Days of celebration: January 8
At the beginning of the eighteenth century, a pious artist brought back a copy of the Holy Family from Italy. Leaving this image with his relative, a priest of the Trinity Church on the Mud in Moscow, he later donated it to his church. The icon was placed on the porch above the entrance to the church. Forty years later, the icon was known for the grace of God and miraculous signs. According to legend, a noble woman suffered several misfortunes in a short time: her husband was slandered and sent into exile, her property was taken away, and her beloved son, a support and comfort, was captured during the war. Finding herself in a desperate situation, she turned to the Queen of Heaven with fervent prayers, and she heard her. In a dream, a voice appeared to her, ordering her to find the icon of the Holy Family and pray in front of it. The woman searched for the image for a long time in Moscow churches and found it in the Trinity Church on Pokrovka. After fervent prayer, she received three joyful messages: her husband was acquitted and returned from exile, her son was released from captivity, and her property was returned from the treasury. And hence the name of the icon — “Three Joys”. The icon depicts the Mother of God with the Baby on her lap. To her right stands the elder Joseph, and to her left stands John the Baptist, both gazing lovingly at the infant. In addition to the icon of the “Three Joys” in the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on the Mud in Moscow, there are also well-known lists with the icon in two other churches: in the Church of the Position of the Honest Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos in Blachernae and in the house church of the Sofrinsky operational brigade of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. In 1918, a significant number of icons and church altars were transferred from the St. Michael’s Church of the Grodno Diocese to the Ordained Sacrament Church in Leonov. Among them was the icon of the “Three Joys”. Previously, it was located at the right choir of the main altar, and now it is located in the left aisle in front of the choir after restoration.
