How the feast of the Kazan icon of the Theotokos became a national holiday

The authors of this article consider the history of the emergence of the tradition of celebrating the events connected with the Kazan Icon of the Teotokos. He looks at the position of imperial officiousness in St. Petersburg and the way it was influenced when the feast of the Kazan Icon became a national holiday. Te national status of this festivity had certain difficulties associated with it. Its establishment was connected with the initiatives of Emperor Paul, as part of his program of state and church reforms. In the article, the difficult relationship between the Emperor, the Holy Synod, and Metropolitan Gabriel (Petrov-Shaposhnikov) of St. Petersburg and Novgorod, is highlighted. Te author concludes that it was the events of the Patriotic War of 1812 that led to the establishment of the feast of the Kazan Icon as a national holiday and a day off for workers