"When the Holy Banners of St. Dmitry Donskoy and the icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary appear on the battlefields, the enemies retreat. . ."
Editor's Note: This article was generated by machine translation, so our staff cautions the reader about possible inaccuracies that may have resulted from this. However, it was deemed worthwhile to still publish such a piece because of the intrinsic value of the message - which remains evident even in its translated form.
With the blessing of Holy Mount Athos, in order to provide spiritual support for our soldiers, the All-Russian movement "Strong Russia" and the charity foundation "Under the Cover of the Queen of Heaven" with the support of the Orthodox community of Russia are implementing a spiritual and patriotic campaign "Cover and Protect".
Dozens of consecrated banners with the Face of the Savior "Not-Made-by-hands", Saint Dmitry Donskoy and thousands of consecrated icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary "Avgustovskaya", containing on the reverse side the text of the 90th Psalm of King David, were given by volunteers to units and divisions of the Armed Forces of Russia, the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics.
Historically important is the banner with which a soldier goes into battle: it gives strength and strengthens the spirit, fulfilling an ideological and semantic function. When the Holy Banners of St. Dmitry Donskoy and the icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary appear on the battlefields, the enemies retreat.
The choice of the image of Saint Dmitry Donskoy for the banner is not accidental. It was during the reign of Dmitry Donskoy that the Principality of Moscow became one of the main centers of unification of the Russian lands, and significant military victories over the Golden Horde were won. Dmitry Donskoy stood up to defend the entire Russian world as a stronghold of Orthodoxy and the preservation of a peaceful balance throughout the world.
The icon of the Mother of God "Avgustovskaya" was written in honor of the apparition of the Mother of God to the Russian soldiers near the city of Avgustov during World War I (1/14.IX.1914). The subsequent resounding victory of Russian arms in the Battle of Augustov, with the Germans having a considerable numerical and military advantage, was the result of the apparition of the Queen of Heaven to our soldiers, and her motherly intercession.
The cover and protection of the Queen of Heaven with the prayer shield - Psalm 90 - is one of the components of Victory in the special military operation to protect Donbass. And Psalm 90 puts our defenders in invisible "heavenly armor." Then both the valiant Russian weapons have a greater effect, and many human lives are saved by God.
Source: osnmedia.ru (Russian)