www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Icon of our Lady of Kazan to return to Russia

According to the following article - www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/0301e.html#24 [stetson.edu] - the icon of Our Lady of Kazan - regarded to be the original miracle-working icon and which for many years was enshrined in the Russian Byzantine Catholic chapel of the Dormition at Fatima and is currently in the Pope's private chapel at the Vatican- will finally be returned to Russia. Unfortunately, the icon will not be personally returned by the Pope as it had been hoped.

Personally, I am disappointed that the Holy Father will not be able to personally return the icon. It had been a personal prayer intention of mine that he would return the icon during a historic visit to Russia.

Hopefully, this goodwill gesture by the Holy Father to the Russian Orthodox Church will open wider the door for a future papal visit.

I also hope that the Russian Orthodox Church will return to the Ruthenian Catholic Church the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Mukachevo, which was taken to Moscow when the beloved St. Nicholas Monastery was forcibly taken from the Ruthenian Catholic Church.

May the Holy Mother of God intercede with Christ to bring peace and greater unity to all of her children, both of the East and West.

Holy Mother of God intercede for us.

GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST!
GLORY TO HIM FOREVER!

Does anyone know if the Bells of Danilov Monastery were given back by Harvard University??

Just curious...

mark

Dear Friends,

Our Apostolic Administrator gave back to the Orthodox the miraculous icon of Akhtyrka that came into the hands of a local man here who put it up in the museum displaying William Kurelek's art.

And I'm sorry he did . . .

The icon was installed in yet another museum over there.

It would have been much better to have had it enshrined here for all to venerate Catholic and Orthodox.

It is good that the Icon of Kazan is being returned.

There are many icons from Ukraine and elsewhere that the Russian Orthodox Church has in its possession today.

"Rots of Ruck" getting them returned.

Alex

Perhaps the Patriarchate could learn from the Holy Father and return all of the property his jurisdiction stole from the Old Believers -starting with the bells in St Basils Cathedral which are the property of the cathedral of the Protecting Veil in the Rogozhskoe cemetry.

Spasi Khristos -
Mark, monk and sinner.

It seems the Moscow Patriarchate is a serious pack-rat...of others' belongings.

ChristTeen287

With the exception of the Romanian Orthodox bishop in Romania who returned churches in his eparchy back to the Romanian Catholic Church, does anyone know of Orthodox Christians in good faith returning icons, buildings, or other religious items that originally belonged to the Catholic Church?

Alex:

Many years ago my grandmother gave me a copy of the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Akhtyrka. It has a gold-filled cover and a full color print underneath.

I have been trying for many years to have it dated. Can you tell me when this holy icon first became part of the heritage of the Ukrainian Church? The letters on the cover are too small to be seen clearly, though they are pressed into the metal and are supposed to be a faithful reproduction.

Thanks.

BOB

Dear Bob,

It was in the 18th century that an Orthodox priest was cutting the grass around his parish with a scythe when he came across this icon lying on the ground.

He asked his daughter to clean it. According to strict Orthodox tradition, water that has been used to clean an icon must be returned to a river where there is running or "living" water.

As she went with the water, an elderly woman who met her was inspired and told her not to return the water to the river but, instead, give it to the people.

She did and miracles began to occur. To this day on the icon's feast, July 15, the Priest dunks an icon of Okhtyrka (Akhtyrka) three times in a vat of water and the people take this water home with them as a holy thing.

There are 324 miracles confirmed by the Russian (Nikonian )Synod and this icon is one of only six in the world that bears the Tsar's personal seal.

The original icon displayed the style of ornamentation called "Shatuvannya" or covering of everything in an icon with gold or silver or other metal, leaving only the faces and hands of the Persons displayed uncovered.

The Austrian government ordered all icons stripped of their gold ornamentation during the First World War and so this icon was as well.

It was then lost and turned up in the possession of a friend of my family's, Mr. Kolankiwsky, who had an art gallery in Niagara Falls dedicated to the Passion of Christ and other artwork of William Kurelek.

The Apostolic Administrator, Bishop Danylak, following the death of Mr and Mrs. Kolankiwsky, had the icon (he was the executor of their will, I believe) returned to Okhtyrka. I understand that it is now in a museum there, but I could be wrong.

I have a colour copy of the icon that I pressed to the original and have framed.

The original is truly beautiful. There is a nail above the head of the Theotokos that once held fast the gold covering. The face of the Mother of God looks as if it is alive.

In my view, I thought it would have been better to have enshrined that icon in a church here rather than to return it so soon somewhere where the people might not appreciate its spiritual value - they do appreciate its artistic value, but . . .

Alex

Dear Greigo,

No.

The problem is that some Orthodox Churches (ie. Russia) took icons from other Orthodox lands.

Icons that have changed hands between Greek Catholics and Orthodox in recent years were all originally Orthodox icons.

It's an argument no one really wins.

Alex

In communist Poland, all Greek-Catholic property
(Basilian Church in Warsaw excluded) was confiscated by the State Treasury.
The Orthodox received from communist authorities
right to use 25 churches (all of them remained
state property).
In 1990s an Orthodox parish (in Hlomcha
near Syanik) returned to the Greek-Catholic
Church together with the church building. Local
Orthodox Bishop gave Greek-Catholics another church in Velyke Pole near Zahirya (there was and
is an Orthodox Church in Zahirya - former Greek-Catholic church, of course - so the Orthodox didn't need two churches for such a tiny community).
Now there has been an official dialogue between Orthodox and Greek-Catholics in regard to the
rest (23 churches).

Sincerely,
subdeacon Peter

Well, what about the Kholm (Xolm) icon of Theotokos? Painted (written ) in Byzantium in
XII century (or even earlier), now in museum of Luc'k in Ukraine, while city of Kholm is in Poland and the Cathedral in RC hands?

Sincerely,
subdeacon Peter

Also, many Orthodox Churches were destroyed by authorities in Pre-WW II Poland. The effects of post-Pilsudski anti-Russian feeling.

Dear Subdeacon Peter,

That is a shame as well!

Now that I have you here, Subdeacon, could you tell us what has become of the Okhtyrka Icon of the Mother of God that was returned to Ukraine by our Apostolic Administrator, Bishop Roman Danylak?

Is it in a Church or a museum?

Alex

Yes, many churches were destroyed (some of them
were built by Greek-Catholics), especially in 1938 in Kholm and Podlachia (Pidliashshya) regions.
But "anti-Russian feelings" in Poland weren't invented by Pilsudski or his successors. They were caused by Russian occupation of Poland.
And in 1938 tragedy has much more to do with
anti-Ukrainian policy, not "anti-Russian feelings". Orthodox faithful of mentioned regions were predominantly Ukrainian.

Sincerely,
subdeacon Peter