Icon of the  Mother of God  "Of the Seven Lakes"

 

According to Church tradition, this icon won glory by great miracles wrought by it in the 17th century, it’s name comes from that of the Sedmiyezornaya ("Of the Seven Lakes") Hermitage of the Most Holy Theotokos, situated 17 versts from Kazan. The hermitage was founded in the early 17th century by Monk Evfimy, who brought to it the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of Ciod from the town of Velilcy Ustyug. Later on this icon came to be known as the Icon of the Mother of God "Of the Seven Lakes."Ït was installed in the hermitage's Church of the Ascension. Quite probably, this type of icon was previously known as the Tsargrad-Smolcnsk Icon of the Mother of God, since the icon included in this album has slill another name, inscribed in smaller letters, "Tsaregradskaya" (meaning "from Tsargra(T or Constantinople), in addition to "Sedrniyezernaya" ("Of the Seven Lakes¹'). In June 1654. an epidemic of the plague broke out in Russia ,In Moscow alone.il took.the toll ofmore than 400,000 lives. Eventually it spread to Kazan where 40,000 people perished. It was then decided to bring the Icon of the Mother of God from the Sedmiyczcrnaya Hermitage to Kazan in order to save and cheer up its people. To meet the holy image, a ceremonial procession was held in which another Russia's great miracle-working icon, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, was carried. The meeting took place two versts from the city at me spot where the Kazan Kizichevsky Monastery was subsequently founded. After the icons were carried round the city, the plague began to subside and when they were brought Into people's houses, it stopped altogether. Feast days: June 26/July 9, July 28/August 10 and October 13/26.