Today, October 26, the Church remembers the bringing of the Iveron Icon to Moscowtranslated

The bringing of a copy of the miraculous Iveron Icon of the Mother of God to Moscow in 1648 is remembered by the Orthodox Church on October 26.

In the 9th century, the icon, which is now known as the Iveron icon and is kept on Mount Athos, was in the possession of a pious widow who lived near the city of Nicaea. Under Emperor Theophilus, iconoclast heretics who destroyed icons came to the house of this Christian woman. When one of the soldiers hit the image of the Virgin Mary with a spear, blood flowed from the affected area.

The widow promised the soldiers money and asked them not to touch the icon until the morning. When they left, the woman carried her to the sea and set her adrift. Two centuries later, this icon sailed to Athos.

The monks of the Iversky Monastery saw a pillar of fire in the sea, rising to the sky. Arriving at the sea, they noticed a holy image that stood on the water at a distance from the shore. The shrine was taken away and placed in the church. However, the next day the icon disappeared from the church and was discovered above the gates of the monastery.

This was repeated several times until the Most Holy Virgin revealed Her will to the monks: She does not want to be kept by the monks, but wants to be their Guardian. After which the image was placed over the monastery gates and named “Portaitissa”, that is, “Goalkeeper”. And by the name of the monastery she...