Vil'na Icon of the Mother of God
Today's celebration commemorates the transfer of the Icon from Moscow to Vil'na (Vilnius), Lithuania. According to local tradition, this Icon (of the Hodēgḗtria type) was painted by the Holy Evangelist Luke, and was brought from Palestine to Constantinople. For many years it belonged to the family of the Byzantine emperors. Later, they sent the Icon to the rulers of Galicia and Chervona Rus'.
After the fall of the Galician principality, the Icon became the property of the Great Princes of Moscow. It did not stay In Moscow very long, however. In 1495, Grand Duke Ivan III (1462-1505), blessed his daughter Elena with the Icon before giving her in marriage to the Lithuanian Grand Duke Alexander. Thus, the Icon came with her to the Lithuanian capital of Vil'na, where it remains today.
According to another legend, which is more credible, this Icon was brought to Moscow by Princess Sophia Palaiologina in 1472 when she married Ivan III. Both legends converge in all other details.
When Princess Elena died, the holy Icon of the Mother of God was placed above her tomb in the Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos.
After the relationship between the courts of Moscow and Lithuania came to an end, Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584) tried to bring the wonderworking Icon back to Moscow, offering Grand Duke Sigismund II of Lithuania (1520-1572) fifty noble Lithuanian prisoners in exchange, but Sigismund strongly opposed this, because all the clergy, both the Orthodox and the Uniates, did not want to lose this treasure.
The Icon remained In the Cathedral of the Mother of God until the XVIII century, Later, it was moved to the church of Saint John the Forerunner. Afterward, the Icon was transferred to Vil'na's Holy Trinity Monastery, which was then in possession of the Uniates, and the Cathedral of the Mother if God was also given to them.
Only in 1839 were Holy Trinity Monastery and the Hodēgḗtria Icon returned to the Orthodox. Since that time, the Icon of the Mother of God has been there with other local icons, and was honored by all the Orthodox. It has replaced her lost Ostro Bram (the Dawn Gates) Icon (which is commemorated on December 26 and April 14).
The Hodēgḗtria Icon is painted on four boards which have been joined together. Some are made of cypress wood, and the others of birch. It was restored in 1864.
In a monastery on the outskirts of Vil'na, there is another Vil'na Icon, which appeared in 1341. It is not unlike the Hodēgḗtria Icon. It is a full length depiction of the Mother of God, who stands on a crescent moon, and Holy Angels hold a crown over her pure head. In some variations of this Icon she stands on clouds, surrounded by Angels, and is wearing a crown.
The Vil'na Icon is also commemorated on April 14.