Legend of Kazan: Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

Philosopher P.S. Lopukhin wrote in his work “Rus and the Russian state” the following: “Every nation has its own talents that determine the nature of its aspirations, interests and life, according to which peoples are conscious and call themselves.” So, in the quest for strength and wealth called itself “Great” Britain, “Scholarly” Germany, and “LaBelle” France called itself for love of grace and beauty. The Russian people, especially gifted religiously, called themselves out of a special love for holiness – “Holy Russia”.

It is not surprising that if you come to any Russian city, being an ordinary tourist, you will first be taken to a church, cathedral or monastery. Kazan is no exception, and the Orthodox shrines of the Kazan Diocese are of great importance for tourists and pilgrims. But the main shrine to which believers go to worship is the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. What is the peculiarity of this main shrine of the Kazan diocese?

Icon of the Mother of God of Kazan

1. Appearance of the Virgin Mary 10-year-old Matrona.

2. The Kazan icon is important in the history of Russia.

3. Icon kidnapping.

4. Kazan icon: conjectures and mysteries.

5. Description of the Kazan icon.

Appearance of the Virgin Mary 10-year-old Matrona

27 years have passed since the entry of Kazan lands into Russia, and Kazan was engulfed in a fire that destroyed most of the city. After some time, the daughter of the archer 10-year-old Matrona began to appear the Most Holy Mother of God, ordered to find His image on one of the ashes. The girl and her mother immediately went to the local priesthood with a request to find the icon. But no one believed the baby and her mother, the search for the shrine did not begin.

The Virgin Matrona appeared several times, but the girl’s requests to begin the search were never succumbed. And for the 5th time, the Mother of God came to Matrona, when she was asleep, she came already in anger and said that if the icon is not found, then Kazan will be swept away from the face of the Earth, and the Mother of God icon will be revealed elsewhere.

After persistent appeals of the mother and daughter to the bishop of Kazan, it was decided to start looking for the icon. According to legend, Matrona herself began to dig in the place that the Queen of Heaven pointed out to her. When the icon was pulled out of the ground, it was wrapped in a sleeve and looked as if it had just been painted.

On the fresco, 10-year-old Matrona pulls an icon from the ground

The shrine was brought to one of the Kazan churches, after which miracles and signs began to occur: the blind saw, the lame began to walk. And people realized that the icon is miraculous.

Since the icon was found in Kazan, it was called the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. At the place where the icon was found, the Kazan Maiden Bogoroditsky Monastery was soon opened. The first novices of the monastery were Matrona and her mother. Matrona, taking tonsure, took the name of Mavra. Throughout her life, the Mother of God appeared to Mavre 14 times. At the place where the original image of the Kazan icon was found, the reconstruction of the cathedral, destroyed in the Soviet period, is now underway.

A month and a half before the restoration of the cathedral in the summer of 2016, there was a phenomenon of the Virgin. The shape of the Virgin is visible in the photo in the center

Temple reconstruction

There are different versions by whom and when the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was written, but for Orthodox believers it was acquired thanks to the appearances of the Virgin herself in 1579. This is one of the most beloved images of the Virgin, revered by Russian Orthodox believers. In every Orthodox church of Russia, we will definitely see the Virgin icon of Kazan.

Kazan icon – significance in the history of Russia

The history of the Kazan icon is inextricably linked with the name of the Hieromartyr Hermogenes, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, who made a feat and stood up for the Orthodox faith. It was Hermogenes who wrote the legend about how the icon was found and described all the miracles that occurred before her in the work “The Tale and Miracles of the Most Pure Mother of God, her honest and glorious appearance of the image, which is in Kazan.” Ermogen served in Kazan, at the time of the acquisition of the Kazan icon.

In 1610, events in Russia heated up to the limit, the country was in the civil war, the boyars fought with the boyars. On the land came vagrants, robbed everyone and everything and killed people. Moscow was under the Poles, the question arose about the existence of Russian statehood as such. Under the influence of the speeches of Patriarch Yermogen in Nizhny Novgorod, a militia was formed, led by Dmitry Pozharsky and Kozma Minin. In Yaroslavl, Kazan joined the militia, who handed over the list of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God to Pozharsky. The Most Holy Mother of God became the spiritual leader of the Russian army. The Hieromartyr Hermogenes himself found himself in prison, where he suffered a martyr’s death.

Minin and Pozharsky with the Kazan icon

On October 22 (November 4), 1612, the Russian militia stormed the Kremlin, liberating Moscow from the Polish invaders. Since then, the Kazan icon has been revered as an icon protecting the Russian army and the Russian land. November 4 is the second Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.

In 1812, the Virgin again showed mercy to the Russian people through the Kazan image. Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov prayed before the icon before leaving for the Russian army. And in the battle of Vyazma on October 22, the feast of the Kazan icon, Napoleon's army suffered its first defeat after leaving Moscow. Marshal Davout's troops were defeated with losses of 7,000 to 8,000 French soldiers. Believers believe that the Kazan image of the Virgin helped Russian soldiers in the liberation of Moscow from Napoleon.

There is also a legend that Marshal Zhukov carried the Kazan icon along the fronts. This fact was written by the daughter of M.G. Zhukov in the book “Marshal Zhukov: The Secret Life of the Soul”.

Icon kidnapping

Since her miraculous discovery of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God in Kazan, she was constantly in the Virgin Monastery. At the beginning of the 20th century, a time of cataclysms, many Russians began to abandon their faith, which, according to some believers, was one of the reasons for the disappearance of the shrine.

On the night of June 28-29, 1904, the Kazan icon along with the image of the Savior was kidnapped from the monastery. Thieves locked guard Fedor Zakharov in the basement, sneaked to the iconostasis and tore the icon out of the kiot. The robbers were attracted by diamonds, precious stones and gold, with which the icon was decorated; on the festive robe there was a small diamond crown – a gift from Catherine II.

The investigation of the case of the abduction of the icon led to the 28-year-old thief Bartholomew Chaikin (Stoyan), who for many years was engaged in criminal craft. Chaikin was sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.

According to official data, Chaikin burned the shrine, selling precious stones from the salary of the icon. According to another version, the icon was among the Old Believers, who always lived a lot in Kazan. Today in Kazan there are two active Old Believers churches.

Kazan icon: riddles and conjectures

Today, there are about 1500 lists of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. Perhaps one of the icons is the original image revealed to Matrona in 1579, but it is very difficult to establish this, because many icons are in private collections and abroad. When pilgrims and tourists come to Kazan, they worship the Kazan Icon, a 17th-century list commonly referred to as the Vatican List. This icon was in the Vatican with Paul John II, and shortly before his death he gave the icon to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Vatican List of Kazan Icon

The location of the Kazan icon is one of the most intriguing mysteries associated with Kazan and the history of the entire Russian state. “In 2009, I had the honor to get acquainted with the American Irina, née Shmeleva, whose grandfather left Kazan during the Civil War of 1918 together with the army of V.O. Kappel,” the researcher of the history of the icon and the guide of Kazan told us. Natalia Cherezova. Wealthy dynasty Shmelev-Smolentsevs kept one of the most famous apartment houses in Kazan in the early XX century. This apartment house was located on the Big Prolomnaya Street (today's Bauman Street). The bumblebees were secret Old Believers. Irina (at the time of my communication with her, she was already well over 70), assured me that her grandfather had taken away from Kazan, when he was hastily leaving the city, the only thing is the original image of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and that the icon is kept in her house in America. natalia.

Photo Irina Shmeleva (left) with Natalia Cherezova (right) during a tourist trip around Russia

With Irina Shmeleva later met the Kazan historian, as Natalia investigated the mystery of finding the original icon. According to him, he saw the icon, and it is not the original. However, specific facts on his part were not presented, so it is still impossible to say with certainty where the icon is located. The mystery remains shrouded in darkness.

Description of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God is an image of the Virgin on the shoulders with the baby Christ in his arms, who holds a scroll or book with his left hand, and with his right - blesses. The Virgin tilts her head to the baby. The Kazan icon belongs to the iconographic type of “Odigitria”, which in Greek means “Guide”. The title is based on the concept that the Virgin leads us to Christ. On the Kazan icon, we do not see the right hand of the Virgin, we only guess that it points to Christ – orients us spiritually, directing us to Christ.

Many will ask, what does the icon of the Kazan Mother of God help? According to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, it is impossible to consider that this or that icon helps in certain matters. Icons acquire miraculous power after lighting. This is exactly what the Kazan icon is. Prayers before her repeatedly saved Russia from difficulties and enemies.

Today, the attention of many historians, believers and researchers of religious values remains focused on the Kazan icon. For the country, the shrine from the very moment of its acquisition remains very important spiritually and patriotically. The Kazan image of the Mother of God and its lists have always united ordinary people, spiritual figures, military leaders and rulers of the country in unity of faith and love for the Motherland. Today there is even an opinion that the reconstruction of the cathedral on the site of the original was not started by chance, but because the original image of the icon was found, and the work will be completed by the time the icon returns to Kazan.

If you want to learn more about the Kazan Icon and other mysteries of Kazan, contact a licensed guide with extensive experience - Natalia CherezovaShe shared her knowledge with us to write this article.

Three reasons to contact Natalie:

1. Accreditations. natalia She is a licensed guide, which indicates her competence, high level of knowledge about attractions and quality tourist service. Natalia conducts excursions along the following routes: Raifsky Bogoroditsky Monastery, Semiozerny Monastery, Bilyar, Kazan Planetarium and Engelhardt Observatory, Tukay Kyrlay, Kazan Kremlin, Sviyazhsk island-city, the city of Bolgar, the city of Elabuga, Yoshkar-Ola, Tetyushi, various thematic excursions.

2 Service. Natalia Cherezova offers individual, group excursions, walking tours, the provision of a bus, a car. With Natalia, you can walk around Kazan for a few hours or immerse yourself in the history of the city for a few days. Tourists with a variety of income levels will find something interesting for themselves, get acquainted with legends, secrets, riddles, facts, national cuisine.

3. Reviews. Several dozen reviews of tourists from all over Russia and the world in one voice note the incredible atmosphere of Natalia’s excursions. Many say that the guide is always happy to answer all questions about the city and leads tours at a moderate pace. Natalia Cherezova’s excursions are not just bare facts, but stories supplemented by riddles, legends, anecdotes and interesting details.