May 21-27, 2024, the miracle-working Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God stayed in the Cathedral Cathedral Christ the Savior in Moscow. The bringing of the relic to Moscow is timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of its return to the Tikhvin Monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God, which will be celebrated on July 9 this year.
On May 21, the solemn meeting of the relic in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was presided over by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
On May 27, the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was celebrated in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior by Metropolitan Gregory of Voskresensk, Administrator of Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate and First Vicar of His Holiness the Patriarch for Moscow.
His Eminence was accompanied by Bishop Mstislav of Tikhvin and Lodeynopolsk, and the clergy of the capital.
After the Liturgy was over, the miracle-working Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God was seen off.
Metropolitan Gregory and Bishop Mstislav, accompanied by the clergy of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior Protpriest Mikhail Ryazantsev and the clergy, performed a prayer service with the reading of the Akathist before the relic, after which the miracle-working icon left the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, reports. href="https://центрвик.рф/">the website of the Central Vicariate of the Moscow (City) Diocese.
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The Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God — one of the greatest Orthodox shrines. The fate of this miracle-working image is closely connected with the history of Russia.
The legend says that the image was written by the Evangelist Luke himself while the Mother of God was still on earth. The Apostle sent the icon as a gift to Theophilus, the governor of Antioch. In the V century the icon ended up in Constantinople and became one of the main shrines of Byzantium. 70 years before the fall of Constantinople, the icon left the Byzantine Empire. According to the manuscript «Tales of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God» dated XV-XVI centuries, in 1383 «this icon was taken from Constantinople by the magic of God and transferred to Russia». In 1507-1515, by the decree of Grand Duke Vasily III, instead of the wooden temple, where the relic had stayed until then, a stone Assumption Cathedral was built, consecrated by Archbishop Serapion of Novgorod. Tikhvin became a place of «royal worship» and the icon was named — Tikhvin. Numerous copies of the miracle-working image are written. In 1560, by the command of Tsar Ivan IV, a monastery was founded on the site of the icon's appearance.
From those early times until the Many miracles are performed from the Tikhvin image to this day. Looking at the icon, people were strengthened in spirit in troubled times, overcame difficulties and hardships. Through this icon the Mother of God blessed those who prayed, delivered them from famine and devastating epidemics, saved them from distressing circumstances and protected them from enemies.
During the Nazi occupation of Tikhvin from November 8, 1941 to December 9, 1941, the icon was taken to Pskov, then in March 1944 — to Riga and Latvia, where its keeper became Archbishop of Riga John (Garklavs) together with his adopted son Sergius. Saving the Tikhvin Icon from evacuation, they left Latvia and then wandered through refugee camps in Europe. They met the end of the war in Jablonec, Czech Republic, and then moved to the western part of Germany. In 1949, Vladyka John received permission to enter America. He settled in Chicago, in 1957 became Archbishop of Chicago and Minneapolis, and served in the Trinity Cathedral of Chicago, where for many years the Tikhvin image was located.
In 2004, after a 60-year absence, the Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God returned to Russia to the Tikhvin Monastery, which is being restored.
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