A presentation letter to the Synod by bishop Seraphim (Ostroumov) of Oryol and Sevsk on the miraculous Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God from Mtsensk

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the letter of Bishop Seraphim (Ostroumov) of Oryol and Sevsk to the Synod on the subject of miraculous Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God from Mtsensk. The document is kept in the archives of Patriarch Tikhon and the Holy Synod office (RSIA). Thanks to that archival document, one can trace how the parish church authorities could relax strict rules of “synodal period” that limited the veneration of local shrines not recognized by the Church formally.