Already from the 13th century the feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God has been one of the most loved feasts of the Russian people. In its significance for Russian people it gives way only to the feasts of Annunciation, the Nativity of Christ and the Bright Resurrection of Christ. It is also a Russian national feast day.
Of great attraction is the underlying idea of this feast day itself. The Mother of God Herself keeps constant vigil over the Christian world and protects it.
As to the spreading of the celebration of this feast in Russia, it was doubtlessly influenced by spiritual and emotional peculiarities of the Russian people, who profoundly apprehended the veneration of the Mother of God.
At the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 10th century there lived in Constantinople a holy man, St. Andrew, the Fool for Christ. At the age of 17 he was brought (as a slave) by a certain Byzantine nobleman, the head of the Imperial Bodyguard. He was of Scythian origin (the region that is now southern Russia). In the house of his master he received the education common at the time, and thanks to his abilities he was shortly appointed a secretary to the nobleman.
As to the spreading of the celebration of this feast in Russia, it was doubtlessly influenced by spiritual and emotional peculiarities of the Russian people, who profoundly apprehended the veneration of the Mother of God.
At the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 10th century there lived in Constantinople a holy man, St. Andrew, the Fool for Christ. At the age of 17 he was brought (as a slave) by a certain Byzantine nobleman, the head of the Imperial Bodyguard. He was of Scythian origin (the region that is now southern Russia). In the house of his master he received the education common at the time, and thanks to his abilities he was shortly appointed a secretary to the nobleman.
