![](\"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/news25\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/sretenskty_derjavnaja_icon.jpg\"){kind=icon}
The miracle-working \u201cReigning\u201d icon of the Mother of God was found the same day on which Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II abdicated the Russian throne\u2014 March 2\/15, 1917. The Russian Orthodox people accepted this occurrence as a witness that the ultimate authority over and care for Russia had passed to the Heavenly Queen Herself.<\/p>\n
On Febuary 13, 1917, the Most Holy Mother of God appeared in a dream to the peasant girl, Evdokia Adrianova, and spoke to her these words: \u201cThere is a large, dark icon in the village of Kolomenskoe. It must be taken from there; the people must pray.\u201d On February 26, in a second dream, the girl saw a white church and a majestic Lady within it. The peasant girl decided to search for the church she had seen in her dream. On March 2 in the village of Kolomenskoe, near Moscow, she recognized the Church of the Lord’s Ascension as that very church. A diligent search by the girl and the church’s rector revealed a large, dark icon of the Mother of God\u2014the very image that had revealed itself to Evdokia in her dream.<\/p>\n
The icon quickly came to be venerated as miraculous; many copies were painted of it, and it was taken to all the surrounding villages, monasteries, churches\u2014even factories\u2014 throughout Moscow, and molebens were served. A service and akathist were written at the blessing and with the participation of Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow and all Russia. (Another service composed by VV Bogoroditsky was published later in Jordanville Monastery.)<\/p>\n
The icons’ name corresponds to its iconography. The Theotokos is represented as the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Dressed in a green gown and red garments reminiscent of an imperial mantle, She is seated upon a throne, her right hand bearing a scepter, her left hand resting upon the monarchical orb. Upon Her head is a crown encircled by a golden halo. The Infant Christ sits upon her knees, His right hand raised in blessing, His left hand pointing towards the monarchical orb.<\/p>\n
It is thought that the \u201cReigning\u201d icon, painted in the 18th century, was earlier located in the Ascension Convent of the Moscow Kremlin, from which it was taken to Kolomenskoe during the Napoleonic invasion of 1812.<\/p>\n
After the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, the Ascension Church was closed; the icon and other holy objects from that church were taken to various storage rooms of the State Historical Museum, where they remained for seven decades.<\/p>\n
The miracle-working icon’s return corresponded significantly with Russia’s liberation from the yoke of the godless regime. At the end of the 1980’s, through the efforts of Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechayev) of Volokolamsk and Yuriev, and of Archimandrite Innokenty (Prosvirnin), the icon was taken quietly upon orders from the director of the museum, KG Levykin, to the publishing department of the Moscow Patriarchate, and kept for several years in the altar of the house church dedicated to St Joseph of Volokolamsk.<\/p>\n
On July 27, 1990, at the blessing of His Holiness Alexy, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Orthodox clergy and faithful of Moscow triumphantly carried the icon to Kolomenskoe to be placed in the Kazan Church, which was not closed. The icon was installed at the right kliros. Since that time, every Sunday, the akathist hymn composed under Patriarch Tikhon’s patronage has been read before the miracle-working icon of the \u201cReigning\u201d Mother of God.<\/p>\n
Moscow Sretensky Monastery Choir<\/strong><\/p>\n In 1994 the monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, at which time the Sretensky Choir was organized. The Choir sings the Divine Services several days per week in the Monastery church, using ancient Byzantine and Russian chants. It frequently participates in the Services celebrated by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexei II in the Dormition Cathedral, located in the Moscow Kremlin.<\/p>\n Outside of its participation in the Divine Services, the Choir has an active concert life both in Russia and abroad, in which it performs favorite Russian folk songs and romances that reflect old cultural traditions and a \u00abgreat Russian soul\u00bb. It has performed in Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral, the UNESCO Hall, the Vatican Hall Auditorium, and the Russian House in Belgrade. It also participated in the First International Choir Festival in St. Petersburg, June, 2007.<\/p>\n Its members are an integral part of the monastery community, a fact which influences the repertory and the style of its interpretations. The choir’s artistic director and conductor is Nikon Zhila, a graduate of the Russian Gnessin Academy of Music.<\/p>\n Schedule of Divine Services in Celebration of the Restoration of Fellowship Within the Unified Russian Orthodox Church<\/strong><\/p>\n September 2, Sunday, New York<\/em> September 3, Monday, Jordanville<\/em> September 5, Wednesday, Boston<\/em> September 7, Friday, Toronto<\/em> September 8, Saturday \u2013 Meeting of the Icon of Our Lady of Vladimir, Toronto<\/em> September 9, Sunday, Chicago<\/em> September 10, Monday, Washington, D. C.<\/em> September 11, Tuesday \u2013 The Beheading of St. John the Baptist, Washington, D. C.<\/em> September 15, Saturday, San Francisco<\/em> September 16, Sunday, San-Francisco<\/em> September 20, Thursday, Dandenong (Melbourne)<\/em> September 21, Friday \u2013 Nativity of the Theotokos, Melbourne<\/em> September 22, Saturday, Cabramatta (Sydney)<\/em> September 23, Sunday, Sydney<\/em> September 26, Wednesday, Geneva September 27, Thursday, Geneva<\/em> September 29, Saturday, Berlin<\/em> September 30, Sunday, London<\/em> October 3, Thursday, Paris<\/em> Concert Tour Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n For tickets to the concerts in Melbourne and Sydney please see Ticketmaster<\/a><\/p>\n Boston Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 8pm<\/em> Toronto Saturday, September 8, 2007 at 8pm<\/em> Chicago Sunday, September 9th, 2007 at 7pm<\/em> Washington, DC Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 8pm<\/em> San Francisco Friday, September 14, 2007 at 8pm<\/em> Melbourne Friday, September 21, 2007 at 8pm<\/em> Sydney Sunday, September 23, 2007 at 5pm Geneva Thursday, September 27, 2007 at 8:30pm<\/em> Berlin Friday, September 28, 2007 at 8pm<\/em> London Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 7pm<\/em> Paris Thursday, October 4, 2007 at 7pm<\/em> Source:<\/em> Synod of Bishops<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, an official delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Isidor of Ekaterinodar and Kuban, will participate in celebrations of the reestablishment of canonical unity of the Russian OrthodoxContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-webmaster","has-more-link","post-374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-diocesan-news","category-english","category-photos"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/news25\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/sretensky_choir1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/news25\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/sretensky_choir2.jpg\")
September 1, Saturday, New York<\/em>
\n6:00 pm \u2013 All-Night Vigil Service at St. Nicholas Cathedral on E 97th Street<\/p>\n
\n10:00 am \u2013 Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas Cathedral on E 97th Street<\/p>\n
\n9:00 am \u2013 Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Monastery<\/p>\n
\n7:00 pm \u2013 Commemoration Service for archpriest Roman Lukianov at the Church of the Epiphany<\/p>\n
\n6:00 pm \u2013 All-Night Vigil Service at The Holy Trinity Cathedral<\/p>\n
\n9:00 am \u2013 Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Cathedral<\/p>\n
\n10:00 am\u2013 Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Holy Virgin Protection<\/p>\n
\n6:00 \u2013 All-Night Vigil Service at the John the Baptist Cathedral<\/p>\n
\n9:30 \u2013 Divine Liturgy at the John the Baptist Cathedral<\/p>\n
\n5:00 pm \u2013 Paraclis at the relics of St. John of Shanghai
\n6:00 pm \u2013 All-Night Vigil Service at the Cathedral<\/p>\n
\n9:00 am \u2013 Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral (with the local choir)<\/p>\n
\n6:00 pm \u2013 All-Night Vigil Service at the Church of the Dormition<\/p>\n
\n9:00 am \u2013 Divine Liturgy at the new Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection<\/p>\n
\n6:00 pm \u2013 All-Night Vigil Service at the Church of the Holy Virgin Protection in Cabramatta<\/p>\n
\n9:00 am \u2013 Divine Liturgy at the Peter and Paul Cathedral<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>All-Night Vigil Service at the Elevation of the Cross Cathedral<\/p>\n
\nDivine Liturgy at the Elevation of the Cross Cathedral<\/p>\n
\nDivine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ<\/p>\n
\nDivine Liturgy at Cathedral of the Dormition<\/p>\n
\nMoleben, Notre Dame de Paris<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/news25\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/sretensky_choir3.jpg\")
New York Tuesday, September 4, 2007 at 8pm<\/em>
\nAvery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center<\/p>\n
\nCutler Majestic Theatre at Emerson College<\/p>\n
\nToronto Centre for the Arts<\/p>\n
\nOrchestra Hall, Symphony Center<\/p>\n
\nCoolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress<\/p>\n
\nDavies Symphony Hall<\/p>\n
\nSt Paul’s Cathedral<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>Sydney Town Hall<\/p>\n
\nGrand Casino<\/p>\n
\nBerliner Dom<\/p>\n
\nCadogan Hall<\/p>\n
\nNotre Dame<\/p>\n