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Icon: Feodorofskaya Mother of God

The original Feodorofskaya icon is said to have been found hanging in an evergreen tree in the area of Kostroma by Prince Vasily Yaroslavich of Kostroma, on August 16, 1239. According to legend, the icon was previously in a church dedicated to St Theodore Stratilates in Gorodets. When the Mongols invaded,  the townspeople fled in terror, leaving the icon behind. But in 1239 the inhabitants of Kostroma saw the icon carried through town by a misterious warrior whom they believed to be Theodore (Feodor) himself, thus the name Feodorofskaya (Theodorofskaya). In the early 17th century the icon was carried by the deputation which implored Mikhael Romanov to become Tsar of Russia, and it was used to bless him upon his ascension to the throne. It thus became the patron of the House of Romanov, whose power ended with Tsar Nicholas II.

The Feodorofskaya is a variant of the Mother of God of tenderness (Russian: ‘Oumileinye’) icon. One of the distinctions is the left leg of the Christ Child, which is bare below the knee.