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The "Enthroned" (or "Reigning") Icon of the Mother of God appeared on March 2, 1917, the day of Tsar Nicholas's abdication, in the village of Kolomskoye near Moscow.
In February 1917, an elderly woman named Eudokia saw the Mother of God in a dream telling her to go to Kolomskoye to find a large blackened icon in a church. After the vision was repeated three times, she went to Kolomskoye to search for the icon with the priest Nicholas.
In the basement of the church they found the icon and started wiping off the accumulated dust. Then they were able to see the Most Holy Theotokos wearing a crown and sitting on a throne. Immediately, Father Nicholas celebrated a service of Thanksgiving and an Akathist.
News of the icon's discovery spread throughout Russia, and there were several miracles of healing from physical and mental infirmities. As time went by, the icon renewed itself and became brighter and brighter. Particularly striking was the blood-red robe of the Virgin.
Since the icon was revealed just as the Tsar abdicated, many people believed that the Queen of Heaven had assumed royal authority over the Russian land, and so the icon became known as the "Enthroned" (or Reigning) icon. It was discovered that the icon had come from the Ascension convent in Moscow. In 1812, before Napoleon's invasion, this icon and others were sent to Kolomskoye's Ascension church for safekeeping. Apparently forgotten, the icons were never returned to Moscow.
A Service and Akathist to the "Enthroned" Icon were composed with the assistance of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon (+ 1925). Many copies of the icon were venerated throughout Russia, but these were confiscated by the Soviets. The Service and Akathist to the icon were also forbidden to be served.
The original icon is in the Novodevichy Museum in Moscow, and there is a copy in the Church of the Kazan Mother of God in Kolomskoye.
The "Enthroned" or "Reigning" Icon, which belongs to the Panachranta type, shows the Theotokos seated on a throne with Her Son.
Source
I do believe that the icon at the top of the page is actually the icon of Panagia Pantanassa from Vatopedi. This has been copied and sent to Russia, but if I'm not mistaken, this is different than the "Reigning" Icon of the Theotokos (a couple of versions are available here: http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Images/ii2841&2339.htm). But thanks a lot for your very interesting post.
ReplyDeleteYes, the icon on the top is the one from Vatopaidi. Numerous copies of it were made by the monastery and sent to Russia, to the area most effected by the Chernobyl disaster, after a reproduction blessed on the original had performed a healing there. The icon copies were requested by the Russians and taken to hospitals and given mainly to children. The original on the Holy Mountain is a wonder-working icon, and the reproductions, which were blessed on the original, also performed healings-healings mainly from cancer caused by the radioactivity. The original is well known for healing people of cancer.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone has a picture of the icon which appeared in Kolomskoye, I would be more than happy to post it. Unfortunately I don't, so I posted one that resembled its description.
ReplyDeleteWe understand, John, thanks. The link in the first post has several versions of the Reigning icon. I'm not sure which one, if any, is the original. It's interesting to note that on the Holy Mountain at the Russian Monastery of Saint Panteleimon, an old icon of the Holy Protection of the Theotokos began renewing itself on the day of the abdication of the Czar. The icon had had a blackish layer of grime on its face, but is now on the iconastasis in the main katholicon.
ReplyDeleteWhile researching the Mother of God Enthroned, I came across your site and links to these 2 images which may be of interest. I am not an expert, merely an iconographer.
ReplyDeleteThis is a 15th Century icon of the Moscow School:
http://www.iconsexplained.com/iec/iec_icons_kyriotissa.htm
This is described as "the" Mother of God Reigning which was discovered in Kolomskoye, or at least that is what is implied:
http://www.stjohndc.org/Russian/theotokos/e_0907_reigning.htm
I had discovered numerous versions of this icon image, but never these two before.
P. S. If anyone can suggest where I might obtain a higher resolution version of the kyriotissa image this would be much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteUpdate: A friend named Tim sent me a copy of the original icon and I have posted it above.
ReplyDeleteI am searching for the Akathist and/or service that Patriach Tikhon wrote. Can anyone tell me where I could find this?
ReplyDeleteActually, the image posted above is still not that of the original icon, although it comes close.
ReplyDeleteHere is how the original looks like: http://www.synod.com/synod/pictures/derjavnaja-icon.jpg
The original icon made visits to various Russian parishes in 2007 so it is easy to find photos and video of how the original looks.
Source:http://www.synod.com/synod/eng2007/8ensretenconsched.html