Moscow, May 15, 2023
Finally, after more than 100 years, the most famous Russian Orthodox icon has been returned to the ownership of the Church.
In response to repeated requests from Orthodox believers and hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, President Vladimir Putin decided to return the wonderworking Trinity Icon by St. Andrei Rublev to the Church, reports patriarchia.ru.
For centuries, the 15th-century icon found its home on the iconostasis of the Holy Trinity Cathedral at the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, founded by St. Sergius of Radonezh in the 14th century. However, when the godless authorities came to power in Russia, they removed the icon from the monastery. In 1929, after nine years in a museum in Zagorsk (Sergiev Posad), it was transferred to the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, where it has remained ever since.
The icon returned to the monastery for the first time last July in honor of the 600th anniversary of the uncovering of the relics of St. Sergius. It remained for a few days before being returned to the museum.
But now the icon is returning to its home permanently.
With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the Trinity Icon will be exhibited for public veneration in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow for a year, and then it will be returned to its historical place on the iconostasis of the Holy Trinity Cathedral at the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, founded by St. Sergius of Radonezh in the 14th century.
Read more about the icon in the article, “The Russian Icon that Reveals the Mystery of the Trinity.”
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