Photo and video materials made by the pilgrims of the Cross procession "The Way of the Blessed Virgin" to enrich the Presidential Library collections

The Cross procession "The Way of the Blessed Virgin" at the places where the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God emerged was held on the last day of June in Kronstadt. It is held with the blessing of Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Varsonofiy and Bishop of Tikhvin and Lodeynoye Pole Mstislav. Photo and video of the relic, made by pilgrims during the procession, according to agreement with the Diocese of Tikhvin, will be included in the Presidential Library collections.

The history of the phenomenon of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God is illustrated in detail in L. I. Grigoriev's book "Tikhvin and Its Relic: the city description, the Tikhvin Large Monastery and remaining there Relic": "In 1383, fishermen engaged in fishing in the lake Nevo (Ladoga lake) saw in the sky a softly worn icon of the Mother of God, surrounded by an extraordinary light. Amazed at this phenomenon, the fishermen reverently watched the relic until it disappeared. Following this, the same icon was visible on the Oyati River, a distance of 102 versts from Tikhvin ... " The icon appeared seven times, moving through the air from the Ladoga Lake towards the place where the city of Tikhvin is now located. If these places of the phenomenon of the icon are represented on the map and connected by one line, the path will be obtained by which the icon appeared on its permanent place of stay - in the Tikhvin Assumption Monastery, "The Way of the Blessed Virgin".

The pedestrian part of the procession started from the village of Storozhno (the Kiprian-Storozhensky Nikolsky Monastery), the program includes visits to temples and monasteries in Volkhov, Lodeynoye Pole and Tikhvin districts, including the Permission-Oyat Nunnery, the Church of St Basil the Great, hermitage of the Mother of God "The Inexhaustible Cup" Protection Church in the village of Gorka. The last point of the procession will be the Tikhvinsky Vvedensky Maiden Monastery, where pilgrims, overcoming 270 kilometers, will arrive on the day of the celebration of the phenomenon of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God on July 9.

This year, more than 400 people expressed their desire to join the solemn procession. Many of them have come from other cities.

"I came from the Urals. I learned about this event last year, but it was too late - the Cross procession at that time was over. However, I really wanted to go this way, I thank the Mother of God, because she did a lot in my life. This year I turned out to come. I would like to go from beginning to end. For me, the Cross procession is an expression of respect and gratitude", - said the participant of the Cross procession Lilia Pilipenko.

The first Cross procession "The Way of the Blessed Virgin" took place in 2016, which was attended by about 200 people. Last year, 300 Orthodox joined the pilgrimage.

It has to be noted that the Presidential Library and the Tikhvin Diocese are linked by long-term fruitful cooperation. Among the implemented joint projects: video lectures, the exhibition, the opening of a children's multimedia studio "In the beginning was the Word" for pupils of Sunday schools parishes of the Diocese of Tikhvin and correctional schools, as well as many others. The Presidential Library digitized and donated electronic copies of ancient manuscripts and church services donated to the collections of the library of the Russian Academy of Sciences as a gift to the Tikhvin Eparchy. In addition, today in the building of the Tikhvin Spiritual and Educational Center the remote electronic reading room is successfully functioning, where everyone has access to the unique library of the Presidential Library, numbering more than 630 thousand items.