Celebration in honor of the Konevskaya Icon of the Mother of God (23/07)

The Konev Icon of the Mother of God was brought from St. Athos by St. Arseny, the Konev Wonderworker, in 1393. St. Arseny spent three years on Mount Athos, working with dignity in the exploits of fasting and prayer.

After this period, he decided to return to his native Novgorod to revive the ancient traditions of Athonite monasticism there. The abbot of one of the Athonite monasteries, St. John Zidon, admonishing his beloved student, blessed St. Arseny on the road with a miraculous icon of the Mother of God and predicted to him that he would be the abbot of the newly-minted monastery.

The Monk Arseny chose Konevets Island as his place of stay. From the very beginning of his monastic exploits on Konevsky Island, St. Arseny constantly felt the blessed help that came from the holy icon.

Evidence of this is the following event. The pagan population of this island superstitiously worshiped the huge stone idol — «horse-stone». The Monk Arseny, with a miraculous image of the Mother of God, made a religious procession around this stone and, having created a fervent prayer, expelled a whole bunch of demons who, taking the form of crows, flew to the Vyborg coast. Since then, the «horse-stone» has become a symbol of the victory of Christianity over paganism in these places, and the icon has been called Konevskaya.

The Konev shrine was located in the Vvedensky Church of the monastery until 1940, when, due to military events, the monastery was evacuated, the brethren of the Konevsky Monastery settled on the Hiekka farm in the town of Keitele. The icon of the Mother of God was also brought here.

Hundreds of Orthodox Finns came to worship the icon. In 1956, several surviving monks of the Konevsky Monastery moved to Heinavesi, to the New Valaam Monastery. In 1963, the Konevsky Monastery was disbanded, the Konevskaya shrine was sent to Helsinki, and in 1969 — to Moscow for restoration. A year later, the icon returned to New Valaam, where it remains today.

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