October: Day 22: Teaching 3:
Celebration in Honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
(What Event Was the Feast Established to Commemorate?)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
Celebration in Honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
(What Event Was the Feast Established to Commemorate?)
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
I. The present feast in honor of the wonderworking Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was established in memory of the deliverance of the Russian state in 1612, through the intercession of the Queen of Heaven, from the power and dominion of the Poles.
Taking advantage of the fact that the royal dynasty had all but died out and that complete anarchy had ensued, with all its terrible consequences, the Poles conceived the plan of seizing the Russian kingdom and came very close to succeeding. Moscow, along with nearly half the kingdom, was already in their hands. Fortunately for the Russian people, the cities of Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, and others were still free from the hardships and disorders of that time. Guided by Minin and Pozharsky, whose names are forever remembered in history, they did not delay in coming to the aid of their perishing fatherland.
At that time, the people of Kazan gathered a militia and set out on a campaign against the Poles, taking with them their own wonderworking icon of the Mother of God, the Kazan Icon, which had been discovered not long before and had become renowned for its miracles. When the militia from the lower cities approached Moscow, the ecclesiastical authorities ordered a three-day fast for the entire army and the people, accompanied by a service of supplication before the wonderworking Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, imploring mercy for their perishing fatherland.
The merciful Lord heard their prayer. The Venerable Sergius appeared to Archbishop Arseny in a dream and informed him that the Lord, through the prayers of the Mother of God and the holy hierarchs of Moscow — Peter, Alexis, and Jonah — would overthrow the enemies the following day and return the principal city of the Russian realm to the hands of their fellow countrymen. At that time, Archbishop Arseny was being held captive by the Poles in the Moscow Kremlin, which they had occupied.
Encouraged by this news, on October 22 our soldiers, with the aforementioned icon of the Mother of God at their head, took the Moscow Kremlin without any particular difficulty and captured all the enemies who were inside it. Soon afterward, our entire fatherland was cleared of the Polish invasion. In memory of this event, the feast in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God has been celebrated on this day ever since.
II. Pay attention, too, brethren, to the kind of life our forefathers led in olden times. For several centuries, the Tatars gave them no rest; then came the Poles, the Swedes, and, finally, the French. Yet Russia did not perish. On the contrary, it grew stronger and was, as it were, tempered in battle with its enemies.
Our forefathers knew how to fight the enemy, and they also knew how to find allies. Those allies were the Queen of Heaven, the Venerable Sergius, and the other saints of God. They also knew how to sacrifice themselves for the good and salvation of their fatherland. Consider, for example, Minin of Nizhny Novgorod, mentioned above, a simple merchant. What words did he address to his fellow citizens during that grievous time for the fatherland? “If we wish to help the Moscow state,” he said, “then we must spare neither our property nor anything else: we must sell our homes and pledge our children!” And indeed, many gave their very last possessions for the “great cause of the land.” On one occasion, a widow came to Minin and said, “I was left a widow without children, and I have 12,000 rubles. I give 10,000 rubles toward the collection and keep 2,000 rubles for myself.”
It was no wonder that miracles were so frequent in those days. Our forefathers were worthy of them. They bore the hardships of life with patience and courage. But we, in times of peace and prosperity, are sometimes dissatisfied with our lot. We do not even know what we want. Some may indeed be living in genuine hardship, but are they not themselves to blame for it? They are too lazy to pray to God and too lazy to work. Yet we wish to live not as our forefathers lived, but in luxury and abundance. It is we ourselves, my brethren, who make life difficult for ourselves. As for the new regulations and measures, we should give thanks to the Lord and to our great Sovereign.
III. May the Protectress of the Christian race help us, through Her prayers, to be delivered from all troubles and calamities, and to live in the fear of God, content with our circumstances as Christians, and in peace and love with our neighbors.
(Adapted from a sermon by Archpriest Belotsvetov.)
Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
