The Icon of the Mother of God called ‘Feodorovskaya’ has been brought to Moscow

THE ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD CALLED ‘FEODOROVSKAYA’ HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO MOSCOW

On 12 May 2001 His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia in concelebration with the hierarchs and clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church conducted the prayer service before the miraculous Icon of the Mother of God called ‘Feodorovskaya’ in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

The icon is considered the protectress of marriage, children and youth, has been brought to Moscow towards the opening of the Orthodox Youth Congress, which is taking place in Moscow from May 13 to 15.

Addressing the numerous believers His Holiness Patriarch Alexy said: ‘Today the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour meets a shrine of the Russian land – the Icon of the Mother of God called ‘Feodorovskaya’. For centuries this icon has bestowed great mercies on our Fatherland and our people. Tzars, hierarchs, warriors and all Russian people prayed before this icon hoping for the intercession of the Heavenly Queen.

The icon was found in the Russian land in 1239, when it appeared to Vasily Yaroslavich, the younger brother of the Holy and Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, near Kostroma, the main city of his principality. The icon was named after the church, in which Prince Vasily placed it – the Cathedral church of Kostroma consecrated in the name of St.Theodore Stratilatos the Great Martyr. In 1613 nun Martha commended his 16-year-old son Mikhail Romanov to the Most Holy Mother of God as he was ascending the Russian throne in the year of discords and revolts. Since that time the Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God called ‘Feodorovskaya’ has become the patrimonial holy item of the Romanov House with great importance for the whole Russia.