Celebrations for the coronation of the icon of the Lady of the Lakes began in Braslav

August 21, Braslav / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Church celebrations on the occasion of the Pope's coronation of the icon of the Mother of God of Braslav began in Braslav with a meeting of the fraternal cultures of Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, a BELTA correspondent reports. The image of the Mother of God of Braslav will be the first crowned icon in the Vitebsk region. Prayer vigils on the occasion of the placement of the Papal crown on the revered icon, which is also called the Mother of God, the Mistress of the Lakes, are held under the motto "Prayer meeting of cultures of the Queen of the Lakes". Along with the presentation of cultures of neighboring states, church services will be held throughout the night in the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God, where the icon to be crowned is located. One of them will be dedicated to the consecration of a copy of the icon of the Mother of God, the Mistress of the Lakes, which will be transferred to the church of the Polish city of Mrągowo. According to the rector of the Braslav church, Father Adam, it is in this city that many natives of Braslav and the Braslav region live, who, like their compatriots, especially revere this icon. A solemn Holy Mass with coronation will take place on August 22. It will be led by Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Metropolitan of Cologne. The ceremony will be held at a temporary altar in the form of a ship, built in the courtyard of the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God. As explained by the clergy, this is done so that as many believers as possible can witness this significant event. About 10,000 pilgrims are expected in Braslav on this day alone. Guests will come not only from different parts of Belarus, but also from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Great Britain, and the USA. The icon of the Mother of God of Braslav traces its history back to the Basilian male monastery founded in the 15th century on the island of Lake Nespish, and is considered the main Christian shrine of the Lake District. The coronation of the icon for the Vatican is a recognition of the miraculous power of the image, and the chronicles of the Roman Catholic Church of 1774 testify to such properties of the Braslav icon. The coronation of images of the Mother of God in the Catholic Church is associated with theological assertions that the Virgin Mary is the Queen of Heaven. Private cases of the coronation of miraculous icons and sculptures of the Mother of God were recorded as early as the 8th century. Since the 17th century, this custom has become an exclusive papal privilege. The first image crowned with a papal crown was the image of the Mother of God in the sacristy (treasury) of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome in 1631. In the history of modern Belarus, six images of the Mother of God have been crowned with papal crowns: Berasteyskaya in 1996, Budslavskaya - in 1998, the icon of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God in Minsk - in 2005, the Mother of God Kongregatskaya - in 2005, in 2007 the image of the Mother of God of Gudagay was crowned, the Trakel icon of the Mother of God received confirmation of its miraculous power in 2009. -0-