Voroshilovo, Moscow Province, Russia, February 17, 2026
Photo: spaso-borodinskiy.ru
An historic icon of Christ was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church last week after nearly a century.
On Friday, February 13, the principal sacred treaure of the Spaso-Borodino Convent in the Moscow Province—an Icon of Christ Not Made by Hands that once belonged to Major General Alexander Tuchkov, hero of the Battle of Borodino—was returned to the monastery from the Borodino Field Museum-Peserve, where it had been kept since 1929, reports the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism.
His Eminence Archbishop Thomas of Odintsovo and Krasnogorsk celebrated Divine Liturgy in the monastery’s St. Vladimir Cathedral to mark the occasion.
Photo: spaso-borodinskiy.ru
The icon carries profound historical significance. On the eve of the decisive battle in 1812, Major General Alexander Tuchkov entrusted this image to his wife, Margarita Mikhailovna. After her husband fell in battle, she founded a monastery on the site of the fighting, and in 1820 brought the icon into the monastery’s first church. Following the monastery’s closure in 1929, the sacred image was preserved in the museum’s collection.
The solemn reception of the icon took place at the walls of the Christ the Savior Church, where Abp. Foma and the concelebrating clergy served a thanksgiving moleben. The icon was then carried in procession to the St. Vladimir Cathedral and installed in its historic location.
Addressing those gathered, Abp. Foma emphasized the spiritual importance of the icon’s return.
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