In Russia, the Virgin was always revered especially. 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 events not only of the distant past, but also by some facts of modern Russian reality that have already become history. The icons of the Virgin have always been treated with great respect. The most famous faces have their own names.
In Russia, about 470 names of the icons of the Virgin are known. The most famous are Kazan, Vladimir, Fedorov, Iverskaya, Seven-gun.
The Kazan icon of the Mother of God is one of the most revered in Russia. The icon was acquired in 1579. Once, a nine-year-old Matron appeared in a dream the Virgin. She indicated the place where an icon should be sought on the ruins of a burnt house. They did not believe the child for a long time. After some time, Matron’s mother, together with the girl, really dug up the 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 Tula. Then the miraculous image was for a long time in the cathedral of the Bogoroditsky 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 Mother of God 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 a table board, at which the Holy Family sat. The icon has been in Russia for eight centuries. Currently stored in the Tretyakov Gallery in a specially equipped storage. Orthodox can see her during the feast days.
The icons "Seven-shot" and "Softening of evil hearts" are currently considered to be varieties of the same graphic type. Both of them symbolically depict the prophecy of St. Simeon to the Virgin Mary about the grief and sorrow that she will have to experience at the sight of the crucified Christ: "Your very weapon will pass your 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 Virgin, are located on them in different ways.
According to the legend, the icon, later called Iverskaya, 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 her a shrine until the morning. At night, with her son, the woman went to the sea and put the icon on the water. A miracle happened - the icon floated on the water while standing. The young man retired to the monastery on Mount Athos. From him, the monks learned about a miracle. A lot of time has passed. Once the monks saw a pillar of fire. He rose from the icon standing on the water. After prayer and a procession, the pious elder Gabriel was honored to receive the icon. She was named Iverskaya. There are several miraculous lists in Russia.
The Fedorov icon was in the Gorodetsky monastery of the Nizhny Novgorod province. During the invasion of Khan Batu, the inhabitants left the city. They did not have time to take the icon, but she did not stay in the city. The icon disappeared, and in 1239 appeared to the Kostroma prince. The inhabitants of Kostroma had a vision that a man had taken her out of Gorodets, in which they recognized the great martyr Fyodor Stratilat, as he was depicted on the icons. The Fedorov icon is considered the patroness of the Romanov clan. After the death of the royal family, the icon darkened so much that it became impossible to examine the image. In this state, she remains to this day.
