Missionary Work as a Family Affair

In the eleventh and twelfth centuries in Kyivan Rus’-Ukraine, there lived the Holy Princes St Constantine and his sons, St Michael and St Theodore of Murom.  Holy Prince Constantine was a direct descendant of St Volodymyr the Great, Enlightener of Kyivan Rus’.  In the foot-steps of his illustrious ancestor and his namesake, the Holy Emperor Constantine, St Constantine undertook the Christianization of the pagan city of Murom.  His son, Michael, was killed outright by the inhabitants.  Constantine then petitioned the Kyivan Caves Monastery for a copy of a beautiful Icon of the Mother of God, called today, “Kyiv-Murom.”  

The icon depicts the Child Jesus reclining on His Mother’s arm, looking up at Her smiling and gently touching Her face with His Hand.  It is truly one of the most beautiful and moving Slavic Icons of the Theotokos!  Having procured a copy, St Constantine brought it with him to Murom.