Do you know that the icon of the Mother of God of Novogrudok exists in two interpretations – Orthodox and Catholic.
On the walls of Sts Boris and Gleb Church there is an Orthodox miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Novogrudok. And in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Farny) there is a Catholic image on a canvas decorated with a metal robe.
Reportedly, the original copy of the Orthodox icon was copied from the image the Mother of God of Eletsk-Chernigov and in 1138 (1139) was brought to Novogrudok by the Grand Duke of Kiev Yaropolk, the great-grandson of the Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise. The icon was originally placed in the Castle Church. Hence the second name of the icon came from – “Castle”. In the XIV century the icon was taken away by the crusaders, but later returned to the city. For a long time the relic was kept in Sts Boris and Gleb Church. In 1915, during the First World War, at the time of evacuation of valuables the icon was transported to Russia. After that its traces were completely lost. Today in Sts Boris and Gleb Church there is one of the copies of this icon.
In 2019, a copy of the Novogrudok Castle Icon appeared in the Sts Cyril and Methodius Church in Novogrudok. The copy was created by the icon painter Alexander Soldatov from Korelichi District and donated to the temple by the Voitovich family.
In the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Farny Church) there is an icon on a canvas decorated with a metal robe. This image dated back to the second half of the 18th century and is considered to be made from the original copy, which was burnt down in the fire in 1751. It was restored and examined in Warsaw.
The original image was brought to Vilno in 1615 by a soldier who brought it from Vyazma during the war between The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia (1609-18). Then he presented it to the bourgeois from Vilno, a blacksmith P. Bogutsky. Later it was transferred to several owners. One of them was the canon of Vilno cathedra K. Protslavsky. In the canon’s house the image became famous for 54 miracles.
On December 17, 1662, the image was solemnly transferred to the Jesuit church in Novogrudok, where 20 more miracles were noted during the following 20 years. In 1710 the image was included in the list of miraculous images of the Virgin Mary, known in Europe.
Legend has it that this image also saved the five-year-old poet Adam Mickiewicz, who fell down from the roof and stopped breathing …
