Product Description
VIRGIN OF KAZAN UKRAINIAN ICON
This stunning Slavic Russian style icon, is called the “Kazan Mother of God” in which the Virgin Mary faces a standing full figure of the Christ Child with His hand extended in blessing.
The image is embossed on gold foil with beautiful details and enhancements. It is mounted on a ¼” thick wood panel that measures approximately 6”W x 7¼”H and includes a foot-style wooden easel for display.
Made in Ukraine.
The Kazan icon is one of the most beloved icons to the Russian people for religious and political reasons. The original icon was found in the ashes of a burnt home in Kazan and immediately became the source of spiritual and physical healings. Russian military successes of the 16th and 17th Century were attributed to the Mother of God though her icon. The icon was eventually taken to Moscow where a cathedral was built in its honor on Red Square. Eventually this Cathedral was blown up by Stalin and public bathrooms were built there. Peter the Great established St. Petersburg in 1703 and in 1710 he had the icon taken to the new city of St Petersburg. In 1815 in thanksgiving for the Russian victory over Napoleon, the magnificent Virgin of Kazan Cathedral was built on Nevsky Prospect. A rather bad omen was in 1904 when the icon was stolen. After the Communist Revolution, this church was converted into the Museum of Atheism. During the 1945 siege of St. Petersburg by the Nazis, the Virgin Mary appeared in a dream to the Metropolitan of Mt. Lebanon told him to have a procession with the icon around the parameters of the city and the siege would stop. Stalin allowed this to happen and within 3 days the siege was ended. The Virgin Mary, through the icon of Kazan, is the protector of St. Petersburg.
An icon believed to be the one stolen in 1904 was purchased in the 1950s by the Blue Army, a Roman Catholic group, and placed for public veneration at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima until Pope John Paul II had it brought to his private apartment. Fulfilling his long time desire, Pope John Paul II had the icon returned to the Russian Church and people shortly before his death.
That icon is now in The Virgin of Kazan Cathedral on Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg. The Icon’s feast days are July 8th and October 22nd.
This icon is venerated throughout the world (including Greece and the Middle East especially in Lebanon and Syria) and among both Catholics and Orthodox. In Lebanon the icon is miraculous and is known as Our Lady of Soufanieh.