The Kazan icon of the Mother of God is one of the most widely loved icons in the Orthodox world. Copies hang in countless churches and homes, parents give it to their daughter on her wedding day, and people pray before it for their eyesight, their families and help in hard times.

This guide covers how the Kazan Mother of God icon was found, what the image shows, its feast days, the prayers and how to choose one for your home.

A girl, a dream and an icon in the ashes

In the summer of 1579 a great fire swept through the city of Kazan on the Volga. Soon afterwards the Mother of God appeared in a dream to Matrona, a ten-year-old girl whose family had lost their house, and told her to dig her icon out of the ground where the house had stood. Nobody believed the child at first. After the third dream Matrona and her mother began to dig themselves, and found the icon wrapped in old cloth, its colours as bright as if it had just been painted.

The icon was carried in procession to the nearby church of St Nicholas, and tradition says two blind men, Joseph and Nikita, received their sight on the way. The priest of that church, Ermolai, later became Patriarch Hermogenes and is venerated as a saint. He wrote down the story of the finding, and his account survives.

A convent was built on the spot where the icon appeared. Matrona became a nun there under the name Mavra and later served as its abbess.

What the Kazan icon shows

The Kazan icon belongs to the Hodegetria type, a Greek word meaning «she who shows the way». The Mother of God is painted down to the shoulders, her head tilted towards her Son. The Christ Child stands at her left shoulder, facing the viewer, and blesses with his right hand.

Unlike icons of the Tender Mercy type, where Mother and Child press their cheeks together, here the Virgin seems to present her Son to us. That is the meaning of Hodegetria: the Mother of God leads every person to Christ. Her calm, serious face is recognisable at once, even on a pocket-sized icon.

The original icon was stolen from the convent in 1904 and was most likely destroyed. The Church venerates its miracle-working copies. In 2004 an old copy that had long belonged to Pope John Paul II was returned to Kazan.

Feast days of the Kazan icon

The Church celebrates the Kazan icon twice a year:

  • 21 July (8 July in the Julian calendar), in memory of the finding of the icon in 1579.
  • 4 November (22 October in the Julian calendar), in memory of 1612, when the volunteer army of Prince Dmitry Pozharsky freed Moscow from foreign occupation. The army carried a copy of the Kazan icon and prayed before it on the eve of the decisive assault.

On both days churches serve the Divine Liturgy and read the akathist before the icon.

What to pray for before the Kazan icon

Because the first miracles were the healing of the blind, people have long prayed before the Kazan icon for their eyesight. They also pray:

  • for their marriage and for peace in the family;
  • for their children;
  • in difficult circumstances and before important decisions;
  • for the protection of their home and country in times of trouble.

The troparion of the icon begins: «O zealous intercessor, Mother of the Lord Most High, thou prayest for all to thy Son Christ our God». A short prayer works too: «Most Holy Mother of God, save us.»

The Church teaches that help comes from God through the prayers of the Mother of God, and the icon helps us turn to her with attention. You can also pray for a sick or troubled relative together with others, as explained in the article on praying for loved ones.

The Kazan icon at an Orthodox wedding

By long-standing custom the bride's parents bless her with the Kazan icon of the Mother of God, and the groom is blessed with an icon of Christ. The two icons stand together during the wedding service and afterwards take their place in the couple's icon corner. Such a pair is called a wedding pair. Read more about this custom and other ideas in the guide to Orthodox wedding gifts.

Choosing a Kazan Mother of God icon for your home

At home the Kazan icon usually stands in the icon corner to the left of the icon of Christ. The Vladimir icon and the icons of your family's patron saints go well beside it. For other images of the Virgin chosen for the home, see which icon of the Mother of God to choose.

Our Kazan Mother of God icons include silver-plated icons for the icon corner, small 6.4 x 5 cm icons for travel, sets with the icons of Christ and the Vladimir Mother of God, and wedding pairs. You will also find an icon set from the workshops of the Pskov-Caves monastery and an icon from the Danilov workshops showing the Kazan Mother of God with St Nicholas, St George and the Archangel Michael.