Kazan, July 23, 2018
The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God is one of the most beloved sacred objects in Russian history, and its appearance in the city of Kazan in 1579 one of the most important dates in Russian history.
Accordingly, thousands of Orthodox faithful joined in the festive celebrations in honor of the beloved icon on Saturday in the capital city of the Tatarstan Republic. That day, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the main church of the Kazan Diocese—the Annunciation Cathedral of the Kazan Kremlin—by Metropolitan Theophan of Kazan and Tatarstan and five other bishops, reports the site of the Metropolitanate of Tatarstan.
The head of the Tatarstan Metropolitanate had also served the All-Night Vigil the day before in the Kazan-Theotokos Monastery.
The service was also concelebrated by the heads of a number of neighboring monasteries and the rectors of Kazan Diocese churches and attended by a number of local public officials and pilgrims from throughout Russia.
Following the Liturgy, a procession of thousands of people began with a revered ancient copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The procession moved from the Kazan Kremlin to the place of the finding of the miraculous image.
Upon arrival at the Kazan-Theotokos Monastery, the faithful prayerfully sang hymns to the Theotokos near the monastery’s rebuilt cathedral. The day’s festivities ended with the reading of the akathist to the Kazan Icon and the veneration of the miraculous copy of the icon.
Find more information about the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God at “The Complicated History of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.”
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