Donskaya icon of the mother of God Bashny.Net

Donskaya icon of the mother of God is one of the most revered Orthodox wonder-working icons "involved" in many key events of Russian history.





According to legend, in 1380, before the battle of Kulikovo, in the camp of the Prince of Moscow Dmitry arrived Cossack reinforcements from located on the don Sirotinskiy town. Instead of the banner squad and brought before him on a high pole icon of the mother of God, which the Cossacks took in the Epiphany Church of his community. During the battle, surrounded by honors icon of all time was in the camp of Russian troops, and victory was attributed to her intercession, and the icon was considered miraculous. After the battle the Cossacks did not take the relic back, and donated to the Prince Dmitry, which took her to Moscow. By the way, this legend is the first mention of the existence of the don Russian settlements – almost 200 years before the formation of the don Cossacks.





Of course, this beautiful legend is unlikely to have relationship to reality. According to scholars, the author of icons, most likely, is the famous Theophanes the Greek or someone of his disciples. Whatever it was, but the icon of the don mother of God is absolutely unique. According to the famous scientist V. N. Lazarev: "It is a work of exceptional artistic value, regardless of whether we were going to attributed to Theophanes or his school."





For a long time the icon was kept in the assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin (on the reverse side is depicted the Dormition of the virgin), where before her bowed their heads and sinful men, and boyars, and princes, and July 3, 1552, on his knees before the icon and prayed Tsar Ivan the terrible who went to the Kazan campaign. He also ordered the icon was transferred to another Kremlin Cathedral of the Annunciation.





According to Church tradition, the don icon of the mother of God saved Moscow from the Tatar Khan Kazy Girei II in 1591 – the enemy troops were already on the Sparrow hills, when there was a procession with the icon around the city walls, and on the following day, August 19 of the Julian calendar, the Russian army had been defeated. In memory of the intercession of the virgin on the spot where the original Church, founded the Donskoy monastery, and on 19 August became a day of celebration in honor of the icon, which have since become venerated as a defender against external enemies. In 1919 in the Donskoy monastery is the list of the icon she is in the State Tretyakov gallery, but every year on August 19 he returned to the monastery, where in front of her making a vigil.





In the XVII century the icon was made of the precious oklad, decorated with pearls, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, gold stars. It suffered a sad fate — in 1812 Napoleon's soldiers with swords out of the salary of the precious stones, and during the October revolution was lost and silver robe. However, the icon itself is more than six centuries venerated by the faithful as intercessor of the Russian land.

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