Feast in Honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sleepless Eye”

June 11, 2025 – Feast in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “The Sleepless Eye.”

Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, during his tenure as Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich, was the keeper of this wonderworking image of the Queen of Heaven.

At present, the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “The Sleepless Eye” is kept in the Transfiguration Cathedral in the city of Rybinsk, Yaroslavl Oblast. The icon once belonged to the famous 19th-century preacher, Priest Rodion Putyatin, who deeply revered it. His daughter later donated the image to the Yaroslavl Diocese. The icon was placed in a monastery chapel located near the Rybinsk–Bologoye railway station, where it became known for miraculous signs. During the time of persecution against Orthodoxy, the chapel was closed, but the faithful managed to save the holy object from destruction.

Later, the icon “The Sleepless Eye” was preserved by the confessor of the faith, Archbishop Kassian (Yaroslavsky) of Kostroma and Galich, who safeguarded it for over 60 years. In 1990, shortly before his death, he entrusted the icon to Archbishop Alexander of Kostroma and Galich with a testamentary request to transfer the wonderworking image to the Transfiguration Cathedral in Rybinsk, once the church would be returned to the Church.

Archbishop Alexander, fulfilling the will of the reposed hierarch, delivered the icon to the newly reopened cathedral. The return of the holy object took place during the visit of the ever-memorable His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II to Rybinsk on August 22, 1997.

In the icon “The Sleepless Eye”, the Most Holy Theotokos is depicted seated before a table. Her head is covered with a white veil, from beneath which strands of hair are visible. The face of the Most Blessed Virgin bears a sorrowful expression, turned toward the sleeping Christ Child lying in Her right arm. At the bottom of the icon is the inscription – a verse from the biblical Song of Songs: “I sleep, but My heart is awake” (Song 5:2).

These inscriptions explain the meaning of the “Sleepless Eye” icon: Christ and His Mother do not abandon the faithful even for a moment. The icon portrays the Infant Christ at rest, yet this scene, which depicts the youth of the Savior, also refers to the Passion of the Lord. This is revealed by the sorrowful countenance of the Mother of God. The sleep of the Christ Child prefigures the three-day burial of Christ.