In pre-Revolutionary Uglich, the grace-filled Icon of the Bogoliubskaya Mother of God was in the church of St. Dimitry the Tsarevitch. The following is contained in the “Uglich Chronicle.”
In 1654, there was a deadly epidemic in Moscow and in other cities. In Uglich, two families, those of priest Gabriel and of Euthemius, who lived near Uglich, suddenly fell ill. The same day, all the members of their families died. The townspeople were terrified. At that time, Afanassy Kustof, on his way to a municipal meeting, was walking along the earthen ramparts. Upon coming to the church of St. Dimitry the Tsarevitch, he saw three boys whom he took to be children of the governor, who lived near that church. One of those youths directed Afanassy to announce to the meeting that God’s anger was coming upon Uglich in the form of a plague, that they should pray to the Lord God and to His Most-pure Mother, that they should call upon the great saints of God: Dimitry the Tsarevitch, Prince Roman, and others for help, and that the Lord would hear their prayers and would turn His ire from the city. Hearing from Afanassy what had been told him by the youth, the citizens immediately went to the church of St. Dimitry. There, they offered prayer services before the Icon of the Mother of God, and the plague came to an end. From that time on, June 18th was designated as the day of celebration of the Bogoliubskaya Icon of the Mother of God.