Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

For many centuries, on November 4, Russian Orthodox Christians have held celebrations in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. This holy image is one of the most famous faces of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“Kazan” - this is how the full name of the icon was abbreviated among the Russian people - accompanied the Orthodox Christian from birth to his last breath. Kazanskaya blessed the woman in labor and the baby. It was the Kazan image that was presented to the baptized person after the Sacrament of Baptism. And it was customary to hang the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God over a child’s crib to protect against spiritual and physical ailments. Kazan was given to newlyweds during the wedding: to preserve the family. They took her with them on trips.

Image of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God is to this day one of the most revered throughout the world.
According to its iconographic type, this icon is classified as an abbreviated version of the “Hodegetria” - Guidebook. The Mother of God bows her head to the Infant Christ, pointing to Him as the Merciful and Only God. Copies of the image are found in all Orthodox churches. Thousands of believers find consolation and help in it every day through the prayers of the Mother of God. And the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God occupies one of the main places in the Russian church calendar. Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

What does the holy image help with, what prayer is read at this icon

From time immemorial, people turned to the Kazan image of the Mother of God in prayer when they asked for healing from illnesses. In addition, they prayed to the holy image when they were afraid of sudden death.

Prayer that is read at the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

O Most Holy Lady Lady Theotokos! With fear, faith and love, falling before Thy honorable icon, we pray to Thee: do not turn Thy face away from those who come running to You, beg, O Merciful Mother, Thy Son and our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, to keep our country peaceful, and to establish His holy Church May he preserve the unshakable from unbelief, heresies and schism. There are no imams of any other help, no imams of other hope, except You, Most Pure Virgin: You are the All-Powerful Helper and Intercessor of Christians. Deliver all those who pray to You with faith from the falls of sin, from the slander of evil people, from all temptations, sorrows, troubles and from vain death; Grant us the spirit of contrition, humility of heart, purity of thoughts, correction of sinful lives and the remission of sins, so that we all praise Thy greatness with gratitude, let us be worthy of the Heavenly Kingdom and there with all the saints we will glorify the Most Honorable and Magnificent Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

They pray to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God:

For the cure of any bodily diseases, they especially ask for help in the treatment of eye diseases.
About spiritual insight, including about finding the right path in life, about help in choosing the right decision in a difficult situation.
About peace and harmony in the family.
About support in difficult life situations.
About solving a difficult situation at work, in conflicts with colleagues and superiors.
About helping those who serve in the army or otherwise protect their homeland from enemy attacks.
The Kazan icon is used to bless young people for marriage.

Finding an icon in the city of Kazan

Soon after the annexation of Kazan to the Russian lands, an Orthodox diocese was created, headed by Bishop Gury. It was not an easy task to preach among the local population, but churches were gradually built. If it had not been for the fire that destroyed the Christian part of the city, the Orthodox faith would have entered the hearts of the Tatars.

Little by little the city rose from the ruins of the fire, but the souls confused by the destruction of shrines were not so easy to heal. The mercy of God helped, by which the Mother of God appeared in a dream to the daughter of the Kazan archer Matrona. The Virgin Mary commanded that the bishops and governors be told about Her icon, hidden in the ground at one of the fires. The girl was ten years old and no one paid due attention to her words.

A few days later the phenomenon repeated, but this time the voice of the Mother of God was stern and menacing. She again turned to the girl with the command to take Her icon out of the ground and show it to the world. The girl with tears asked the city authorities and the priesthood to go with her and fulfill the will of the Queen of Heaven. But still no one listened to the girl. She had no choice but to go with her mother to the place indicated in the dream and begin excavations.

July 8, 1579 is the day of the appearance of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, when the girl Matrona found the image of the Mother of God at a depth of about one and a half meters. The icon was wrapped in an old cloth sleeve, but it shone as if it had only recently been painted. The Archbishop of Kazan and the governors were informed about the find. At the sight of the newly appeared icon, they fell to their knees and asked forgiveness for their unbelief.

The image was reverently transferred to the nearest church, where the first prayer service at the icon and the first miracles of healing the blind were performed. An eyewitness to these events was the future Patriarch of Moscow Hermogenes. Afterwards, the newfound shrine was sent in procession to the Annunciation Cathedral. At the site of its discovery, by order of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, a convent was erected.

Celebration traditions

The Kazan Mother of God is the patroness of women and family happiness. They asked her for well-being and peace in the family, a happy marriage and relief from infertility. November 4 was considered a good date for a wedding - in this case, it was believed that the Mother of God would patronize the young couple and protect them from harm.

On the day of Our Lady of Kazan, they tried not to do any urgent work: washing, cleaning, sewing and spinning were postponed until another day. It was not recommended to schedule long trips on November 4th. On the holiday, not too rich and modest tables were set, and relatives and friends were invited. We definitely went to the Liturgy in church to offer prayers for the family, for the children and for the native land. An icon purchased on this day, albeit a small one, was considered endowed with special powers.

After the holiday, people began to prepare cellars and basements for winter. They were fumigated with junipers to keep the supplies as long as possible. Salt was poured onto fields and vegetable gardens from which the harvest had already been completely harvested. This tradition was believed to contribute to the fertility of the land in the following season.

Holiday dates

The Kazan Mother of God is honored twice a year: in summer and autumn. The dates are not moving, like many church holidays. On July 21, the day of the discovery of the shrine is celebrated, and on November 4, the image is glorified for the victory of the Russians over the Poles. The celebration has been held annually since the 17th century, when a royal decree was issued with the support of Moscow Patriarch Filaret.

Our Lady of Kazan is honored twice a year

Signs for the Day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

On Kazanskaya, the girls performed fortune telling - they took a large lump of snow and waited for it to melt. Based on the object inside, they predicted what the future husband would be like: a hair promised a good betrothed, a sliver promised a rich man, a twig promised a poor man, and a stone promised a groom with a difficult temperament. In order to get married quickly, the girls lit two candles in front of the icon of the Mother of God in the church on the holiday, bowed to the image and returned home, keeping silence along the way.

Women of any age went to the Kazan birch grove and looked for leaves slightly covered with frost. It was believed that if you look at such a leaf, you can look younger and remain beautiful all year round. The peasants were waiting for rain on November 4. If there is no rainfall, there will be a crop failure next year. The warm weather on the day of Our Lady of Kazan promised a quick cold snap, and the foggy morning, on the contrary, promised a thaw.

Original and lists of the Kazan Icon

The location of the original remains unknown to this day. Some are sure that it remained at the place where it was found, others that it was sold to foreign collectors. However, copies of the holy face also have miraculous power.

The earliest list, dated 1606, is in the Tretyakov Gallery. Another one decorates the capital’s estate of the Moscow Patriarch. But a copy, as close as possible to the original, is kept in the St. Petersburg Prince Vladimir Church. Other lists can be found throughout Russia:

Kursk Znamensky Monastery;
Katashinsky men's monastery;
Kremlin Ascension Church;
Irkutsk Epiphany Cathedral;
Kargopol Ascension Church;
Kazan Convent for Women in Yaroslavl;
Moscow Simon's Convent;
Tambov Cathedral;
Temnikovsky Transfiguration Church;
Suzdal Resurrection Church, etc.

Irkutsk Epiphany Cathedral

Tambov Cathedral

Kursk Znamensky Monastery

Kazan Convent in Yaroslavl

Russian Orthodox Church

In 1552, the Kazan Khanate was annexed to Rus' by Tsar Ivan the Terrible. 60,000 Russian people were freed from captivity; The conversion of Muslims and pagans to Christianity began. In 1579, a terrible fire devastated Kazan. It began in the house of the merchant Onuchin. After the fire, the Mother of God appeared in a dream to Matrona, the nine-year-old daughter of a merchant, and revealed to her that under the ruins of their house there was Her miraculous image, buried in the ground by secret confessors of Christianity back under Tatar rule. The Mother of God pinpointed the place where the icon could be found. At first, the parents did not pay attention to the girl’s story, but the miraculous appearance of the Heavenly Queen was repeated three times, and the third time it was formidable.

Mother took Matrona to Metropolitan Job of Kazan, who told him about the miraculous phenomenon. All the clergy of the city, accompanied by a huge crowd of people, headed to the Onuchins’ house. Excavations have now begun, but the icon has not been found. Then Matrona herself began to dig and immediately acquired a holy image. It was of extraordinary beauty and shone with completely fresh colors, as if it had just been painted. The Metropolitan handed the icon to Fr. Ermolai, the most revered priest in the city, and he, raising it high above his head, accompanied by a procession of the cross, carried the miraculous image to the city square, where he overshadowed the entire assembled people with it on all four sides. Father Ermolai wrote a troparion to the newly-appeared icon “The Zealous Intercessor,” which was known to all of Holy Rus'.

Miracles from the newly appeared image began immediately upon its acquisition. From that time until now, from Her image, revealed in the city of Kazan, the Queen of Heaven generously distributes Her gracious help to all Orthodox Christians who resort to Her protection with faith and hope.

Ten years later, at the site of the discovery of the miraculous icon, Metropolitan Ermogen (Father Ermolai took monastic vows with the name Ermogen in the Moscow Miracle Monastery and was soon appointed to the Kazan See) founded a convent in honor of the icon of the Mother of God of Kazan, and the young Matrona Onuchina took monastic vows there and became then abbess. Having performed the first prayer service in front of the holy image, Metropolitan Ermogen composed a legend about the miracles of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.

The icon showed its miraculous help in the Time of Troubles, exactly 33 years after its discovery, when Russia was invaded by Polish invaders who had plans to place a foreigner and a non-religious on the Russian throne. Polish troops took Moscow, captured and imprisoned the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Hermogenes. In captivity, the Patriarch prayed to the Mother of God, from prison his calls reached Russian patriots so that they “stand firmly for the faith, stop robbery, preserve brotherhood and, as promised, lay down their souls for the House of the Most Pure One, for the miracle workers and for the faith.” And soon the Nizhny Novgorod militia of Minin and Pozharsky arose.

Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky had a copy of the Kazan miraculous icon. With this icon, the prince's troops approached the walls of Moscow, captured by the Poles. Preparing for the assault, the Russian army fasted for three days and prayed before the icon of the Mother of God for victory. Archbishop of Elasson (from Greece) Arseny, who was captured by the Poles in the besieged Kremlin, had a vision of St. Sergius of Radonezh, who said: “Arseny, our prayers have been heard, through the intercession of the Mother of God the judgment of God for the Fatherland has been turned over to mercy, tomorrow Moscow will be in the hands of the besiegers and Russia is saved." And as if to confirm the truth of the prophecy, the archbishop was healed of his illness.

St. Arseny notified the Russian soldiers about the vision and prophecy of the great saint of the Russian land, and the next day the militia drove the Poles out of Kitay-Gorod, and two days later the Kremlin was liberated. On Sunday (October 25), Russian soldiers went to the Kremlin with a religious procession with a miraculous image in their hands. At the place of execution they met with Archbishop Arseny, who was carrying the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, which he preserved despite all the hardships of captivity and illness. The people were shocked by the meeting of two miraculous icons and tearfully prayed to the Heavenly Intercessor of the Russian land.

In memory of the liberation of Moscow from the Poles, the celebration of the Kazan Mother of God was established on October 22/November 4, and in memory of the miraculous discovery of the icon - on July 8/21. The celebration of October 22 extended to Moscow, and after 1649, by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, to all of Rus'. Prince Pozharsky, in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos for her help in the victory, erected a temple of the Kazan Icon on Red Square in the 1630s, where it was kept for almost 300 years. In the 20s of the 20th century, the temple was barbarically destroyed. On November 4 (October 22), 1990, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II consecrated the place and laid the first stone of the reconstructed temple on it.

Before the Battle of Poltava in 1709, Russian Tsar Peter I and his army prayed in front of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, and in 1721 he transferred one of the copies of the icon from Moscow to St. Petersburg, which he built. In 1811, the image was placed in the newly built and consecrated Kazan Cathedral, where soon commander Kutuzov prayed in front of the miraculous icon for victory over the French. The holy image overshadowed the Russian soldiers marching to liberate Russia from foreign invaders in 1812, and the first major victory was won on the day of the feast of the icon on October 22, when snow fell and severe frosts struck, the Intercessor herself came to the aid of the soldiers.

According to the faith of the Russian Orthodox Church, the icons of the Most Pure Mother of God, in a gracious overshadowing, settled across the face of our Fatherland, forming its protection and Heavenly cover. The image of the Vladimir Mother of God protects and blesses our northern borders. The Smolensk and Pochaev icons protect the west, and to the east, to the ends of the earth, the influence of the miraculous Kazan image of the Most Pure Mother of God extends.

In numerous miraculous lists from the Kazan Icon, the Most Pure Mother of God, Patroness of the Orthodox Russian people, is glorified in Rus'. Of the many icons of the Mother of God venerated in the Russian Orthodox Church, not one is distributed in as many lists as the Kazan icon. People most often turn their attention to her in troubles, illnesses and hardships: “O zealous intercessor, Mother of the Lord Most High, pray for all Thy Son Christ our God... grant to all what is useful and save all, O Virgin Mother of God: for Thou art the Divine protection of Thy servant.” (Troparion, tone 4).

The miraculous copy of the Kazan Icon is now installed in the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Yelokhov.

Miracles of the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan

In the temple books there are many records of clergy about cases of miraculous healing of the sick.

So, one of the stories tells that a certain man named Nikita could not see for three years. He fell to the icon with fervent prayer and received his sight. After standing at the prayer service, he returned home with great joy, glorifying the name of Christ and the Most Pure Virgin Mary.
The story of the baby's epiphany is especially touching. The mother brought her child to the temple and prayed for a long time with him in her arms at the image of the Virgin Mary. When those present noticed how the baby began to touch his mother's face, an apple was held in front of his face. The child reached out to him and everyone realized that the baby had received his sight.
There is a known case when, by the grace of the Mother of God, a young man who suffered from relaxation received healing. He could not move his limbs, which caused a lot of suffering. Having learned about the miraculous icon, the guy, whose name was Isaac, asked his mother to serve a prayer service in front of the icon. At home, he constantly asked the Mother of God to give him the opportunity to see the shrine with his own eyes. Suddenly the guy felt relieved and was even able to get to his feet. Taking two clubs, he headed to the monastery where the image resided, and together with his mother fell to the face, thanking for the help.

There is so much more that could be listed.

The mercy of the Lord and the Virgin Mary is limitless. Thousands of people who visited the image of the Kazan Mother of God were convinced of this.

Troparion to the Icon of the Mother of God of Kazan

O zealous intercessor, / Mother of the Lord Most High, / pray for all Thy Son Christ our God, / and cause all to be saved, / to those who seek refuge in Thy sovereign protection. / Intercede for all of us, O Lady Queen and Lady, / who are in adversity and in sorrow, and in illness, burdened with many sins, / standing and praying to You with a tender soul / and a contrite heart, / before Your most pure image with tears / and irrevocable hope those who have against You, / deliverance from all evils, / grant to everyone what is useful, / and save everything, O Virgin Mary: / For You are the Divine Protection of Your servant.

Anna Kotova