Day of honoring the icons of the Mother of God of Czestochowa, the Blessed Heaven and Shestokovskaya

Every year on March 19, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Day of Honoring the Icons of the Mother of God of Czestochowa, the Blessed Heaven and Shestokovskaya These are the most famous images that amaze with their history and enjoy special respect among parishioners, since they personify the true faith in God that has passed through the centuries This image is the oldest icon, which, according to legend, was painted by the Apostle Luke himself Fleeing from the Romans, Christian believers in 67 AD were forced to flee to the town of Pella along with their shrines It was here that for three centuries one of the most famous icons of the modern Orthodox world, the Icon of the Mother of God of Czestochowa, was kept in a deep cave Only in 326 did the Częstochowa Icon leave Pella, as it was presented to Queen Helena and taken to Constantinople The shrine remained in this city for five centuries The icon was brought from Constantinople to Russia by Prince Lev, also known as the founder of the city of Lvov It was at this time that they started talking about the miracles of the image, which helped believers cope with various troubles Later, the shrine passed into the hands of the Polish ruler Vladislav For centuries, the icon remained on the territory of the Czestochowa Monastery, where all its miracles, history, and interesting facts were described Only in 1813 was the shrine transported to St Petersburg, where the image was placed in the Kazan Cathedral with an unquenchable lamp Previously, this great shrine was located in the Smolensk Monastery Only in the 15th century was the icon transported to Moscow by order of the daughter of the Lithuanian prince Sophia, who became the wife of the Moscow ruler Vasily Dmitrievich The image depicts the Mother of God in full growth with the Child of God in her arms It is believed that the Icon of the Blessed Sky helps to heal from physical and mental illnesses This shrine is prayed to when traveling by air, as well as when it is necessary to guide a person on the right path The icon has an unusual history One blessed girl assured her relatives that she saw the Most Holy Theotokos in her oven, but no one believed her This lasted until everyone saw a rolled up scroll of canvas on the hearth of the stove Having unfolded the canvas, the household saw on it a magnificent image of the Mother of God, whose one cheek was burned, as proof that she had been in fire, but the Lord saved her From that time on, the icon became a family treasure and was passed down from generation to generation Before the revolution, the shrine was located in the Sheltomezhsky monastery in the Tver province, not far from the city of Kashin In 1851 it was handed over to the abbots of the temple in the village Sheltomierzhi Here, in honor of the image, a women's community was formed, and later a convent was built, which is currently destroyed Unfortunately, today the miraculous icon of the Shestokovskaya Mother of God has been lost, but there are copies of it