#christchild

Merry Christmas

Come all you Nations and Adore The Lord!

Theotokos of the Don (Version 2)

This is just a revised version of my older icon with a new background.

This is the Don (or Donskoy) Icon of the Mother of God, the one I have a personal copy of. According to Tradition, the Don Cossacks gave this wonderworking Icon to their commander, Great Prince Demetrius of the Don, on the day of the Battle of Kulikovo on the banks of the Don river and the Tatar army was defeated! In commemoration of this victory, the Icon was given the name 'of the Don'.

The Icon dates to the years 1380-1395, and is attributed to the icon-painter Theophanes the Greek or an artist of his circle. The Icon is two-sided, with the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos depicted on its back.

The Don Icon is now housed in the Tretyakov Gallery. Every year, on the Feast Day of the Icon, it is delivered to the Donskoy Monastery to take part in the festive Divine liturgy.

The Stalingrad Madonna - drawn using charcoal on the back of a captured Russian map by German Lieutenant, Physician & Protestant pastor Kurt Reuber.

"Christmas at the Siege 1942"

“Light, Life, Love"

Apparition of the Child Jesus to Saint Anthony of Padua

Merry Christmas

The Holy Child of Atocha (Santo Niño de Atocha)

13th century

Feast Day: December 25

Patronage: Mexico, children, pilgrims, prisoners, travelers

The devotion to the Holy Infant of Atocha originated in Spain during the Muslim invasion. In Atocha, the Moors kept the Catholic men imprisoned and would only allow children 12 and under to bring them food and drink. After fervent prayer from families of the town to the Mother of God under the title of Our Lady of Atocha, a child pilgrim miraculously appeared bringing a basket of food and a gourd filled with drink to the prisoners that never emptied. The townspeople realized that it was the Child Jesus. In the church, the shoes of the Infant in the statue of Our Lady of Atocha were worn and dusty. Each time the village women replaced them, they found them worn and dusty again.

 Merry Christmas

And the Word was made flesh… "He has become so small a child! So that you can approach Him with confidence" -St. Josemaria Escriva

The Holy Child of Atocha (Santo Niño de Atocha)

13th century

Feast Day: December 25

Patronage: Mexico, children, pilgrims, prisoners, travelers

The devotion to the Holy Infant of Atocha originated in Spain during the Muslim invasion. In Atocha, the Moors kept the Catholic men imprisoned and would only allow children 12 and under to bring them food and drink. After fervent prayer from families of the town to the Mother of God under the title of Our Lady of Atocha, a child pilgrim miraculously appeared bringing a basket of food and a gourd filled with drink to the prisoners that never emptied. The townspeople realized that it was the Child Jesus. In the church, the shoes of the Infant in the statue of Our Lady of Atocha were worn and dusty. Each time the village women replaced them, they found them worn and dusty again.

Our Lady of the Don

This is a redraw of one of the first icons I made about a year ago. I feel that I have greatly improved.

This is the Don (or Donskoy) Icon of the Mother of God, the one I have a personal copy of. According to Tradition, the Don Cossacks gave this wonderworking Icon to their commander, Great Prince Demetrius of the Don, on the day of the Battle of Kulikovo on the banks of the Don river and the Tatar army was defeated! In commemoration of this victory, the Icon was given the name 'of the Don'.

The Icon dates to the years 1380-1395, and is attributed to the icon-painter Theophanes the Greek or an artist of his circle. The Icon is two-sided, with the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos depicted on its back.

The Don Icon is now housed in the Tretyakov Gallery. Every year, on the Feast Day of the Icon, it is delivered to the Donskoy Monastery to take part in the festive Divine liturgy.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us!