The Don icon of the Mother of God was brought by the Don Cossacks to the Grand Duke Dimitri Ioannovich Donskoy, during the latter's war with Mamai. The icon was with the army of the prince during all hostilities.
On the day of the glorious Battle of Kulikovo, in 1380, the image of the Mother of God was carried in front of the ranks of soldiers to strengthen the latter in faith and fortitude. The soldiers prayed in front of the icon, asking the Mother of God for help in defeating the enemies of the Fatherland. As is known from the history of Russia, in the Kulikovo battle, Dimitri Donskoy won a victory with his army. After that, the image of the Mother of God was presented by the Cossacks as a gift to the Grand Duke. Dimitry Donskoy transferred the icon to Moscow, placing it in the Assumption Cathedral. A little later, the holy icon was transferred to the Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow. In memory of the victory of the Russian army over the Tatars, the icon of the Mother of God was named Donskoy.
In 1591, during the reign of Theodore Ioannovich, the deliverance of Moscow from the Crimean Tatars took place. In memory of this event, the Donskoy Monastery was built in Moscow. The name of the monastery was not chosen by chance, since the tsar and the people especially fervently prayed to the Mother of God for deliverance from the Crimean Tatars in front of the icon of the Virgin Mary of the Don.
When the Crimean prince Nurydan with his brother Mur Giray approached Moscow and settled down near it on the Sparrow Hills, Tsar Theodore turned with a prayer for help to the intercessor of Christians, the Most Holy Theotokos. After that, the believers made a procession with the holy image around the city and placed the icon in the funeral church. Before the battle itself, Tsar Theodore Ioannovich spent the whole night in fervent prayer. With the onset of day, the Tatars rushed at the Russians, but frightened by an invisible force, they fled, leaving many of the dead and their camp on the battlefield.
At this place the monastery was founded, as a token of gratitude to the Mother of God for her help. In the monastery itself, the Don Icon of the Mother of God was placed.
The feast for the icon of the Donskaya Mother of God was established on September 1, the day of the victory of the Russian army over the troops of Nurydan and Mura Girey. Also, since that time, the tradition has gone to make the procession from the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow to the Donskoy Monastery.
