Day of the Appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God in Kazan (1579)

The icon of the Mother of God is the most revered in Orthodoxy. Millions of people pray to the Heavenly Intercessor to help and heal. The miracle of the appearance of the icon of the Mother of God in Kazan served as the root cause of the great holiday with solemn liturgies and prayer services, which is celebrated annually on July 21. For a long time, the icon of the Kazan Mother of God was worshiped, and they sacredly believed in its gracious and miraculous power. Even Tsar Ivan the Terrible, while preparing for the assault on Tatar Kazan, heard the ringing of bells on the Feast of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He took this as a divine sign. Kazan submitted. More than 60 thousand Russians were rescued from Tatar captivity. Then they began to preach the gospel teaching to the Muslim Tatars and pagans. However, converting them to another faith turned out to be a very protracted and difficult task. An icon of the Mother of God was revealed to help the missionaries. A terrible and all-consuming fire broke out in the Kazan Kremlin. Believers interpreted it as an omen of the total fall of Islam. The fire element served as an impetus for the development of the most incredible miracles and events. Not far from the site of the fire in 1579, the archer Danila began to build his house. His family helped him with this - his wife and daughter Matrona. In a dream, the Mother of God began to come to a 9-year-old girl. She urgently ordered the icon, which was buried deeply during the period of Muslim rule, to be taken out of the ground. The girl asked her mother to help her, but her parents did not pay attention to their daughter’s requests. However, after the Mother of God appeared for the third time and indicated the place where the icon was hidden, the girl herself went to excavate it. Mom’s heart trembled, and she rushed to help her fragile daughter. Together they brought the icon to light. After the “extraction” of the icon, Archbishop Jeremiah arrived in Kazan. A prayer service was held, and the procession headed to the Annunciation Cathedral (the first Orthodox church in Kazan). At this time, the first miracle happened - the blind Nikita and Joseph received their sight. Ivan IV ordered the construction of a large temple and the founding of a nunnery at the site of the “discovery” of the icon. Matrona and her mother took monastic vows and became nuns. The small icon very quickly became a national shrine, which was worshiped and sacredly believed in its extraordinary power. She has repeatedly helped out in difficult and tragic events in the Russian chronicle, changing fate and the course of history. From the moment the icon of the Mother of God appeared in Kazan, the legendary campaign of Ataman Povolsky began, which ended with the annexation of Siberia. Thanks to the holy image, Russian pioneers sailed the Pacific Ocean and helped neighboring settlements. During the Time of Troubles, when the Poles ruled Moscow and there were bloody civil strife, the holy martyr Hermogenes wrote a message to the people of Nizhny Novgorod. He turned to them for help so that they could maintain brotherhood and stop robberies with the support of the Kazan Metropolitan Ephraim. Dmitry Pozharsky responded to the call, gathered an army and, with a list from the Kazan Icon, set off to storm Moscow. Their victorious invasion was preceded by three days of fasting and prayers before the holy face of the Mother of God. Archbishop Arseny of Elasson, imprisoned in the capital, foresaw that Sergius of Radonezh appeared in his cell, illuminated by divine light. He said that the prayers had their effect and Moscow would be behind the Russians. And so it happened. The squads with the icon entered the Kremlin. Thanks to the patronage and intercession of the Mother of God, Russia was saved. Prince Pozharsky decided to leave the Kazan Icon in Moscow. Peter the Great prayed frantically for the success of the battle of Poltava in front of the icon of the Virgin Mary. The Emperor then transferred one of the copies from the icon to St. Petersburg, where for a long time it was in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and then in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on Nevsky. As soon as the Kazan Cathedral was opened, the holy icon of the Most Pure Mother of God appeared there and remained to this day. This is the most revered icon, to which the Orthodox always turn for help when enduring any adversity, troubles and illnesses.