We are truly blessed to have a Christian Monarch. And I was heartened to read about Her Majesty praying before an Orthodox icon which was made for her and now hangs in Buckinham Palace. God save the Queen! The original article (with a picture of the icon) is at http://www.mosnews.com/culture/2009/03/20/britishqueensicon/
A year ago, His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent expressed a wish to obtain a holy Orthodox icon as a gift for the Queen during his informal visit to the town of Nevjansk in Sverdloskiy Region.
The Prince particularly liked one of the most highly cherished icons in Russia, Our Lady’s icon “Tenderness”. St. Seraphim of Sarov, a highly revered 19th-century Russian monk, kept it in his cell and treasured its healing power. He called this the ‘Tenderness icon’ representing Mary’s feelings of tenderness at the Annunciation, the “Joy of All Joys”.
“Besides having a miraculous healing power, it also has a pacifying holy effect,” icon painters explained to the Prince.
Painting the “Tenderness” icon for Her Majesty took Nevjansk icon painters almost a year. “It is an extremely time consuming process. The icon is made of copper, covered with braid gold and painted with special dyes made by a special formula minerals found only in the Urals”, they explained.
The Queen’s Private Secretary’s office sent a formal letter to Nevjansk confirming that the icon had found its place in one of the Buckingham Palace halls. “Her Majesty sincerely thanks you for the miraculous icon, “ it said.
Queen Elizabeth has already offered her prayers for her family and her subjects before the icon, Life.ru reports.
Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, is Queen of Australia and is commemorated at Orthodox liturgies throughout Australia. Her husband Prince Philip was baptized in the Orthodox Faith as an infant and his mother, Princess Alice of Battenburg became an Orthodox nun in later life. There is an Orthodox Chapel at Windsor Castle that was built especially for her when she visited the Royal Family. She is buried at the Russian Orthodox church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane, Jerusalem.
