Russian President Vladimir Putin hands the Ustyuzhina Icon of Our Lady the Hodygitria over to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin conveyed the miracle-working Ustyuzhina Icon of Our Lady of Smolensk to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia during their meeting at the Patriarchal Chambers of the Moscow Kremlin on January 22, 2006.

This ancient icon from the iconostasis of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Ustyuzhina near Vologda represents a unique sample of the Upper Volga Iconographic School. The icon is decorated with bordering scenes from the earthly life of the Mother of God.

The ‘Hodygitria’ from Ustyuzhina was revered as a miracle-working icon as early as the 16th century, and in 1608 Ustyuzhina was saved from the Polish-Lithuanian invasion through people’s prayers before it. Pilgrims from all Russia would come to Ustyuzhina to venerate it.

After the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God was closed in 1936, the miracle-working icon was transferred to the regional museum in Ustyuzhina, from which it was stolen in 1994.

The perpetrators of that crime were never found. The icon was taken out of the country and some years later was discovered in London. Its return was made possible thanks to the work carried out by the Federal Service for Monitoring the Observance of the Legislation on Mass Communications and Preservation of National Heritage.

Addressing the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, the head of the Russian State said, ‘I would like to congratulate you on the return of one of the oldest icons revered in Russia, which seemed to have been irretrievably lost. It left Russia and now it has returned to Russia’.

The Russian President also pointed to the excellent condition of this icon dated back to the late 15th – early 16 century. ‘The fact that the icon has returned in such an excellent condition is a miracle in itself’, he noted.

Patriarch Alexy expressed cordial gratitude for the return of this old and much-prayer-before icon to the Church. ‘Many generations prayed before this icons and people used to resort to it when in sorrow, trouble, as well as in joy. If this icon had been lost for good, it would have been a great spiritual loss. Therefore the return of this old shrine is a great feast for the whole country, for our Church and for people who will pray before it’.

Patriarch Alexy pointed out that a process in which Russia’s great shrine return home was taking place today. Thus, the miracle-working Icon of Our Lady of Tikhvin returned home the year before last.

His Holiness greeted the Russian President on the occasion of the Commemoration Day of the Holy Martyr Philip the Metropolitan of Moscow, noting that the return of the Church’s shrine, which coincided with this day, was a precious gift to the Orthodox believers.