The First Icon of Our Lady of Victories Commissioned for the Modern Soldier| National Catholic Register

Painted amidst a raging war, the Our Lady of Victories icon is now a traveling source of grace for service members.

A Marian icon smuggled out of Ukraine for transit to London comes under fire.

 It sounds like the plot of a spy movie. But it isn’t — through prayer and international efforts by a host of Catholics, this very real icon now offers inspiration to military personnel and their families.

The story goes further back than present day — all the way back to the 16th century.

Our Lady of Victory has a long and storied history in the Catholic Church. In 1571, Pope St. Pius V, the same pontiff who oversaw the historic Council of Trent (1545-1563), knew Christian forces battling against the Ottoman Empire needed help. Praying the Rosary, he entrusted the protection of the Christian naval fleet to the Virgin Mary.

Allegedly, the moment Christian forces declared victory on the sea, Pope Pius stood in his papal office in St. Peter’s, looked to the sky and said, “Give thanks to God because our fleet has won a victory.” When first written reports confirmed the triumph at the Battle of Lepanto, Pope Pius established a universal feast day for Our Lady of Victory, also known as Our Lady of the Rosary.

As Our Lady is victorious over both spiritual and temporal battles, she is also referred to as Our Lady of Victories. She is spiritual patroness for Britain’s Catholic Military Association of Our Lady of Victories (CMA-UK), formally erected as a lay association of the faithful. The association’s mission is to “continually cultivate a sincere and deep Catholic practice across the armed forces.” There are now sister organizations in the United States and Canada. Talks are beginning to establish a presence in Ukraine, where many Eastern Catholic soldiers are fighting.

As early as the 18th century, Catholics have been disproportionately represented among those serving in the British armed forces. In the early 2000s, the British Ministry of Defense, as part of a series of ecumenical reforms, decided to discontinue the recognition of denomination-specific chaplains. As a result, many Catholic service members are often deprived of access to the sacraments since their assigned chaplain may be Anglican or of other Protestant denomination, or even humanist. CMA-UK seeks to ensure that all military personnel receive the spiritual and sacramental support they need.

Since the CMA’s inception, the group has been looking for a painting or suitable representation of Our Lady of Victories. In the search, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) — a pontifical foundation dedicated to helping persecuted and oppressed Christians, including since the fall of the USSR extensive work in Ukraine helping Eastern Catholics to reclaim their liturgical traditions and practices of worship — gave a talk to the trustees of the CMA-UK on the devotional focus of Our Lady of Victories. 

Through its work in Ukraine, ACN staff knew of a school of Eastern Catholic iconographers in Lviv, Ukraine. In Ukrainian, the Holy Mother is referred to as the Bogoroditsa, literally the birth-giver of God.

Icons hold profound reverence within the spiritual life of both the Catholic and Orthodox Church.

According to Elliot Mackin, assistant curator at The Icon Museum and Study Center located in Clinton, Massachusetts, “An icon is a Christian image of a holy person or event, usually depicting Jesus Christ or his mother, Mary. They are venerated and used in prayer as a tool for communicating with the divine.” 

An idea began to form with the CMA-UK contingent to commission the first known icon of Our Lady of Victories. Amidst a raging war in Ukraine, this decision seemed especially poignant and was meant to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people. 

Money for the commission was raised through the help of the Catenians, an international body of Catholic laymen. ACN acted as an intermediary between the CMA and Ukrainian artist Olga Zhuravska of St. Anthony’s Iconography Studio in Lviv.

An English-speaking intermediary given the fictitious name of Greg, to hide his identity from the Russians, was appointed by ACN to facilitate communication. Halfway through the painting of the icon, Greg was called to active duty in the Ukrainian armed forces. Instead of taking a year as planned, the painting of the icon extended to 18 months because Greg was injured in a bombing while fighting.

As if this was not enough drama, according to ACN, the icon was not even known to be finished until it was en route to the U.K. in its dramatic, secret journey. 

On the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Oct. 7, 2025, the icon of Our Lady of Victories was blessed at Sts. Michael and George Cathedral in Aldershot, Hampshire. The blessing of the icon was led by Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London and Bishop Paul Mason of the Bishopric of the Forces, who is based at the cathedral, which serves the U.K. armed forces.

“It is wonderful that a project that has been so many months in the making has finally made it through to completion, fulfilling the vision of the CMA and all of us to find a renewed focus for prayer and solidarity with the people of Ukraine,” said John Pontifex, head of press and public affairs at ACN (UK).

“Work on the icon continued despite the war that has so deeply scarred the face of Ukraine, and we pray that through the intercession of Our Lady of Victories, peace and justice may come to Ukraine.”

Arrangements are being made by the CMA-UK to transport the icon to be venerated by service members wherever the need exists. It is hoped that Our Lady of Victory will be an object of contemplation and veneration by both British and Ukrainian forces long into the future. 

Michele McAloon is a canon lawyer and a podcaster. Her website is bookclubs.com.