Seeker of the Perishing Mother of God

Today it is not possible to reliably establish when and how images with such a name appeared in Russia. Information about this in different sources sometimes differs significantly from each other. Let's try to bring together disparate data. It might be the whole picture. But first, let's talk about the appearance of such icons in Orthodoxy in general.

Church traditions say that the first icon of the Mother of God "Seeking the Lost" appeared in the VI century. According to legend, the monk Theophilus, slandered and expelled from the bishop's house, harbored a great resentment in his soul. He turned away from God and His Mother and entered into an alliance with the devil.

In the Moscow Church of the Resurrection of the Word, the Russian icon "Seeker of the Dead" is stored, which was first mentioned in church records in 1548. Presumably, the drawing belongs to the brush of an Italian master.