Vladimir icon of Mother of God

 

According to Church tradition, this icon was painted by the Apostle and Evangelist St, Luke. In the 5th celury A. D., it was translated from Jerusalem to Constantinople. In the 12th century, Patriarch Lukas Chrysoberges of Constantinople sent it as a gift to Grand Duke Yuri Dolgoruky. Since that time the icon has been revered as the greatest shrine of the Russian people. In the course of centuries not only its original, but also its numerous copies, some of which were made by the great Old Russian artists Andrei Rublev and Simon Ushakov, became famous, he life in Russia of the great miracle-working Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was described in numerous chronicles, as well as in Russian legends and traditions. It is the best-documented icon in the history of the Russian Orthodoxy. Extensive evidence of cures and miracles wrought after prayers before the icon for the deliverance of the Motherland from invaders has come down to us. Feast days: May-21/June 3,*** June 23/July 6 and August 26/September 8.