As the legend goes, in 1579 a ten year-old girl by the name of Matryona
Onuchina had a vision which led her to a missing religious icon that had
become buried in ashes from a fire, near the fortress of Kazan. The find
was kept in a Kazan church until stolen in 1904 by vandals. Police, who
claimed to have found fragments of the treasure, said that the icon had
been destroyed.
A group called the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima purchased a version of
the icon in 1970 from a British woman. In 1993 they presented it to Pope
John Paul II who kept it in a place of honor in his personal chambers.
Many believed this version to be the original and that it was a copy which
had been stolen and destroyed in 1904.
Pope John Paul II wanted to deliver the icon in person as part of a
long-sought visit to Russia, but the Moscow Patriarch of the Russian
Orthodox Church refused to sanction the visit. The Pope gave up using the
icon as a ticket into Russia, appointing a Cardinal to present it to the
Patriarch in 2004. The Patriarchate had announced a year earlier that it
was amazed that the Pope considered the icon so important after a joint
Russian-Vatican commission had determined that it was merely an
18th-century copy. The Vatican stated only that it was openly a copy and
not a forgery and that its importance lay in the fact that it would be the
oldest copy in Russia. The original existed in the 16th century in
Kazan, the capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan.
Officials in Kazan say that it does not belong in Moscow. The
icon is historically important as it makes Kazan world famous, being
called the Mother of God of Kazan. A Tatar patriot group made the issue
more complicated when they claimed that its origin was a myth invented
by Russian authorities. Instead of being an object of pride, it was a
symbol of the colonization of the traditionally Muslim Tatarstan.
The icon had the face of a Russian Virgin, with the Baby Jesus held
tightly to her chest. It is covered by an oklad - a silver or gold
carapace - inlaid with precious stones. This representation of the Virgin
had the reputation of restoring sight to the blind who, out of their
gratitude, financed the high-quality emeralds to decorate the frame.
After its legendary recovery from the ashes, it came to be known as the
"Liberator of Russia." It was placed on military standards during battles
against the Swedes and Napoleon. In 1918, Tsar Nicholas II consecrated
his Empire to her as his last political act, a few days before he was
arrested and ultimately executed along with his family.
It allegedly disappeared during the Russian Revolution and was thought to
have been destroyed when many holy images were purged. A copy turned up for
sale in New York by an antique dealer in 1965, without its oklad and
significantly damaged. The Russians of the Diaspora managed to purchase
this and have it restored. It was sent to Fatima at Domus Pacis
because of prophecies that favored Russia. Domus Pacis was an armored,
vaulted room in the chapel which had been built specially for the icon. It
was then given to Pope John Paul II.
It was originally thought to have come to Russia from Constantinople in
the 13th century. After the Tatars besieged Kazan and made it their
capital in 1438, the icon disappeared and did not reappear until the
1500s, some years after the liberation of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible in
1552. It was after the fire of 1579 that destroyed Kazan, that the more
colorful legends began. It started with apparitions in dreams to 10
year-old Matrona. In her dream, the Virgin revealed the hidden location
of the lost icon. The girl then informed the
archbishop about the dreams, so that the important artifact could be
recovered, but as with most religious leaders in other stories of visions
being given to common people, he did not take her seriously. After two
more dreams, she and her mother dug the image up personally from under the
ashes of a house where it had been hidden years earlier to protect it from
invading Tatars. Upon seeing the beautiful icon, the archbishop took it to
the Church of St. Nicholas. That same day, a blind man was cured in its
presence. The priest of this church, Hermogen, brought the icon to
Kazan's Cathedral of the Annunciation and established July 8th as a feast
in honor of the Theotokos of Kazan. It is from Hermogen's chronicle,
written in 1595, at the request of the Tzar, that the legend arose.
Thereafter, the icon and possibly a number of copies, travelled widely,
including at the head of Russian troops as they fought to regain the
capital from Polish invaders. Upon the defeat of the Poles on October 22,
1612, the Kazan icon became a focus for Russian nationalism, as it was
said the victory was due to intercession by the Mother of God. A small
wooden church was built to house the Virgin of Kazan in the Moscow
Kremlin. After this church burned down, it was moved into a new brick
cathedral in 1638. It remained there for 200 years during which time, it
held an honored position as it was carried at the head of religious
processions. After the victory over Napoleon in 1812, Peter the Great had
the Kazan icon moved to his new Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. By
this time, the icon had considerable popularity, and there were nine or
ten miracle-working copies around the country. The precise location of
the original was not clear, and many believed that it had long since been
lost, leaving only the much venerated and fully miracle-making copies.
