The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was painted by the Evangelist Luke on a board from the table where the Savior ate with the Most Pure Mother and the righteous Joseph. The Mother of God, seeing this image, said: "From now on, all generations will bless Me. May the grace of Him who was born of Me and Mine be with this icon."
In 1131, the icon was sent to Russia from Constantinople to the Holy Prince Mstislav (+ 1132, April 15) and was placed in the Maiden Monastery of Vyshgorod, the ancient appanage city of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga.
Yuri Dolgoruky's son, Saint Andrew Bogolyubsky, brought the icon to Vladimir in 1155 and placed it in the famous Assumption Cathedral he had erected. Since that time, the icon has been named the Vladimir icon. In 1395, the icon was brought to Moscow for the first time. Thus, with the blessing of the Mother of God, the spiritual bonds of Byzantium and Russia were sealed - through Kiev, Vladimir and Moscow.
The Vladimir Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated several times a year (May 21, June 23, August 26). The most solemn celebration takes place on August 26, established in honor of the presentation of the Vladimir Icon when it was transferred from Vladimir to Moscow. In 1395, the terrible conqueror Khan Tamerlane (Temir-Aksak) reached the borders of Ryazan, took the city of Yelets and, heading towards Moscow, approached the banks of the Don. Grand Duke Vasily Dimitrievich marched with his army to Kolomna and stopped on the banks of the Oka River. He prayed to the hierarchs of Moscow and St. Sergius for the deliverance of the Fatherland and wrote to the Metropolitan of Moscow, St. Cyprian (September 16), that the coming Dormition fast would be dedicated to fervent prayers for mercy and repentance. The clergy were sent to Vladimir, where the famous miraculous icon was located. After the liturgy and prayer service on the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the clergy accepted the icon and carried it in a procession to Moscow. Countless people on both sides of the road, kneeling, prayed: "Mother of God, save the Russian land!" At the very hour when the inhabitants of Moscow met the icon on Kuchkovo Field, Tamerlane was dozing in his tent. Suddenly he saw in a dream a great mountain, from the top of which the saints were walking towards him with golden rods, and above them in a radiant radiance appeared a Majestic Wife. She ordered him to leave Russia. Waking up in awe, Tamerlane asked about the meaning of the vision. Those in the know replied that the radiant Wife is the Mother of God, the great Defender of Christians. Then Tamerlane gave the order to the regiments to go back. In memory of the miraculous deliverance of the Russian land from Tamerlane, the Sretensky Monastery was built on Kuchkovo Field, where the icon was met, and on August 26, an All-Russian celebration was established in honor of the presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Russian Russian Church history witnessed the most important events in front of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God: the election and installation of St. Jonah, Primate of the Autocephalous Russian Church (1448), St. Job, first Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (1589), and His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon (1917). On the day of the celebration, the enthronement of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was performed. His Holiness Patriarch Pimen of Moscow and All Russia - May 21/June 3, 1971
The historical days of May 21, June 23, and August 26, associated with this holy icon, have become memorable days of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The feast of the Mother of God in honor of Her holy Vladimir Icon is celebrated in thanksgiving for the deliverance of Moscow from the invasion of Khan Akhmat. In 1480, under Grand Duke John III Vasilyevich (1462-1505), the khan of the Golden Horde, Akhmat, with huge hordes, already approached the Ugra River, which is called the "belt of the Mother of God", guarding the Moscow possessions. For a whole day, the troops of the Khan and the Moscow Prince stood against each other, without taking decisive action - "standing on the Ugra." The whole of Moscow prayed to its Intercessor, the Most Holy Theotokos, for the salvation of the Orthodox capital. Metropolitan Gerontius (1473-1489) and the prince's confessor, Archbishop Vassian of Rostov, reinforced the Russian troops with prayer, blessing and advice. The metropolitan wrote a conciliar message to the prince, in which he urged him to courageously stand against the enemy, relying on the help of the Mother of God.
The Most Holy Mother of God interceded for the Russian Land. The prince ordered his troops to retreat from the Ugra, wanting to wait for the Tatars to cross, but the enemies decided that the Russians were luring them into an ambush, and they also began to retreat, slowly at first, and ran at night, driven by fear. In gratitude for the liberation of Russia from the Tatars, a holiday was established in honor of the Mother of God.
The celebration of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was established in memory of the salvation of Moscow in 1521 from the invasion of the Tatars under the leadership of Khan Makhmet Giray. Tatar hordes were approaching Moscow, setting fire and destroying Russian towns and villages, exterminating their inhabitants. Grand Duke Vasily gathered an army against the Tatars, and Metropolitan Varlaam of Moscow, together with the inhabitants of Moscow, prayed fervently for deliverance from death. During this terrible time, a pious blind nun had a vision: Moscow saints were coming out of the Spassky Gates of the Kremlin, leaving the city and taking with them the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the main shrine of Moscow, as God's punishment for the sins of its inhabitants. At the Saviour's Gate, the saints were met by the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh and Varlaam of Khutyn, tearfully begging them not to leave Moscow. Together, they offered a fervent prayer to the Lord for the forgiveness of those who had sinned and the deliverance of Moscow from its enemies. After this prayer, the saints returned to the Kremlin and brought back the Vladimir Holy Icon. A similar vision was had by the Moscow saint, Blessed Basil, to whom it was revealed that Moscow would be saved by the intercession of the Mother of God and the prayers of the saints. The Tatar Khan had a vision of the Mother of God surrounded by a formidable army rushing towards their regiments. The Tatars fled in fear, and the capital of the Russian state was saved.
The celebration of the icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir is also celebrated on June 23 and August 26.