8 Miracles of the Kazan Icon of The Mother Of God
About the Icon
The
Appearance of the Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God in the City of Kazan: On
1 October 1552, on the feast day of the Pokrov-Protection of the Most Holy
Mother of God, at night, tsar Ivan IV in heading the Russian forces made ready
for a decisive assault against the Tatar city of Kazan, and suddenly he heard
the peeling of the Moscow bells. The tsar realized that this was a sign of the
mercy of God: that through the prayers of the mighty commander-in-chief, the
Lord deigned that the Kazan people should be converted to Him.
The
surrender of Kazan on the feast of the Pokrov-Protection of the Most Holy
Mother of God completed a course of events, initiated way back centuries
earlier in the year 1164 by holy Prince Andrei Bogoliubsky (+ 1174, Comm. 4
July), against the Moslem Volga Bulgars. With the taking of Kazan, the Volga –
the chief waterway route of the land, became finally a Russian river. And from
Tatar servitude were liberated 60,000 Russian people. The enlightenment of the
Tatars with the light of the Gospel truth was started. There were the first
martyrs – Saints Peter and Stephen (Comm. 24 March). The newly established
Kazan diocese entered into the complexion of the Russian Church and was soon
illustrious in its own archbishops: Sainted Gurii (+ 1563, Comm. 5 December)
and Sainted German (+ 1567, Comm. 6 November).
But the
advance of Orthodoxy was especially enabled amongst the Volga Mahometans by the
appearance, on 8 July 1579, of the wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God in
the city of Kazan. Preaching the Gospel had been a difficult matter in this
conquered kingdom amongst the incorrigible pagans. The Most Holy Mother of God,
Mediatrix of preachers of the Word of God, Who even during Her earthly life
shared in the evangelic work of the holy Apostles, – in looking down upon the
efforts of the Russian missionaries, She did not hesitate to send them Heavenly
help, manifest through Her wonderworking Icon.
On 28
June 1579 there occurred a terrible fire which had started around the church of
Sainted Nikolai of Tula. This fire destroyed part of the city and turned to
ashes half of the Kazan Kremlin. The city, however, began to quickly rise up
from its ruins. Together with others who had been burned out, and not far from
where the fire had started, – was built the house of the musketeer Daniil
Onuchin. The Mother of God appeared in a dream to his nine year old daughter
Matrona and commanded her to find Her icon, hidden in the ground by secret
confessors of Orthodoxy way back still in the time of Moslem rule. But to the
words of a mere girl they paid no attention. Thrice the Mother of God appeared
and pointed out the spot, where the wonderworking icon had been concealed.
Finally, Matrona with her mother began to dig in the indicated place and they
found the sacred icon. To this place of the miraculous discovery there came
archbishop Jeremii at the head of his clergy and transported the holy image
into a church of Saint Nicholas situated nearby. From there, after a moleben,
amidst a church procession they transferred it to the Annunciation cathedral –
the first Orthodox temple in the city of Kazan, erected by tsar Ivan the
Terrible. During the time of the procession, there occurred the healing of two
blind men – Iosif and Nikita.
A copy of
the Icon, which had appeared at Kazan, together with an account of the
circumstances of its discovery and descriptions of the miracles was dispatched
in 1579 to Moscow. Tsar Ivan the Terrible gave orders to build at the place of
its appearance a temple in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, to
install therein the holy icon, and to found there also a women's monastery.
Matrona and her mother, instrumental in finding the sacred icon, accepted
monastic tonsure at this monastery.
At the
Nikol'sk (Nicholas) church, where the first moleben had been made before the
Kazan Icon, was serving at this time as priest the future Sainted Ermogen,
Patriarch of Moscow (+ 1612, Comm. 17 February). Fifteen years later, in 1594,
now as Metropolitan of Kazan, he compiled a report of the holy events to which
he had been an eyewitness and participant: "Account and Miracles of the
Most Pure Mother of God from Her Venerable and Gloriously Manifest Image at
Kazan". In this account are descriptions with great factual precision
regarding many an instance of healing, from the wonderworking Icon through the
prayers of believers. Here are just few of the miracles of the Kazan Icon:
Protection from invasion
When
Russia was occupied by the Poles, one of the imprisoned Russian soldiers
managed to send a letter in secret to Novgorod. In that letter he asked to
write to metropolitan Efrem, that he should write and send a charter to the
boyars and the Cossack cohorts, ordering them to stand up bravely for their
faith and help those people who was in need.
The
people of Novgorod responded to that appeal. Duke Dmitry Michailovich Pozharsky
became the leader of the militia. The Cossack warriors who joined militia took
the copy of the wonder-working icon of the Mother of God of Kazan. That was the
moment when The Mother of God took them under Her protection.
When the
Poles were driven out Tsar Michail Fedorovich set two feasts in honor of the
Mother of God of Kazan. The first one is on July 8 (July 21) – the day when the
icon was found, and the second one in October 22 (November 4) – the day when
the State of Moscow cleared its territory from the enemy.
The healing of the blind infant
One day a
sad woman entered the church. She had a little child who was blind and could
see absolutely nothing. She was holding
him and praying in front of the wonder working image of the Mother of God of
Kazan and prayed that her child could see the light.
Suddenly
the child begun to touch his mother’s face with his hands. All the people who
were there saw that. Then the archbishop asked to bring the child an apple.
When the child tried to catch it, they understood that he could see now, and so
that they all started to praise the Lord and the Mother of God.
The blind monk
There was
a blind monk called Joseph in the Troetsky monastery in Kazan. When he found
out about the wonder working icon of Kazan he came to the cathedral church of
the Mother of God and had a moleben served in front of the icon. But that did
not help him, so he returned home in sad and depressed mood.
At home
he decided to rest for a while. When he nodded, he saw the image of the Mother
of God and heard the voice, which ordered him to go back, to serve a
molebenthere and to wash his face with a pall. Thus, She said, the monk would
be cured. When Joseph did so, he was able to see again.
The healing of the weak one
Isaac,
the son of widow Iulita, was suffering from paralysis almost for three years.
His body was so weak that he could not even put his legs on the floor. When he
found out about the wonder-working icon he asked his mother to pray in front of
it. He could not go with her, and that is why he was praying to the Mother of
God at home. He asked the Holy Theotokos that he could see the icon with his
own eyes.
At one
point Isaac felt a relief and with the help of the Mother of God he managed to
stand up. He took two sticks and went to the monastery to see the
wonder-working icon. When the mother saw him, she was shocked and could not
believe her eyes. When she got over it, she realized what a marvelous miracle
had happened by the will of the Mother of God. She fell on the floor in front
of the image and began to glorify the Lord and the Mother of God.
The woman with illness in her legs
The wife
of the boyar’s son Ivashka suffered from a strange disease, which no one could
cure. Her legs hurt so much that she could not even move them. When she heard
of the wonder-working icon the Mother of God of Kazan, she asked to bring her
to it.
When the
woman saw the icon she began to pray wholeheartedly, asking the Mother of God
to have mercy and cure her legs. Right in the middle of the service, she was
cured and could go home on her own without any help. She was full of joy and
glorified the Mother of God for that miracle.
The curing of amentia
In the
city of Laishev there was a man called Kozma who suffered from amentia. One day
his relatives offered him to visit the Kazan Monastery and ask the Mother of
God to cure his disease. When Kozma recovered a bit he began to pray to the
Mother of God to be healed. Thus, by God’s will and grace of the Mother of God
he was cured. He served a moleben and then recovered completely. On his way
home he was glorifying the Lord and the Mother of God with all his heart.
Casting out the evil spirit
John, who
was a priest in the St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Church, and his wife Domna
lived in the city of Sviyazhisk. There was a neighbor who once, being tempted
by devil made Domna so drunk that she got insane. She got wild and disgraced
herself and her husband. Those who saw this were frightened while some mocked
him.
At that
moment John was away from the city, but soon relatives told him what had
happened with his wife. By that moment she had given herself up to despair and
fallen ill from shame and fear. Then the evil spirit possessed her and worsened
her illness. More than 10 times a day she became mad – she behaved as a wild
animal, grinded the teeth and frothed at the mouth. Her sufferings lasted for
35 weeks.
John
prayed to God and the Mother of God for his wife’s healing all day, and asked
the Saints for help as well. He brought his wife to Kazan to the wonder-working
Icon, but Domna did not recover. Then, on February 11, 1583, Mary, the mother
superior of the convent, was told in her sleep that they should bring Domna to
the Icon when the demon was torturing her.
Next time
when the demon started to torture Domna, she was brought to the Icon of the
Mother of God and the demon was cast out and she recovered at once. Giving
thanks and praising God and the Mother of God, she returned home with her
husband.
Healing of a dying soldier
One of
hospital nurses told this story during her service in World War II. A wounded
soldier Nikifor Rudin who had got an bullet lodged into his stomach spent quite
a long time in the hospital. He was brought to the hospital in critical
condition. The temperature of his body was as high as 40°C and higher and the
soldier suffered from terrible pain where the wound was.
From day
to day Nikifor’s condition got even worse and it was decided to operate on
him. Before the operation, an all-night
vigil with the wonder-working Icon was served in the hospital and Nikifor who
believed in God asked the nurse to light a candle and pray for him heartily.
The nurse did as he asked and onthat night a real miracle happened. The pus of
Nikifor’s wounds began to exude. The temperature fell, pain calmed down, and
the soldier started to recover significantly. Soon, after a simple operation
was executed, Nikifor recovered completely.
Source:
http://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/calendar/los/July/08-01.htm
Catalog of Good Thoughts: July 20, 2017
The White Angel of Minsk
Children’s Camp with a History: Children Arrived to Camp “Nezabudka” for the 16th Time
On June 25, camp "Nezabudka" opened for the
sixteenth time on the grounds of the metachion of St. Elisabeth Convent. For the
next three weeks, 60 girls and boys will live in a tent camp outdoors and will
be surrounded by beautiful nature together with old and new friends because for
many of them it is not their first time.
Children love this place because they are able to interact
and an interesting program, which was developed by camp counselors.
The camp has time set aside for obedience, prayer,
reading spiritual literature, and of course there is a time for games, sports,
creativity and hikes. Here children learn to be more responsible and independent:
they help adults to cook, to clean, and to do various jobs.
Here camp counselors are open to new things and have
the utmost respect for the children’s opinions and wishes. They also honor the
traditions that have been developed in Nezabudka for the past sixteen years.
This includes processions in the evenings around the camp, the Saturday
liturgies in the Church located on the grounds of the metachion where children
are able to sing in the choir as well as Sunday liturgies in the village Church
in honor of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, a fun day fair when parents visit,
and farewell bonfires at the end of the camp.
There are many who want to come to camp! The second session
has already been formed. Nezabudka camp will be open until the end of July.
St. Elisabeth Convent,
July, 2017
How Not to Become an Accidental Iconoclast
If we are careless or unaware of an
image’s sanctity, then the image does not suddenly become unholy or “just a
picture”: instead we end up profaning the image of a holy one, whether a Saint,
an angel, or Jesus Christ Himself.
This post
offers some advice on avoiding such “accidental iconoclasm”.
Holy images in ordinary places
[The icon was] hung in a niche on the outside
of the walls of what used to be an Athonite monastery refectory. Before the
icon was a passageway, through which the fathers generally passed on their way
to the Refectory. The steward also passed that way in the performance of his
duties, not only by day, but also by night. Sometimes, in the night, he would
pass before this icon while carrying a burning torch. Once, in 1664,this
steward, Nilos, while passing by as usual, with the torch giving off soot,
heard a voice coming from the icon, which said, “In the future, do not come
here with a lighted torch and do not blacken my Image with soot.” At first,
Nilos was afraid of these words; but then, telling himself that one or another
of the brothers had spoken to him, he wentback quickly to his cell, passing on
as before. A voice came to him a second time from the icon, saying, “Monk,
unworthy of this name! Will you go on much longer carelessly and shamelessly
blackening my Image?” At these words, the Steward went blind, and then only did
he understand whose words these were; and, sincerely confessing his sin, he
deemed himself worthy of such punishment for his inattention to the words of
the Most Holy Virgin Theotokos. The brothers of the Monastery learned what had
happened, and consequently they placed a sanctuary lamp before the icon, and
had it censed every night, while praying diligently that Nilos might receive
back his sight. One day, while he was praying and weeping before the holy icon,
he heard a voice: “Nilos! Your prayer has been heard. I forgive you and shall
give back sight to your eyes…. for which reason My icon shall be called “She
Who Is Quick To Hear;” for I shall speedily show mercy and fulfill the
petitions of all who hasten to it.” Following these joyful words, Nilos
received back his sight.
The
“punishment” of the steward was clearly given in order for the healing to take
place, and for the glorification of God who continues to work miracles through
this holy image. Nevertheless, it is a cautionary reminder of the importance of
honoring images of Christ and the Saints, even though they might not be in an
“ordinary” or “by-the-way” place.
In what
way should we honour icons hung in corridors, kitchens, utility rooms etc? St
John the Wonderworker of San Francisco did indeed venerate all the icons he
could see upon entering a house, even doing so before addressing the occupants!
This displays a proper understanding of holy images, as their prototype –
Christ and His Saints – are indeed worthy of attention before anything else.
Nevertheless, in the example of the “She Who is Quick to Hear” icon, punishment
came because of neglect that was damaging the image of Mary and Jesus, rather
than because the steward failed to bow and kiss the icon each time he passed.
Therefore it is enough to say that being aware of the holy images around us,
wherever we may be, is enough – as awareness of the icon leads to awareness of
the Saints, and a right heart, should, come from this.
Care of paper icons
As if to
demonstrate this, in modern times God has granted that a number of printed
icons be revealed as wonder-working. Paper icons, particularly prints mounted
on thin pieces of wood, are produced in vast quantities, allowing anyone to
have their own holy image for a relatively small cost. Among the printed icons
revealed to be miracle working (usually myrrh-streaming) are the Iveron Icon
from Hawaii, an icon of St Nicholas the Wonderworker, and one of his namesake,
the Royal-Martyr Nicholas II.
A print
icon bought specifically to be placed in a church or icon-corner will generally
be kept with care. However, if recent miracles confirm the sanctity of
mass-produced mounted print icons, then what of icons printed in books,
Orthodox greetings cards (something which is increasingly popular), or even
church bulletins? The pious custom of all corners of the Orthodox church
appears to be that printed icons should be treated with respect. Not wanting to
sound like a stuck-record, but the holiness of the image is derived from its
prototype, not the material it is printed on, nor its intended use.
As for
images printed on disposable items, such as leaflets or periodicals, the holy
images can be cut out before the rest is thrown away or recycled. The images
can be kept, of course, and used for veneration themselves. However, they can
also be disposed of, which lead on to…
Disposal of holy images
Most
icons will reach a point when they are beyond restoration and need disposing
of. This has long been something the Church has had to deal with, as has the
disposal of other sacramental items like vestments (which are also often
decorated with icons), and so there are canons regarding the correct disposal
of them.
Sacramental
items that are combustible, which includes icons painted on wood, are burned,
and the ashes buried in an out of the way place. Non-combustible items, which
would include glass icons found in parts of Romania, are broken up (they may be
already broken which is why they need disposing of) and then the pieces either
buried or thrown into moving water, to be carried away. However, it is the
spirit of the law that should be remembered, rather than strict adherence: the
intent in these canons is to prevent an image of Christ or His Saints being
trampled, dirtied, or in other ways defaced. Hence icons are generally burned
so the image is gone, and the ashes buried where they are not trampled; the
materials, not in themselves holy, then return to the earth.
Disposing
of paper icons is done in the same way: burned, then buried. This is also true
of holy images printed onto flyers or other ephemera, where there is no
intention of keeping them.
***
The above
is not intended to make any believers beholden to rules and regulations
regarding icons. The actual intention can be summed up the words of St John of
Krondstadt:
The icons of the Lord, of His mother and the
saints also possess the power of God for believers and may accomplish miracles
upon them. Why? Because, by God’s grace the Lord, the Holy Virgin and the
saints are present in them. They are nearer to us than the images. This is
true, as experience often confirms this.
Source: https://iconreader.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/how-not-to-be-an-accidental-iconoclast/
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