Days of celebration: January 25
The Mammalian icon of the Mother of God is one of the outstanding examples of Byzantine painting and has a rich history associated with the name of Saint Sava the Consecrated. Initially, it was located in the Lavra, located near Jerusalem, founded by Saint Sava the Consecrated. In 532, before his death, Saint Sava predicted that in six centuries a pilgrim named Sava from Serbia would come to the Monastery and instructed him to give him this miraculous icon. The prophecy came true in the 13th century, when Saint Sava of Serbia brought the icon to the Hilendar Monastery on Mount Athos and placed it in the church attached to the Karelian Cell to the right of the iconostasis. This fact attracts attention, since usually an icon of the Holy Trinity or the Savior is placed to the right of the Royal Gate. Later, this temple was called Tipikarnitsa, as it kept the charter of St. Sava. Miraculous copies of this icon are also known in Russia, Ukraine, Greece and the Holy Land. Their appearance in Russia is connected with the activities of St. Gabriel of Mount Athos. In Moscow’s Elokhovsky Epiphany Cathedral, the main aisle contains a copy of the Mammalian icon with an inscription indicating that it was painted and consecrated on Mount Athos in the hermitage of St. Elijah the Prophet and was sent as a gift to Moscow, to the Church of the Epiphany on the Elokhov Field. This copy was brought there by Archimandrite Gabriel in 1894 to preserve the memory of his two-month stay in this church. In Odessa, there is also a miraculous copy of the Mammalian icon, brought by St. Gabriel of Mount Athos, in the Holy Dormition Monastery. There is also another icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Mammalian”, which was found in 1650 in the tract of Krestogorsk, located twenty versts from Minsk. A church dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God was built on the site of her appearance. This image is located above the royal gate and can be lowered by a special mechanism so that worshippers can venerate it. There are many legends about the miracles associated with this icon, and it is credited with the ability to help in getting rid of various troubles and ailments. The celebration of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Mammalian” is celebrated on the feast day of St. Sava of Serbia, January 12.
