My Savitri work with the Mother

25 November 1961

On the morning of the 25th, when I went to the Mother, she received me cordially and with a smile she lifted from a nearby stool a Russian art-piece—an Icon—the Virgin of Vladimir and the Child. She informed me:

You see, my child, how beautifully an artist has painted these images. This precious piece travelled all the way from Russia to the Ashram. Originally it belonged to the Czar's treasures. They were scattered during the revolution in Russia.

I found it exceedingly lovely—full of feeling and vibrations.

Much later, in the 1980s, I asked Champaklal to show me the Icon to revive my memory. He informed me that it was in the Art Gallery. Then I got it from Krishnalal and Vasudev and kept it in my apartment for some time in order to clean it and concentrate on it. I put it in my meditation room one day and switched off the light and burned a candle. To my utter amazement I saw the Icon as living—and felt as if the Virgin would speak to me. The effect of the light on the Icon was fascinating. Later, I took it to Champaklal. He saw it, and was pleased with the cleaning. Then I returned it to the Art Gallery along with the text which I had got from Mme Luce Huguette Raymond alias"Padma", the name given by the Mother.

Padma had received the Icon from her friend Christiane Roll-Mackie—the Mother had named her "Sahadja". She had a friend called Georges who got this Icon from a Ukrainian friend of his, who in his turn had received it from the Patriarch of Moscow. This Icon came into Sahadja's hands in 1959 and she gave it to Padma in 1961. Padma offered it to the Mother on 25.11.1961. On that day the Mother also gave me an interview. Now this most wonderful Icon is in Shri Smriti where all the Mother's belongings are preserved and exhibited.

The size of the Icon is 22.5 cm x 18.5 cm. The thickness is 2.2 cm. There is a metal sheet with intricate golden and silver designs on it, enchanting flowers, leaves and symmetrical forms. It is the top of a case in which the painted Icon is placed. Through six holes in the sheet one can see the painted figures of the Virgin and Child. Their dresses are shown on the gilded sheet. Their haloes too are represented and, like the dresses, they are part of the complex designs. One can see not only the faces but also the two hands of the Virgin and a hand and the two feet of the Child. The expression of the Virgin is perfect love, compassion and care. The Child in her arms is content, care-free, self-giving. His left cheek touches his mother's right cheek. Amazingly the features of the Virgin resemble our Divine Mother's in her young age. In transit the sheet has got slightly pressed down instead of being fully raised. At its bottom there is in the middle a short inscription in Russian. Its sides are nailed to the sides of the material which is covered with a velvet cloth of a purplish rose-colour.