March 27
Theotokos of St. Theodore, Kostroma, Kostroma, Russia
There are many explanations for the name of this venerable
Russian icon, said to have been painted by St. Luke the Evangelist. One is
that it hung in the Church of St. Theodore Stratelates in the town of
Gorodets, Russia, but disappeared in the Mongol invasion of 1239. Another
is that, in the same year, 185 miles downstream on the Volga, the people
of Kostroma saw the icon being carried through the streets by a mysterious
warrior resembling St. Theodore Stratelates, a military commander in Asia
Minor martyred in 319. On August 16, 1239, Prince Vasiliy Yaroslavich of
Kostroma found it hanging on an evergreen tree. Another story relates that
around 1260, when Tatars threatened Kostroma, Russian militia rode out
with the icon before them, but when a mysterious horseman dashed between
the armies, with golden shield flashing and purple cloak flying (or when
the icon itself emitted blinding rays), the Tatars ran, while Russians
identified the saving apparition as St. Theodore Stratelates.
The icon came to reside in Kostroma Cathedral. On March 14, 1613, Xenia Shestova, living in Kostroma as a nun, blessed her son Mikhail Romanov, newly chosen Tsar, with the wonderworking icon and gave him a copy to take with him to Moscow, where the "Feodorovskaya" became spiritual patron of the Romanov dynasty.
The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the St. Theodore Mother of God on March 27 (March 14 old style) in honor of this event, and on August 29 (August 16) to commemorate its finding.
The original image is now in Epiphany Monastery in Kostroma. It is an icon of the Tenderness type, similar to Our Lady of Vladimir.
Sources:
 | Fr. S. Janos, tr., "The Theodorovsk (Feodorovsk) Kostroma Icon of the Mother of God," HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, a parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow, www.holytrinityorthodox.com/calendar/los/August/16-07.htm |
| sacredartgallery.com/catalog/icons30_31.htm |
| St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Washington, www.stjohndc.org/Russian/english.htm |
| "Theotokos of St. Theodore," en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theotokos_of_St. Theodore |
| "Угличский Богоявленский монастырь," ugli4.narod.ru (image) |
| "Kostroma," Russian Holidays, holiday-in-russia.com/Kostroma.html |
Also commemorated this date:
| Ctvrtá Mariánské, Karlštejn, Beroun, Central Bohemia, Czech Republic (Marian Tower in Karlštejn Castle), Czech Republic. Chapel consecrated, 1357. |
| Madonna del Camino, Montichiari, Brescia, Lombardy, Italy, in Santa Maria Calchera church. Fresco's eyes moved, 1690. |
| Beata Vergine del Piratello, Imola, Bologna, Emilia Romagna, Italy. Apparition, 1483. |
| Madonna di Romania, Tropea, Catanzaro, Calabria, Italy. Earthquake during procession spared town, devastated region, 1638. |
| Maria Santissima del Carmine, Taurianova, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy. Statue crowned, 1960. |