The history of Holy Russia tightly connected with Our Lady of Kazan

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan is an Orthodox church located on the Red Square in Moscow that houses a special icon of the Mother of God. The Kazan icon is venerated, in the heart of the Russian nation, because of the miracle of the Mother of God of Kazan and the liberation of the Moscow region from the Polish occupation in 1612.

A wooden church built in 1625 was destroyed in a fire 10 years later and rebuilt in stone. When St. Petersburg became the capital of the Russian Empire, from 1712 to 1917, the original icon of Kazan was transported there and the czar left a copy in Moscow.

In 1936, the cathedral was destroyed by the Communists, but in 1990-1993, the city of Moscow rebuilt it.

During the communist era, the original icon of Kazan went to Poland, England and then to Fatima, Portugal. Pope John Paul II gave it back to Russia in 2004. The icon first made a brief stop in Moscow before returning to Kazan, its place of origin.

Today, Our Lady of Kazan is especially venerated and invoked for the liberation from Communism.

The Byzantine liturgical calendar celebrates the Commemoration of the Miracle of the Mother of God of Kazan and the liberation of the Moscow region from the Polish occupation on October 22.

Adapted from: Attilio GALLI, Madre della Chiesa dei Cinque continenti, Ed. Segno, Udine, 1997, p. 294

F. Breynaert