In Russia, the Mother of God has always been especially revered. The Blessed Virgin Mary is considered the patroness of Russia, and more than once helped the Russians in the fight against foreign invaders. The confidence of believers in the heavenly intercession of the Mother of God is reinforced by the events not only of the distant past, but also by some facts of contemporary Russian reality, which have already become history. The icons of the Mother of God have always been treated with the greatest respect. The most famous faces have their own names.
In Russia, about 470 names of icons of the Virgin are known. The most famous are Kazanskaya, Vladimirskaya, Fedorovskaya, Iverskaya, Semistrelnaya.
The Kazan icon of the Mother of God is one of the most revered in Russia. The icon was found in 1579. One day the Mother of God appeared in a dream to the nine-year-old Matrona. She pointed out the place where the icon should be looked for on the ruins of the burnt house. They did not believe the child for a long time. After some time, Matrona's mother, together with the girl, really dug up an icon of the Virgin in the indicated place. Subsequently, a church and a monastery were built there. Initially, the icon was transferred to the church of St. Nicholas of Tulsky. Then the miraculous image was for a long time in the cathedral of the Mother of God Monastery. In 1904, the Kazan Icon was stolen by robbers. Since the 16th century, there have been several phenomena of icon-lists from Kazan. Three lists are especially revered - in the Theotokos Cathedral in Kazan, in the Kazan Cathedral in Moscow, in St. Petersburg. The prototype of the Kazan Mother of God has not been found to this day.
The miraculous Vladimir icon is the only one in Russia that has survived to this day in its original state. Script. It is a true shrine. According to legend, it was written by the Evangelist Luke from the image of the Virgin Mary during her earthly life. The base of the icon is the board of the table at which the Holy Family was sitting. The icon has been in Russia for eight centuries. It is currently kept in the Tretyakov Gallery in a specially equipped storage facility. Orthodox Christians can see her on the days of patronal holidays.
The icons "Seven Arrows" and "Softener of Evil Hearts" are currently considered varieties of the same graphic type. Both portray in symbolic form the prophecy of St. Simeon to the Mother of God about grief and sorrow that she will experience at the sight of the crucified Christ: "For you the weapon will pass the soul." The Mother of God is depicted with swords stuck in her heart. The icons have a slight difference - the seven swords that pierced the heart of the Mother of God are located on them in different ways.
According to legend, the icon, later named Iberian, belonged to a pious woman who lived in Ikea during the period of iconoclasm. The woman paid the soldiers who came to pick up the icon, and they agreed to leave the shrine to her until morning. At night, together with her son, the woman went out to the sea and launched the icon into the water. A miracle happened - the icon floated on the water while standing. The young man retired to a monastery on Mount Athos. From him the monks learned about the miracle. It took a long time. One day the monks saw a pillar of fire. He rose from the icon standing on the water. After prayer and procession with the cross, the pious Elder Gabriel was honored to receive the icon. It was named Iverskaya. There are several miraculous lists in Russia.
The Fedorovskaya icon was in the Gorodetsky monastery in the Nizhny Novgorod province. During the invasion of Khan Batu, residents left the city. They did not have time to take the icon, but it did not remain in the city. The icon disappeared, and in 1239 it appeared to the Kostroma prince. The inhabitants of Kostroma had a vision that a man brought it out of Gorodets, in whom they recognized the great martyr Fyodor Stratilat, as he was portrayed in the icons. The Fedorov icon is considered the patroness of the Romanov family. After the death of the royal family, the icon darkened so much that it became impossible to see the image. She remains in this state to this day.
