Tikhvin icon of Mother of God

 

This is one of the most highly venerated icons in Russia. According to Church tradition, it was brought from Byzantium where it had been kept at one of the churches in Constantinople, from which it disappeared on numerous occasions, leaving the local inhabitants to wallow in sin, and then reappeared again. In the 14th century, following its still another disappearance, it unexpectedly emerged in Rus where it remained after­wards. Numerous copies of the icon were made and later on made famous by numerous miracles. Particularly famous among them is a copy known as the Tikhvin Opolchennaya (of the Volunteer Corps) Icon of the Mother of God, which participated in the Patriotic War of 1812 and in the Crimean War of 1855-1856. The fame of this icon was so great that icons of other types were sometimes called by its name. Thus, at the St. Athanasios Convent in the town of Mologa (Yaroslavl Gubernia) an icon of the Mother of God brought to the cloister six years before the appearance of the miracle-working Tikhvin Icon became famous. Although it was somewhat different in composition, it was also called the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God. The original icon was recently (in 2004 y.) returned from Chicago (USA) to Russia. Feast day: June 26/July 9.