An appreciation for beauty and a tolerant attitude toward other religions have always been characteristic of our fellow countrymen. However, at times this all led to a number of quite interesting incidents.

In V. F. Davydenko’s 1901 book, *The Current State of Schism and Sectarianism in the Kharkiv Diocese*, one can find a number of rather unusual details.

In addition, among the icons that adorn the churches and chapels of our Orthodox peasants, it is quite common to find icons and images of saints and sacred historical events of a Catholic nature, or even entirely fictitious depictions that are the product of local painters’ imaginations. And such images are often the subject of blasphemous trade in many villages during fairs…

The following measures were approved by the Missionary Congress of the Clergy as means to raise the religious and moral standards of the Orthodox parishioners and to combat the Shundist-Tolstoyan movement:

…10) To request the diocesan authorities to draw the attention of the appropriate authorities to the icons of the so-called Suzdal and Catholic styles being distributed among the people, and to the careless manner in which they are sold in open squares, on mats, or under carts…

By “Catholic icons,” the author most likely meant icons depicting the Heart of Jesus or the Heart of the Virgin Mary, which are unique to Catholicism.

Incidentally, you can still find them in Orthodox churches in the Kharkiv region to this day—if, of course, you look closely…