The Boundless Love of the Mother of God - A Sermon on the Kazan Icon (2024)

Today we commemorate the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, one of the most famous and beloved icons of the Theotokos in the Russian Church. In this icon, the Queen of Heaven above all manifests herself as the Protectress of the Russian Land. Time and time again, the Mother of God of Kazan has delivered Holy Russia out of the hands of its enemies, repelling the Polish invasion of 1612, the Swedish invasion of 1709, and — most magnificently — Napoleon’s invasion in 1812.

But most astonishing of all is the fact that the Mother of God of Kazan has proved herself the Protectress not only of Holy Russia, but even of God-hating Soviet Russia as well. During the Second World War at the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviet troops prayed in front of the Kazan Icon before going into battle, ultimately inflicting upon the Nazis their single greatest defeat in history. When Hitler’s forces had advanced to within 10 miles of Moscow itself, the Kazan Icon of the Theotokos turned the Nazis back. When the Germans assaulted Königsberg, priests carried the Kazan Icon at the forefront of the Russian counterattack; Nazi prisoners of war later said that their entire army saw the Mother of God in the sky as their weapons miraculously refused to fire. During the Siege of Leningrad, Stalin himself ordered a military plane to fly the Kazan Icon several times around the city; Leningrad never fell.

Truly this is a great mystery. The Russian nation had not only abandoned the Orthodox Faith, but had even unleashed upon it the most frenzied and demonic persecution that the world has ever seen. The Russians were once again crucifying Christ in the person of His saints, countless thousands upon thousands of times. Yet at the hour of their greatest need, these very same God-hating Soviets could not help but turn again to the Most Holy Theotokos — and the Mother of God heard the prayers even of the very same men who were crucifying her Son. The apostate seminarian Joseph Stalin, his hands soaked in far more Christian blood than had flowed in all the days of pagan Rome, stretched out these blood-drenched hands to the Theotokos — and She placed into those very same hands the victor's palm.

What exactly was taking place in Stalin’s heart when he gave his astonishing order to place those besieged cities under the protection of the Mother of God? Perhaps it was an expression of a profound and ineradicable Christianity hidden in the depths of the Russian soul. Perhaps it was only an act of political cynicism, or even of final hopeless desperation. Ultimately, it is not given to us to know what was in Stalin’s heart. But what we do know — beyond any shadow of a doubt — is the profound and ineradicable mercy and compassion that the Mother of God has in Her heart even for such a person as Joseph Stalin… and which She has in Her heart even for such people as you and me.

Because, my brothers and sisters, the history of Russia is also the history of each of our own hearts. We all — like the Great Prince Vladimir and his people — were once freely granted the grace of Holy Baptism, even though we had nothing to offer God in return except a multitude of cruel and carnal passions. Like Russia, we too have been given by God so many inexpressible riches of beauty, goodness, truth, and joy — riches which can be found nowhere else on earth except in our Holy Orthodox Faith. We too have weathered many spiritual storms, and have endured countless seasons of sorrow and suffering and pain — and we too have been delivered out of them all, through the grace of God and the prayers of His Most Pure Mother.

But like Russia, we too so often go astray. We too so often forget that first, grace-filled glimpse of heavenly beauty which once lifted our hearts above all the vain things of this earth. We too so often begin to prefer again those former things, returning like a dog to his vomit (cf. Prov. 26:11), and after having put our hand to the plow prove ourselves utterly unfit for the Kingdom of God (cf. Luke 9:62).

Yet this is not the worst of it. Mere worldliness is not what unleashed the demonic forces of Bolshevism upon the world, or their God-hating persecution upon the Church. No, the essence of the Bolshevik madness was not so much the rejection of the Kingdom of Heaven, but rather the attempt to replicate the Kingdom of Heaven here and now on earth: to become gods without God, to make a Paradise for ourselves apart from Him. The Bolsheviks even tried to prove they could make their own atheistic saints, preserving and publicly displaying Lenin’s corpse in a sacrilegious imitation of the incorrupt relics of the saints.

And how often do we ourselves, like Soviet Russia, also try to make our own hollow little imitation of God’s Kingdom? Our intentions are almost certainly good and noble: to live a virtuous life, to root out our passions, to make the world a better place, even to love our neighbor. Of course, it is easy to forget that many of the Bolsheviks also had similar good intentions. And — perhaps without even realizing it — how often do we, like them, try to live out our good intentions under our own power, using our own strength, and from our own will? It comes down to this: how much of our Christian life is truly dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ… and how much if it is simply some sort of self-help program?

My brothers and sisters, we must always remember the words of St. Seraphim of Sarov to Motovilov:

Mark my words, only good deeds done for Christ’s sake bring us the fruits of the Holy Spirit. All that is not done for Christ’s sake, even though it be good, brings neither reward in the future life nor the grace of God in this life.

Dostoevsky once put it even more starkly: “Without Christ the Russian is trash; with Christ he is great.” And these words apply with equal force to all of us as well. Christ offers each one of us the opportunity to become just as holy as St. Seraphim. But apart from Christ, each one of us can quite easily become just as sinful as Stalin — who, after all, once upon a time wore a cassock just like us.

After the century of horrors brought about by the Bolshevik regime, there are many who now say that Holy Russia no longer exists. Some even say that it never really existed at all. And likewise, when we ourselves come to face to face with who we really are, when we are forced to confront at least some portion of our own ugliness and selfishness and sin, it can sometimes be easy to wonder whether Christ is really anywhere inside of our hearts at all.

But brothers and sisters, when these times come upon us, let us always remember the Mother of God of Kazan. Let us remember that even when there was less of Holy Russia than there had ever been in the Russian heart, when there was more bloodshed and horror and demonic oppression covering all the face of the Russian land than had ever before been seen in the entire history of the world, that in that very hour the supreme leader of those demonic forces stretched out his sinful hands to the Mother of God. Even if he did so halfheartedly. Even if he didn't really mean it at all. And the Mother of God answered his prayers, and delivered his people from their enemies. This truly is a great mystery.

And so, my brothers and sisters, even if we too have forsaken our first love (cf. Rev. 2:4), even if we too have fallen into any manner of apostasy or wickedness or worldliness or sin, let us never despair. Rather, let us also stretch out our sinful hands to the Kazan Mother of God, crying out to Her with humble faith and fervent love in the beautiful words of the troparion of this feast:

O fervent intercessor, Mother of the Lord Most High, thou dost pray to thy Son Christ our God and savest all who seek thy protection. O Sovereign Lady and Queen, help and defend all of us who in trouble and trials, in pain and burdened with sins, stand in thy presence before thine icon, and who pray with compunction, contrition, and tears and with unfailing hope in thee.

As long as we do not cease to do so, then no matter who we are and no matter how great our sins, She will by no means turn us away.

+Through the prayers of the Theokotos, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.