Russia is the home of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Open lesson Russia - the house of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The town in the Italian province of Ancona, at first glance, is completely unrelated to Moravia. But there are so many Loretan chapels in Moravia and the Czech Republic that I wanted to tell you what kind of place this is, where the most revered shrine of the Virgin Mary in the world is located.

The Gospel tells that the Most Holy Theotokos was born in Nazareth. There she grew up, was brought up, there she received the Holy Gospel from the Archangel Gabriel. Nazareth was also where the Holy Family returned after fleeing to Egypt, and Jesus grew up in Nazareth until His thirtieth birthday, when His Ministry began.

A typical Palestinian dwelling was a small stone room attached to a grotto carved into the mountain. The grotto was used as a storage room, it was cooler there, and food was placed there. The extension was residential.

That grotto that belonged to the family Holy Mother of God, preserved, the Church of the Annunciation is now located there. But the extension has disappeared. Archaeological excavations at the site of the House of the Virgin Mary shed light on its history. In the third century, Christians made the house of the Virgin Mary a place of worship by building a church over it. In the fifth century, the church was rebuilt in the Byzantine style, and in the 11th century, the French crusaders built a rather large temple over the house of the Virgin Mary. Thus, the extension to the grotto remained intact and unharmed. No natural disasters affected its safety. And suddenly, at the end of the 13th century, during the Muslim invasion of Palestine, the extension disappeared. Here begins the realm of the mysterious, still unexplained by scientists.

In 1291, a structure without a foundation, consisting of three walls and a roof with slopes, appeared in Illyria, on the territory of modern Croatia in the Tersatz area. And three years later it was moved to Italy to the commune of Recanati. The house immediately became famous as the home of the Most Holy Theotokos, and pilgrims began to come there. There were too many people vying for the gifts brought by the pilgrims, and two brothers, perhaps related to moving the house to Italy, moved it to a hill where there were no villages. There were many laurels, “lauro” in Italian, growing on the hill, hence the name Loreto. A road ran along the hill, in the middle of which the brothers built the house of the Virgin Mary. Since then, the pilgrimage to the home of the Most Holy Theotokos has not stopped.

At the beginning of the 14th century, the house was lined with bricks for preservation, and a church was built inside, making an altar in place of the missing fourth wall and painting the walls with frescoes. The remains of the frescoes can still be seen today, and the altar originally contained a wooden icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in the Orthodox Church as the “Addition of the Mind.” By the 16th century, the icon had become dilapidated and was replaced with a similar wooden statue. This Loretan image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the “Black Madonna,” is now one of the most revered images in the world. The statue is indeed black, but not because it is carved from ebony. It’s just that the smoke from numerous candles and lamps was absorbed into the tree, turning the statue black.

At the very beginning of the 15th century, a church was built above the house to better preserve the building and receive pilgrims, who became more and more numerous. The original roof of the house was replaced with a vaulted one in 1435. Around 1470, Pietro di Giorgio Tolomei, steward of the Loreto sanctuary, wrote the story of a house from Nazareth that was transported by angels to Italy by air. Until now, this legend is one of the considered versions of the appearance of the house of the Virgin in Loreto.

The fact is that the study of the house by scientists continues today. There is no longer any doubt about its authenticity; this is evidenced by the stones from which the house is made and which were not used in Italy, and the structure of the dwelling itself, and the discovered ancient Jewish inscriptions on the stones, and objects found under the chapel. For example, two coins from the late 13th century were discovered there, related to the Angelos family, relatives of the Byzantine emperors. In the old days, coins placed at the base of a structure were supposed to indicate either the time of its construction or the initiators of construction. One of the versions of the appearance of the Nazareth House in Italy is that it was moved by members of the Angelos family. The Nazareth house is quite small, approximately 8.5 m long, no more than 4 m wide and about 4 meters high. Some historians believe that the house was dismantled in Nazareth, the stones were numbered, transported by sea to Italy and reassembled there. But scientists have discovered that the mortar with which the stones are held together has never been used in Italy; it is a typical building mortar for Palestine, so not everyone supports the version of the transportation of “holy stones” and subsequent assembly in Italy. In general, the question of moving the house to Palestine has not yet been answered.

But no matter how it was, various miracles began to happen and are still happening through the faith of those who came to them. Already in the 15th century, the flow of pilgrims to Loreto became so great that Bishop Nicolo dell'Aste ordered the construction of a new huge temple to begin. The best artists of the Italian Renaissance worked on its decoration. In the temple you can see frescoes by Melozo da Forli (c.1478), Luca Signorelli(c.1482), in 1500 Giuliano da Sangallo completed work on the vaults of the dome. And in 1507 Donato Bramante began work on a model of a marble sarcophagus, inside of which there was supposed to be a house. In the 70s of the 15th century, the sarcophagus was completed, and now the marble cladding of the house is one of the most beautiful pearls of Renaissance art. The best Italian sculptors worked on the bas-reliefs of the sarcophagus.

So, even a person who is not very interested in Christian shrines will be able to see a miracle in Loreto. This is a miracle - the work of outstanding Italian artists and sculptors.

In addition to the house of the Virgin Mary itself, which you can enter, stand there and pray in front of the considered miraculous image of the Loreto Mother of God, the temple contains several chapels named after the communities that initiated their painting. Back in the 16th century, when the temple in Loreto was under the patronage of the Jesuit Order, it was arranged so that believers from different countries could find here a priest who spoke a language close to them. This is how French, German, Spanish and many other chapels appeared in the temple. There is also a Slavic chapel, painted at the end of the 19th century and consecrated in honor of St. Cyril and Methodius. In it you can find the image of St. Ludmila, the holy prince Rostislav of Moravia. The image of St. Kirill, who translates liturgical texts into Slavic, and next to him in the foreground lies a cat.

The Polish Chapel of the Heart of Christ is also quite interesting. It was painted in 1912-1939 by Arturo Gatti with donations from Polish Catholics. As always, Polish national pride was expressed in the frescoes that painted the walls of the chapel. True, of all the events in Polish history, only two were chosen - this is the victory of Jan Sobieski over the Turks near Vienna in 1683 and the battle of Wassawa with the Bolsheviks in 1920. You can even see General Pilsudski on horseback.

But I think the most unusual is the American Chapel of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It was painted quite late, in 1953-1970. Before this, there was a chapel of St. John the Baptist with frescoes from the mid-16th century. And in the 20th century, the chapel was painted by Beppe Stefanina. Since Pope Benedict XV in 1920 proclaimed Our Lady of Loreto the patroness of aviation, the frescoes on the walls of the chapel set out the history of human flight from the mythical Icarus to the very real cosmonauts Gagarin, Armstrong and Devitt. Also present is one of the huskies that flew into space, as well as Pope Paul VI flying to a UN meeting in 1965. He was the first pope to use air travel and visit all five continents. In general, quite unusual temple paintings.

In addition to the temple itself, you can also visit the Treasury, which we enter through the baroque atrium. The Treasury Hall was built by order of Pope Clement VIII for the numerous gifts received not only from ordinary pilgrims, but also from royalty. For example, the French king Louis XIII, in gratitude to the Mother of God for the birth of an heir, sent to the Treasury two crowns studded with diamonds and a silver pillow with a golden baby lying on it, the weight of which was equal to the weight of a newborn. And Queen Christina of Sweden, having renounced Lutheranism in 1655, visited Loreto and left her royal crown and scepter in the Treasury. The treasury in Loreto was considered the richest in Europe. Unfortunately, in 1797 it was completely plundered by Napoleon. Now you won’t see any particularly valuable items in the Treasury, but the hall itself with paintings by Cristoforo Roncalli is magnificent.

Leaving the temple, you will find yourself in Piazza Madonna, where on one side you will see the Apostolic (Papal) Palace, built according to the design of Donato Bramante, although with many details introduced by other architects. On the other side you will see another building. This is also a palace, the construction of which began in the 16th century, but it acquired its current appearance at the beginning of the 19th century. The palace is called Illyrian. It once housed a Jesuit college, and the students came from Illyria, modern-day Croatia. Now in the Illyrian Palace there is a hotel for pilgrims, primarily those staying on the so-called “white” trains. These are special trains organized by the Italian National Union for the transport of the sick to international sanctuaries. Pilgrims with disabilities from all over Europe travel on such trains.

In the middle of the square you will see the beautiful fountain of Carlo Maderno from the early 17th century. It was built not only to decorate the square, but primarily for the needs of pilgrims, bringing water from sources to the square through a special 5 km long gallery. Near the fountain you can always see modern works of Italian artists right on the asphalt, who, however, are continuers of the traditions of Italian painting of past centuries.

Just walking around the town center is also nice. It is surrounded by bastions from the early 16th century, built by order of Pope Leo X, who was concerned about Turkish raids. The bastions offer stunning views of the Muzone Valley and Mount Conero.

You will be constantly tempted by the magnificent Italian cheeses and other products. And after tasting spiritual food, you will definitely be tempted by some Pecarino, olives or homemade wine.

In general, everyone will find some consolation.

House of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Russia - House of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Our once great and glorious Motherland Russia - Holy Rus' - from ancient times had a great and glorious name: “The House of the Most Holy Theotokos,” or in other words: “The Mother of God’s invincible state (property).”

“The Lord, who helped the meek David defeat Goliath, helped our faithful prince to stand up for the Orthodox faith, for the “House of the Most Holy Theotokos” - with such a joyful exclamation the people greeted St. Prince Alexander Nevsky, returning home after the brilliant victory he won over the Livonian knights.

- “Orthodox people! We want to help the Moscow State, we will not spare our bellies. Let us all stand as one for the Russian land, for the “House of the Most Holy Theotokos,” - with these words Kozma Minin-Sukhoruk appealed to the Russian people, convincing them to rise to the defense and salvation of the fatherland.

And as all Russian history testifies over a number of centuries, this sublime name was not devoid of the deepest meaning. All the most important events in the historical life of the Russian people are so closely connected with the veneration of the Most Holy Theotokos, who in difficult moments immediately came to their aid, delivering them from their strongest enemies, that indeed our Motherland was like Her House, in which she constantly lived. And She manifested this invisible, but nevertheless always really tangible presence on Russian soil through numerous Miraculous Icons, which were reverently revered by the Russian people, not as idols, as the sectarians brazenly asserted, but as visible signs, symbols of Her invisible presence and patronage of the Russian people. to the people. According to the faith of the Russian people, countless miracles flowed from these icons, and at critical moments that threatened the very historical existence of the Russian people, through fervent prayer before these icons, the Most Holy Theotokos truly miraculously saved the Russian land from terrible devastation, and the Russian people from destruction.

It is impossible to count all such individual cases of the miraculous help of the Mother of God to Russian believers. Only presented here main examples the wondrous intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos for the entire Russian land, which it is a shame for a Russian person not to know about.

Barskaya

In ancient times, before the Tatar invasion of Russia, the city of Bar was called Rova, named after the river on the banks of which it is located in Podolia, Mogilev district. Rov suffered many disasters both from the invasion of wild Tatars and from the predatory attacks of the Poles. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Poles took possession of it again and called it Bar; but in 1793 Bar with all of Podolia was returned to Russia, and in 1837 the Barsky monastery with its ancient shrine, the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Orthodox clergy.

The Lord's miraculous icon attracts numerous crowds of pilgrims - both Orthodox and non-Orthodox. The icon is located in the altar niche; it has a silver frame with traces of gilding and niello; The height of the icon is 1 arshin 12 vershoks, the width is 1 arshin and 3 vershoks. It is a very ancient, Byzantine, well-preserved painting.

In 1887, 50 years passed since the return of the Barsky Monastery and the miraculous icon to Orthodoxy. This remembrance was solemnly celebrated on October 1st. Since then, the Holy Synod has allowed to establish a special day in the Barsky Monastery to honor the miraculous icon - annually on October 1 (old style).

Vladimirskaya

The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, according to the common belief of our ancestors, was written by the Evangelist Luke on a board from the table at which Jesus Christ ate with His Most Pure Mother and Righteous Joseph. The icon was painted during the earthly life of the Mother of God and was brought by a gracious artist to the Blessed Virgin. Seeing her image on the icon, the Virgin Mary repeated her prophetic saying: “From now on you will bless me and give birth to me” - and added: “The grace of the One born from me and mine be with this icon.” In 450, under Emperor Theodosius the Younger, the icon was brought from Jerusalem to Constantinople, and at the beginning of the 12th century it was brought from Constantinople to Kiev: Patriarch of Constantinople Luke Chrysoverm sent it to Grand Duke Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgoruky, and it was placed in a nunnery in the city. Vyshgorod, which in ancient times was the appanage city of the blessed princess Olga.

In 1160, the icon was transported to Vladimir by Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky and placed in the Assumption Church, and from then on it began to be called Vladimir. Out of faith in the gracious power of the icon of princes, governors and warriors and the entire people, she participated in many campaigns of the Russian army. In 1164, the Vladimir Icon was in Prince Andrei’s campaign against the Volga Bulgarians, whom he defeated through the intercession of the Mother of God. Prince Dmitry Donskoy, with the help of the Mother of God, defeated Mamai on September 8, 1380. The gracious help of the icon was revealed against the terrible conqueror of the East Tamerlane, the Horde prince Edygei, and the Nogai prince Mazovsh. Through the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God, Russia was delivered from the Horde prince Akhmat in 1480. At night, such fear attacked the Horde troops that they ran without looking back. Deliverance from Akhmat was the final overthrow of the Tatar yoke, which had weighed on Russia for 200 years: it was not weapons, not human wisdom that saved Russia, but the Lord and His Most Pure Mother. Through the intercession of the Mother of God, the Pretender was overthrown, Russia was saved under the protection of Orthodoxy.

In 1395, the Vladimir Icon was transferred to the Assumption Church in Moscow.

The holy icon served as a blessing for the great princes in all the most important circumstances of their lives; Before Her, their subjects took an oath of allegiance to the Fatherland. Orthodox All-Russian monarchs accept the sacred wedding and anointing for the kingdom. During the election of All-Russian metropolitans and patriarchs, the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God served as a guarantor and blessing. During public disasters, for example, during war, fire, epidemics, the saints turned to this icon with prayer.

Three times a year the church celebrates the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos in gratitude for the threefold deliverance of our fatherland from enemies by Her help: June 3, July 6 and September 8.

Iverskaya

In Anatolia, southeast of Constantinople, on the shores of a large lake that connects to the Sea of ​​Marmara, stands the city of Isnik. This is ancient Nicaea at Lake Askashev, the metropolis of the second Bithynia, especially known for the two ecumenical councils that were held there. During the reign of Saint Constantine the Great, Equal-to-the-Apostles, here at the first ecumenical council, in 325, the holy fathers of the church approved the dogma of the Divinity and consubstantiality with God the Father of the Only Begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. At the seventh ecumenical council under the pious Empress Irene and her son Constantine VI, in 787, after fifty years of cruel persecution, they established the veneration of the holy icons of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos, the holy Angels and all holy men and women. But 27 years later, the persecution of holy icons began in the Greek Empire under Leo the Armenian, and continued under Michael the Tongue-Tie and Theophilus.

During the reign of Emperor Theophilus, a pious, rich widow with her only son lived near the city of Nicaea. She had an icon of the Mother of God, which she respected, for which this pious widow built a church not far from her house and placed a holy icon in it.

In 829, Emperor Theophilus began to persecute admirers of holy icons. Tsarist soldiers were sent throughout the empire to find icons and destroy them, and to cruelly torture those who venerated them. One of the soldiers, seeing the widow’s icon, angrily struck with his sword at the cheek of the Mother of God depicted on the icon. But the Most Holy Lady brought sense to the erring one. To the horror of the warrior, blood flowed from the ulcer. Struck by this, the warrior fell with repentance before the icon of the Mother of God, abandoned the heresy and ended his life as a monk.

He advised the widow to hide the icon in order to save her from desecration. Having fervently prayed before the icon of the Mother of God, the pious widow put it in a small boat and launched it into the sea, asking the Most Holy Lady to save the icon from drowning, and her and her son from the cruelty of the wicked king.

The Most Holy Theotokos heard the fervent prayer of this pious woman.

Having released the icon, which to her joy, standing straight, rushed to the west, the widow said to her son: “My dear child, I am a woman and cannot go far, therefore I will either hide, or, if I am captured, I will die for the love of the Mother of God, and you went to Greece so that the royal soldiers would not harm you.” The loving son listened to his mother’s advice, went to Thessaloniki, and 15 years later arrived on Athos and became a monk at the Iveron Monastery. Then he saw the holy icon thrown into the sea by his mother and told the monks why his mother had to part with the precious shrine.

The appearance of this icon on Athos happened as follows: one evening the monks of the ancient Iveron monastery saw a pillar of fire on the sea, rising to the very sky. The wondrous phenomenon lasted for several days and nights. Having sailed closer to the phenomenon, they saw that a pillar of fire was coming from the icon of the Mother of God, but when they approached it to take it, the boat with the icon moved away. The monks gathered in the temple and in earnest prayer asked the Mother of God to give them her icon.

Among the brothers of this monastery was Elder Gabriel, a Georgian who was distinguished by a particularly strict life. The Mother of God appeared to him in a dream and said: “Tell the abbot and the brethren that I want to give them My icon as protection and help, and, having entered the sea, walk with faith along the waves, then everyone will know My love and favor towards your monastery.” The elder revealed the will of the Mother of God to the abbot; all the monks with prayer singing, censers and lamps went to the sea. The icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was approaching them. Gabriel entered the sea and took the icon. When he went ashore and placed an icon on it, clean, sweet water flowed from the ground, flowing to this day. This place is located a quarter of an hour’s walk from the monastery and a chapel was built here. After fervent prayer, the icon was solemnly brought into the cathedral church of the monastery.

The next day, the monk, who was lighting lamps in the temple, entered it and did not find the icon of the Mother of God in its place in the temple. They found it above the gate of the monastery on the outer wall and again placed it in the temple; but the next day she again appeared above the gate, and this was repeated several times.

Finally, the Mother of God appeared to Elder Gabriel and said: “Go to the monastery and tell the monks not to tempt Me anymore. I did not come so that you would protect Me, but so that I would protect you not only in this life, but also in the future. May all who are here in virtuous living and fear of God trust in the mercy of My Son. And here is a sign for you: as long as My icon is in your monastery, the grace and mercy of My Son towards you will not fail.”

From that time on, the icon was left in its chosen place above the gate, and therefore it is called the Iveron Portaitissa, that is, the Goalkeeper. Soon after this, on the site of the icon at the gate, a temple was built in the name of the Mother of God, the Guardian of the monastery.

Many times the Iveron monastery, being on the seashore, was attacked by enemies, but the Most Holy Lady, through Her intercession, preserved it to this day. There were many miracles and healings from the holy Iveron Icon, the Goalkeeper. It is impossible to describe all the miracles that came from this icon due to their number, and therefore we present a few here.

Euthymy, the son of the abbot of the Iveron monastery, St. John, Ivir, fell so ill in his youth that he did not hope to recover. John, seeing that people could no longer help his son, left him in his cell, and he himself went to the temple of the Most Holy Theotokos and, falling before Her icon, with tears he begged Her to heal the boy, and the Queen of Heaven heard his prayer; After the prayer, John asked the priest to give Euthymius the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Returning to his cell, to his surprise, he felt a wonderful and unimaginable fragrance in it, and saw his son sitting on the bed and completely healthy.

The elder, amazed by this, said with joyful tears: “My child, what is wrong with you?” “I don’t know, father,” answered Euthymy, “recently some Queen surrounded by glory appeared to me and said to me in Georgian: “What is this and what happened to you, Euthymy?” “My queen, I’m dying!” - I said. Then She approached me, took me by the hand and said: “There is no more illness with you, do not be afraid!” And then she became invisible. From now on, as you can see, I am completely healthy.”

Hearing this, the joyful father fell to the ground and thanked the Queen of heaven and earth - the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, and from that time Euthymius received extraordinary grace and the gift of the Georgian language.

One day, as the Iveron legend says, the Hagarians, under the command of the emir, sailed to Athos on 15 ships and first of all attacked the Iveron monastery. The monks took refuge in the tower with church utensils and a holy icon. The enemies began to devastate and destroy the monastery. The monks with tears asked the Most Holy Theotokos to protect them, and the Most Holy Lady hastened to their aid. At night a terrible storm arose and destroyed all the ships except one, in which the captain himself was. Seeing in the morning the shores covered with fragments of broken ships and the corpses of his soldiers, the commander, amazed by this miracle, repented and asked the monks to beg God for his mercy and gave the abbot of the monastery a lot of gold and silver, with which he repaired, decorated and strengthened the monastery.

Another time, the monastery was threatened by famine. The abbot was in great sadness. The Mother of God appeared to him and said: “Why are you so upset? Go to the granary and you will see that it is full of flour.” Waking up, he went and found the granary full of bread. Also: there was no more wine, and She filled all the vessels with it. She also once multiplied oil, once garden vegetables, once saved the monastery from a fire, another time from a deadly plague, and performed many other miracles in the monastery with Her honest icon.

In this icon, the Mother of God is depicted with the Savior on her left hand. Her face is inclined to the left side towards the Child, Who blesses the name with his right hand, and holds a scroll with his left. At the top of the sides of the crown of the Mother of God in the corners formed by the upper and side fields are two archangels facing the Mother of God (Michael and Gabriel); on the two side fields there are 12 apostles depicted, six on each side.

In the Iveron Athos Monastery, the solemn celebration of the Mother of God takes place on Tuesday Holy Week on the day of the appearance of the icon of the Mother of God. At this time there is a procession of the cross with the holy icon to the seashore, where it was received by the hermit Gabriel, and the liturgy is celebrated there. In addition, two holidays are celebrated in the monastery with especially light - the Dormition of the Mother of God and the Epiphany. On all three holidays, many pilgrims gather and are treated to food from the monastery throughout the day.

The Moscow Novodevichy Convent contains a copy of the miraculous Iverskaya icon, painted by the pious Iamblichus and delivered to Moscow in 1648.

The celebration of the icon takes place on February 25, Tuesday of Bright Week of Holy Easter, and October 26.

Kazanskaya

Together with the conquest of Kazan to Russian rule - and even earlier - the first seeds of Christianity were sown here; but the good seed did not suddenly bear fruit: a lot of blood was shed, a lot of work and prayerful sweat was put in by the first enlighteners of Kazan to cultivate the land of the infidels into God’s field! It was a sorrowful time for the ascetics of Christ; it even reached the point of weakening Christianity before Mohammedanism due to the lack of people strong in spirit and word. Higher help was needed, and the Lord, the Provider of His chosen ones, showed His power in the appearance of the miraculous icon of His Most Pure Mother.

In 1579, Kazan suffered from a fire, which, starting on June 28 near the Church of St. Nicholas of Tula, destroyed the part of the city adjacent to the Kremlin, the surrounding settlements and, moving into the Kremlin, turned half of it to ashes. The fire was seen as God's wrath against Christians. “And the faith of Christ,” says the chronicler, “became a byword and a reproach.” Christians repented, and the Lord showed them His love for mankind. A stone's throw away from the place where the fire started, there stood the house of one archer, which burned down along with others. When the archer intended to begin building a new house on the ashes, the Mother of God appeared in a dream to his nine-year-old daughter Matrona and ordered her to inform the spiritual and secular dignitaries of the city that they should take Her icon from the bowels of the earth, and showed her the place on the ashes of the burnt house where the icon was hiding . At first the girl did not announce what she had seen to anyone, then she revealed it to her mother, who did not pay attention to the child’s sleep. After the third vision, Matrona told her mother with tears: “I saw in a dream an icon of the Mother of God, from whose face a terrible flame was coming, and right at me, as if ready to burn me, and I heard a voice: “If you do not tell My words, then I will appear.” in another place, and you will perish." This time the mother obeyed her daughter’s request and went with her to the governors and Archbishop Jeremiah and forced her daughter to tell them about the appearances of the Mother of God that had happened to her; but no one wanted to believe the child’s stories. Returning home in the 12th at one o'clock in the afternoon on July 8, the mother herself took a spade and began to dig the ground in the place indicated by her daughter; soon others joined her, dug up the whole place and found nothing. Then Matrona herself took a spade and began to dig the place where there was a stove in their house , and soon she found the treasure she was looking for: an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos appeared, wrapped in a sleeve of old clothes made of cherry-colored cloth, but light, without the slightest damage, as if it had just been painted. Immediately countless people rushed to the found icon, everyone prayed and hurried to venerate it . The archbishop and mayors were notified of the wondrous discovery. The archbishop made a religious procession to the revealed icon and with great honor escorted it to the nearest church of St. Nicholas of Tula, where Hermogenes, later patriarch, was a priest, and here a prayer service was performed before the icon. After the prayer service, the icon was carried in triumph to the Annunciation Cathedral and here on the way it showed the first miracle, healing the blind man Joseph, who had not seen anything for three years, and after bringing it to the cathedral, another blind man, Nikita, received healing. The found icon, as it turned out later, was a copy of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, painted by St. Evangelist Luke, from Queen Eudokia, wife of Emperor Theodosius, sent from Jerusalem to Constantinople to Queen Pulcheria, who placed it in the Blachernae Temple in Constantinople. It is remarkable that the Blachernae icon of the Mother of God is called Hodegetria, because the Mother of God appeared in a dream to two blind men and showed them the way to the Blachernae church, where they received insight before Her saint. icon. And subsequently, under the Kazan Icon, the disease of blindness was most often cured. The archbishop and the mayors, having taken down the list from it and setting out the circumstances of its appearance and miracles, sent in 1579 to Tsar John Vasilyevich IV, who, at the site of the discovery of the icon, ordered the construction of a temple in the name of the newly appeared icon, the construction of a convent for forty nuns, and the installation of the icon here. . Matrona, who found the shrine, took monastic vows with the name Mavra, was the first nun, and then the abbess of this monastery. A short time later, after the foundation of the first church, a new one was erected in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos with a meal, and one hundred souls were given for the maintenance of the monastery. In 1594, by order of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, a large stone church was founded in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary and consecrated by Metropolitan Hermogenes in 1595. At the same time, the staff of nuns was increased to 64, the monastery was decorated with rich icons, vestments and other utensils; the miraculous icon is overlaid with gold, precious stones and pearls from the royal treasures. Empress Catherine, listening to the liturgy in the Kazan nunnery, decorated the crown of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God and the local image of the Savior with diamond crowns.

The appearance of the Kazan Icon was established to be celebrated on July 21, the day of its discovery, and on November 4 in memory of the deliverance of Moscow from the Poles.

Unexpected joy

The history of this icon is told by St. Demetrius of Rostov in his work “Irrigated Fleece.”

One man, who led a sinful life, was nevertheless attached to the Mother of God with a feeling of reverent love and daily prayed unfailingly before Her icon, uttering with deep faith the words once spoken by the Archangel Gabriel: “Rejoice, full of grace!..” One day he was getting ready to go for a sinful deed and before leaving, turning to the icon of the Mother of God, he prayed. Then awe suddenly attacked him, and he saw that the image of the Mother of God seemed to be moving. The Divine Child had ulcers on his arms, legs and sides, and blood gushed from them. Falling to the ground, the criminal shouted: “Oh, Lady, who did this?”

“You and other sinners are again crucifying My Son with your sins, like the Jews,” answered the Mother of God. “You call Me merciful. Why do you insult Me with your lawless deeds?”

“Oh, Lady,” the sinner answered her, “let my sins not overcome Your inexpressible goodness. You are the only hope for all sinners. Pray for me to Your Son and our God!”

Twice the Lady repeated Her prayer to the Infant Christ, but He remained adamant until, finally, he answered the persistent prayer of the Mother of God: “I fulfill Your request. Let Your wish be fulfilled. For Your sake, this man’s sins are forgiven. Let him kiss him as a sign of forgiveness.” My ulcers."

And so the forgiven sinner rose from the ground, before whom the inexhaustible mercy of the Mother of God shone in such a wondrous image, and with inexpressible joy he kissed the wounds of his Savior. From then on, he began to live a pure, pious life.

This event gave believers the reason to paint the icon of the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy”.

This icon depicts a man praying on his knees before the face of the Mother of God. Next, under the face, the first words of the story are usually placed: “A certain lawless man”...

In Moscow, in Khamovniki, in the Church of the Burning Bush, such an icon has been kept since 1835, when it was donated according to the verbal will of parishioner Alexandra Kunitsyna. Since 1837, it began to be glorified by miracles.

From Monday to Tuesday of Bright Week in 1838, the non-commissioned officer's widow Anisya Stepanova, who had suffered from deafness to such an extent for the last four months that she could not even hear the ringing of bells, came to the house of a parishioner of this church, Anna Timofeeva. She was treated in hospitals, but to no avail. She stayed overnight with Timofeeva so that the next day she could go to the “Unexpected Joy” icon. When the next morning the women asked to serve a prayer service, Anisya suddenly heard the words of the Easter troparion “Christ is risen from the dead”, and then the troparion of the Mother of God “In the Mother of God now we are diligently a priest,” and after that her deafness completely disappeared.

In the Kremlin, in the Church of the Annunciation, in the Zhitny Dvor, there was a revered icon of “Unexpected Joy”. It depicts an elderly man praying before the icon of the Mother of God. Below, under the icon, there is a prayer written: “Oh, Mother of God, may our malice not overcome Your ineffable goodness. For You are the hope of all sinners; pray therefore for us to Your Son and our God.”

Celebrations in honor of this miraculous icon take place on May 14 and December 22.

Pochaevskaya

This icon is located in the Dormition Pochaev Lavra of the Volyn diocese (Ukraine); received the name Pochaevskaya from the town of Pochaev, located between Kremenets and Brody; From the same village, Mount Pochaevskaya, on which the monastery is located, got its name.

This mountain is significantly higher than all the mountains surrounding it and is especially remarkable for its cave, which was formed by nature itself and is very convenient for housing. Two monks settled in this cave, who devoted themselves to the feats of prayer and abstinence and remained in humility, covered by the grace of God.

One of these ascetics ascended at night to the very top of the mountain to perform the usual prayer and suddenly saw the Most Holy Theotokos standing on a stone in a pillar of fire. The elder informed his companion about the wondrous vision, and both looked at the divine phenomenon with reverent awe. At the same time, the shepherd and the boys who were tending their flock under the mountain saw this, and, hastening to the mountain, they met two monks there, who glorified the Mother of God for the appearance and for the good deed that She left at the place of the appearance: the Most Holy Virgin left an imprint of the right hand on the surface of the stone. his feet, filled since then with clear water. Under the foot of our Lady, the hard stone melted like wax and gave out living water. The water in this foot never decreases, despite the fact that countless worshipers constantly fill their vessels with it for healing from ailments. The appearance of the Mother of God on Mount Pochaevskaya and the imprint of Her foot on the stone took place around 1340. From that time on, Mount Pochaevskaya became a village of divine glory, and the footprint of the Most Blessed Mary became an endless source of great miracles.

In 1595, Metropolitan Neophytos of Constantinople, traveling around Russia, in gratitude for the hospitality shown to him by the landowner Anna Goiskaya, blessed her with an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which he brought from Constantinople. At first, this shrine was not known to many; but soon miracles began to flow from the icon, and Anna Goyskaya herself began to show special reverence to the icon and warm an unquenchable lamp before it from the moment she saw the Most Holy Theotokos, who appeared to her in the radiance of light. Anna Goyskaya was amazed at the power of grace from the icon of the Mother of God; but when her brother Philip of Kozinsky, blind from birth, threw himself with tears and prayer before the holy icon and immediately received his sight, then she was afraid to keep such a blessed shrine in her house and therefore in 1597, in the presence of a large crowd, she escorted it with candles and singing prayers to the Pochaev monastery and gave it for eternal storage to the monks who lived in the cave.

Soon a church was built on the rock in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God. After the death of Anna Goiskaya, all of her estate and even Mount Pochaevskaya itself was inherited by Andrei Firlei, who lived in the town of Kozin. He, being a Lutheran, hated the Pochaev Monastery and its monks, always trying to harass them. He took away their land and forests, ordered them to burn their cells, beat the monks, and forbade people to come to Mount Pochaev to venerate the miraculous icon and the foot of the Most Holy Theotokos. Finally, he came up with the idea to take away the miraculous icon from them and, with many armed like-minded people, attacked the monastery in 1623, stole church treasures, the sacristy and the miraculous icon itself. To complete the blasphemy, he ordered his wife to put on church vestments and, taking the holy cup in her hands, appear in the circle of those feasting, spewing blasphemies against Orthodoxy and the holy icon. For such blasphemy, his wife was immediately punished by the court of God: an evil spirit took possession of her and terribly tormented her until Firlei returned the miraculous icon to the Pochaev monastery. Upon the icon's return to the monastery, various miracles continued to pour out from it. The rumor of such miraculous events quickly spread to all ends of the Russian land, and crowds of admirers began to flock to her from all sides, seeking help and salvation in the mercy of God.

Among the many miracles from the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God, it is especially remarkable miraculous deliverance monastery in 1675 from the Turks, who had already approached the monastery walls. Placing their hope in the help of the Mother of God, the monks prayed all night and sang an akathist before the miraculous icon, and when they exclaimed: “To the chosen Voivode, victorious,” suddenly the Blessed Virgin appeared in light clothes, surrounded by angels with drawn swords; The Turks were suddenly struck with fear and fled.

In 1770, when the Uniates took possession of the Pochaev monastery, a special commission was established for the most reliable study of the legends about the miraculous icon. From this information it is clear that not only Orthodox and former Uniates came to venerate the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God and received healing from it, but also Christians of the Latin confession and even Jews who, after healing, accepted the Christian faith.

In 1831, upon the return of the Pochaev Monastery to the Orthodox Department, it was named the Dormition Pochaev Lavra. Orthodox Christians have great reverence for the Pochaev shrine, and pilgrims from the most remote places in Russia flock to it to worship.

Quick to Hear

On Mount Athos, in the Dohiara Monastery, there is a miraculous icon of the Mother of God, called the Quick to Hear. The icon is located on the wall of the fraternal meal above the door through which the monks usually went to the meal, and the refector, according to his position, walked more often than others. One day in 1664, a refector named Neil, as usual, passing by this icon at night with a lighted torch, heard her say: “In the future, do not come here with a lighted torch and do not smoke My image.” Neil considered these words to be a joke from one of the brethren and therefore ignored them and continued to walk past the icon, often holding a lit splinter in his hands. Soon I heard a voice from the icon again: “Monk, unworthy of this name! How long have you been so careless and so shameless in smoking My image?” At these words the eater became blind. Suffering from eye pain and complete loss of vision, Nil prayed and cried day and night before St. icon; suddenly he heard a voice: “Nile! Your prayer is heard - you are forgiven, and sight is given to you again. When you receive this mercy from Me, proclaim to the brethren that I am their cover, providence and protection of their monastery. Let all Orthodox Christians turn to I am in need, and I will not leave anyone. I will intercede for everyone who comes running to Me with reverence, the prayers of all will be filled by the Son and My God for the sake of My intercession before Him, so from now on My icon will be called the Quick to Hear, because I will quickly show mercy and fulfillment of requests to all who resort to it.” The rumor about such a wonderful event spread throughout Mount Athos. After this, the monks, having prayed reverently, fenced off the place where this icon was located, and built a temple on the right side in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos, Quick to Hear. Countless miracles are performed by the grace-filled power of the intercession of the Mother of God.

The celebration of the icon takes place on November 22 according to the new style and in the sixth week of Easter.

Smolenskaya

The Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, called "Hodegetria", which means "Guide", according to Church tradition, was painted by the holy evangelist Luke during the earthly life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Saint Demetrius of Rostov suggests that this image was painted at the request of the Antiochian ruler Theophilus. From Antioch the shrine was transferred to Jerusalem, and from there Empress Eudokia, wife of Arcadius, transferred it to Constantinople to Pulcheria, the emperor’s sister, who placed the holy icon in the Blachernae Church.

The Greek Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh (1042-1054), marrying his daughter Anna to Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich, son of Yaroslav the Wise, in 1046, blessed her on her journey with this icon. After the death of Prince Vsevolod, the icon passed to his son Vladimir Monomakh, who transferred it at the beginning of the 12th century to the Smolensk Cathedral Church in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. From that time on, the icon received the name Hodegetria of Smolensk.

In 1238, according to a voice from the icon, the selfless Orthodox warrior Mercury entered Batu's camp at night and killed many enemies, including their strongest warrior. Having suffered a martyr's death in battle, he was canonized by the Church (November 24).

In the 14th century, Smolensk was in the possession of the Lithuanian princes. The daughter of Prince Vytautas Sophia was married to the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dimitrievich (1398-1425). In 1398, she brought the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God with her to Moscow. The holy image was installed in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Kremlin, on the right side of the royal gates. In 1456, at the request of the residents of Smolensk, led by Bishop Misail, the icon was solemnly returned to Smolensk with a religious procession, and two copies of it remained in Moscow. One was erected in the Annunciation Cathedral, and the other - “measure in moderation” - in 1524 in the Novodevichy Convent, founded in memory of the return of Smolensk to Russia. The monastery was built on the Maiden Field, where “with many tears” the Muscovites released the holy icon to Smolensk. In 1602, an exact copy was written from the miraculous icon (in 1666, along with ancient icon a new list was taken to Moscow for updating), which was placed in the tower of the Smolensk fortress wall, above the Dnieper Gate, under a specially constructed tent. Later, in 1727, a wooden church was built there, and in 1802 - a stone one.

New list perceived the blessed power of the ancient image, and when Russian troops left Smolensk on August 5, 1812, they took the icon with them for protection from the enemy. On the eve of the Battle of Borodino, this image was worn around the camp to strengthen and encourage the soldiers for a great feat. The ancient image of the Smolensk Hodegetria, taken temporarily to the Assumption Cathedral, on the day of the Battle of Borodino, together with the Iveron and Vladimir icons of the Mother of God, was carried around the White City, Kitay-Gorod and the Kremlin walls, and then sent to the sick and wounded in the Lefortovo Palace. Before leaving Moscow, the icon was taken to Yaroslavl.

Our ancestors so reverently guarded these sister icons, and the Mother of God protected our Motherland through Her images. After the victory over the enemy, the icon of Hodegetria, along with the illustrious copy, was returned to Smolensk.

The celebration in honor of this miraculous image on July 28 was established in 1525 in memory of the return of Smolensk to Russia.

Softening evil hearts

The holy elder Simeon the God-Receiver, at the inspiration of the Spirit of God, saw in Christ, brought by the Virgin Mary to the Jerusalem Temple on the 40th day after his birth, not just a baby, but the Messiah, the Redeemer expected by all the Israeli people. Seeing also with discerning eyes that the husbandless Mother stood before him, the elder turned to the Mother of God and said: “Here lies this one for the fall and the uprising of many in Israel. And He will be the subject of controversy: some will say that He is good, others, on the contrary, that He is deceiving the people. And they will make Him, according to the word of the prophet Jeremiah, like a target at which they shoot, hanging Him on the tree of the cross and, like arrows, piercing Him with nails and a spear. At that time, the weapon of sadness and heart disease will pass through your soul, too, for you, unmarried Mother, when you see your Son nailed to the cross and when you escort Him out of the world with great sorrow and sobs.”

This prophecy of Simeon is depicted with visible symbolic signs on some icons of the Mother of God. Usually the following image is taken as a symbol: the icon depicts the Mother of God with seven swords stuck in her heart - three on the right and left, and one on the bottom. Number 7 in Holy Scripture in general means the “fullness” of something, and in this case the fullness of that grief, “sadness and heart disease” that were suffered by the Blessed Virgin Mary in Her life on earth. This image is sometimes supplemented by the image of the deceased Infant Christ on the knees of the Mother of God.

After all that has been said, it is quite clear why such icons are called “Simeon’s prophecy.” They are also sometimes called “Softening Evil Hearts.”

The celebration of these icons usually takes place on the Sunday of All Saints.

“SEMISTRELNAYA” also has a similar image "Icon of the Mother of God. The only difference is that the swords that pierced the heart of the Mother of God are located on it somewhat differently: on the icon “Simeon’s Prophecy” there are three of them on the right and left, and one (seventh) from below, here on the “Seven Shooter” icon there are three with one and four on the other side.

The celebration of the icons “Softening Evil Hearts” and “Seven Arrows” are combined - February 2/15 and August 13/26.

Soothe my sorrows

The miraculous icon of the Mother of God, known as “Quench My Sorrows,” was brought to Moscow by the Cossacks in 1640, during the time of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. In the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, written evidence of the icon’s miracles was kept, but after the plague in 1771, everyone was destroyed by fire.

Tradition has preserved the memory of the first miracle-working of the icon, which took place in the second half of the 17th century.

One lady of a noble family, who lived far from Moscow, had long suffered from terrible relaxation of her entire body; the help of doctors was powerless to alleviate this suffering; Her strength was exhausted, and gradually she was brought to death's languor. In this helpless state, she lay unconscious, and one day the image of the Mother of God appeared to her in a vision, from which she heard a voice: “Tell me to take you to Moscow; there, on Pupyshev, in the church of St. Nicholas, there is an image of the Mother of God.” Soothe my sorrows "Pray before him and you will receive healing." The vision is over. The patient, who had been unconscious all the time, woke up and, feeling a new life in herself, told her family about her vision and ordered them to take her to Moscow. Having reached Moscow, they brought the sick woman into the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The patient examined all the icons, but did not find the one that appeared to her in the vision. Those accompanying the patient told the priest about everything that had happened to her. Then the priest ordered the clerics from the bell tower to remove all the icons of the Most Holy Theotokos that were there. When they brought in the icon “Quiet My Sorrows,” it turned out to be so covered with dust that it was difficult to distinguish the face of the Mother of God, but the sick woman, who had not spoken for a long time due to weakness and had no control over her arms or legs, suddenly cried out: “She! She!" - and crossed herself, and when after the prayer service she venerated the icon, she felt so much strength in herself that she stood up and left the church without any help and returned home completely healthy.

This miracle happened on January 25, and since then the icon has been celebrated on this day.

Feodorovskaya

“Once, when the Tatars approached Kostroma, the Russian militia came out to meet them, carrying in front of them their holy icon of the Mother of God. When the armies stood in front of each other, an unknown horseman rushed between them. His crimson robe fluttered in the wind, and his gilded shield shone dazzlingly. The Russians recognized him as the Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates. Horror fell on the Tatars, and they fled from the battlefield. This is how Kostroma was saved.”

Each icon of the Mother of God has its own story, its own name. It’s amazing how much intersects in the history of the “Feodorovskaya” icon - here are the names of Theodoroa Stratelates, and Paraskeva, and Prince Alexander Nevsky, and the beginning of a new dynasty of Russian tsars - the Romanovs - is associated with this icon.

Tradition says that this icon was painted by the Evangelist Luke; it is unknown how it got to the small town of Gorodets, where the first mentions of the icon go back. However, in 1239 Gorodets was burned by the Mongol-Tatars, and the image disappeared, but was soon miraculously found by the younger brother of Alexander Nevsky, Prince Vasily of Kostroma. While chasing an animal while hunting, the prince accidentally saw an icon on a pine tree. He tried to take it off, but it rose into the air. At the same time, in Kostroma, many residents saw how some warrior walked through the city, carrying an icon in his hands. This warrior looked like the image of the holy great martyr Theodore Stratelates, in whose honor the cathedral was built in Kostroma.

Returning to the city, the prince, in excitement, told the clergy about what had happened. Arriving at the place indicated by the prince, the priests and people saw the image of the Mother of God, fell to their knees and prayed for a long time. Having removed the icon from the tree, it was placed in the cathedral church of the city of Kostroma, and the icon was called Feodorovskaya, remembering the appearance of Theodore Stratilates with the icon, who later appeared to Russian soldiers on the battlefield more than once. At the site where the icon was found, the first monastic monastery on Kostroma land was founded - the Spaso-Zaprudnikovsky Monastery.

It is known that in the same year 1239, Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodovich blessed his son, the blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, to marry Alexandra, the daughter of the Polotsk Tsar, Prince Bryachislav. And here another feature of the Feodorovskaya icon is revealed: on the reverse side there is an image of the holy martyr Paraskeva (Friday), who was considered in Rus' the patroness of weddings and brides. During the stay of the Theodore Icon in Kostroma, many miraculous events took place: the Kostroma Cathedral burned twice, and twice the icon remained unharmed in the fire. In 1260, the Tatars approached Kostroma, and the city was threatened with complete ruin. The prince's militia consisted of only a small squad, which he managed to quickly assemble. Not relying on his own strength, the prince ordered the image of the Defender of Christians to be carried before him. During the battle, a miracle happened: dazzling rays of light began to emanate from the face of the Most Holy Theotokos. The Tatars, struck by the burning rays, fled, and the battle ended in victory for the Kostroma residents. In memory of this miracle, the prince erected a cross, exactly on the spot where the icon stood during the battle; later a stone chapel was built there, and the nearby lake was named Holy.

One of the significant events in the history of our country is also associated with the name of the Feodorovskaya icon - the election of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the kingdom in 1613. In the Trinity Cathedral of the Ipatiev Monastery, the embassy of the Zemsky Sobor spent a long time persuading Mikhail Fedorovich and his mother, nun Martha, to accept the election. They remained adamant to all pleas. Only the speech of Theodoret, Archbishop of Ryazan, trusting in the help of the Most Holy Theotokos, persuaded Martha to agree to bless her son for the kingdom. She fell in front of the Feodorovskaya icon and said: “Thy will be done, Lady! I commend my son into Your hands: guide him on the true path, for the good of Yourself and the Fatherland!” From that time on, the image of the Feodorovskaya Mother of God was especially revered by all representatives of the Royal of the House of Romanov. Many Russian queens and princesses of foreign origin received the patronymic Fedorovna in honor of the family icon.
There are several copies of the Feodorovskaya icon, the first of which was made by nun Martha, which she brought with her to Moscow.

Today the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God is located in the Kostroma Epiphany-Anastasia cathedral. In honor of this miraculous icon, two solemn holidays were established: August 29 according to the new style - in memory of the miraculous appearance of the icon in 1239 and March 27 - in memory of the election of Mikhail Romanov to the kingdom.

In 1654, the Archdeacon of the Antiochian Church, Paul of Aleppo, visited Russia. In his travel notes, he noted a strange phenomenon in his opinion, about which he wrote in particular, “in this country (Russia) there is not a single large church where there would not be a miraculous icon of the Mother of God, we saw with our own eyes how holy icons so were the miracles performed by them.”
A foreign clergyman at that time could not find any explanation for such a reverent attitude of Russians towards the cult of the Mother of God. He was even more surprised by the patronage and intercession of the Virgin Mary, both in relation to individual people and to the entire Russian people as a whole. Neither he nor those foreigners who lived before and after him could understand and comprehend the absolute confidence of the Russians that Rus' is not just the lot of the Mother of God, it is her Motherland, her Home.

TRADITIONS OF OLD ANTIQUITY.

That was a long time ago. So long ago that now no one will remember when and by whom the veneration of the Mother of God, amazing in the depth of its manifestation, was instituted in Rus'. Whatever page of the history of the Russian people we open, everywhere we will find one or another, a legend or a legend about the ever-present intercessor of the Russian land, which the Mother of God has been since the beginning of its foundation. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the history of the Russian people cannot be understood and comprehended in isolation from the image of the Queen of Heaven, a constant and living connection with whom goes back to apostolic times.
In order to substantiate this assumption, it is enough to remember that private Christian churches in southern Russia, have been known since the time of St. Andrew the First-Called and St. Clementa. Metropolitan Macarius clearly indicates that the Slavic tribes living in the northern Black Sea region were among the first to accept Christian preaching. A little later, from the beginning of the 4th century, when these Slavs appeared beyond the Danube and on the banks of the Rhine, all Latin historians, without exception, classified them as Christians, while noting their special veneration of the cult of the Blessed Virgin.
The special veneration of the image of the Mother of God by the ancient Slavs was noted not only by Western historians. This phenomenon was also attested in ancient Russian literary monuments, such as the “Pigeon Book”. This truly sacred legend of the Russian people reflects the cosmogonic ideas of the Slavs at the dawn of the Christian era, when there were no Ecumenical Councils and the symbols of faith had not yet been formulated. But already in those distant times, almost two thousand years distant from us, Rus' was considered the House of the Mother of God.
In the verses of the Dove Book we read:

Holy Rus' is the mother land of all lands.
…………………………………………………
Our White Tsar will be a king over kings.
…………………………………………………
And he holds the baptized faith,
Baptized faith, pious faith;
Stands for the Christian faith,
For the House of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
All the hordes bowed to him,
All the pagans submitted to him.
Therefore, the White Tsar is king over kings.

As we see, southern Rus' was called the House of Our Lady back in the first centuries of our era. However, this concept became truly meaningful in the north of Russia. It is here that we come across mass references to the fact that Russia is the House of the Mother of God, which she not only spiritualizes, but also protects. How can one not remember that most often Russian people called the Queen of Heaven simply Intercessor.

PROTECTOR OF THE RUSSIAN LAND.

No one knows exactly when and how many times the Mother of God interceded for her people and her land. There are many different epics and legends about this. Not all of them are confirmed by chronicles and chronographs. Therefore, the first reliable fact of intercession Holy Virgin, the miraculous salvation of Novgorod is considered to have happened on November 27, 1170.
Unable to repel the enemy troops, the Novgorodians turned to the Mother of God with prayers, saying: “O Most Pure Mother, our hope! We sinners pray to You with tears - do not betray us!” With these words, Archbishop John took the icon of the Mother of God and climbed the wall. At this moment, fear and horror suddenly took possession of the enemy, and he fled in panic from the walls of the ancient city. The Novgorodians, seeing the miraculous deliverance, established the Feast of the Honorable Sign of the Mother of God, which is celebrated in Russia to this day.
The Orthodox Church believes that only thanks to the intercession of the Mother of God, Veliky Novgorod was miraculously saved from Tatar invasion in 1238. At the same time, the Queen of Heaven stood up for Smolensk. In November, the Tatars approached the walls of this ancient Russian city. The prince, the squad and the inhabitants of the city, unable to repel the invasion of the formidable enemy by force of arms, turned with fervent prayer to the Mother of God, their everlasting Intercessor. The Most Holy Theotokos heard the prayers of her children and, choosing pious Mercury to protect the city, appeared to him on the night of November 24, saying: “Mercury! I am sending you to protect My House... I begged My Son and My God for My House, so that it would not be handed over to its enemies. Go to meet the enemy secretly from the people, the saint and the prince..., and by the power of Christ God you will defeat the giant. I myself will be with you, helping you.”
With tears of joy, Mercury called on the Mother of God for help and boldly went against the enemy, followed by the lightning-fast heavenly army and the Mother of God Herself, whose formidable face inspired indescribable fear and horror on the enemies of the Orthodox faith. Mercury tirelessly crushed the enemy, reaching the middle of the camp and killing the giant, on whose strength the Tatars relied more than on the strength of their entire army. Seeing the great intercession of the Queen of Heaven, the enemies turned to panic flight, not hoping to find salvation within the Russian land.
This is how Smolensk was saved, where since then, every year, on November 24, an all-night vigil and a thanksgiving prayer service are held before the miraculous icon of the Mother of God.
Following the Smolensk people, the grace of the intercession of the Queen of Heaven was experienced by the Russian squads who gathered on the banks of the Don and Nepryadva in September 1380. By the will of fate, they had to fight a formidable enemy, just on the day of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. On the eve of the battle, the Don Cossacks delivered the miraculous icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God to the Kulikovo field, in order with its help and under its protection to win the battle against the fierce enemy. The Mother of God did not deceive the hopes and aspirations of the Cossacks, and granted them and the entire Orthodox army a great victory.
As eyewitnesses testify, Prince Dmitry Donskoy, in honor of the intercession of the Queen of Heaven, transferred the miraculous icon to Moscow, where for her, Sergius of Radonezh, the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God was built on the Dubenka River. And the wife of the Grand Duke, wanting to thank the Queen of Heaven for her great intercession, decided to build the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Moscow.
But less than 15 years had passed since the Battle of Kulikovo, when countless hordes of Tamerlane appeared on the banks of the Don. It seemed that nothing could save Russia from terrible ruin. Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich, unable to repel the enemy, hoped only for the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. For this purpose, he asked Metropolitan Cyprian to send him an icon of the Mother of God from Vladimir. On August 15, 1395, the clergy, accompanied by many ordinary people, carried the miraculous icon out of Vladimir. According to church tradition, this was a genuine image of the Mother of God, painted by the holy Apostle Luke on the lid of the table on which the Holy Family ate. The people and army on both sides of the road kneeled to greet the miraculous icon. With the words “Mother of God! Save the Russian land,” the procession headed to Moscow.
The Mother of God heard the prayer of her people and saved the Russian land from ruin. The invincible Tamerlane, frightened by the image of the “Majestic Wife,” and with the words “we will not defeat them,” ordered his troops to leave Russia. In memory of the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God, in her honor, a stone church and the Sretensky Monastery were built. And on August 26, a celebration was established, with a religious procession from the Assumption Cathedral, through the Spassky Gate, to the Sretensky Monastery.
However, the young Russian state did not enjoy calm and peace for long. In 1408, Moscow was besieged by Edygei's troops. And again the people turned to their Queen of Heaven, asking her: “Merciful Lady Virgin Mother of God! Our Most Holy Lady and Everlasting Intercessor! Do not deliver us into the hands of our enemies, but deliver us who trust in you.” Again, as before, the Mother of God heeded to the prayers of her children and turned away formidable enemies from the walls of Moscow.
She did not refuse the intercession of her people in 1451, when the walls of Moscow were stormed by the troops of Cedi-Akhmet, led by Mazovsha. As before, the enemy, struck by a hitherto unknown fear, suddenly withdrew from the battlefield, leaving all his goods on it. In honor of the miraculous salvation of Moscow from the troops of Sedi-Akhmet, a church was built in the name of the Order of the Robe of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Mother of God did not leave her people even in 1480, during the famous standing on the Ugra. For the umpteenth time in the history of the Russian army, the enemy, seized with strange horror, retreated to his home without causing any harm to Russia. In memory of the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God, Grand Duke John 3 built a majestic temple in honor of Her Dormition, in which all Russian tsars have been married since then.
During the reign of John 3, the Tatars once again had to experience the wrath of the Queen of Heaven. This happened when they wanted to destroy the ancient Russian city of Unzha. Due to the lack of walls and fortifications in this city, as well as the distance from other large cities from where help could come, the enemy hoped for a quick and easy victory.
In this hopeless situation, the Unzhan residents could only hope for the intercession of the Mother of God. All residents of the city, young and old, as it should be in fatal moments, began fasting and vigil prayers before the miraculous icon of the Makaryevskaya Mother of God. Having strengthened themselves with prayer, everyone who could hold a weapon in their hands boldly moved towards the enemy, who, instead of engaging in battle with a small and poorly armed militia, suddenly turned into a stampede. The prisoners said that they were afraid, not of a handful of desperate brave men, but of a menacing vision of a rider on a white horse that appeared in the sky above the city. The residents of Unzha explained what happened by the intercession of the Queen of Heaven.
Another time, Unzha was miraculously saved in 1522, when a 20,000 Tatar army approached it again. Remembering the previous good deed of the Mother of God, the defenseless residents turned to her for help and intercession this time. Standing day and night before the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, they sang the Troparion of the Theotokos with tenderness and tears in their eyes. Meanwhile, the enemy had already entered the city and set it on fire. And then, as before, a menacing vision of a rider on a white horse appeared in the sky, and a heavy downpour suddenly fell on the burning city. The Tatars were dismayed and completely confused by what they saw. Driven by an unknown fear, they fled in disarray from the city and killed each other, so that most of the enemies fell under the swords of their fellow tribesmen. The prisoners said that, horrified by what they saw, they stopped recognizing each other. It seemed to them that they were beating the Russians, while they were hitting themselves. The Unzha residents saw this as a clear intercession of the Queen of Heaven.
That this was not such a victory - when the strong defeats the weak - that it was precisely an extraordinary triumph of faith over unbelief - this is clear from the legends of contemporaries about it.
Years passed. Holy Rus' grew and became stronger. Her enemies were filled with anger and hatred towards her. From time to time they undertook devastating campaigns against Russian land. And every time, the Mother of God stood up to protect her. This happened in 1521, when Moscow was besieged by the troops of Khan Girey. In 1551, during the invasion of Stefan Batory on Pskov. In 1591, when Muscovites saw the troops of Kazy-Girey under their walls. And again, as had happened more than once, Tsar Fyodor Ioanovich, unable to repel the enemy by force, turned with earnest prayer to the miraculous icon of Our Lady of the Don. He then made a religious procession around the city and installed the icon among his few regiments. And this time the Mother of God did not leave her children in trouble. In the midst of the battle, a large army of the enemy, overwhelmed by unknown fear, suddenly fled. Russian soldiers rushed to pursue them. Many were killed on the spot, many were captured and captured the entire enemy camp.
In memory of the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God, in the place where the miraculous image stood during the battle, the Tsar ordered the foundation of the Donskoy Monastery. At the same time, the feast of the icon of the Don Mother of God was established, with a religious procession to the monastery monastery.
If the icon of Our Lady of the Don saved Rus' from the Tatars, then the icon of Our Lady of Kazan saved Russia from the Poles who captured Moscow in 1611. In that terrible time Time of Troubles, the wrath of the Lord fell on the Russian land. The Poles and Swedes tormented defenseless Rus', and its few defenders lost all hope of salvation. “Forgive me, freedom of the Fatherland! Forgive the sacred Kremlin! We have done everything to free you; but apparently God does not want to bless our weapons with victory!” they said. At this truly critical moment, all that remained was to hope for the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God. And then the entire Orthodox army, having fasted, began to fervently pray before the miraculous icon of the Kazan Mother of God, brought here in the ranks of the militia of Minin and Pozharsky.
The Most Holy Theotokos, Mother of the Russian Territory, heard the prayer of the mourners and begged Her Son to turn anger into mercy. On October 22, 1612, Russian warriors, filled with faith and calling on the Queen of Heaven for help, went on an attack and miraculously captured Kitay-Gorod, where the miraculous icon entered with them. Having installed it opposite the Nikolsky Gate, the besiegers began to prepare for the assault on the Kremlin.
October 25-26, the Russian army with a religious procession and with the Kazan Mother of God moved towards the Kremlin. To the great surprise of the participants in the procession, Archbishop Arseny emerged from the Kremlin with the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir, which he had preserved during captivity. Shocked by the meeting of two miraculous icons, the people prayed to the Heavenly Intercessor with tears of joy.
Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich established celebrations in honor of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God twice a year, on July 8 and October 22, when the Russian land was cleared of the enemy. In 1631, the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan was installed in the Kazan Cathedral built for her on Red Square. This is how the Russian people appreciated the intercession of the Queen of Heaven during times of great unrest.
Only through the intercession of the Mother of God can one explain the events that took place under the walls of the Tikhvin monastery in 1613-14. Then a large Swedish royal army under the command of De la Guardia invaded the Russian land. Hoping for an easy victory, the Swedes began to storm the monastery. It seemed that the Orthodox stronghold was unable to withstand a siege from such a formidable enemy. However, the monks of the monastery had a different opinion. Not relying on the force of arms, they turned with fervent prayers to the Queen of Heaven, after which they raised the image of the Tikhvin Mother of God to the walls of the monastery. And then a great miracle happened. A formidable heavenly army appeared before the advancing Swedes, at the sight of which they were seized with such horror that there could no longer be any talk of any battle. The royal army fled in panic from under the walls of the monastery. And having come to their senses, the Swedes asked for peace.
The Most Holy Theotokos constantly took care of the well-being of her House and her people, sending many great ascetics to the Russian land, sacredly honoring the Orthodox faith. Her mercy always found those whose hearts and souls were filled with great love for Her, for Her son and Her House, which was Russia. A striking example of this is the history of the Pochaev monastery, where the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary stood.
At the beginning of the 17th century, Catholics and Uniates, on a huge scale, began to destroy the foundations of Orthodoxy in the western regions of Russia. Their greedy gaze did not escape the sacred Pochaev monastery. However, despite the titanic efforts of Rome and its allies, the monastery survived, turning into an impregnable bastion of Orthodoxy surrounded by apostates. Only the intercession of the Mother of God can explain the fact that Catholics and Uniates failed to take possession of the sacred monastery.
The Queen of Heaven did not abandon her zealous servants in 1675, when a large Tatar army appeared under the walls of the monastery. The monks understood that they were not able to repel the enemy by force of arms, and therefore with fervent prayer they turned to their ever-present Intercessor. In the morning, in anticipation of the assault, they sang an Akathist to the Mother of God, at the first words of which the Most Pure Mother of God herself suddenly appeared above the temple. Descending from heaven and “unfolding the snow-white omophorion,” she led behind her the heavenly angels with drawn swords. At the sight of this phenomenon, horror and madness filled the souls of the enemy and they began to kill each other with panicky recklessness. Those who were lucky enough to survive this massacre asked for holy baptism. Some of them remained to serve in the monastery.
The Mother of God showed many miracles to the Russian people in their sacred struggle for the triumph of justice and peace. Through Her intercession and Her will, Holy Rus' strengthened and expanded. Many peoples came to her bosom in order to find peace and prosperity there. But there were also those whose eyes were blinded by the greatness of the House of the Mother of God. From time to time they tried to test the fortress Orthodox faith and the Russian spirit and each time received a crushing rebuff.
Napoleon’s infamous campaign was no exception to the rule, during which he wanted to enslave Russia in just 6 months and bring the Russian emperor to his knees. None of his contemporaries doubted the clear superiority of the Napoleonic army over the Russian army, forced to confront the forces of a united Europe. The Russian commanders also realistically assessed the enemy’s strength, and therefore retreated in an organized manner, avoiding contact with the enemy. But a retreat, even an organized one, could not save Russia from ruin. But an attempt to gain victory in a battle would lead to the same result. And then it was decided to turn to the Mother of the Russian Territory and beg her for victory over the formidable enemy. For this purpose, the miraculous icon of the Smolensk Mother of God, who once liberated the Russian land from the invasion of Batu, was delivered to the army. Even on the eve of the Battle of Borodino, the commander-in-chief and generals and officers fervently prayed before her. Then the icon was carried throughout the camp to strengthen the spirit of the Orthodox army.
We know how glad Napoleon was that he managed to force the Russian army to give a general battle. We also know how upset the ruler of Europe was that his victorious army could not defeat the Russians on any sector of the front. We know a lot about the courage and perseverance of Russian soldiers and officers who did not flinch in the face of a formidable enemy. We also know how an early and severe winter came to the French on the mountain. We also know about the one by whose will the mind abandoned the emperor, his generals and the rest of the army. We also know about the fear and horror that seized the invincible army when it found itself in incinerated Moscow, and how the ruler of nations ingloriously fled from Russia, abandoning his huge army to destruction.
No one in Russia doubted that the victory of Russian weapons became possible only as a result of the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God, who deprived the enemy of will and reason. No one doubted the great role of the miraculous icon of the Smolensk Mother of God, which just three months after the Battle of Borodino was returned to liberated Smolensk. General Konovnitsyn wrote: “The troops gazed with reverence at this image in their midst and considered it a favorable guarantee of the Most High mercy. Now, when Almighty God has blessed Russian weapons and with the conquest of the enemy the city of Smolensk has been cleared, I, by the will of the commander-in-chief of all armies, Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, am sending the holy icon of Our Lady of Smolensk back, may it be installed in its original place and the Russian God may be glorified in it, wonderfully punishing the arrogant enemy who disturbs the peace of nations.”
From that time on, a celebration was established in Smolensk in memory of the expulsion of the enemies of the Russian land on November 5 in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos, who saved Russia from foreign enslavement.
Many Russian people, faced with the treachery of the conquerors, experienced the intercession of the Queen of Heaven. The glorious Russian army did not pass by her mercy. Many times the defenders of the Russian land went into battle under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, and won great and glorious victories. One of the clearest evidence of this is the battle of Bash-Kadyk-Lar in 1853, when a Russian detachment of 9,000 people completely defeated a thirty-six-thousand-strong Turkish army, which consisted of 46 guns. The captured Turks explained their surrender by the fact that during the battle they saw how the Blessed Woman descended from heaven to help the Russian army. Seeing the obvious intercession of the Goddess for Rus', some of them fled, while others surrendered and began to demand holy baptism.
With the clear patronage of the Mother of God, Russia, by the end of the 19th century, became the most powerful world power. Foreign monarchs and governments looked towards the Russian throne with horror and fear. At the same time, pride and greatness settled in the souls of the Russian people, and they gradually forgot about the well-being of the House of the Mother of God, and everyone began to pray to her only for their own, personal things. The retribution for the spiritual fall did not take long to arrive. The year 1917 came.

EXILEMENT OF THE MOTHER OF GOD.

In February 1917, a sharp change occurred in the history of the Russian state. The people, to whose sincere prayers the Mother’s heart was always open, began a fierce struggle with their heavenly patroness. People instantly forgot about the greatness of Russia, and that this is the house of the Mother of God. No one remembered the prayers in which the Heavenly Queen was called nothing less than “Mother of the Russian Territory.” Nobody remembered the slogan from the time of the Russian-Polish War, which said: “Here (in Russia) is the root of the kingdom, here is the banner of the Fatherland, here is the house of the Mother of God.” No one like Kozma Minin could turn to the people with the words: “Let us stand for Holy Rus', for the House of the Most Pure Mother of God; Let's liberate the Fatherland." People have forgotten centuries-old traditions. The connection between times has been broken. And on their ruins the bloody banner of atheistic internationalism flared, which showed Russia the shortest path into a bottomless abyss.
In these troubled and alarming times, an event occurred that literally shocked the whole world. On May 13, 1917, the Virgin Mary unexpectedly appeared to people near the town of Fatima in Portugal. And she didn’t just appear, but told about what would happen in the world in the coming years. She reported both about the Second World War, which would begin in the late thirties, and about the war that could begin in the early sixties. And what is most striking, she pointed out the great and tragic role of Russia in all these events, as well as in the subsequent salvation of the world. She further asked to pray tirelessly for this long-suffering country, so that its people would find the strength to return to God. The appearance of the Mother of God was accompanied by unusual celestial phenomena, which were observed by tens of thousands of Portuguese.
It is difficult for us to explain the reasons why the appearance of the Queen of Heaven occurred in Portugal. However, she achieved her goal. In 1940, the Vatican received a letter from the former shepherdess Lucia, who was lucky enough to communicate with the Virgin Mary. In it, she reported that the Mother of God asks God to consecrate Russia to her Heart. The Most Pure Virgin warned that her House could not be given over to be torn apart by enemies, otherwise the world would not be saved and the days of sorrow would last forever.
Neither the Vatican nor the Soviet people heeded the warnings of Our Lady. Against. Russia was subjected to a monstrous pogrom. The domes of churches fell to the ground like hail. Fire and dynamite mercilessly turned chapels, cathedrals and monasteries into dust and smoke. But most importantly, Russia lost almost all the miraculous icons of the Mother of God. If Pavel of Aleppo had visited Russia in the mid-twentieth century, he would not have found even a tenth (or maybe a hundredth) of those miraculous icons that captured his imagination in the mid-17th century. By this time, the Mother of God was completely excommunicated from Russia. Believers turned to her, but now only for personal matters. And no one asked the Queen of Heaven to intercede for Russia, which was once her Home.
It is so customary in this world that a mother’s heart cannot harden towards her child, no matter how reckless he may be. The Mother of God could not renounce the Russian people either. In 1941, she appeared in the Valaam Monastery, with prayers and tears addressed to the Savior so that He would preserve the Russian land. Humbly accepting the reproaches that the abomination of desolation has become great in Russia, the depravity of views and morals, the decline of faith and piety, and the fact that it is no longer possible to tolerate these iniquities, the Mother of God continued to earnestly pray for the salvation of Russia.
No matter how great the sins of the Russian people before God were, the Mother of God managed to soften the heart of the Savior. And then he answered her: “I know how much You love Russia and for the sake of Your words I will not leave her. I’ll punish you, but I’ll save you.”

RETURN OF THE MOTHER OF GOD.

The appearance of the Mother of God in the Valaam Monastery gave the Russian people hope for salvation. But no one knew how to find it then. At that time in Rus' there were no prayer books like Seraphim Vyritsky, whose words could reach the Queen of Heaven and ask her for a way to save Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church found itself completely drained of blood in the unequal struggle with the internationalists. Militant atheists, who tirelessly destroyed the faith and culture of the Russian people, in 1941 showed themselves to be helpless lambs in the face of a formidable enemy, and it seemed that no one and nothing could prevent the inevitable death of the state they had created.
In this truly critical situation, by ways unknown to us and by God’s Providence, Metropolitan Elijah of the Lebanese Mountains was elected as a prayer book for the salvation of Russia. Taking with him the icon of the Mother of God, he secluded himself in a deep dungeon. Without eating food and water, without sleep and rest, he began to pray with special zeal to the Queen of Heaven, so that She would open the way for him to save Russia.
And then, three days later, the Mother of God Herself appeared to him in a shining pillar. Majestic and mournful, She thanked the zealous man of prayer for his holy love for Russia and announced that it was he who was entrusted with conveying God’s definition to this long-suffering country. Metropolitan Elijah listened with trepidation to the words of the Queen of Heaven that in order to save Russia, “temples, monasteries, theological seminaries and academies must be opened throughout the country. Priests returned from the fronts and released from prisons must begin to serve. The city on the Neva cannot be surrendered. To save him, it is necessary to remove the miraculous icon of the Kazan Mother of God from the Vladimir Cathedral and carry it around the city in a procession of the cross. Then no enemy will set foot on his holy land. A prayer service must be served in front of the Kazan Icon in Moscow. Then it must be transferred to Stalingrad, which also cannot be surrendered to the enemy. The Kazan icon must go with the troops to the borders of Russia.”
Our Lady warned that if this determination is not fulfilled, then Russia will perish. Vladyka Elijah handed over to the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church everything that was entrusted to him by the Mother of God. This definition instilled hope for salvation not only in the hearts of believers, but also in the minds of internationalists, who did not hesitate to fulfill everything that the Mother of God commanded.
Temples, monasteries and seminaries opened throughout the country. The clergy were released from prison. And in the northern capital, from the Vladimir Cathedral, they took out the icon of the Kazan Mother of God and walked with it in a religious procession around the city.
After this, the Kazan Icon began its victorious march across Russia. At the most critical moment of the defense of Moscow, she was delivered to the capital, after which the enemies took a shameful flight from the walls of the almost defenseless city. After Moscow, the icon was moved to Stalingrad and installed on the right bank of the Volga. There she stood among the Russian troops even when only a tiny patch of land remained in the hands of the city’s defenders. But the Intercessor of the Russian Land did not allow the Germans to cross the great river, where the Russian people regained not only faith in God, but also faith in Victory.
The Battle of the Volga was a turning point in the Great Patriotic War. After her, our valiant army, under the patronage of the Mother of God, began its victorious march to the west, until it completely liberated the Russian land from the servants of the devil.
Continuing to pursue the retreating enemy, the Russian army reached the walls of Koenigsberg. This fortress city, founded by crusading knights on primordially Russian lands, was rightfully considered impregnable. The Germans were absolutely sure that our troops would not be able to capture this powerful citadel. They only did not take into account the fact that these lands were the inheritance of the Mother of God. This is probably why, and maybe for some other reasons unknown to us, the Heavenly Queen joined the ranks of the Russian army here too. This is how Hieromonk Philadelph describes this event in his book “The Zealous Intercessor.”
Great difficulties stood in the way of our soldiers during the liberation of the old German stronghold - Koenigsberg. Here is what an officer who was at the very center of the battle for the city says: “Our troops were completely exhausted, but the Germans were still strong. Suddenly we see: the front commander has arrived, officers, and with them priests with an icon.
Many began to joke: “They brought the priests, now they will help us.” But the commander quickly stopped the jokes, ordered everyone to line up and take off their hats. The priests served a prayer service and went - with the icon - to the front line. We looked in bewilderment: where are they going? They will all be killed! But they calmly walked into the fire.
And suddenly the shooting stopped on the German side simultaneously along the entire front. Then a signal was given, and our troops began to storm the city-fortress from land and sea.
The Germans died by the thousands. The prisoners later said that before the Russian assault, Madonna appeared in the sky, which was visible to the entire German army, and absolutely everyone’s weapons failed. At this moment, our troops broke the enemy’s resistance and took the city. Seeing the appearance of the Mother of God, the Germans fell to their knees; many of them understood who is helping the Russians”...
At that time, 22,000 churches were opened: all of Russia was praying. Many officers, and even Marshal Zhukov himself, said before the battle: “With God!”...
There was a revival of faith in Rus'.

STOLEN VICTORY.

The Savior kept his word to the Mother. He punished, but He also saved Russia. He saved the World. For only through the salvation of Russia is the salvation of humanity possible, as the Queen of Heaven pointed out. The Russian people defeated a powerful and formidable enemy in a fierce battle. It would seem that now the Mother of God can return to her Home in order to ensure peace and prosperity in it. But that was not the case. The victory ordained by God was stolen from Russia. Having recovered from the shock, all kinds of vices returned to the souls of people. The depravity of views and morals, the abomination of desolation, the decline of faith and piety, swept over the Russian land in a new wave. The winners, being in some inexplicable frenzy, for the first time in the history of Russia forgot to erect a temple dedicated to their ever-present intercessor. Moreover, they forgot to restore even the temple that was built on the personal instructions of the Mother of God, and which became her first home in the vastness of Russia.
God works in mysterious ways. The actions of certain people and nations are sometimes inexplicable. In the same way, the reasons are mysterious and incomprehensible why the Russian people could not revive the memory of their ever-present intercessor, who saved them many times at the steepest turns in history. Even the great victory in a cruel and bloody war did not contribute to universal spiritual cohesion and unity. Gradually, personal problems came to the fore. The ideology of individualism and active exploitation of the animal principle has taken a dominant position in the minds and hearts of the vast majority of people. Religions aimed at Heaven began to give way to their mundane competitors. Against this background, the greatness of the Queen of Heaven and her sacred destiny, which is Russia, has faded. Russian people began to pray less and less for the well-being of the House of the Virgin. Following this, little by little the memory of why such an unusual name was applied to Russia began to disappear. And why did our ancestors suddenly so often call the Mother of God the Mother of the Russian Territory?

WHO WILL RESTORE THE CONNECTION OF TIMES?

At present, neither church nor secular sources provide comprehensive information about when and why Russia began to be called the House of the Most Holy Theotokos, or the inheritance of the Mother of God. Extremely scant information on this topic is practically inaccessible to the general reader. Rare mentions of the identity of the concepts Russia and the House of Our Lady are not accompanied by any comments or explanations. This topic does not have any scientific elaboration or religious dogmatic canon.
It would seem that given such a fatal set of circumstances, we will never be able to look behind the veil of secrecy that hides from us the reasons why Russia became the lot of the Mother of God. However, as often happens in the world around us, there is no such secret that sooner or later would not come true. I would like to hope that in matters of the extraordinary and mysterious convergence of the concepts of Russia and the House of the Virgin Mary, someday there will be acceptable explanations and interpretations. Although at present there are several interesting versions that can shed light on this mystery. Moreover, one of the interpretations known to us can rightfully be considered, if not official, then at least semi-official.
The basis for such a definition can be the well-known legend about the Monk Anthony, who in 1073, having come from Orthodox Athos, founded the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, which later became the source of Russian monasticism. Hieromonk Philadelphus wrote: “Mount Athos, according to legend, is the destiny of the Mother of God, the patroness of monasticism. Thus, the spiritual sprout of Saint Athos was planted on Russian soil and found in it extremely favorable soil...
This is where the “Virgin Spirit and character” constantly exuded. That is why, from the very beginning, such widespread veneration of the Mother of God developed in Rus' that the entire Russian land became the special inheritance of the Mother of God and began to be called (and is) the “House of the Most Holy Theotokos.”
Soon after the arrival of the Monk Anthony in Kyiv, four church architects appeared there and told the story of how the Mother of God Herself appeared to them. The architects said: “Having seen the Queen and many soldiers around who worshiped Her, She spoke to us: I want to build a church for myself in Russia in Kiev: “I command you, take gold for yourself for three years, and go to build it...
I will come to see the church myself because I want to live in it.”

Scenario lesson plan on military-industrial complex in 8th grade

Teacher of MKOU "Zalininskaya Secondary School" Mikhrenina Larisa Germanovna

Lesson topic :Russia – home of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Goals for the children's team:

the ability to use accumulated material to use your own project;

developing the ability to analyze one’s own activities, identify a problem and build ways to solve it; - completing a task at the level of a speech about the main events of the earthly life of the Mother of God.

Tasks:

developing in students ideas about the earthly life of the Most Holy Theotokos, about the role and significance of the image of the Most Holy Theotokos in people’s lives, about the types of icons of the Holy Mother of God;

development of imaginative thinking using expressive means of various types of arts;

development of interest in sacred music and literature, icon painting as a bright phenomenon of Russian Orthodox culture;

Leading task: develop your own script for a speech about a selected event in the earthly life of the Blessed Virgin Mary.Musical series:

Prayer “Virgin Mother of God, Rejoice” Optina Choir.

Visual and literary series:

icon “Nativity of the Mother of God”;

icon “Introduction into the Temple”;

icon of the Annunciation;

icon “Nativity of Christ”;

icon “Assumption of the Mother of God”;

icon “Our Lady of Vladimir”;

Icon of the Mother of God “Kazan”;

Icon of the Mother of God Softening Evil Hearts

Icon of the Mother of God of Iveron

Old Testament

New Testament

Encyclopedia of Fine Arts. Iconography. Renaissance. Soviet artists.

World of Orthodoxy "Theotokos". A complete description of life and miracles. - Moscow: Eksmo, 2009.

Holidays of the Orthodox Church. - Moscow: “Eksmo”, 2009.

Oleynikova T.S. “Twelfth Holidays.” - Ryazan: “Grains”, 2006.

Video series:

• film one “Miraculous Icons of the Mother of God” Old Testament. TC "My Joy"

Internet resources:

Lesson equipment:

computer;

multimedia projector;

presentation for the lesson.

Preparation period.

Student activities:

Assistance in organizing the visual environment (stands with iconographic images of the Virgin Mary, - selection of musical and poetic material;

Introduction to the main events of the earthly life of the Mother of God and distribution of the volume of material for performers.

Planned learning outcome, including the formation of a learning management system:

Cognitive UDD:

General educational educational units

Information search

Independent creation of ways to solve problems of a creative and exploratory nature:expanding horizons in the field of Orthodox culture, replenishing students’ knowledge of the type of icons of the Virgin Mary, promoting the revival of traditional spiritual and moral values ​​through in-depth study of the material.

L ogical UDD

Building a logical chain of reasoning

Proposing hypotheses, their justification

Setting and solving problems UDD

Independent creation of ways to solve creative and exploratory problems

Regulatory

develop the ability to understand the educational goal and task

Personal

empathy for other people's feelings.

Communicative UUD :

To develop the ability to express one’s thoughts in evaluative judgments

Construction of speech utterances

The ability to listen and hear: developing the ability to give an accurate answer to the question posed, listen to the opinions of others and treat them with respect

Moral and ethical orientation

moral education through the study of Orthodox art.

Basic concepts: Oranta, Odegetria,tenderness,Akathist, apocrypha.

Interdisciplinary connections: literature, music, art, history, MHC.

Lesson steps:

organizational moment: emotional mood;

updating knowledge: the earthly life of the Virgin Mary

goal setting and motivation: to provide knowledge about the types of icons of the Mother of God and about the miraculous icons that more than once saved Rus' in difficult periods of history.

Lesson plan:

1. The earthly life of the Mother of God.

   Types of icons of the Virgin Mary:

independent work of students, test.

1. Miraculous icons of the Mother of God. Watching a movie.

During the classes

Teacher's opening speech

The Most Holy Theotokos is considered the patroness of Russia. Therefore, the Russian people, in difficult periods of their history, first of all turned to her, as their ruler and constant intercessor before the Lord, and always received help and protection.

I place all my trust in You, Mother of God, keep Me under Your roof.

These are the words of the short prayer, addressed to the Virgin Mary. They are simple, pure, euphonious and divinely soulful. The same euphony is found in other prayers and akathists in honor of the Mother of God, in honor of Her miraculous icons. The words come straight from the heart. And it cannot be otherwise, because the Mother of God is first and foremost a Mother. Mother of Jesus Christ and spiritual Mother of each of us. That is why the words addressed to her are warmed with spiritual warmth, and the faces of the Mother of God reciprocate, radiating the same warmth, but Divine.

A student reads by heart the poem by Yu.V. Zhadovskaya “Prayer”

PRAYER

Peace Intercessor, Mother of All,

I am before You with a prayer:

Poor sinner, dressed in darkness,

Cover with grace.

If trials befall me,

Sorrows, losses, enemies, -

In a difficult hour of life, in a moment of suffering,

Please help me.

Spiritual joy, thirst for salvation

Place it in my heart;

To the kingdom of heaven, to the world of consolation

Show me the straight path.

Teacher.

More than two thousand years separate us from the day when the Blessed Virgin was born into the light of God. Today it is difficult to even believe that She had an earthly life filled with human worries, joys and sufferings. We are accustomed to perceiving Her as the Queen of Heaven, but She had her own earthly character traits - a tendency towards peace and thoughtfulness, as evidenced by Her contemporaries. The divine touching smile of the Virgin Mary was forever captured by icon painters; it is not even a smile, but an image of kindness itself.

Let's listen to the messages you have prepared about Mary's earthly life.

(Speech by students showing a presentation about the earthly life of the Virgin Mary)

See applications.

A student recites a poem by P. Lebedinsky by heart

To You, Merciful Queen,

To You, O Mother of the Divine,

With warm and earnest prayer

We aspire with all our hearts.

You pray for everyone without ceasing

Christ - Judge of the days to come,

And according to Your desired prayer

He sends salvation to people.

He gave you the protection of sovereignty,

So intercede, O Lady,

Our Russian Orthodox people:

Our entire hope is in You.

Everyone who is in illness and adversity,

In sorrows, under the burden of sins

And in life's grave misfortunes,

Take me under Your holy cover.

Only with a tender soul,

With hope for you alone

And a broken tear

We offer a prayer to you:

Deliver us from evil and from anger,

Send all the good things to the slaves

And save us, Virgin Queen,

You are our Divine cover.

Part II Miracle-working Icons of the Mother of God and their types.

Teacher. It is impossible to imagine medieval art without the widely depicted image of the Mother of God.

The art of the High Renaissance brought such an understanding of beauty, when there was a strong desire to create the image of a perfect person, beautiful both physically and spiritually. The embodiment of such an ideal is the Madonna, the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus Christ - a sublime ideal of motherhood and sacrificial love for people.

If in Western Europe there was a cult of the Madonna, then in Rus' there was a cult of the Mother of God, who was perceived as the patroness and defender of her native land, the intercessor of people before God.

What do we know about her? Very little. The Gospel says little about the Virgin Mary. She always modestly kept aloof and only on the terrible day of her Son’s death was she next to him.

…Magdalene fought and cried,

The beloved student turned to stone.

And where Mother stood silently,

So no one dared to look...

The first Christians sought and preserved memories of her, recording the testimonies of those who saw her. These carefully collected traditions were not included in the Gospel. They were collected in separate books and calledapocrypha , which translated from Greek means “secret, separate books.” Not all apocrypha were approved by the church. This is what they said about the Mother of God:

“She was of average height, or, as others say, somewhat more than average. Her hair was golden, her eyes were lively, her eyebrows were arched and dark, her nose was straight and elongated, her lips were blooming, her face was not round or pointed, but somewhat elongated, her arms and fingers were long... completely artless, simple. She did not think a little about Herself, and far from being effeminate, she was distinguished by complete humility... In short, a special grace was revealed in all Her actions.”

It was precisely this way, meek and spiritual, that the face of the Mother of God was painted on icons.

Many different icons were painted in Rus'. Over time, they began to be called by the place where they appeared or became famous: Vladimir, Smolensk, Kazan, Kursk, Tikhvin, etc.

As a rule, these were images of the Mother of God with the Child Christ - only the poses and symbolic details differed slightly.

Conventionally, the entire variety of types of icons of the Mother of God with the Child can be divided into four groups, each of which represents the disclosure of one of the facets of the image of the Mother of God.

Types of icons of the Virgin Mary

First group - type of iconography"The Omen"(abbreviated and truncated version -Oranta, from lat. orans - praying).

Mary is represented in the pose of Oranta, that is, praying, with her hands raised to the sky.

Second type received the name"Hodegetria"what does it mean in Greek"Guidebook".

The icon depicts the Mother of God, the Infant Christ sits on one hand, and the Mother of God points to Him with the other hand.

The most famous variants of Hodegetria include: “Smolenskaya”, “Iverskaya” (Goalkeeper), “Tikhvinskaya”, “Gruzinskaya”, “Jerusalemskaya”, “Three-handed”, “Passionate”, “Czestochowa”, “Cyprus”, “Abalatskaya”, "Helper of Sinners" and many others.

Third type icons of the Mother of God in Rus' received the name" Tenderness",which is not quite exact translation the Greek word "Eleousa", i.e."Gracious."

In these icons, Mary’s head is bowed towards the Son, and He puts his hand around the Mother’s neck. This touching composition contains a deep theological idea: here the Mother of God is revealed to us not only as a Mother caressing her Son, but also as a symbol of a soul in close communion with God.

A whole series of icons belongs to the type of akathist. They received this name due to the fact that each of them reflects one or another ability of the Mother of God, which was described in the akathists. This includes such famous icons as “”, “” and others. They are prayed to at certain moments of life, asking for intercession in one or another difficult life situation. An icon for prayer is selected according to its properties.

Akathist icon of the Mother of God

Akathist is a form of church poetry, a song of praise in honor of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God or saints. The Greek word akathist means “non-seated singing,” that is, a hymn that does not sit while singing.. The oldest is the Great Akathist to the Mother of God (“To the Mounted Voivode...”), compiled on the occasion of the deliverance of Constantinople in 626 from the Persians and Avars through prayers before the icon of the Mother of God. There are several icons with the name “Akathist”.

“Akathist” are often called, the stamps of which depict scenes from the akathists of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the central part of such images, the icon of the Mother of God of Arapet (Arabian or “O All-PetayaMati”) was often placed, so some icon painters mistakenly began to call the Arapet icon “Akathist”.

In the Balkans, the “Akathist” is widespread, which depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary seated on a throne.

Teacher: To consolidate your knowledge about the types of icons of the Virgin Mary, I suggest you take a test. I think that you will have enough time while the prayer is being played by the Optina Pustyn Choir.

Reflection. Independent work (tests)

Rejoice, Virgin Mary" . Performed by the Optina Pustyn Choir"

The calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church mentions about 260 revered and miraculous icons of the Mother of God, in general one can count more than 860 titles Her icon. For most icons, separate days of celebration are established, and prayers are written for them.

Part III. Watching a movie

Teacher: Let's watch a film about the Miraculous Icons of the Mother of God

SUMMARIZING

After listening and viewing the material about the earthly life of the Mother of God, we come to the conclusion that her entire life was spent near the Savior. She did not know how to love and serve otherwise than “... looking to Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Only near the Savior, with strong faith in Him as the Son of God, with fiery love for God, with firm hope in Him, is every woman a true Christian, full of dignity, lofty in her most humble position. No such thing Christian virtue, which would not have found a model in the life and character of the Mother of God...

Homework: prepare presentations on one of the icons of the Virgin Mary.

Annex 1

Earthly life of the Virgin Mary

Student 1.

Mary’s mother’s name was Anna, her father’s name was Joachim, both family branches had venerable ancestors behind them, among whom were patriarchs, high priests and Jewish rulers from the branches of the wise Solomon and the mighty David. Joachim and Anna were not considered wealthy and noble, although they lived comfortably, raising large flocks of sheep. They were oppressed by only one sadness: there were no children. The coming of the Messiah was already predetermined, and childless people were obviously deprived of the hope of having the Messiah as their descendant, which every family secretly dreamed of. Among the Israelis at that time, even the clergy perceived a childless person as being punished from above. This is confirmed by a fact from the life of Joachim. On the feast of the renewal of the Temple of Jerusalem, he, along with other residents, brought rich gifts for the Temple, but the priest refused to accept them - Joachim’s childlessness was the reason for this. He bore his grief heavily, for some time he even retired to the desert, where, crying bitterly, he repeatedly turned to God: “My tears will be my food, and the desert will be my home until the great and wise Lord hears my prayer.” And then Joachim heard the words of the Angel of the Lord: “I was sent to tell you that your prayer has been heard. Your wife Anna will give birth to a wonderful daughter, and you will name her Mary. Here is confirmation of my words: entering Jerusalem, you will meet your wife behind the Golden Gates "Anna, and she will also please you with joyful news. But remember that your daughter is the fruit of a divine gift."

The Angel of the Lord also appeared to Anna and also told her that she would give birth to a blessed daughter. The small southern town of Nazareth, where Joachim and Anna lived, was located three days' journey from Jerusalem. From the very beginning of their life together, they walked from Nazareth to express their great request to God in the famous Temple in Jerusalem: to have a child. And now the dream came true, their joy knew no bounds.

December 9 (old style) Orthodox Church celebrates the conception of the Blessed Virgin, and September 8 - Her birth. At the age of three, Mary was brought into the Temple in Jerusalem. This was a very important moment; it is no coincidence that the Orthodox Church celebrates such an event. It took place in a very solemn atmosphere: the procession was opened by girls the same age as the Blessed Virgin, with lit candles in their hands, and behind them walked Joachim and Anna together with their blessed daughter, holding hands. They were followed by numerous relatives, among whom were very noble persons. Everyone's faces were lit up with joy. The virgins walked singing spiritual songs, their voices merging with the singing of the Angels.

Student 2

The Blessed Virgin was destined to spend many years in the Temple of Jerusalem. That temple was the prototype of a monastic monastery. Within the walls of the Temple there were 90 separate spacious rooms-cells. A third of them were allocated to virgins who dedicated their lives to God, the remaining rooms were occupied by widows who gave dinner to remain celibate. The elders took care of the younger ones, taught them to read sacred books and handicrafts. The Blessed Virgin Mary immediately surprised everyone by the fact that she easily comprehended the most difficult passages of the sacred books, better than all the adults who had studied these books all their lives.

After the birth of the desired child, the parents die very soon, first Joachim at the age of 80, then Anna. There was no one even to visit the little child staying in the Temple. Orphanhood and the consciousness of her loneliness turned Mary’s heart even more strongly to God, in Him was contained her entire destiny.

When Mary was fourteen years old, the high priests announced to her that the time had come to get married. Mary replied that she wanted to devote her life to God and wanted to maintain her virginity. What should I do?

An angel of the Lord appeared to the high priest Zechariah and told him the advice of the Most High: “Gather together the unmarried men of the tribe of Judah, from the line of David, let them bring their staffs. And to whomever the Lord shows a sign, hand over the Virgin to him, so that he may become the guardian of Her virginity.”

That's exactly what happened. The high priest Zechariah gathered unmarried men near the temple and turned to God with a prayer: “Lord God, show me a husband worthy of becoming the betrothed of the Virgin.” The staffs of the invited men were left in the sanctuary. When they came for them, they immediately saw how one staff blossomed, and a dove was sitting on the branches that appeared. The owner of the staff turned out to be 80-year-old widower Joseph, who was engaged in carpentry. The dove flew off the staff and began to circle above Joseph’s head. And then Zechariah said: “You will receive the Virgin and keep Her.” At first, Joseph objected, fearing that with adult sons older than Mary, he would become the laughing stock of people. Tradition says that Mary herself was very upset that She had to leave the Temple of God. But by the will of the Almighty, the betrothal took place, only Joseph became not the husband of Mary, in our usual understanding, but the guardian of holiness and a caring servant of the Virgin Mary.

Student 3.

Not much is said about Joseph in Scripture, but still, bit by bit, a fairly clear image can be formed. The elder was a descendant of kings David and Solomon, a man of firm and truthful character, modest, attentive, and hardworking. From his first marriage to Solomiya, he had two daughters and four sons. Before his engagement to Mary, he lived for many years in honest widowhood.

Joseph brought the God-given girl to his home in Nazareth, and they plunged into ordinary everyday affairs. Only Mary had a premonition of a great accomplishment, something indescribable, extraordinary. All people were waiting for the coming of the Messiah, as the only deliverer from numerous vices that entangled people like a web.

Luxurious Rome, which conquered many countries, indulged in pleasures, wallowed in debauchery, perversion, fanaticism, forgetting about all virtues. A catastrophe of the spirit always leads to a catastrophe of the body. Only the Almighty could be a healer of the spirit. And the Virgin Mary, as if instinctively, without realizing it, was preparing for the fulfillment of the greatest Divine plan. Her soul comprehended the birth of the Savior. She did not yet know in what way God would send His Son to Earth, but Her soul itself was already preparing for this meeting. Thus, the Most Holy Virgin of things, in Her essence, alone could unite the age-old foundations of the Old Testament with the new Christian laws of life.

To preach the gospel of His Divine plan, the Lord chose the Archangel Gabriel, one of the very first angels. The icon of the Annunciation (celebration March 25, April 7) reveals to us this great act of the Lord. It depicts the quiet descent from heaven to Earth of an angel in the guise of a magnificent young man. He hands the Virgin Mary a heavenly flower - a lily and pronounces priceless words; "Rejoice, Full of Grace: the Lord is with you! Blessed are you among women!" The meaning of these heavenly words is that the Most Holy Virgin conceives a Son, whose kingdom will have no end. Before She Read holy books, in particular, the prophet Isaiah, that a certain Virgin will give birth to the Son of Man from God. She was ready to become a servant of That woman, and did not think about her own divine destiny.

Student 4

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, one of the twelve main holidays, which the Orthodox world celebrates on February 15.

The feast of the Presentation of the Lord was established in Byzantium in the 6th century. In the 7th century it spread to the entire Western world. However, the status of this holiday in Catholicism is lower than that of other twelve holidays.

The roots of the holiday go back to the Old Testament. On this day, after forty days after the birth of the baby, according to Jewish laws, it was necessary to perform two rites: the mother was to be cleansed of ancestral blood, and the baby, the first-born male, was to be dedicated to God with his further ransom from serving the Lord.

To cleanse the woman in labor, two sacrifices were made: a burnt offering - a one-year-old lamb, and for sin - a young dove. The poor could replace the lamb with a dove. In addition, for the first-born male child, the parents had to pay a ransom in the form of a certain amount.

So, exactly forty days ago we celebrated the Nativity of Christ, marked by significant events: a bright star, the adoration of the Magi, the chanting of the birth of the Divine Child by an angelic choir and the announcement of the Nativity to the Bethlehem shepherds.

The time has come to bring the Baby to the temple, as they would say today - for baptism and dedication of the baby to God. Therefore, it completes the Christmas cycle.

The Holy Family - Joseph the Betrothed, the Virgin Mary and the Child carry with them what is required - two turtledoves as sacrifices and some money - for the ransom of the Child. Although Mary remained a Virgin after birth, everything required of law-abiding citizens had to be done.
And it happened when Mary and Joseph came to the temple, and he came. Simeon was one of 72 interpreters who translated the Old Testament (at the direction of Ptolemy II, who collected the famous Library of Alexandria) from Hebrew into Greek.

Each interpreter got separate book. Simeon had to translate the book of Isaiah - a very complex one, also called the Old Testament gospel. There is a phrase in the book

“Behold, the Virgin is with child and gives birth to a Son”.

Simeon doubted: “How? Can a Virgin conceive and give birth without a husband? And I decided to translate the word “Virgin” differently, replacing it with the word “Wife”.
Then, according to legend, an Angel appeared to him in a dream and said: “Since you did not believe the words of the prophet, you will not die until you are convinced of his rightness and see the living Messiah.”

According to another version, when Simeon was returning to Jerusalem from Egypt, he threw his ring into the river and said: “If I find the ring, I will believe the words of the prophet.” And he bought a fish at the market, finding his ring in its belly. Then I heard that prophecy of the Angel.
And the years began to drag on: a hundred years passed, then two hundred, and three hundred, and three hundred and fifty years passed, all the prophecies pointing to the birth of the promised Messiah, expected by the Jewish people, had already been fulfilled. But the righteous Simeon still lived. The last prophecy remained - “Behold, the Virgin will be with child and give birth to a Son.”

And then one day inspiration struck him: “He needs to go to church.” That day Mary and Joseph and the Child came. And the Holy Spirit led him to the Baby, who was held in the arms of the Mother. Simeon tenderly took the Baby in his hands and with a smile said words of thanksgiving to God:

“Now You are letting Your servant go, O Master, in peace, according to Your word, for mine eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all nations, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel (Luke 2:29-32).

This song is one of three taken from the Gospel, and it is sung at every evening service. It sounds like the triumph of the end of the Savior's waiting period and Simeon's revelation of the mystery of the Incarnation.

Simeon looked at Mary and said terrible words to Her: “And a weapon will pass through your soul, because here lies He who will become a banner of controversy: for some to rise, for others to fall.”

This prophecy was fulfilled on the day of the Crucifixion of Jesus and served as the subject for the famous in Orthodoxy icons “Softening Evil Hearts” (“Simon’s Prophecy”) and “Seven Arrows”.

Elder Anna, 84 years old, also served at the temple. She saw and heard everything, and told people about what happened in the temple, but not everyone believed her. In the church, the memory of Simeon, the prophetess Anna and the icon “Softening Evil Hearts” is celebrated the next day - February 16. According to Orthodox tradition, it is believed that Simeon the God-Receiver died immediately after these events. He was 360 years old.

Student 5

At all stages of the spiritual feat of Jesus Christ himself in the name of saving people, His Mother, the Most Holy Theotokos, stood next to Him. She bore her cross with the greatest earthly dignity. On a cold night, having given birth to a son, She could not shelter Him in Her house ("She gave birth to Her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn) Luke 2:7." King Herod, who unrighteously commanded the people, was very afraid of the coming of the Messiah; he in every possible way prevented the fulfillment of God’s intentions. Having learned about the birth of Christ, he committed a terrible, barbaric crime - he ordered to kill all the babies in Bethlehem and its environs, hoping that among those killed would be the newborn King of the Jews - the Savior. 14,000 innocent children - boys - fell as sacrifices for Christ by the will of King Herod. What fear did the Mother of God feel for the life of her Son?!

She experienced every second of Jesus' life, from birth to crucifixion and ascension. And one must imagine Her grief, how it shook the soul when the ignorant crowd mocked the Holiness, when the blood froze on the forehead of Her Son from the crown of thorns and when the Most Pure Body of Jesus had to be removed from the cross...

After the Ascension of Christ, the earthly path of the Mother of God was still quite long and fruitful.

She was destined, together with the apostles, to carry the teachings of Christ throughout the world. Rejoicing at the successes of the Son’s disciples, the Mother of God herself almost never spoke before the people. However, there is one wonderful exception in the legends... More on it later.

The Mother of God sought the essence of Christian teaching not in words, but in life itself. By the way, this is the most effective method teaching children by parents: you can say little and do a lot, then children will definitely understand how to do and what to do. The Virgin Mary diligently served the poor, gave to the poor, cared for the sick, and helped orphans and widows. She devoted a lot of time to prayers at the tomb of her Son. The Virgin Mary buried Joseph the betrothed when Jesus was in adolescence.

The blessings of the Mother of God similar to those of Athos are so endless that a whole chronicle can be compiled from them. Many icons of the Mother of God are dedicated to this. Towards the end of her earthly life, the Mother of God strove with all Her being towards Heaven. And one day, during prayer, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Her again with a joyful and radiant face, just as decades ago, when he brought the Good News from the Almighty. This time the news was that the Mother of God had only three days left to remain on Earth. With the same great joy, She accepted this message, for there could be no greater happiness for Her than to eternally contemplate the image of Her Divine Son. Archangel Gabriel handed Her a heavenly date branch that emitted extraordinary light day and night. The Mother of God was the first to tell the Apostle John about the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel, who almost never separated from the Mother of God.

Having notified everyone at home about her upcoming departure from the sinful Earth, the Mother of God ordered to prepare Her chambers accordingly: decorate the walls and bed, burn incense, light candles. She exhorted her loved ones not to cry, but rather to rejoice in the fact that, talking with Her Son, She would direct His goodness to everyone living on Earth, and would visit and protect those in need.

Apostles and disciples from all over the world, alerted by the Holy Spirit, gathered in a miraculous manner to see off the Mother of God on her final journey. There were about seventy of them - the most devoted preachers of the teachings of Christ. On the blessed 15th day of August and the third hour from noon, everyone gathered in the temple, decorated especially for the sacred unprecedented action. Many candles were burning, the Mother of God was reclining on a splendidly decorated bed and praying selflessly in anticipation of her outcome and the coming of Her Son and Lord. According to legend, one can imagine an extraordinary picture.

STUDENT 6

At the appointed time, the entire temple was bathed in a never-before-seen heavenly solemn light. It was as if the walls parted and the King of Glory Christ Himself ascended above the heads of people, surrounded by a host of angels, archangels and other disembodied forces, with the righteous souls of the forefathers and prophets.

Rising from her bed, the Mother of God bowed to Her Son and the Lord with the words: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and My spirit rejoices in God My Savior, as He has looked upon the humility of His servant!.. My heart is ready; be unto Me according to Thy word...” Looking at the bright face of the Lord, Her dearest Son, without the slightest bodily suffering, as if sweetly falling asleep, the Mother of God transferred Her bright and pure soul into His hands. On earth the burial of the body of the Virgin Mary took place. Saints Peter and Paul, with the Lord's brother Saint James and the other apostles, lifted the bed onto their shoulders and carried it from Zion through Jerusalem to the village of Gethsemane. Saint John the Theologian carried before the bed a paradise date branch presented to the Virgin Mary by the Archangel Gabriel. The branch shone with heavenly light. Above the entire crowded procession and the most pure body of the Mother of God, a certain cloudy circle suddenly appeared - something like a crown. And the joyful singing of the heavenly forces spilled into space. Radiance and Divine chants accompanied the procession until the burial.

Tradition testifies to how the unbelieving inhabitants of Jerusalem, amazed by the extraordinary grandeur of the funeral procession and embittered by the honors given to the Mother of Jesus Christ, reported what they saw to the Pharisees. Their order followed: destroy the entire procession and burn the coffin with Mary’s body! But a miracle happened: a shining crown - the Divine Sphere - hid the procession like a protective cap. The soldiers heard the footsteps of people accompanying the Mother of God, heard singing, but could not see anyone. They bumped into each other, into houses and fences, and felt as if they were blind. Nothing could interfere with the solemn burial.

The entire earthly life of the Mother of God fits into a specific 72 years, this is evidenced by the calculations of the ancient holy fathers of the church (St. Andrew, Archbishop of Crete, St. Simeon Metaphrast), authoritative church historians agree with them. But from the entire holy life of the Blessed Virgin, the Orthodox Church has identified four most important spiritual events, celebrated by great holidays: the Nativity of the Mother of God, the Entry into the Temple, the Annunciation and the Dormition. These holidays are counted among the so-called twelve and are equated to the great holidays of the Lord. There are twelve of them in total per year. Behind every holiday there is a great spiritual event, the reflection of which is an endless number of icons.

Additional material for the lesson

Beautiful face

Sad look

Baby in arms:

That's the Mother of God.

Since a long time

She looks through years and centuries.

Brings me light

Love and kindness,

Brings me sorrow

And the tenderness of purity

And he understands

Everything I live for

And he believes -

I'll understand.

What awaits

What's ahead -

Not known yet.

Hugging a child

Pressed to my chest,

She's coming towards me

From afar.

It will happen again

Death sentence

There will be another crucifixion

And shame.

But he loves his mother

And carries it carefully

The one who is the world

Good will save you.

Holy mother

How do I like her

Familiar and close.

I look at the face

And in silence

I'm with her

I say through the centuries:

Say why

Are we having children?

Is it really for crucifixions?

And deaths?

Only one

For my son

I ask: happiness.

Nothing else.

The Virgin Mary's journey through torment

XII century

Brief content of the apocrypha.

Reads in 4 minutes.

The Holy Mother of God wanted to pray to God so that Archangel Michael would tell her about heavenly and earthly torment. Then Michael came down from heaven and with him four hundred angels. The Virgin Mary and the Archangel greeted each other. Archangel Michael said that it is impossible to list all the torments that exist. But the Mother of God asked to tell about all the torment.

Angels appeared from the south, hell broke loose, and the Mother of God saw many people suffering. The Archangel explained that these were pagans who deified the forces of nature and idols. Elsewhere, the Virgin Mary saw great darkness. At her command, the darkness dissipated - there were people there who did not believe in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, his birth from the Mother of God. The Most Holy One began to cry over the fate of sinners.

The angels led the Mother of God south. There she saw a fiery river, and in it - many husbands and wives. These were people cursed by their parents, godfathers, who were at enmity with each other and committed fornication. There were also cannibals and those who swore falsely while kissing the cross. Then the Most Holy One saw a man hanging by his feet - it was a moneylender. And nearby there was a woman hanging by her teeth - she was a grumpy gossip.

Next, the angelic hosts led the Holy Mother of God to the north. There she saw red-hot benches in the middle of a fiery cloud. On them lay sinners who, during their lifetime, were too lazy to get up on Sundays for matins. Those who did not stand up to meet the priests stood on the pillars of fire. A man who during his lifetime served in the church and sold sacred vessels was suspended by his hands and feet. The slanderers were hanged by their tongues.

The angel showed the Virgin Mary priests suspended by the edges of their nails. While serving the liturgy, they considered themselves worthy, but they themselves handled the bread with carelessness. One husband was tormented by a winged serpent: this husband read holy books, taught people, but he himself lived lawlessly.

The Mother of God saw patriarchs and bishops in hell who were not worthy of their rank. Then the angel showed her the tormented women: during their lifetime they were priests and after the death of their husbands they married again. Other women were also tormented by snakes and flames. These were nuns who indulged in fornication. Again the Most Holy River saw a fiery river, and in it, as if blood was flowing. Among its waters there were many people - adulterers, thieves, pimps, slanderers, unmerciful princes, money lovers. The Mother of God cried at the sight of these torments.

The angels led the Mother of God to the left. There was a river of resin, and its waves were fiery. The Jews who crucified Christ were tormented in them, as well as all the nations who were baptized but continued to believe in demons. There were incestuous people, poisoners and child killers.

Then Archangel Michael led the Mother of God to the lake of fire, where Christians were tormented. They were baptized, but continued to do bad deeds and did not have time to repent before death.

The Mother of God told the archangel that she wanted to suffer torment herself along with the sinners. But Michael said: “Be in heaven.” Then the Mother of God began to ask the angels to pray so that the Lord would have mercy on sinners. However, the angels prayed for this day and night. The Mother of God asked to be lifted up to the heights of heaven, to the throne of God. She began to pray to God for mercy on sinners. But the Lord did not fulfill her request. Then the Most Holy One called the saints, and they began to pray with her. The Lord said that sinners must receive retribution. Angels and saints fell on their faces before the throne of God. Then Christ came down from the throne, appeared to sinners and said that they must suffer, for they were called Christians only in words, and did not keep the commandments of God. But for the sake of the prayers of the Mother of God and all the saints, the Lord gave tormented sinners peace from Maundy Thursday to Trinity Day. The sinners answered: “Glory to Thy mercy.”