The Feast of the Mother of God in honor of Her holy icon of Vladimir is celebrated in thanksgiving for the deliverance of Moscow from the invasion of Khan Akhmat in 1480.
In 1480, under Grand Duke John III Vasilyevich, the Khan of the Golden Horde, Akhmat, with numerous hordes, approached the Ugra River, which is called the «belt of the Mother of God», guarding the Moscow possessions.
All day long, the troops of the khan and the Moscow prince stood against each other, without taking decisive action, — «state on the Ugra».
All of Moscow prayed to its Intercessor, the Blessed Virgin Mary, for the salvation of the Orthodox capital. Metropolitan Gerontius (1473—1489) and the prince’s confessor, Archbishop Vassian of Rostov, supported the Russian troops with prayer, blessing and advice. The Metropolitan wrote a conciliar message to the prince, in which he called on him to courageously stand against the enemy, relying on the help of the Mother of God.
The Blessed Virgin Mary stood up for the Russian Land. The prince ordered his troops to retreat from the Ugra, wanting to wait for the Tatars to cross, but the enemies decided that the Russians were luring them into an ambush, and also began to retreat, at first slowly, and at night they ran, driven by fear.
In gratitude for the liberation of Russia from the Tatars, a holiday was established in honor of the Mother of God.