Дорогие братья и сестры!
Впервые в истории древняя чудотворная икона посетит Гибралтар!
Курская Коренная икона Божией Матери «Знамение» — одна из самых почитаемых святынь Русской Православной Церкви — совершит свой исторический визит. Не упустите возможность прикоснуться к духовному наследию, которое веками вдохновляло верующих!
Икона была найдена охотником у корня дерева на берегу реки Тускарь в Курской области современной России в 1295 году.
Она связана со многими чудесами, включая исцеление святого Серафима Саровского.
После большевистской революции 1917 года икона путешествовала по Европе, пока в середине 1940-х годов не обрела постоянное место пребывания в Нью-Йорке.
И поныне она продолжает своё путешествие по миру, являя чудеса по молитвам и заступничеству Пресвятой Богородицы.
Пятница, 31 октября, 16:00–18:00
В это время будет прочитан акафист и совершен краткий молебен.
Православный священник будет доступен для исповеди.
Суббота, 1 ноября, 10:30–12:00
Состоится православная Божественная литургия святителя Иоанна Златоуста.
Святыня будет находиться в кафедральном Соборе Пресвятой Девы Марии Царицы по адресу:
215 Main Street, Gibraltar.
Приглашаем всех православных верующих и всех, кто ищет утешения и духовной поддержки, прийти и помолиться перед этим великим чудотворным образом Божией Матери.
The Kursk Root Icon: A Historic Visit to Gibraltar
A Sacred Relic Arrives
Gibraltar is set to welcome a rare and historic visitor: the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God «The Sign,» one of the Russian Orthodox Church’s most venerated miracle-working icons. Making its first appearance here from October 31 to November 1, 2025, this sacred artifact will be housed at the Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned. This event, drawing Orthodox faithful from the neighbouring region, marks a significant moment for our small community.
The icon will visit Gibraltar as part of a wider pastoral tour across Europe, organised by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), which will see the revered relic travel to parishes and monasteries across the continent.
A History Spanning Centuries
The icon’s story begins in 1295, during the Mongol invasions led by Batu Khan, which devastated the Kursk region (in modern-day Russia), turning it into a desolate wilderness. A hunter from Rylsk, spared from the destruction, discovered the small icon (about 5 inches square) face down at the root of a tree along the Tuskar River on the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God. As he lifted it, a spring of pure water erupted — a first miracle. The hunters built a chapel, and soon, miracles such as healings attracted pilgrims.
In 1383, Tatar raiders under the Golden Horde attacked again, capturing Priest Bogoliub and hacking the icon in two. Despite burning the chapel, the icon’s halves miraculously rejoined when Bogoliub returned, leaving only a dew-like trace. This resilience defined its legacy. By 1597, Tsar Feodor Ivanovich rebuilt Kursk, adorning the icon with a silver-gilt frame and precious stones, establishing the Kursk Root Hermitage.
Miracles and Artistic Legacy
The icon’s power is legendary. In 1767, it healed a young Prokhor Moshnin — later St. Seraphim of Sarov — during a rain-soaked procession. In 1898, revolutionaries bombed it in Kursk’s Znamensky Cathedral, shattering windows and marble but leaving the icon intact, enhancing its fame. Its cultural impact endures in Ilya Repin’s 1883 painting Religious Procession in Kursk Governorate, held at the Tretyakov Gallery, depicting a vibrant yet socially divided procession.
Trials of the Russian Revolution
The 1917 Revolution brought new threats. Stolen in 1918 and recovered from a well, the icon fled Bolshevik advances in 1920 with Bishop Theophan and White Army refugees. It journeyed via Novorossiysk to Serbia, surviving WWII bombings in Belgrade, where homes it had visited remained unscathed. In 1944, it moved to Vienna and Munich, reaching the U.S. in 1951, now under the custodianship of ROCOR at the Cathedral of Our Lady of The Sign in New York.
Gibraltar Schedule
• Friday, October 31, 4:00 PM–6:00 PM: Akathist hymn, intercessory prayer, and confessions with a priest.
• Saturday, November 1, 10:30 AM–12:00 PM: Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.
This visit — a bridge between past and present — invites all to witness a relic of enduring faith.