Icon
of
Our Lady of Victories
Sourced from Ukrainian Catholic Iconographers and intermediaries, some of whom served on the frontlines - reached the UK having survived live fire - now available for veneration by UK service personnel.
The Icon was Blessed by Right Reverend Kenneth Nowakowski OBE, the Eparchial Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London, and Bishop Paul Mason, Bishop of the Forces, on 7 Oct 2025, Feast Day of Our Lady of Victories.
From this first viewing onward, the Icon continues to endure as a focus for veneration of the Богородиця by both the British and Ukrainian service personnel. It will be transported as an object of veneration and contemplation to meet soldiers wherever the need exists. If you would like the Icon to visit you, please get in touch.
Why Our Lady of Victories?
Our Lady of Victories is the Patron Saint of the CMA. She is also known as Our Lady of the Rosary, and encouraging people to pray the Rosary as a means of victory over their own vices is a fundamental part of our apostolate. We are named for her and have a devotion to her, but it's difficult to find images of Our Lady of Victories specifically.
Why an Icon?
We don't believe an Icon of Our Lady of Victories has ever previously been written. Icons are an important part of the history of both the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches. As St Thomas Aquinas explains, "Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. The movement toward the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends toward that whose image it is."
Where has it come from?
As a way of showing our support to Ukraine, we asked Aid to the Church in Need if they could put us in touch with a Ukrainian Catholic iconographer. ACN acted as an intermediary, but half way through the design process their point of contact was called up to Active Service and everything stopped. We waited and prayed and eventually a way forward was found and the icon was completed. We only knew it was finished once it had left the country, coming under live fire in the process.
What next?
This Icon is given by and for the serving personnel of the UK Armed Forces. Serving personnel have commissioned it and they will be able to venerate it in local barracks and Garrison Churches as it tours the country. We are in the process of planning the Tour; get in touch if you would like the icon to visit your location. In the meantime, the Icon is located at the Cathedral Church of St Michael and St George at Aldershot and is available for veneration there.
Be a part of this extraordinary story...
When the war in Ukraine started, we felt at a loss. How could we practically support those so far away? An answer came in prayer - commission an Icon of Our Lady of Victories.
We began discussing designs through our ACN intermediary, but then the line went cold. Our POC had been called up to Active Service. We prayed for him, and we waited. And sure enough, eventually plans picked up again and so we waited and hoped some more. Finally we were told that a box would soon be arriving from Ukraine, and the ACN thought that our Icon might be in it. We continued to wait and to pray and eventually it arrived.
The Icon of Our Lady of Victories had been written. It had even survived coming under fire in Ukraine when it was being transported out of the country. We organised a beautiful blessing by Right Reverend Kenneth Nowakowski OBE, the Eparchial Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London, and Bishop Paul Mason, Bishop of the Forces and now it's ready.
We're now in the process of planning a tour of the UK. The Icon will be available for veneration to service personnel across the country.
We are a small charity and any donation you make will make a huge difference to our ability to execute ambitious projects like the Icon Tour.