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Who is the Holy Lady of Vladimir?

Our mission is named in honour of a particular icon of the Mother of God, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was painted by the Evangelist Luke on a board from the table at which the Savior ate together with His All-Pure Mother and Righteous Joseph. The Mother of God, upon seeing this image, exclaimed, “Henceforth, all generations shall call Me blessed. The grace of both My Son and Me shall be with this icon.”

In the year 1131, the icon was sent from Constantinople to the Rus and installed in the Devichi Monastery in the city of Vyshgorod. In 1155 St Andrew Bogoliubsky brought the icon to the city of Vladimir and installed it in the renowned Dormition cathedral which he built. At this time the icon received the name “Vladimir Icon”. The icon was first brought to Moscow in the year 1395 where it remains today. Thus, the blessing of the Mother of God established the spiritual bonds between Byzantium and Rus via Kiev, Vladimir and Moscow.

The festal celebration of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos occurs several times during the year (May 21, June 23 and August 26). The most solemn celebration occurs on August 26, the feast established in honour of the meeting of the Vladimir Icon upon its transfer from Vladimir to Moscow.

Below you will find the hymn to the Holy Lady of Vladimir.