November 12 is the feast of the Ozyansky Icon of the Mother of God: what is the famous image?

On November 12, the Orthodox Church celebrates the feast day in honor of the Ozyansky Icon of the Mother of God, one of the miraculous images whose history is steeped in legends about miraculous discoveries and healings. In 2025, this day falls on a Wednesday. Izvestia tells about how the shrine was revealed, what is its uniqueness and who it helps.

The history of the holiday and the origin of the image

Tradition attributes the appearance of the Ozyansky icon of the Mother of God to the end of the XVI century. According to the chronicles, the event took place near the village of Ozyany, in the Kharkiv region, from which the image got its name. The acquisition of the shrine is associated with the name of a simple peasant. While mowing, he accidentally cut an icon lying in the grass with a scythe, cutting it in half.

Realizing his involuntary transgression, he reverently picked up both parts of the image, took them to his house and placed them in a red corner, placing a candle in front of the icon. Imagine his amazement when he found it whole in the morning — the two halves had fused together, leaving only a thin, barely noticeable trace. The news of the miracle quickly spread around the area, attracting the first pilgrims to the place of appearance.

A men's monastery, the Ozeryanskaya Bogorodichnaya Hermitage, was soon founded at the place where the icon was found. According to legend, it was there where the image was found that a clear spring gushed from the ground, the water of which also possessed healing powers.

Some traditions related to the Ozyansky icon

In 1843, at the numerous requests of believers, Emperor Nicholas I allowed religious processions to be held with the miraculous image. The procession was accompanied by solemn singing and ringing of bells. On this day, the daily life of the city seemed to come to a standstill, even educational institutions did not work.

The tradition of religious processions, which was interrupted in Soviet times, is actively being revived today. On the day of the feast on November 12, festive liturgies are celebrated in the churches where the icon lists are kept. Believers, according to an ancient custom, try to do good deeds, for example, to hang bird feeders and avoid conflicts in order to preserve peace in the soul and in the family.

Thus, even centuries later, the Ozyansky Icon of the Mother of God continues to be a living source of faith and hope for Orthodox Christians.

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When is Ozyanskaya Icon Day celebrated in 2025

The church has established two days of celebration in honor of the Ozyansky Icon of the Mother of God. The main, non—transitional date falls in autumn, the second one is celebrated in spring.

• November 12 (October 30, Old style) is the main day of celebration. It is on this day that believers especially solemnly honor the memory of the miraculous appearance of the shrine and glorify the Mother of God.

• April 27 (rolling date) — the celebration takes place in the week of Antipascha, that is, the next Sunday after Easter. This tradition is associated with a special reverence for the image as a source of joy and solace. In 2025, Easter was celebrated on April 20, respectively, the second day of the celebration fell on the 27th.

Iconography of the Ozyansky Icon of the Mother of God

The Ozyansky icon belongs to the widespread iconographic type "Odigitria", which means "Guide book" in Greek. This type emphasizes the role of the Mother of God as a mentor of believers to Christ. The researchers note that one of the lists of the Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God probably served as a prototype for the Lake image.

The Mother of God is depicted on the icon from the waist up. Her face is turned towards the Christ child, who sits on Her left arm. The right hand of the Virgin Mary is raised in a prayer gesture. The infant Christ blesses those who are coming with his right hand, and holds the Gospel in his left.

The distinctive details of the image are the crowns on the heads of the Virgin and Child, which indicates Their royal dignity. The robes are traditional: the Mother of God is dressed in a red chiton and a blue maforium, and the Christ child is in a red chiton. The background of the icon is decorated with stars, and clouds are depicted in the upper part.

The size of the prototype was relatively small: 40 cm in height and 34 cm in width. The icon was decorated with an expensive chasuble made of red gold.

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What miracles are associated with the Ozyansky icon?

Many miracles and healings are associated with the holy image. According to the chronicles, during the cholera epidemic in the middle of the 19th century in the Kharkov district, the Ozyansky icon was taken home, prayer services were held in front of it in squares, after which the disease subsided.

There is a well-known case when the Kharkov writer and playwright Grigory Kvitki-Osnovyanenko was miraculously healed by the prayers of this icon. He became blind as a child. Later, together with his mother, he went to the Kuryazhsky Transfiguration Monastery, where the Ozyansky Icon was located at that time. And a miracle happened — Gregory regained his sight. Impressed, he even intended to become a monk and for some time was a novice at the Transfiguration Monastery.

Nowadays, the testimonies of believers about the miracles performed by the icon are also recorded. One of them tells about an elderly woman from the Dnipropetrovsk region, who, after praying and bathing in a spring at the site of the icon's appearance, was able to stand up, although she had not been able to move on her own before.

What do they pray for before the holy image?

For several centuries, the Ozyansky Icon of the Mother of God has been sought for intercession and solace in a variety of life circumstances. The prayer tradition, which has developed through numerous testimonies of miracles, highlights several key petitions:

• about healing from diseases, especially from eye ailments, blindness and severe injuries;
• for help in sorrows and difficult life situations;
• about the well-being of children, the gift of parental patience and wisdom;
• about consolation and strengthening in faith when despair and despondency prevail.;
• about protection from natural disasters and epidemics.

Prayer in front of the Ozyansky icon

"Oh, our Most Blessed Lady, Theotokos! Having arisen from the vanity of life and having gathered our thoughts together, we lift up the eyes of our souls and bodies to Your icon, Theotokos, and we cry out to You: do not forsake us, O Most Pure One, who are weak in our sins, do not allow the evil demon to drive our souls away from Your Son into the wilds of passions, but help us to command Ever mindful, let us betray ourselves lower by fornication, and bite each other lower by malice, but just as today we stand before Your shrine, we are inflamed with zeal for the correction of our lives, so we have departed from Your temple to our homes, striving to preserve this good intention. Until now, satisfy our bodily needs, and heal our sorrows through Your prayer, O All-loving One.

We believe that it is more fitting for us to endure all this complacently and ask the Lord for patience in tribulation; but when our souls are exhausted in sorrow and our thoughts of despondency shake our faith, for this reason, in the contrition of our hearts, we cry out to You. Just as you have healed innumerable sick sufferers and comforted the sorrowful, so hear us who prostrate ourselves before Your miraculous icon and pray to You in sorrow, and grant us all petitions for good, giving health to the sick, consolation to the sorrowful, peace from God to those who are in enmity, and affirmation of faith to those who doubt.

Hear Thy sinful servants, O Most Pure One, and raise us up to praise Thee, that the faith of thy people may be multiplied, that Thy intercession may be glorified in them, and that the kingdom of thy Son may be established among us. All glory, honor, and worship befits Him, together with His Beginningless Father and the Most Holy, Good, and Life-giving Spirit, now, and always, and forever and ever. Amen to that."

Prayer to Saint Demetrius of Thessalonica for protection and help in difficult circumstances

Where is the Ozyansk icon of the Virgin

The history of the icon was full of trials. After the decree of Catherine II on the secularization of church lands, the Ozyansk desert was abolished in 1787. The miraculous image was transferred to the Kuryazhsky Transfiguration Monastery, and after its closure, the shrine found shelter for eight years in the Kharkov Intercession Church. After the restoration of the Kuryazh monastery in 1843, the icon was solemnly returned to the monastery.

In the atheistic 1930s, the original miraculous image was lost. His fate is still unknown, which is considered one of the main losses of the Orthodox world. However, the grace-giving power associated with this image has not disappeared. Numerous lists (copies) continue to carry it, some of which are also revered as miraculous.

One of the most revered lists of the Ozyansky icon is located in Kharkov, in the Holy Intercession Monastery. This image, recreated and consecrated at the site of the appearance of the archetype, has become a spiritual symbol of the city and the entire Slobozhanshchina. Believers pray in front of him every day, and on the days of celebration, solemn divine services and processions are held.

Earlier, Izvestia told about the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God and how this image became famous.

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