therefore, the Icon was known as the Saint Theodore Icon. On the site of its appearance, on the banks of the Zaprudnya River the Prince founded a monastery dedicated to the Icon of Christ not made by hands, which is commemorated on August 16, the very day of the Saint Theodore Icon's appearance. Although the Kostroma Cathedral burned down, the Saint Theodore Icon was found in the ashes three days later, completely unharmed.
In 1260, the Tatars approached Kostroma, and the city was threatened with complete ruin. All the hopes of the inhabitants and the Prince rested upon the Mother of God, and they prayed that she would save the city. Before the battle, Prince Basil remembered that when Great Prince Andrew Bogolyubsky fought against the Kama Bulgarians, he took the wonderworking Vladimir Icon with him and, by the gracious help of the Mother of God, the enemy was completely routed. Following Saint Andrew's example, Prince Basil of Kostroma took the Saint Theodore Icon from the cathedral and carried it with his army. When the battle began, the Icon was moved behind the army, and the priests served Molebens. The two enemy armies converged, and a great miracle occurred. Dazzling rays of light, brighter and hotter than the rays of the sun, shone from the Virgin's face, blinding and scorching the Tatars, who panicked and fled in a disorderly retreat. Prince Basil set up a Cross where the Icon had stood during the battle, in remembrance of this miracle. The place itself, the people, and the nearby lake were called "holy." Subsequently, a village sprang up by the lake, and it too was called "Holy Lake."
Not long afterward, the Kostroma cathedral caught fire again. When they rushed to save the wonderworking Icon, they saw it hovering in the air above the flames. People thought that the Mother of God wanted the Icon to be taken from the city because of the sins of its inhabitants. Crying out, they implored the Mother of God not to leave the city. Then the Icon descended and settled on the ground in the middle of the square. Soon a small wooden church was built to house the Icon, which was later replaced by a stone church.
The name of the Saint Theodore Icon is also associated with the accession of Tsar Michael Romanov to the throne in 1613. Ambassadors were sent from Moscow to Kostroma, consisting of clergy, boyars, and persons of every rank. They brought the Vladimir Icon with them, and also an icon of the Moscow wonderworkers. At Kostroma, the delegation was met by a host of clergy with the Saint Theodore Icon, then everyone went to Ipatiev Monastery, where young Michael lived with his aged mother, Schematic-nun Martha.
In the cathedral church, Michael was "implored" to accept the crown. Young Michael refused to accept this heavy yoke, and his mother didn't want to let him go. She remained adamant despite their pleas. Finally, the former head of the delegation, Archbishop Theodoret of Ryazan, took the Vladimir Icon in his hands, and Abraham Palitsyn, the cellarer of Holy Trinity Monastery, took the icon of the Holy Moscow wonderworkers and firmly said to her: "Why have we brought these Icons of the Most Holy Sovereign Lady and of the Moscow wonderworkers with us on such a long journey? If you refuse to obey us, then consent for the sake of the Mother of God and the great Saints, and do not anger the Lord God." Martha was unable to maintain her opposition, and she prostrated herself before the Saint Theodore Icon saying, "Your will be done, O Sovereign Lady! Into your hands I surrender my son; guide him on the true path, for his benefit and for that of our land!" Michael begged his mother not to give in, but finally she did, and he had to accept. He was proclaimed as Tsar right away.
In remembrance of this event, an annual celebration was appointed for March 14. Tsar Michael brought a copy of the Icon with him to Moscow and placed it in the court church of the Nativity of the Theotokos, which is on the Seni. He greatly revered the Saint Theodore Icon, so in 1636 he restored and adorned it. At Kostroma Cathedral he bestowed great gifts; he ordered that seven pounds of wax be provided from Kostroma's customs revenues for an unsleeping candle to burn before the Icon. He ordered the Kostroma clergy to serve Molebens before the Icon, and the voivodes to take part in Cross Processions, dressed as archers and gunners.
On May 4, 1636, during the sanctification of the Icon which was restored by the Tsar, a young man named Moses, who suffered from a falling disease, and whose body was swollen and covered with scabs, was standing in the crowd and received instant healing.
In 1834, Lieutenant-General Ilovaysky was in Kostroma to venerate the Saint Theodore Icon and spoke of a miracle that his grandfather, a Cossack ataman, had experienced. His grandfather was taken prisoner by the highlanders. As he languished in captivity, it was revealed to him in a dream that he would be delivered by the grace of the Saint Theodore Icon. He was ordered to run without any fear, and he did manage to escape unnoticed. For a while, he hid from his pursuers in an oak tree, he walked 600 versts, and lived on fruits and roots. During this time he read the Troparion to the Saint Theodore Icon. At last, he came to his own city of Cherkassk. Then he walked to Kostroma on a pilgrimage to the Saint Theodore Icon, then he removed the copy of the Icon from the church and brought it on foot to Moscow. There he had the Icon covered with a gold riza and he returned home with it.
The Saint Theodore Icon is kept in Kostroma's Dormition Cathedral. Every year processions are made with it: on the Feast of Pentecost at Ipatiev Monastery; and on August 16 in the Spaso-Zaprudenskaya church, at the place where it was found. The Icon is commemorated twice a year: at the Dormition Cathedral on March 14, in remembrance of the end of the Time of Troubles in Russia, and on August 16, the day of the Icon's appearance.
1Various accounts say the tree was either pine, fir, or spruce.