Nobody would believe the child… - A Moment with Mary

* July 8 – Our Lady of Kazan (Russia)   * Nobody would believe the child… --- An initiative of the Association Mary of Nazareth  July 8 – Our Lady of Kazan (Russia)   Nobody would believe the child… Kazan (literally "cauldron") is a Russian city and the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, 720 km east of Moscow. According to experts, the icon of the Madonna and Child dates back to the 13th century. It is of the "Hodegetria" type, the one that shows Jesus, the Way. It was painted in Constantinople and kept in a monastery in Kazan, where it disappeared in 1209, during the invasion of the Tartars. When Ivan the Terrible reconquered the region, the city of Kazan was burned (1552). The Virgin of Kazan appeared three times to a 10-year-old child inviting him to dig up the icon from underneath the ashes, where it had been hidden by the faithful during the Tartar invasion. Nobody believed the child, who began to search and found the icon intact, on July 8, 1579. Then the archbishop organized a solemn procession to the church of Saint Nicolas. On the way, two blind men, Joseph and Nikita, recovered their sight. After long wanderings that went through Poland, the Kazan icon "soul of the Russian people" was returned to Russia at the request of Saint Pope John Paul II, to its original church in Kazan, on Thursday, July 21, 2005. Françoise Breynaert  Let’s pray together  Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen.   . Share A Moment with Mary and give your loved ones the opportunity to discover a new aspect of the mystery of the Mother of God each day.