Zaporozhye, January 13, 2020
Photo: hramzp.ua On December 6, the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church established a feast in honor of the Samara (or Novo-Kaidaksky) Icon of the Mother of God, and on January 10, the liturgical glorification of the wonderworking icon was celebrated in the Holy Protection Cathedral of the Zaporozhye Diocese.
The Synod also established a feast in honor of the Viliya Icon of the Mother of God “of the Sign” at the same December session.
“Today, a very important event for us all took place in our diocese,” His Eminence Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye wrote on his Telegram channel.
“During the service, the decision of the Holy Synod of the UOC on the glorification of the locally-venerated Samara Icon of the Mother of God was implemented. I’m grateful to the Heavenly Queen that she covers our land and our Zaporozhye Diocese with her pure omophorion,” the hierarch wrote.
“I hope that the intercession of the Mother of God, her veil and prayerful protection will give us the strength and courage to remain always with Christ, in no way compromising with the guile and lies of the new God-fighters. And God is and will be with us!” he concluded.
The icon will be celebrated annually on the first Saturday of September.
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Photo: hramzp.ua
Met. Luke spoke about the history and miracles of the icon, the veneration of which dates back to 1736, when it was brought from the East by Zaporozhye Cossacks.
The great treasure was kept in the church where the Cossacks went to pray before and after every campaign, especially praying before the icon, which they venerated as wonderworking.
The icon was later moved to the town of Novie Kaidaki, where stories about miracles and healings increased enormously and spread not only throughout all of Zaporozhye, but to the whole of Ukraine and beyond, and thousands came from throughout the entire Orthodox world to pray before the icon.
When the Zaporozhye Cossacks were abolished, the icon was placed in the Poltava Monastery of the Elevation of the Cross, later being moved to the Samara St. Nicholas Hermitage. The transfer of the icon took place with a large gathering of people.
In 1831, a cholera epidemic came to an end thanks to the people’s fervent prayers before the icon and numerous processions with it. Similar events occurred in 1848 and 1872.
In memory of these events, the icon was solemnly transported every year throughout the villages and cities of the diocese from April 15 to June 15 and from August 15 to October 15.
After the 1917 revolution, the Samara Monastery was closed, and information about the icon was lost. Whether the original of the icon was preserved or destroyed, no one knows.
There is also a wonderworking copy of the icon in the Church of the Entrance of the Theotokos in Zaporozhye, also venerated by the Cossacks.
“And today, greatly glorifying the intercessor of our salvation, the Most Holy Theotokos Mary, let us hope on her maternal intercession and help, sent to us through the newly-glorified Novo-Kaidaksky (Samara) icon,” Met. Luke concluded.
