Icon of the Mother of God Abbess of Mount Athos

ATHONS ICON OF THE IVERO MOTHER OF GOD

ATHONS ICON OF THE IVERO MOTHER OF GOD

The history of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God has been of interest to secular historians and art historians, and quite a lot of scientific works have been written about the history of the emergence of her cult.

But, in the first place, based on the purposes of this publication, in the opinion of the author, there is the work of N.P. Kondakova. "Iconography of the Mother of God" published in 1994.

From this book we learn that the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God on Mount Athos itself is called in Greek as “Portaitissa”, which translated means “Goalkeeper”.

The Orthodox Church in the territory under the direct jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople honors, in the sense of celebrating, this icon on February 12.

The emergence of the veneration of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, according to current official church traditions, dates back to the era of “iconoclasm.”

In parts 2-4 we looked at all the twists and turns of this story, so we won’t repeat it here.

Let's take a closer look at the icon itself.

The icon is a large prayer image (137x87 cm).

Iconography of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. is a special version of "Hodegetria", which in Byzantine art received the name "᾿Ελεοῦσα" (Russian - "Merciful").

The board itself is elongated, the figures fill almost the entire space of the ark. (the recesses inside which the icon-author is written).

The image of the Mother of God is half-length, the head is slightly inclined towards the Infant Christ, the right hand is raised in a prayer gesture at chest level. The Divine Infant sits on the Mother’s left hand high and straight, in a slight turn towards Her, his head tilted back slightly.

The Baby’s right hand is extended forward towards the hand of the Mother of God with a blessing gesture with two fingers; in his left He holds a scroll, resting vertically on his knee.

Modern historians and art critics also faced the question of dating the painting of the icon.

And here we can expect a little sensation!

As the attentive reader remembers, the icon was painted by Saint Luke himself and was kept in the city of Nicaea by a widow, as of 820.

And this is our 8th century.

But modern researchers approach this differently. So Βοκοτόπουλος in 2001 and Steppan in 1994 dated the Iveron Icon to the 1st half. XI or early XII century

And N.P. Kondakov, who was already mentioned by us, attributed it to the 12th century.

As arguments in their disputes, art critics, in addition to the fact that the icon itself is painted in oil paints, also cite the following objections:

“The position of the hands of the Mother of God, the parallel semicircular folds of Her maforia visually create a kind of container - a kind of throne for the Infant Christ, which corresponds to Byzantine theological and poetic ideas about the image of the Mother of God - a temple, a container of the Incontainable and is reflected in many monuments of Byzantine art of the 11th-12th centuries "

Art critics also draw our attention to the following:

“The manner of painting the faces is peculiar, with large, massive features, wide-open almond-shaped eyes; the gaze is directed forward, the expression of the faces is concentrated.

A significant iconographic detail is the image on the face of the Mother of God of a wound from which blood is oozing, which corresponds to the text of the Nicene edition of the Tale of the Icon.

Those. art historians did not see mechanical damage on the icon from a blow with a spear or sword, but only saw an image of a wound!

Which directly indicates that the icon was painted much later than the events attributed to it related to iconoclasm and its miraculous salvation!

And this event happened, i.e. painting of the icon of the Iveron Mother of God "Portaitissa" XI-XII centuries. and not in the 9th or 10th centuries, as I claim in scattered “Tales” and “Lives” in which we tried to find rational grains of truth.

But in addition to the icon itself, the setting on the icon was also examined.

Worth what they write about him: “At the beginning of the 16th century, the icon was decorated with a chased silver gilded frame of heavy work, leaving only the faces of the Mother of God and the Child exposed.

According to art historians, the frame quite accurately reproduces the iconography of the ancient image, however, in the margins it is supplemented with chased images of half-figures of the 12 apostles, and on the lower margin there is an inset inscription on the load. language:

“Queen, Mother of the philanthropic God, Immaculate Virgin Mary, have mercy on the soul of my master, the great Kaikhosroi Kvarkvarashvili [Kaikhosro, atabagh Samtskhe-Saatabago, son of atabagh Kvarkvare], and I, Your servant and deprived of all strength, worthy of pity, Ambrose, thank You, who deigned me to bind this and adorn the holy image of Your Portaitissa.

Accept this little insolence of mine as a sacrifice from me, a sinner, and save the rest of my life without sin.

And at the hour of the exodus of my pitiful soul, help me, scatter all the lists of my sins.

And place me, a sinner, at the throne of Your Son and God and His beginningless Holy Father and the Holy Spirit. Now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen"".

From the history of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God outlined in parts 1-4, the reader may get the misleading impression that monks have lived on Mount Athos almost since the time of the first Christians, since the time of the legendary visit to Athos by the Mother of God herself.

And they lived so well that everyone who wanted to save their souls strove to go to the Athos monasteries!

But that's not true. Or rather, it's a half-truth. Although the history of Athos itself, as well as the entire peninsula of Halkidiki, indicates that man settled there in ancient times.

The beauty of Athonite nature, the mild climate of the Chalkidiki peninsula and the amazing topography of its area contributed to the management of farms here.

The first inhabitants of the peninsula were the Thracians.

In the 5th century BC. e. they were joined by Greeks from Chalkidiki, thanks to whom the Hellenization of the local residents took place.

Their main activity was agriculture, livestock raising and fishing.

And the transformation of Athos into an exclusively monastic abode occurred only after the “Council of Trullo.”

Reference: Trullo Cathedral, also the Fifth-Sixth Council (- Council of the Church in Constantinople in 691 - 692; convened by Emperor Justinian II in 691; its documents are of exceptional importance as a source of internal church law for the Orthodox Churches, which consider them as documents of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.

The Fifth and Sixth Ecumenical Councils did not make any definitions, focusing on the dogmatic needs of the Church and the fight against heresies.

But due to the fact that the decline of discipline and piety in the Church was intensifying, it was decided to convene an additional Council to the previous ones, which would unify and supplement church norms.

The cathedral met in the same room as the VI Ecumenical Council - the hall of the palace with vaults, the so-called trulli, which is why it was officially given the name Trullo in the documents.

Status in the West and East

The 102 canons adopted by the Trullo Council are sometimes called in the Orthodox Church the decisions of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, since it considered itself as its continuation.

Many canons of the Trullo Council were polemically directed against the established practices of the Roman Church or were completely alien to it.

Thus, the 2nd Rule asserts the canonical authority of the 85 Apostolic Rules, as well as some local Eastern Cathedrals, which the Roman Church did not consider obligatory for itself.

The Roman Church recognized the 50 Apostolic Rules translated by Dionysius the Lesser, but they were not considered binding.

The 36th Rule confirmed the 28th rule of the Council of Chalcedon, which was not accepted by Rome:

“Renewing what was laid down by the law by the one hundred and fifty Holy Fathers gathered in this God-protected and reigning city, and the six hundred and thirty gathered in Chalcedon, we determine that the throne of Constantinople has equal advantages with the throne of ancient Rome, and like this one, let it be exalted in church affairs, being second to it “After this shall be the throne of the great city of Alexandria, then the throne of Antioch, and after this the throne of the city of Jerusalem.”

The 13th Rule condemned the celibacy of the clergy; The 55th is the customary fast for Catholics on Saturday.

The papal legates in Constantinople signed the acts of the Council of Trullo.

But Pope Sergius flatly refused to sign them, calling them delusions. The Trullo Council is not recognized in the Western Church to this day.

But we are interested in the Trullo Council primarily because it established important provisions on monasticism.

In particular (Rules 18 and 42) in relation to wandering “hermits”:

“If they want, then place them in a monastery and number them among the brethren. If they don’t want this, then completely expel them from the cities and let them live in the deserts, from which they got their name.”

Many of these wanderers, who were numerous due to the invasion of the Mohammedans, especially in Constantinople, rushed to Athos.

The heyday of monasticism on Athos occurred during the reign of Basil the Macedonian, who ascended the throne in 867.

They confirmed the exclusive right of the monks to live on the peninsula, granted by Constantine Pogonatus.

After the capture of Thessaloniki by the Turks in 1430, the monks of Athos immediately brought assurances of obedience to Sultan Murad II;

After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Athos continued to enjoy the same rights and privileges for a long time, but in 1566, Sultan Selim II, by his decree, took away all the estates from the Athos monasteries.

Although this is a dry, secular history of Athos for the period of interest to us, it is already clear from it that the monks did not live so well and calmly.

And here is how the Athonite monks themselves present the history of Athos.

"Holy Mount Athos - the lot of the Mother of God" (From the collection of the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Athos) (http://www.afonru.ru/Athos_history1)

"The light of the gospel truth illuminated Athos among the first enlightened places of the Roman Empire. The Mother of God herself chose it as her lot. Around the middle of the 1st century of the Christian era in Apollonia of Athos (near the town of Ierisso, standing on the border of Athos with the mainland) he preached on the way from Amphiopolis to Thessaloniki St. Apostle Paul (Acts 17:1).

In the first three centuries, during times of severe persecution of Christianity, Athos, with its dense forests, deep gorges and inaccessible cliffs, provided shelter to Christians fleeing persecution.

At the same time, the first hermits appeared. Equal to the Apostles Constantine the Great (306-337), similar to what he did in the Holy Land, decorated Athos with Christian churches. According to legend, there were three of them - near the settlements that are now Kareya, Vatopedi and Iveron monasteries.

The first monasteries arose at these temples.

Christianity, which was briefly delayed in development under Julian the Apostate, was fully established under Theodosius the Great (379-395), who destroyed the last traces of paganism on Mount Athos.

The daughter of Theodosius, Queen Placidia, who wished to see the Holy Mountain and the Vatopedi monastery restored by her father, when she arrived on Athos (382) and entered the Annunciation Church, heard from the icon of the Mother of God, later called the “Forerunner,” a voice commanding her to leave the boundaries of Athos.

This event served as the basis for a canonical regulation prohibiting women from appearing on the Holy Mountain.

In the 5th century blgv. Queen Pulcheria created two monasteries - on the site of the current Esphigmen and Xiropotamus.

The ancient Athonite monasteries were under the authority of the Thessalonica metropolitans.

The cramped position and impoverishment of Athos as a result of the invasion in the 5th-6th centuries of barbarians - Huns, Bulgarians, Slavs, who cut off its sea trade communications with Asia Minor, Constantinople and coastal Thrace, providentially led to the eviction of lay inhabitants from the Holy Mountain and the installation of only monks on it, after which Athos became the “helicopter city of the Queen of Heaven.”

Emperor Constantine IV (668-685), after difficult wars with the Khazars and Persians, was forced to conclude an agreement with the Arabs who had accepted Mohammedanism for a long-term peace at the cost of abandoning Syria, Palestine and Egypt, in which they were concentrated ancient centers Christian asceticism.

At the VI Ecumenical Council, in 680, a church decree (Rule 18) was adopted to hand over the monasteries of Athos, destroyed by the Arabs, to the monks persecuted by the Mohammedans.

The royal chrisovuls claimed the Holy Mountain for the monks as their exclusive property (decree of Constantine IV, 676), protected their peace from the encroachments of the royal servants and ordinary people (decree of Basil the Macedonian, 872) "

And here is important information!

“After these fateful decisions for Orthodoxy, despite the triple devastation of Athos by barbarians (in 670, 830 and 866), its monastic population during the time of Emperor Basil the Porphyrogenitus (976-1025) reached 50,000 people.”

That’s when the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God appeared on Athos.

Or rather, her cult began! And it was created by Georgian monks who moved to Athos from war-torn Georgia (Iveria).

They also created the first “Tales” about the appearance of the Iveron Icon and its miracles.

Well, to complete our story about the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God and the monastic life there, about which so many often incredible stories circulate among secular people, the author wants to offer an eyewitness account of his life in one of the Athos monasteries. Maybe readers will have the opportunity to get married and have the opportunity to visit Mount Athos themselves. And if not, then to correctly imagine what it means to become a monk on Mount Athos today.

Boris ZAITSEV "Athos" chapter "Monastic life"

". In the morning you always wake up to the sound of singing - the liturgy ends. The seventh hour. While I was sleeping, matins and early mass departed. These services were performed both in the Great Cathedrals and in small house churches, the so-called "paraklis", there are up to twenty of them in Panteleimon Monastery. The harmonious responses of the choir, sometimes merging, covering each other, are heard precisely from the paraklis - the monastery buildings are permeated with them, like melodious, echoing cells.

(Not far from me is the paraklis of St. Seraphim of Sarov, with the famous scene on the wall - the saint feeding a bear. Popular simplicity of painting, the bast shoes of the St., a brown and fat bear, Russian pine trees, I really liked all this, especially here in Hellas).

This means that the spiritual “power plant” was working all night. All night in these small but prayed-for churches, candles flowed warmly, and there was a radiation of bright and reverent feelings.

I myself spent only two nights completely “monastically”; usually I limited myself to late liturgy and vespers.

Nevertheless, I immediately felt the spirit of strict and pure life, going unshakably and human soul introducing you into your rhythm.

The monastic rhythm is, it seems to me, the most important thing. It is as if you are floating in a wide river, with the flow.

The abbot of one Athonite monastery told me that close to midnight he wakes up unmistakably, and he couldn’t fall asleep - soon they would hit the beater.

There are, of course, many such “morning loops” in monasteries.

There is no grief, no acute joys (or rather, “pleasures”), especially no narcotic, intoxicating and nervous things, which in the world are considered a spicy seasoning, without which life is “boring.” For a monk there is no boredom, and there is no spice.

His life is not very easy at all. It is not without languor and burdensomeness; the monk is sometimes subject to discouragement, whole streaks of despondency. But all this is only a temporary immersion below the level and, it seems, only at the beginning.

In general, the monk quickly emerges: he is very supported.

In order to be a monk, you need, of course, a certain gift, a certain calling. But even for someone who does not have this gift, life near the monastery, only partly guided and filled by it, already has mental hygiene.

A person gets up early, works more than usual, eats moderately, often (relatively) goes to services, is silent quite a lot, and hears little empty and nonsense. He sees the blue sea, domes, domes, beautiful life.

It is not in vain that Catholics have retraites (Literal refuges - French), where “worldly people” come and live there temporarily, as if serving their verification training, like soldiers who in civilian life can sink and forget military affairs. For Christianity, every Christian is a soldier.

And everyone must be kept in combat readiness. Catholics understood this perfectly. The Orthodox will not object either. And since we live in rather amazing times, I would not be very surprised if, near Paris, suddenly, one fine day, like Sergius’s Compound, a Russian Orthodox monastery grew up, where a pilgrimage of the “worldly” would open.

You go to the night service through the longest monastery corridors. In some places it is completely dark, in some places there is a half-dimmed lantern, you have to go down a few steps, then go up to another level, then make turns.

On the sides of the echoing, stone corridor, always somewhat damp and cool, are the cells of the hieromonks.

In some places at the turns it leads to small balconies.

The night is quiet, moonlit - the moonlight rises like pale green smoke from the stone floor, goes through the door of the balcony, shining as a light rectangle. If you look into it, you will see the golden shimmering crosses above the churches, the blue shadow of the bell tower, the whitened courtyard, the tree of blooming roses, raising a cap of flowers high above the porch, and the pale bluish flow of the sea behind the roofs.

They hit the beater. Here and there monks appear on the balconies, and steady footsteps can be heard along my corridor.

Without leaving the building, at the end of the path you find yourself in a temple, not as huge as the Cathedral of St. Andrew's Skete, but richly and also anciently decorated. You come to your stasidia and, leaning your elbows on the armrests of this “standing chair,” listen to the service.

The young ecclesiarch will approach with a bow, lay down a rug so that your feet won’t be cold to stand on, and then walk away with a bow. One after another, the monks appear, perform “throwing” in front of the icons, with all their musically measured movements, and take their places in the stasidium. Mossy and bent old men crawl in, wearing huge boots, barely able to move their sore feet, with many years behind them.

Often this one leans on a stick. Overgrown with beards and eyebrows, like forest creatures, kind forest spirits, their cassocks are threadbare and worn, they themselves can barely breathe, and all night they will whisper prayers in stasidiums with dry lips.

The services are long. From one o'clock in the morning to six o'clock in the morning common days, and on Sundays and holidays the “vigils” last for eleven, even fourteen hours continuously!

The gold of iconostases and icons flickers in the glow of candles, and lunar carpets fall from the windows. This gives a blue-smoky hue to the temple. Gold and blue – that’s how I remember the night Church of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary.

The canonarch reads, the choir sings, the deacon comes out, the next hieromonk serves - everything is as usual. The evenness and length of the service are immersed in a light, fluid and euphonious oblivion; sometimes, like ripples on a surface, images and words of the “worldly” run through - this distraction of attention can even be upsetting.

Around three in the morning I feel tired. The struggle with it and with sleep is well known in monastic life (See below, in the essay “The Saints of Athos” about St. Athanasius of Athos and his methods of combating sleep. - Note B.Z).

It is probably easier for older people to overcome sleep than for young people. According to the rules of the Panteleimon Monastery, the ecclesiarch is supposed to go around the monks during night services and touch those who have dozed off on the shoulder. But I didn't see it. I didn’t even see anyone sleeping. There are some that are dormant.

For someone who is unaccustomed to the “worldly”, the fight against sleep is especially difficult: you become dull and rude, you barely perceive the service. True, having overcome yourself at a certain turning point, you feel better again, but it’s still very difficult.

But just the fact that on this moonlit night, when everyone is sleeping, here, on a deserted cape, hundreds of people stand before God, lovingly and reverently directing their souls to him in spite of the day’s labors of fatigue - this makes a deep impression.

Now you rise slightly, in the stasidia, and above the sill of the open window you will see a silvery-white strip of the sea with a playful moon trail. Once I saw the distant light of the steamer, and the mundane sound of the whistle faintly entered into the melody of Matins. Did he greet the holy and mysterious Athos? Did you come or go? God knows.

Before the end of Matins, old men again stretch out from all corners, and the ecclesiarch approaches me again.

Please venerate the icons.

It is a complex, slow and solemn action. It attracts with its reverence and calm grandeur.

The sea is already pale lilac. Silvery morning light in the windows. There is a gray fog in the church, when during the service the hieromonk exclaims:

Glory to You, who showed us the Light! To which the choir responds with an amazing, white song of praise:

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to men!

Sunday morning. I'm sitting on the couch. In front of me is a large tray with a white teapot for boiling water, a small teapot with flowers, a cup and pieces of dried bread. I read in the Athos Patericon about St. Nile the Myrrh-Streaming Nile, how he lived in the desert by the sea, with a disciple, and for his holy life he was given such a property that healing myrrh flowed from his tomb.

It flowed like a stream into the sea. For this world, many believers sailed from afar on caiques, so that the very place under the cliff received the name “corabstasion” (ship anchorage).

“And at the same time they say that the disciple, who remained after Saint Nile and was an eyewitness of the modesty and deep humility of his elder during his earthly life, could not bear the rumors from the many flocking laymen who disturbed the peace of the Holy Mountain, as if he decided to complain to his illustrious elder about him the very fact that he, contrary to his words - not to seek or have glory on earth, but to desire it only in heaven - will soon fill the whole world with the glory of his name and will disrupt the peace of the Holy Mountain when they begin to come to him in large numbers. healings: and this had such an effect on the holy myrrh-streamer that then the myrrh dried up.”

The door opens and my sedate father enters. Joasaph.

Now they will strike later. If you want to take a look at the sound, then please do so. I'll take you to the belfry.

The famous bell ringing in the Panteleimon Monastery. I really wanted to "watch" him.

We walked through the corridors, then along the switching gangway above the courtyard we got straight to the main bell, at that very moment when the young monk, already warmed up and pink, was dispersing his tongue with the last efforts of the rope - there was just a hair left to the inside of the heavy helmet, Finally, the multi-pound tongue touched the metal and the first velvety-oily sound was heard.

And then the next ones came, one after another, they were echoed here by two or three smaller bells, and the smallest ones began to ring from the top floor. The ringing bell! For the first time I was so permeated with sounds, my whole being hummed and shook, my whole being trembled joyfully, the sounds were received by my feet, my hands, my heart, my liver. There was a reason. Bell of St. Panteleimon weighs eight hundred and eighteen pounds, this is the greatest bell of the Orthodox East.

Then - bell ringing art. I barely looked into it, rising even higher (it seemed as if there was no air at all, just a thick brew of sounds). But I think he has interesting traits for a musician.

An ugly, brown-bearded monk with an open, somewhat spread-out face, heavily tanned, and wearing a skufa pushed to the back of his head was calling upstairs. He pressed the wooden pedal with his foot, controlled the three smaller bells with the fingers of one hand, and played the smallest keys with the other. but still you can’t call them “bells”.

It is in these modulations, combinations of different heights of ringings that, apparently, the art of the bell ringer, a kind of “musician of the Lord,” consists. I asked if there was any literature about bell ringing, any textbooks on it - they answered me that the secret of this rare skill is passed on from bell ringer to bell ringer.

You descend from the bell tower “cheerfully stunned”, imbued with a sound major close to the sensation of light. It was as if I was bathing in very fresh, vigorously boiling streams. I am sure that such ringing has a wonderful effect on the soul.

I think that it could be heard along the entire coast, and would reach the cave of St. Nila. How would his strict disciple react to such a spill of sounds, although they glorify the heavenly, but in a loud language? Wouldn’t this have violated the “holy silence” of Athos in his eyes?

It's not easy to answer. But the passage from the life given above gives vivid characterization Athonite mentality. Athos, first of all, is a kind of solitude. Athos also prays for peace, prays fervently, but extremely values ​​its indistractability. There is a certain difference here between the life of the Athos monastery and the hermit life.

Hermits have always considered the monastery too “concessive”, in a sense too “worldly” (especially monasteries with special habitation). Supporters of monastic life did not really approve of the individualism of the hermits, their “willfulness” and disobedience.

Thus, on Mount Athos itself, different types of monastics lived side by side for centuries.

Athos is considered the Earthly Lot of the Mother of God. According to the legend of St. The Virgin, having initially received the Iveron land (Georgia) by casting lots with the Apostles, was directed, however, to Athos, then still pagan, and converted its inhabitants to Christianity.

The Mother of God is especially revered on Athos; it is under Her protection and mercy. In the images of St. Mount Athos, the Mother of God in heaven above him covers him with her omophorion (a long and narrow “plate” that She holds on her outstretched arms). This cloth of favor and meek love, protecting Her Destiny from darkness. There is not and has not been a single woman on the peninsula for a thousand years.

There is only one Virgo above him. “Rejoice, our joy, cover us from all evil with Your honest omophorion,” says the akathist. The cult of the Ever-Virgin on Mount Athos is very different from the Catholic one. There is no ecstasy in him, there is no sensuality, he is more abstract. Madonna Catholic churches more earthly incarnate, the painted statues are decorated with flowers and hung ex-voto (By votive - lat.). I’m not even talking about the medieval knightly worship of the Beautiful Lady, about a certain psychology of “falling in love,” which, from the Athos point of view, is simply “charm.”

On Mount Athos the air is calmer and thinner. Worship of the Most Pure One is of a more spiritual, lightweight and supermundane nature.

I was present in the Panteleimon Monastery at one deeply touching service - an akathist to the Blessed Virgin. This is a daytime service. In its final, most important part, the abbot and two hieromonks in white festive vestments, standing in a semicircle on the pulpit opposite the royal doors, take turns reading the akathist.

Above the enemies is the Image of the Most Pure One, but a special one, written on a thin, gilded “plate”. Its bottom is decorated with delicate lace work.

During the reading, the Image quietly and slowly descends, lower and lower, fluttering the light fabric of its omophorion. The voices of the readers become more soulful, a slight trembling, a bright inspiration runs through the church: the Mother of God “with her honest omophorion”, in a semi-airy, golden-light appearance, she herself appears among her faithful. The image stops at the height of human growth. The choir sings, everyone joins in one by one, the evening rays from the left softly fall on the lace and golden tints of the swaying icon. And just as slowly, having accepted worship, the Image goes into its heavenly heights - it seems that only the clouds are missing where it would rest.

“Rejoice in our joy, cover us from all evil with Your honest omophorion.”

I loved the quiet life at Athos. Sometimes I liked to leave the monastery, sit on the coastal stones near the garden, and admire the “bright waters of the Archipelago.” (These bright waters are mentioned in all writings about Athos, but the Athos sea is, indeed, extremely transparent, inhumanly emerald-glass in tone.)

In the sultry hours of midday, it’s good to wander around the balcony that goes around my building and the neighboring one. The light easily melts in the bluish air, the sea lies like a mirror, bordered by the lilac Longos, and in the depths of the bay Olympus shines goldenly with its inaccessible snows.

In the evening, before dusk, guests often came: the kindest Fr., grey-bearded, wearing glasses, with a golden cross on his chest. Archimandrite Kirik, confessor of all the brethren. Energetic o. Hieromonk Joseph, librarian. His modest, shyly soft and slightly nervous assistant, Fr. V. my charming travel companion Fr. Pinufry and others.

I remember with great pleasure these short conversations with people whom I knew little, but with whom a spiritual connection was immediately established, and one could talk almost as if with friends. I was struck by the deep good manners and good manners that gave the conversation a calm significance, something that is the opposite of the so-called “chatter.” I saw in the monastery of St. Panteleimon has so much kindness and brotherly disposition, so much friendliness and warmth that these small lines are just a faint echo of my gratitude.

The lilac evening is descending. I walk along the hotel corridor, softly glittering with mosaic tiles, past paintings - the city of Prague, a view of Mount Athos - to the terrace. I unlock the entrance to it with a special key, and past the flowers of gsranium, nasturtiums and some other pink ones, I go into the huge hall of the monastery receptions. Three of its walls have windows opening onto balconies - to the sea and the cemetery. During the day, hot and slightly stale air had accumulated in it.

This is where the shadows of the past are! This is where the appearance of the unique lies. These walls, hung with portraits of emperors, queens, metropolitans, envoys, saw the “highest persons” and princes of the Church. For a long time, as if once and for all, the polished floor shines like a mirror. Clean floor mats are laid across it. In the middle of the hall there is an oval table set with photographs facing the viewer.

It is surrounded by ficus and rhododendron trees. And an oval of chairs arranged like a fan surrounds this entire structure. On them, during reception hours, probably after meals, with cups of Turkish coffee in their hands, carried by “gliko” and “raki,” sat the grand dukes and bishops, consuls and rich patrons of the monastery from Russia. - everyone must be sleeping in eternal sleep by now.

(monastery monastery)

I can’t say how “suggestive” it is on lilac evenings, with a stream of fresh air flowing through the open door onto the balcony, this hall was for me, how it almost stupefied with a strong tincture of sadness, how serenely the sea began to turn silver towards night, and behind the bell tower of St. Panteleimon, an orange sunset was smoldering over the now invisible Olympus.

The monastery is quiet. Coming short hour recreation. The Most Pure One extends her omophorion.

The icon was painted for the monastery under the care of Archbishop Eulogius (now Metropolitan of Vladimir and Suzdal) on Mount Athos.

This is how the Vladyka describes the bringing of the icon to the desert.

“The great joy of the monastery was the icon of the Mother of God under the completely new name from all previously known “Abbess of the Holy Mount Athos”, delivered from Greece, from the Holy Mountain, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II. Now this holy image of the Mother of God vividly confirms the faith of the inhabitants of the monastery about some special heavenly care from life, which is not easy in their everyday life in the midst of a world raging in the passions. Something close and similar can be seen in the coming of this Athos icon of the Mother of God to this historical place, once also consecrated with the holy icon of Her Nativity, which became a monastic inheritance.

The Athos icon has its own interesting story. This icon is truly new in its content and origin, painted by the Greek icon painter of the Athos monastery, Schemamonk Paisius. The author of the letter boldly placed the Mother of God with the abbot's staff over the entire monastic island in the presence of two Russian monks - the Venerables Anthony and Silouan, clearly depicting the thought for those praying about Her day and night standing before God for those who strive for the salvation of the soul as the most holy cause of life. The path from Athos to Russia, to the Lucian Hermitage was surprisingly bright for this icon.

The transportation of the holy icon by sea and by air was organized by the rector of the Athos metochion in Moscow, Abbot Nikon (Smirnov). He saw the miracle of this icon. On a separate voyage of a ship called “Quick to Hear”, she chose to go by sea from the Holy Mountain to the pier of the city of Ouranoupolis, leaving the standard and passenger voyage, always noisy and not entirely reverent. The holy icon was met in Moscow large staff monastic communities of the Vladimir diocese as a visible blessing of the Mother of God for them. It is impossible to convey all the feelings, all the trembling of hearts from seeing the holy image of the Mother of God, redly and directly Paschal painted with the prayer and love of an Athonite monk. Here they enclosed the image in a casket with flowers. The first prayers flowed before She who appeared from the Holy Mountain in order to strengthen those seeking heavenly peace of soul. In Vladimir, an unprecedented meeting of the icon took place with its townspeople, starting with its top officials. For a month, the “Abbess of Holy Mount Athos” visited all the monasteries of the diocese and large cities, encountering great veneration and ardent reverence from people’s hearts.

In the monasteries, services were held at night, turning in prayers into day for the soul that does not know earthly time. It is difficult to cover all the cases of people who saw changes in their lives as a result of their appeals and prayers to the Mother of God. The last stop and final stop for the icon, delivered from the city of Kirzhach, was the Lucian monastery. With a procession of the cross and fraternal singing, the image of the Mother of God was brought into the Epiphany Church of the monastery on October 25, 1999, adorning it with the heavenly beauty of the Unbrided Bride.”

Archbishop of Vladimir and Suzdal Evlogy (Smirnov). Journal of the Vladimir diocese “Light of Truth” No. 2, 2001, pp. 16-18. "The first in the diocese."

Nowadays the icon is located near the relics of St. Lucian in a carved wooden icon case. The monastery has established a tradition of performing a rite of prayer singing (paraklisis) before it every Sunday before the start of the Sunday liturgy.

On Holy Mount Athos there is a wonderful monastery of Pantokrator. It is there that this miraculous image in a silver robe is now located. The Mother of God is depicted in prayer. She extends her arms to the sky. There are many stories related to miraculous power Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary Gerontissa.

The history of the icon goes back to the ancient past. Until now, no information has been found about where and by whom the original of the Most Holy One was created and written. As for the miracles associated with this image, much is known about it. The first of them happened during the construction of the Pantokrator monastery. The monks noticed that the icon and even the tools of the carpenters working at the site of the monastery were missing. One morning they appeared, but they were located in a place half a kilometer away from the construction site. This story of disappearance was repeated until the monks realized that it was necessary to erect a building exactly on the spot where the disappearing image appeared.

At that time the icon was not yet named in any way. They named her the Most Holy Theotokos Gerontissa after the accomplishment of a new miracle, the second in a row. When one of the oldest abbots of the monastery was dying and wished to perform the rite of communion, he turned to one of the clergy with a request to perform the sacrament. The priest did not attach any importance to the words of the dying man, but heard the voice of the Most Holy Mother of God and fulfilled the last will of the dying man.

The third miracle happened during the attack on the monastery. The madman who encroached on the Holy Icon was immediately deprived of his sight. But the barbarians decided to deal with the image of the Most Holy One and threw it away from human eyes. For almost a century, the icon lay in a well, not far from the Pantokrator monastery. The barbarian, who was blinded, after many years repented of what he had done, and ordered his comrades to go to Holy Athos and reveal to the world the image of the Most Holy Theotokos Gerontissa.

An amazing incident related to the wonderful icon also happened in the 17th century. A severe famine struck the monastery, and the abbot began to pray to the Most Holy Theotokos Gerontissa for help. One day it was noticed that food appeared in the pantry. Since then, the icon of the Most Holy Monk has been supplemented with the image of a jug of oil.

In the middle of the last century, a terrible fire occurred in Pantokrator. The monks saved the icons by praying tirelessly. It is believed that it was Gerontissa who saved the monastery and its brothers from disaster.

There is still a rumor among the people that the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos Gerontissa is endowed not only with a miraculous gift, but also heals. It is believed that with its help, a large number of people were healed of cancer and other terrible ailments. Lists of this icon are kept in almost all Greek churches. They also exist on Russian territory.

In that century, when the Mother of God was still in health, her image became the basis for the work of the Apostle Luke. According to legend, Theophilus ruled in those days. With great difficulty, the sacred people managed to preserve the icon in one of the Greek churches.

Iverskaya is a treasure trove of the history of miracles. During the period of the revival of Christianity, its followers were persecuted by heretics. Theophilus also issued orders for the extermination of Christians with his own hand. He ordered the removal of icons and everything that had anything to do with this religion.

To this day, in Greece, on Holy Mount Athos, there is the Iveron Monastery. Once upon a time, a woman who kept an icon Most Holy Theotokos of Iveron, miraculously saved it by paying off the iconoclasts. She did the impossible - she sent the icon to wander on the waves. This woman's son, many years later, became a monk. The brethren of the Iversky Monastery learned about the existence of the icon, sent by sea, when the image landed on the shores of this monastic monastery. Hence the name of the icon.

It is believed that the icon wandered along the sea for more than 2 centuries. By the way, Georgia was called Iveria in ancient times. It was its descendants who founded the Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos. As soon as the Mother of God herself visited these places, a miraculous spring began to flow not far from the monastery.

It was no coincidence that the icon landed on the shores of the monastery and even let the monks know about it in a unique way. That day the monks saw fire by the sea. With prayers, they approached the shore and saw the miraculous icon, which was approaching with each wave, but the monks could not reach it.

Then the chief monk began to pray higher power while observing strict fasting. The image of the Most Holy One appeared to him with a message about accepting the icon as a gift. With the procession of the cross, the monks approached the shore and removed the icon from the water. It happened like this: Saint Gabriel walked on the surface of the water and took the image in his hands.

To this day Iverskaya- the most famous and revered image. They pray to him for salvation from evil, disease, help in various kinds affairs.

The miraculous image is now placed in the temple of Kareya. This is the capital city of Athos. “It is worthy to eat” was created according to legend in the first millennium BC. There is a legend associated with this image of the Mother of God. Everything happened around the 10th century. A wandering monk came to one of the monasteries. He was received according to all canons, and by nightfall the novices began their chants together. Having reached the Most Holy Theotokos in prayer and veneration, the newly appeared guest began to call her differently than the local monks did. He called her “It is worthy to eat” and ordered her to be called the same in the future. The monks asked to make a note for them in order to remember the new name. There was no paper in the cell, so the stranger wrote with his finger on a stone. By the way, this stone at that moment became like wax.

As it turned out later, the newcomer turned out to be the Archangel Gabriel himself, and it was not by chance that he brought the news to the monastery. The news about the icon and the appearance of the celestial being spread throughout the Christian world, the prayer “It is worthy to eat” came into use among the clergy. The icon, previously called “Merciful,” acquired a new name “It is Worthy to Eat.”

They pray to this image of the Most Holy One for healing, for the successful completion of any task, for the elimination of evil, hunger and epidemics. Spouses who have just gotten married can pray for happiness in family life and protection from accidents.

“Hodegetria” in Russia is called the “Smolensk” icon of the Mother of God. It is believed that she guides seekers according to Holy Tradition. The image was painted by the Evangelist Luke during the Saint’s lifetime. Tradition says that it was the iconoclast Emperor Theophilus who asked Luke to create a miraculous icon.

From then on, she began her journey: she was transported to Jerusalem, and later to Constantinople. It came to Vladimir Monomakh himself in the 11th century and is now kept in one of the Smolensk churches. It is known that in 1045, when Monomakh gave his daughter in marriage, he blessed her with this particular icon.

In the 13th century, the image brought a short-term victory over Batu Khan. Our soldiers penetrated his camp, holding the icon with them, and killed the enemy to death. But the main warrior accepted death from the enemy, and was later canonized.

In the 15th century, when Smolensk was ruled by Lithuanian princes, “Smolenskaya” was transported from this city to Moscow. A quarter of a century later, the icon was returned to the Smolensk Church. Several copies of it are still kept in the capital's churches.

This is not all the adventures of the traveling icon Nnitsa. In the 16th century, a very accurate copy of the image was made and it was taken to Moscow along with the original to be “renewed”. Returning to Smolensk, the list was placed in the newly built temple.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Russian soldiers who left Smolensk took the image so that it would protect them on the road from enemies. Before the main battle of Borodino, “Smolenskaya” was worn around the tents of the military camp to strengthen the spirit of struggle in the soldiers. Later, the “Smolensk Hodegetria” was taken to the Assumption Cathedral for the sake of prayers for the salvation of Rus'. From there the image came to Yaroslavl. Victory over the enemy brought the icon back to Smolensk.

There are a lot of revered copies of the Hodegetria. Initially, the celebration of the icon was scheduled for July 28, which is associated with military events and vicissitudes. But by order of Mikhail Kutuzov in the 19th century, the celebration was moved to November 5. This is the date of the return of the image to Smolensk.

Nowadays this Shrine dominates the Orthodox world of Christians. Prayers to “Hodegetria” are offered for healing, help on the road, and salvation from various misfortunes.

Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God (Tear-Drenched)

Nowadays there are quite young lists of this icon. They were written on Mount Athos, in the monastery of the prophet Elijah. The creation of the lists dates back to the end of the last century. The original "Tearbreaker" became famous as Tikhvinskaya with a miraculous flow of tears. It is written in the same monastery as the lists. The icon “cryed” at the end of the winter of 1877. The Ilyinsky monks saw this. The tear flowing from one of the Virgin's eyes was wiped dry and the church was then locked. The next day, the brethren witnessed lacrimation from 2 eyes.

What is surprising is that the monks stood for a long time, numb in front of the icon. Tears flowed and flowed and approached the hands of the Saint. They stayed on the face for exactly an hour, and then they dried. When the tears appeared for the third time, the monks began to wipe them away. Having cleaned everything up, they saw no more tears.

Since then, this icon has been venerated on February 17, but it does not shed tears. It is also noteworthy that there were no incidents in the world related to Tikhvinskaya’s crying. The monks testified to this miracle in their records, and added another holiday to the list of church holidays - the Day of the Icon of Our Lady of Tear.

It is known that Tsar Alexander II once heard about this miracle and brought the icon to Russia from the Ilyinsky monastery so that the image would help on the fronts Russo-Turkish War. Now the icon has acquired enormous historical and cultural value.

They pray to the “Tearbreaker” for deliverance from sinful thoughts, for the health of relatives, and for the healing of the sick and suffering.

Icon of the Virgin Mary of All Queens (Pantanassa)

This image of the Mother of God is called “The Queen of All,” which in Greek sounds like “Pantanassa.” The original is kept on Mount Athos in the Vatopedi monastery. The painting of the face dates back to the 17th century. The icon is small in size. The virgin depicted on the icon sits on a throne in royal attire. In her hands she holds a baby with a scroll. The Mother of God points with her hand to the earthly savior. The virgin is guarded by angels who are depicted behind her.

“The All-Merciful” and “The Most Pure,” as she is also called, refers to iconography of the Panachrant type. Its distinctive feature is the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the throne. In the last century, rumors spread about the icon. Allegedly, a stranger approached her and began to weave something incoherent. At the same moment, the face of the Mother of God shone with a wonderful light, and the man who was reading the prayer was thrown to the floor.

The elders, who at that time ran into the temple, began to raise the young man and heard from him repentance that he was practicing black magic. It is believed that the “All-Merciful” icon took away trouble from the young man and directed the man to the true path. The young man remained in Athos and became a monk.

People to this day believe that the icon heals different types tumors. If healing is impossible, then the image has a very beneficial effect on the patient, bringing him relief. You just need to fervently pray to the Mother of God and turn to her with requests for salvation.

The miraculous power of this icon was discovered in the 17th century precisely through the healing of cancer patients. You can pray to her for other needs or deliverance from other equally terrible ailments. Such as drug addiction and alcoholism. It is worth praying to the icon and to the parents who long for the healing of their children.

At the end of the last century, the list of “The Tsarina of All,” made in compliance with all canons, arrived in Russia. He was brought to our country for the sake of those suffering who were unable to visit Athos. The organizer of the trip was Moscow society mercy, which is located at the cancer center.

After the list arrived on the territory of the center, it began to flow myrrh on major church holidays. Nowadays the image is in the church of the Novo-Alekseevsky Monastery in Moscow. The icon is often brought to the cancer center for all kinds of services.

Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Akathist)

An akathist is a kind of hymn that can only be performed while standing. The clergyman defines this concept as an ode of praise in honor of Jesus. In the Sacred World there are many icons with the name “Akathist”. This is due to the scenes that are depicted on them, namely, akathist singing in honor of the sacred celestials and the Most Holy One.

There is an icon of the Mother of God, which is depicted on a throne. It is also called “Akathist”. Some of these icons bear texts from hymns of praise. The celebration of the Day of such icons is usually held at the end of January, on the 25th.

Most of all, it is customary to call the Hilendar Icon of the Mother of God “Akathist”. At the beginning of the 19th century, one case was associated with this face. One of the monasteries of Athos was engulfed in fire. The building burned down, but the icon survived. Moreover, it remained untouched by the fire.

After the monks realized that a miracle had happened, they read the akathist, which is why “Khilendarskaya” is called “Akathist”.

Prayers to this image of the Holy Mother of God must be addressed especially with all your heart, and they will be heard. Only sincere faith works miracles.

In the 17th century, the monk Nil lived in one of the Athos monasteries, performing the duties of a refector. In the refectory of the Dokhiarsky monastery, at the entrance, hung an icon of the Mother of God. The refector was inattentive and every time he entered the room he smoked the image of the Saint. One day the monk heard a warning that one should not approach the icon with a torch, while there was no one else in the room except him. He heard a human voice, but there was no one around. He didn’t pay any attention to those words, although at first he was scared. The next time he received a warning, the monk became blind. Only after this did he begin to repent and confess, recognizing such punishment as worthy.

Neil did not leave the image until he begged for forgiveness. He was healed. Since then, the icon of the Mother of God was called “Quick to Hear”, since healing soon appeared to all who repented.

The rumor about the miracle quickly spread throughout the monastery and Athos. A large number of monks came to venerate the Holy Face. The entrance to the refectory was closed, which made it impossible to harm the icon with lamps. The place where the Quick Hearer was was fenced off.

A temple was built in honor of the miraculous image, and a monk assigned to the shrine was always at the icon. This is still done today in the Dokhiar monastery. In the evenings on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the brethren sing at the icon, thereby glorifying it.

The prototype of this face is now located on Mount Athos in the above-mentioned monastery. This is very ancient icon. It dates back to times much earlier than its glorification. It is believed that the “Quick to Hear” is over a thousand years old. There are many copies of it that are kept in monasteries and temples around the world.

They pray to the quick-hearing woman for forgiveness of sins, healing from illnesses, for the obedience of children, for the health of parents, for success in all endeavors.

By filling out an application through the website, you can buy greek icons from Athos with delivery to any region Russian Federation, for this you need:

* Decide exactly how much you want to purchase. It can be Greek icons of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ or Saints.

* Contact me to place an order by e-mail, phone or Skype.

* The cost of a Greek icon will be lower than dubious samples purchased through third or fourth hands.

I am open to dialogue and communication; it is possible to transfer the icon to tourists from Russia, acquaintances or friends, or to send an order in any way convenient for you. Through me you can buy Greek icons from Athos with delivery.

Choose, decide, contact me and be sure that fulfilling obligations is a matter of honor for me, a contribution to the spiritual development of humanity.

Comboskini. What is a combo skini? Buy comboskini

The word Komboskini is translated from Greek as a rope made of knots, kombos - a knot and skini - a rope. It stores virtual prayers that protect a person, therefore, wearing them once in his life, the Greek wears it all the time.

What is an Archon?

Sanctuary of Apollo at Bassae.

The most popular souvenirs from Greece

From every trip to a new place, any person always wants to bring some souvenirs for family and friends. The easiest way, of course, is to get rid of it with refrigerator magnets, which large quantities and a wide range are sold in all corners of the world, but in our article we will look at more significant souvenirs. And we will go after them to sunny Greece.

Pantocrator Monastery. Pantocrator

Pantocrator (Pantokrator in Greek means Pantocrator) monastery, located on the north-eastern side of the Athos peninsula, ranks seventh in the hierarchy of the Holy Mountain. According to ancient monastic tradition, the foundation of the monastery is associated with the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1117).

In this material, we will show you the most famous and revered icons of the Mother of God located on Holy Mount Athos.

In 667, the pious monk, the Venerable Peter of Athos, saw in a subtle dream the Mother of God, who said: “Mount Athos is My lot, given to Me by My Son and God, so that those who withdraw from the world and choose for themselves an ascetic life according to their strength, My name those who call with faith and love from the soul would spend their lives there without sorrow and for their godly deeds would receive eternal life.”

ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD “ABBESH OF MOUNT ATHON”

ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD “ABBERGESS OF MOUNT ATHON” (another name is Belozerka, distorted from the Greek Burazeri; currently assigned to the Hilandar monastery

Holy Mount Athos is called the inheritance of the Most Holy Theotokos, since from ancient times it has been under Her special protection. In some Athonite monasteries, there is a tradition of not having the position of abbot, since the Mother of God Herself is considered the abbess. This happened, according to legend, in the 1st century, several years after the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Mother of God, fleeing the persecution inflicted by Herod in Palestine, was preparing to go to the Iveron land according to the lot that fell to her. But an Angel appeared to her and said that the gift of apostleship would appear to her on another earth. The ship on which the Virgin Mary and the Apostles were heading to the island of Cyprus was caught in a storm and landed at Mount Athos, inhabited by pagans. The Most Holy Virgin came ashore and proclaimed the Gospel teaching. The people accepted the Mother of God and listened to Her sermons, then believed and were baptized. By the power of Her preaching and numerous miracles, the Mother of God converted the local residents to Christianity. She appointed one of the Apostolic men there as leader and teacher and said: “Let this place be My lot, which was given to Me by My Son and My God!” Then, having blessed the people, she added: “May the grace of God come to this place and to those who remain here with faith and reverence, and to those who keep the commandments of my Son and God. They will have the blessings they need for life on earth in abundance with little difficulty, and heavenly life will be prepared for them, and the mercy of My Son will not fail until the end of the age. I will be the Intercessor of this place and a warm Intercessor for it before God.” In honor of this, the icon of the Mother of God “Abbess of the Holy Mount Athos” was created. It was painted at the beginning of the twentieth century, commissioned by the Greek governor of Athos, by one of the masters in the former cell of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on Mount Athos. The icon's ark contains particles of the Lord's Cross and the relics of Saints. This icon is very revered not only on Holy Mount Athos, but also beyond its borders. The miracles that happened from the image of the Mother of God glorified her and made her very famous.

ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD “PASSIONATE”

This beloved icon of Elder Paisius is located in the Kutlumush Monastery.

This image of the Virgin Mary was the only relic that survived the terrible fire that completely destroyed the monastery in Crete. A legend has been preserved that in the 13th century, through her, the Mother of God showed Her protection to the monks - she made the monastery invisible, shrouding it in fog, and thereby saved her from attack by pirates. After this event, the icon received another name - “Fovera Prostasia” (“Terrible Protection”).
The image was transported to the monastery, where many miracles still occur, as evidenced by the fathers of the monastery and pilgrims. Here is one of them: Recently there was a fire in the forest of the monastery, the monks ran to the place with the image in their hands, and soon heavy rain stopped the disaster.
Many miracles were performed from the image. Thus, through prayers before this icon, the Mother of God repeatedly showed Her special care for people with vision problems and cured them of various other diseases, including cancer. Lists of her began to appear in many temples in Greece, and in addition to the miracles described above, a continuation of obvious assistance in case of fire was noticed. Located in the chapel of the same name, which was built in 1733. The Icon depicts the Mother of God holding Christ in her left hand, an angel holding a Cross, a spear, a lip and a cane. Prophets are depicted around.
This is one of the favorite icons of Elder Paisius from the Kutlumush Monastery. He often came to this monastery and occupied a stasidia directly opposite this icon and prayed as long as he had enough strength.

MIRACLE-WORKING ICON OF THE MOTHER OF IVERSE

The Iversky Monastery is the home of the icon of the patroness of the Holy Mountain, the Most Holy Theotokos of Iveron - the Goalkeeper (Portaitissa).

Not far from the Iveron monastery on the seashore, a miraculous spring has been preserved to this day, flowing at the moment when the Mother of God set foot on Athos soil; this place is called Klimentova pier. And it was to this place that the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, now known to the whole world, miraculously, in a pillar of fire, appeared across the sea.
The first news about it dates back to the 9th century - the times of iconoclasm, when, by order of the heretical authorities, holy icons in houses and churches were destroyed and desecrated. A certain pious widow who lived near Nicaea kept the treasured image of the Mother of God. It soon opened. The armed soldiers who came wanted to take away the icon, one of them hit the shrine with a spear, and blood flowed from the face of the Most Pure One. Having prayed to the Lady with tears, the woman went to the sea and lowered the icon into the water; the standing image moved along the waves. On Mount Athos they learned about the icon with the pierced face thrown into the sea: The only son This woman became a monk on the Holy Mountain and labored near the place where the ship carrying the Mother of God Herself to Cyprus once landed. One day, the inhabitants of the Iversky Monastery saw a sky-high pillar of fire on the sea - it rose above the image of the Mother of God standing on the water. The monks wanted to take the icon, but the closer the boat sailed, the further the image went into the sea. The brothers began to pray in the main cathedral of the Iversky Monastery and began to ask the Mother of God to allow her to take Her miraculous icon. Only Elder Gabriel, who lived in the Iveron Monastery, was able to take the icon. Having received instructions from the Mother of God in a dream, he walked across the water, took the icon and carried it to the shore. The monks placed the shrine in the altar, but the very next day the image was not there. After a long search, it was found on the wall above the monastery gates and taken to its original place. However, the next morning the icon was again above the gate. This was repeated until the image was left in this place. He was called the Goalkeeper, or the Gatekeeper, and on behalf of the monastery the icon received the name Iverskaya and after that the “Goalkeeper” never left the borders of Iveron. In response to requests from the laity, the monks sent lists of the miraculous image. The icon is taken out of the paraklis only three times a year, where it remains permanently:
- on the eve of the Nativity of Christ, after the ninth hour, it is solemnly transferred by the brethren to the cathedral and remains there until the first Monday after the feast of the Council of John the Baptist;
- from Holy Saturday to Monday of St. Thomas Week. On Tuesday of Bright Week a solemn procession of the Cross takes place through the territory of the monastery;
- on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The main service of the Iveron Icon - helping the suffering - is beautifully expressed in the words of the troparion: “From Thy holy icon, O Lady Theotokos, healing and healing are given abundantly to those who come to Her with faith and love, so visit my weakness, and have mercy on my soul, O Most Pure One, and have mercy on my soul.”.

ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD “ECONOMISSA” or "House Builder"

The Icon of the Economist, according to the will of the Queen of Heaven, is located in the Great Lavra.

The history of the icon of the Virgin Mary “Ekonomissa” begins on Mount Athos in the 10th century. Then a terrible famine occurred in the monastery on Mount Athos, so that all the monks left the holy monastery, and Elder Athanasius, who survived in the monastery longer than other monks and humbly endured these hardships, decided to follow the others in leaving the monastery. But on the road he suddenly saw a woman under a veil and was surprised, saying to himself: where can a woman come here when it is impossible for them to enter here? However, the woman herself asked him: “Where are you going, old man?” In response, St. Athanasius asked Her questions: “Why do you need to know where I’m going? You see that I am a local monk.” And then, being in grief, he told everything that happened to his monastery, to which the Woman replied: “Only this! And for the sake of a piece of bread you leave your monastery?! Come back! I will help you, just don’t leave your solitude and don’t leave your monastery, which will become famous and take first place among all the Athos monasteries.” “Who are you?” asked the amazed elder Afanasy. “I am the One to whose name you dedicate your abode. “I am the Mother of Your Lord,” answered the woman. “And demons take on bright forms,” the elder answered. How can I trust You?!” “You see this stone,” answered the Mother of God, “Hit it with your staff, then you will find out who is speaking to you. And know that from now on I will forever remain the House-Builder (Economissa) of your Lavra.” St. Athanasius hit the stone, and water flowed out of it noisily. Struck by this miracle, the elder turned around to fall at the feet of the Most Holy Theotokos, but She was no longer there. Then Athanasius returned to his monastery and, to his great amazement, found that the monastery’s storerooms were filled with everything necessary. Soon many of the brethren returned to the monastery.
According to the will of the Queen of Heaven in the Great Lavra from that time until today There is no such thing as an economist, but only a sub-economist, or assistant to the Economist. In memory miraculous phenomenon Our Lady of St. Athanasius painted an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos the House-Builder in the Lavra. In this icon, the Mother of God is depicted sitting on a throne with the Child of God on her left hand. On the right side of the throne is depicted the Reverend Michael of Sinad in a position of prayer, and on the left is St. Athanasius holding in his hands the form of his Lavra, symbolically depicting the special care, patronage and care provided to the monastery by the Mother of God. And this unique icon was also called: “Economissa”. And many miracles occurred related to salvation from lack of money, overcoming financial troubles, and in modern times, protection from the financial crisis and assistance in business. The Athos Icon of the Mother of God “Ekonomissa” has become extremely popular and copies of it are distributed all over the world.
At the site of the appearance of Our Lady of St. Athanasius, on the road to the Kareysky monastery, a small church in the name of the Life-Giving Spring was erected in Her honor. In this church there is an icon depicting a miracle that took place. This is where it is arranged open gallery for the relaxation of fans and pilgrims. The source still flows abundantly, quenching the thirst of strangers and pilgrims and giving healing to believers.

ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD “TRICHERUSSA”

In the Russian tradition, this icon is called “Three-Handed”. The icon is located in the Hilendar monastery on Mount Athos.

The history of miraculous healings from this icon began in 717. Emperor Leo III the Isaurian, upon ascending the Byzantine throne, began a period of iconoclasm - believing that the worship of sacred images and the worship of idols were equal. At the same time, Saint John (Damascene) lived in the capital of Syria, Damascus, and served as advisor to the caliph. Hearing about the emperor's delusion Rev. John wrote three treatises in defense of icon veneration and sent them to Byzantium. After reading these works, Leo III was furious, but the author of the messages was out of reach and the emperor decided to resort to slander. A forged letter was drawn up on behalf of John, in which the Damascus minister allegedly offered Leo the Isaurian his assistance in conquering the Syrian capital. This letter and the reply to it were then sent to the Damascus Caliph. The angry ruler ordered the minister to be immediately removed from office, his right hand to be cut off and hung in the city square as a sign of intimidation. After some time, Saint John received his severed hand back and, shutting himself up, began to pray before the icon of the Mother of God. In the evening he put his hand to the stump, and the next morning, waking up, Saint John felt his hand and saw it whole and unharmed with a small scar at the place of the cutoff. The caliph was surprised by the miracle that occurred and called on John to return to government affairs, but the saint from now on devoted all his strength to serving God alone. He retired to a monastery in the name of Saint Sava the Sanctified, where he took monastic vows. Here the Monk John brought an icon of the Mother of God, which sent down healing to him. In memory of the miracle, he attached to the bottom of the icon an image of his right hand, cast in silver.
In the 13th century, the “Three-Handed” icon of the Mother of God was presented as a gift to St. Sava of Serbia, who transferred it to his homeland. During the Turkish invasion of Serbia, in order to avoid desecration of the shrine, the guardians of the icon went on foot to Athos, only the icon of the Mother of God was carried on a donkey. Having easily reached the Athos monastery of Hilandar, where the shrine was reverently received by the brethren, the image was placed in the altar.
Soon there was no abbot in the monastery, and the inhabitants of the monastery began to choose a new mentor, but strife and division began. One morning, having come to the service, everyone unexpectedly saw the “Three-Handed” icon of the Mother of God on the abbot’s place. Thinking that this was a manifestation of human pranks, the image was taken to the altar, but the next day it reappeared in the abbot’s place. Deciding to try it extraordinary phenomenon, the monks sealed the door and windows of the temple and in the morning, having removed the seals from the door, they again saw the icon in the abbot’s place. That same night, the Mother of God appeared to one monastery elder and said that She herself was pleased to rule the monastery. Since then, the Hilandar Monastery has no position of abbot, and monks, in order to receive blessings for certain monastic obediences, kiss the hand of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The “Three-Handed” Icon of the Mother of God is known for its healing of damaged arms and legs, as well as for discord in the family, sad feelings in life and other mental unrest.

ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD “ALTARNISH” (“KTITORISSA”)

The icon of the “patroness” of the Vatopedi Monastery is located on the high place of the altar of the cathedral church of the Vatopedi monastery.

According to legend, the son of Emperor Theodosius the Great, Arkady, was shipwrecked and, through the miraculous intervention of the Mother of God, was carried ashore under a bush in the area where Vatopedi was later built, and there he discovered this icon.
A miracle is connected with this icon - when Turkish pirates attacked the monastery, the monk managed to lower the icon of the Mother of God along with a particle of the life-giving cross of the Lord into the well under the altar platform and left a lit lamp in front of the shrines. He himself did not have time to escape - he was captured and sold into slavery in Crete. After 37 years, Crete was liberated from the Turks, and at the same time the monk, who returned to the monastery, received freedom. There he showed the then abbot Nicholas the place and asked that the well be opened. And they discovered that the icon and the particle of the Cross were not damaged, and the lamp that the monk lit 37 years ago was still burning! That is, a double miracle happened: the sacred relics that fell into the water did not perish, thanks to the miracle and care of the Mother of God, and the lamp burned for 37 years without burning out!
Since both shrines were found on Monday, then, starting from the time of their discovery, on this day in the Vatopedi monastery a solemn prayer service to the Mother of God is performed in the cathedral, and the next day, on Tuesday, a solemn liturgy is served in the same cathedral with the blessing of the koliva and offering part of the prosphora in honor of the Mother of God. This constant celebration has been going on for nine centuries and is the best evidence of the truth of the event, deeply imprinted in the traditions of the Vatopedi monastery. The special solemnity of this celebration is evident from the fact that the liturgy on Tuesday is served in the cathedral church, whereas, according to established rules, on the Holy Mountain it is served in cathedrals only on Sundays and holidays, and on weekdays always in side churches, or paraklis . The saint's icon is now in the altar of the cathedral church, on a high place, which is why it is also called the “Altarpiece,” and the Cross remains an altarpiece.

The celebration in honor of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Altar Lady” takes place on February 3 (January 21).

ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD “WORTHY TO EAT”

The shrine is located in the Assumption Church of the administrative center of Mount Athos - Kareia.

In the 10th century, one elder lived as a hermit with his novice near the capital of Athos, Kareia. The monks rarely left their secluded cell, named in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It happened that the elder went one day to a Sunday all-night vigil to the Protat Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; His disciple remained to guard the cell, having received orders from the elder to perform the service at home. When night fell, he heard a knock on the door and, opening it, saw an unfamiliar monk, whom he received respectfully and cordially. When the time came for the all-night service, they both began chanting prayers. Next, the time came to glorify the Most Holy Theotokos, both stood before Her icon and began to sing: “The most honorable Cherub and the most glorious Seraphim...”. At the end of the prayer, the guest said: “We don’t call the Mother of God that way. We sing first: “It is worthy to truly bless Thee, the Mother of God, the Ever-Blessed and Most Immaculate, and the Mother of our God” - and after this we add: “The most honorable cherub...”.” The young monk was moved to tears, listening to the singing of a prayer he had never heard, and began to ask the guest to write it, so that he too would learn to glorify the Mother of God in the same way. But there was no ink or paper in the cell. Then the guest said: “I will write this song for your memory on this stone, and you memorize it, sing it yourself, and teach all Christians to glorify the Most Holy Theotokos in this way.” Having inscribed this song on the stone, he gave it to the novice and, calling himself Gabriel, instantly became invisible.
The novice spent the whole night in praise before the icon of the Mother of God and by morning he sang this Divine song by heart. The elder, returning from Kareya, found him singing a new wonderful song. The novice showed him a stone slab and told him everything that happened. The elder announced this to the council of the Holy Mountain residents, and everyone, with one mouth and one heart, glorified the Lord and the Mother of God and sang new song. Since then, the Church has been singing the Archangel’s song “It is worthy to eat,” and the icon, before which it was sung by the Archangel, was transferred to the Protat Cathedral in a solemn religious procession. The slab with the song inscribed by the Archangel was delivered to Constantinople during the reign of Basil and Constantine the Porphyrogenitus, during the patriarchate of St. Nicholas Chrysoverkh (983-996). The cell is still known on Mount Athos under the name “It is Worthy to Eat.” Every year on the second day of Easter, a religious procession is held on Mount Athos with the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “It is Worthy to Eat.” This traditional Svyatogorsk holiday takes place with amazing solemnity and in its scale resembles the religious processions of the Byzantine Empire.
The celebration of the icon takes place on June 24.

ICON OF THE HOLY MORGOD (AKATHIST)

The Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (Akathist) is located in the Hilandar Monastery

An akathist is a kind of hymn that can only be performed while standing. The clergyman defines this concept as an ode of praise in honor of Jesus. In the Sacred World there are many icons with the name “Akathist”. This is due to the scenes that are depicted on them, namely, akathist singing in honor of the sacred celestials and the Most Holy One.

There is an icon of the Mother of God, which is depicted on a throne. It is also called “Akathist”. Some of these icons bear texts from hymns of praise.

Most of all, it is customary to call the Hilendar Icon of the Mother of God “Akathist”. At the beginning of the 19th century, one case was associated with this face. One of the monasteries of Athos was engulfed in fire. The building burned down, but the icon survived. Moreover, it remained untouched by the fire.

After the monks realized that a miracle had happened, they read the akathist, which is why “Khilendarskaya” is called “Akathist”.

The celebration of the Day of this icon is usually held at the end of January, on the 25th.

ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD “GERONTISSA”

In the Russian tradition, this icon is called “Staritsa” (“Gerontissa”). The shrine is kept in the Patnokrator monastery.

One of the most revered on Mount Athos. On the northeastern slope of the Holy Mountain, on a steep cliff near the sea, there is the Pantokrator monastery, founded in 1361 by the Greek emperor Alexios Stratopedarchus. This monastery houses revered shrines: particles of the life-giving tree of the Cross of the Lord, parts of the relics of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, Saints John the Merciful, John Chrysostom and Athanasius of Constantinople, the Venerable Ioannikios the Great, the Hieromartyr Charalampios, and there is also a rare value - the Gospel of Saint John Kushchnik. But, perhaps, the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Gerontissa”, which means “Elderwoman” or “Abbess”, is perhaps most revered in the monastery.
The history of the appearance of this name is connected with a miracle. The pious abbot of Pantocrator fell ill and, having received a revelation of his imminent death, asked to serve the liturgy and give him communion. The priest hesitated until he heard a voice coming from the icon (which was then in the altar), calling him to immediately fulfill the will of the abbot. The frightened hieromonk hastened to fulfill the command of the Mother of God: he began the service and gave communion to the dying man, after which he peacefully departed to the Lord.
The next miracle happened during the rule of the Turks in the Balkans - the monastery was attacked by Muslims. A gentile who tried to split the image into chips in order to light a pipe from them was struck by blindness. Frightened, they threw the icon into a well not far from the monastery. There “Gerontissa” lay for 80 years and was found intact by Athonite monks. The location of the icon was indicated to them by the relatives of the blind blasphemer, who repented before his death.
Another amazing miracle happened in the 17th century. There was such a severe famine in the monastery that the brethren began to gradually leave. The abbot urged everyone to ask the Mother of God for help and he himself prayed fervently. And the Most Holy Lady did not disgrace his hope! One morning the brothers noticed that oil was pouring from the storeroom, where at that time there were only empty vessels. Entering inside, they were amazed: from one jug, which is said to be preserved to this day, oil continuously poured over the edge. The monks thanked the Most Holy Intercessor for the quick help, and in memory of this event, the icon depicted a jug with oil overflowing. Many other miracles were performed from the image. Thus, through prayers before this icon, the Mother of God repeatedly showed Her special care for the elderly and cured them of various diseases, including cancer. Her lists began to appear in many temples in Greece, and it was noted that she healed infertility, helped during childbirth, and provided obvious assistance in work and study. This is why the veneration of the icon of the Mother of God “Gerontissa” is now widespread in Greece.
The celebration of the icon takes place on April 17.

ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD “QUICK TO HEAR”

The icon was painted on Holy Mount Athos and is kept in the Dochiar monastery, where its grace-filled power was first revealed.
In 1664, the refectory monk of the Dohiar monastery, fulfilling his obedience, went down from the kitchen to the utility rooms at night, and in order to be better seen, he held a lit torch in his hands. Along the way, he passed by a large icon of the Virgin Mary, which was painted on the outer wall of the refectory during the restoration work of the cathedral in 1563. There, out of habit and inattention, he leaned a splinter against the wall next to the icon, and smoked the smoke from the splinter onto the image of the Virgin Mary. And one day, he heard a voice say to him: “Monk, don’t begrudge me an icon!” The refector was frightened by the voice, but decided that it was said by one of the brethren and did not pay attention to the words. As before, he walked past the icon with a burning torch. As time passed, the monk again heard the words from the icon: “Monk, unworthy of this name! How long have you been so carelessly and so shamelessly smoldering My image?” And the monk instantly became blind. Only then did it become clear from whom the unknown voice really came, and in the morning the brethren of the monastery found the refector prostrate and praying in front of the image. They paid veneration to the icon, and the careless monk himself tearfully prayed to the Mother of God every day to forgive his sin - without leaving the icon. And for the third time he heard the voice of the Mother of God, who said: “Monk, I heeded your prayers, from now on you are forgiven and you will see. Announce to the other fathers and brothers working in the monastery that from now on let them pray to me whenever they need it. I will quickly hear them and all the Orthodox Christians who come running to me with reverence, because I am called Quick to Hear.” Following these joyful words, the monk’s sight returned.
The rumor about the miracle that happened in front of the icon quickly spread throughout Athos, bringing many monks to worship the image. The brethren of the Dochiar monastery built a temple consecrated in honor of the image of the Mother of God “Quick to Hear.” Unquenchable lamps were hung in front of the icon, and a gilded place of worship was decorated. The many miracles that the Mother of God performed through her icon filled him with offerings. This is evidenced by great amount donations in the form of small silver images of healed body parts, born children, escaped ships, and so on, located on chains near the icon itself, as well as in a glass cabinet near it and on great photos, made when the accumulated images were transferred from the icon to the closet. At the same time, a particularly reverent hieromonk (prosmonary) was chosen to constantly remain at the icon and perform prayers in front of it. This obedience is still being fulfilled today. Also, on the evening of every Tuesday and Thursday, the entire brethren of the monastery sings the canon of the Mother of God (in Greek “paraklis”) in front of the icon, the priest commemorates all Orthodox Christians in litanies and prays for the peace of the whole world.

ICON OF THE VIRGIN “SWEET KISS”

Sweet Kiss (Glycophylussa), miraculous icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It is called so because the Mother of God is depicted kissing the infant Christ; according to legend, it belongs to one of the 70 icons painted by the Evangelist Luke. Located in the Philotheevsky Monastery on Mount Athos.
During the time of iconoclasm (829-842), the pious resident of Constantinople Victoria, the wife of one of the emperor’s close associates, saving the icon from destruction, at the risk of her life, honored and kept it in her room. The husband found out and demanded that she burn the icon, but Victoria threw it into the sea, with words of hope in the Mother of God. And the image arrived on the Holy Mountain, about which Abbot Philotheus was warned in a dream. At the place where the icon was found, when it was taken, a source of water began to flow. From then until now, on Easter Monday, a procession of the cross has been carried out from the monastery to the site of the appearance of the icon. But the miracles did not stop there - in 1793, Deacon Ioaniky, while lighting candles in front of the icon, often complained that the Mother of God does not care about the monastery, because other monasteries of Athos do not need anything, but Philotheus does. And one day the deacon was very immersed in his prayer and did not notice anything around him. Suddenly the Mother of God appeared before him and said that his complaints and complaints were in vain - if it were not for her care, the monastery could not exist. He asks for prosperity in vain - money is of no use to the monastery. The deacon realized that he was mistaken and humbly asked for forgiveness from the Most Pure One. Then he told the brethren about what he had seen.
Through prayers at the icon of the Mother of God, many miracles have happened in our time. One of them occurred during the years of German occupation. A story about him is contained in the book of Elder Paisius of Svyatogorsk, “Fathers of Svyatogorsk and Svyatogorsk Stories”: During the German occupation, the supplies of wheat in the monastery of St. Philotheus were running out, and the fathers decided to stop receiving visitors. One pious elder, Father Savva, having learned about everything, began to beg the council of the monastery not to do this, because by doing so they would sadden Christ and the monastery would lose its blessing. He gave many examples from the Holy Scriptures, and they finally listened to him. However, after some time, only twenty-five okadas of wheat remained in the monastery’s storerooms and nothing more, and the monks began to rather sarcastically reprimand Father Savva: “Father Savva, the wheat is over, what will happen now?” But the pious and faith-filled elder answered this: “Do not lose hope in Glykofilusa.” Knead the remaining twenty-five okadas, bake bread from them and distribute it to the brethren and laity, and God, as the Good Father, will take care of us all. When they ran out of last bread, they didn’t even have time to get hungry when a ship coming from Kavala moored at the monastery pier, and the captain offered to exchange the wheat he was carrying for firewood. The monks, seeing the obvious Providence of the Mother of God, Who, like a Good Mother, took care of Her children, glorified God.
From the icon of the Mother of God “Sweet Kiss” many miracles have happened and are happening. It is very famous in Greece; there are lists of it in almost all churches. Through prayers to her, the sick are healed, the barren give birth to children, spiritual seekers find consolation and peace.

ICON OF THE VIRGIN "ALL QUEEN"

The miraculous icon “The All-Tsarina” (Pantanassa) is located in the catholicon of the Vatopedi monastery.

The miraculous icon “The All-Tsarina” is located near the eastern column of the cathedral church of the Vatopedi monastery. It was written in the 17th century and was a blessing from the famous Elder Joseph the Hesychast on Mount Athos to his disciples.
The story of the ever-memorable elder about this icon has been preserved. In the 17th century, a a strange man. He stood there muttering something inaudibly. And suddenly the face of the Mother of God flashed like lightning, and some invisible force threw the young man to the ground. Having come to his senses, he immediately went to confess to the fathers of the monastery that he lived far from God, was involved in the occult, and came to the monastery to test his strength on the holy icons. The miraculous intervention of the Mother of God inspired the young man to change his life. He was healed of mental illness and after that remained on Mount Athos.
This is how this icon first showed its miraculous power. Later they began to notice that this icon had a beneficial effect on patients with various malignant tumors. The very name of the icon - All-Mistress, All-Mistress - speaks of its special, all-encompassing power. For the first time, revealing his miraculous power against magical spells - and yet the passion for the occult "sciences" spread like cancerous tumor, - “The Queen of All” has the grace to heal not only the most terrible of diseases modern humanity, but also the dependence of children on alcohol and drugs, which is confirmed by numerous miracles both before the prototype on Athos and before the lists of icons all over the world.

ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD “MAMMAL”

The Icon of the Mother of God “Mammal” is located in the Hilendar Monastery on Mount Athos.

Initially, the icon was located near Jerusalem in the Lavra of St. Sava the Sanctified. Saint Sava, dying (and this was in 532), left a prophecy about the visit of the Lavra by the royal pilgrim Sava from Serbia and ordered to give him the “Mammal” as a blessing.
Six centuries passed, the fourteenth century was in progress. And now the prophecy comes true - Saint Sava, the first Archbishop of Serbia (the son of a prince who refused to inherit his father’s throne for the sake of monastic life) visited Palestine. When he was praying at the tomb of Sava the Sanctified, his heavenly patron, the abbot’s staff of the monk, standing right there, unexpectedly fell to the floor, and the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which had previously stood motionless, suddenly bent over several times. Considering all this as a sign of fulfillment ancient prophecy, the monks gave Savva the Serbian both the “Mammal” bequeathed to him (together with another icon of the Mother of God - the “Three-Handed One”), and the abbot’s staff.
Saint Sava of Serbia brought the image of the Mother of God “Mammal” to Holy Mount Athos and placed it in the church at the cell assigned to Hilandar, which was later called Typikarnitsa, since the charter (type) of Saint Sava was kept there. As a sign of special veneration, the miraculous icon was placed in the iconostasis not on the left side of the royal doors, but on the right, where the image of the Savior is usually placed. The icon of the Lord Almighty was placed on the left side of the royal gates, that is, where the icon of the Mother of God should stand.
The theological meaning of the holy image is very deep: “The Mother feeds the Son, in the same way She feeds our souls, in the same way God feeds us “with the pure verbal milk of the Word of God (1 Peter 2:2), so that as we grow, we move from milk to solid food (Heb. 5:12).” Also, the icon of the Mother of God “Mammal” protects mothers and children, and also helps nursing mothers.
The celebration of the icon takes place on August 31.

ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD “HODEGETRIA”

The Icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria” is now kept in the monastery Xenophon.
In 1730, the shrine (despite the locked doors of the temple and monastery) suddenly disappeared from the monastery. The inhabitants of Vatopedi believed that the miraculous image was stolen by one of the brethren, and began to search for it. Soon the monks heard a rumor that “Hodegetria” was in the Xenophon monastery, located a three-hour walk from Vatopedi.

A delegation of Vatopedi monks was sent to Xenophon.

How did the miraculous image end up in your monastery? - they asked the Xenophon brethren.

We found it in the cathedral. But we ourselves don’t know how he got there.

After this, the inhabitants of Xenophon invited the Vatopedi monks to take the miraculous icon of Hodegetria and return it to its usual place.

And indeed the miraculous image of the Mother of God was returned to Vatopedi, they put it in the cathedral in its original place and accepted everything necessary measures so that what happened does not happen again.

However, some time later, the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos left the Vatopedi monastery for the second time and, in an incomprehensible way, appeared again in Xenophnes. After this, they did not return the icon. The Vatopedi monks were afraid to insist on placing “Hodegetria” in their monastery, seeing in what happened a miracle and a manifestation of Divine Providence.
Having learned that the icon was again found in the Xenophon monastery, the inhabitants of Vatopedi hurried to this monastery and prayed before the icon for several hours. As a sign of their reverence, they decided to deliver candles and oil for the lamp to the miraculous image of “Hodegetria” in Xenophon.

During the days of the Greek national liberation uprising of 1821, Holy Mount Athos was occupied by the Turks. One of them wanted to violate Hodegetria of Xenophon, but was immediately punished by the Justice of God for his madness and insolence.

In 1875, another amazing event occurred in Xenophon. A certain Protestant arrived at the monastery (who, like other supporters of this teaching, did not venerate icons).

During a tour of the temple, he was shown the miraculous “Xenophon” image of the Mother of God and told about numerous miracles performed through prayers at this shrine. After listening to the monks, the Protestant “turned” to the Mother of God with sarcasm and mockery:
- So it’s you, the same famous “Hodegetria” who works miracles? Can you really do some kind of miracle for me now so that I will believe?

He didn’t even have time to finish his words when suddenly, as if struck by lightning, he fell to the ground. The monks hastened to come to his aid, but the Protestant could not move. He remained paralyzed until his death.

Currently, the image of Hodegetria in Xenophon is in the cathedral church near the column of the left choir, that is, in the same place where it stood in Vatopedi. The day of her memory (October 2 (15)) is solemnly celebrated in both the Vatopedi and Xenophon monasteries.

ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD OF VATOPAEDIA “TRAYD”, OR “CONSOLE” (“PARAMYTHYA”)

The image of the Mother of God “Otrada” (“Paramithia”) is located in the Vatopedi Monastery.
It received the name Vatopedi from the fact that in 390, near the island of Imbros, opposite the Holy Mountain, the young prince Arkady, the son of Emperor Theodosius the Great, fell into the sea from a ship, and by the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God he was carried to the shore unharmed.
Here the next morning they found him sleeping in a deep, calm sleep under a thick bush, not far from the destroyed Annunciation Cathedral. From this event the name “vatoped” (“youth’s bush”) came about. Emperor Theodosius, in gratitude for the miraculous deliverance of his son, erected a monastery in place of the destroyed one. new temple, where the altar was located in the very place where the rescued young man was found.
The history of this image is connected with the events that took place on January 21, 807. A gang of robbers who decided to rob the Vatopedi Monastery, landing on the shore in the dark, took refuge in the vicinity of the monastery, intending to wait for the opening of the monastery gates. While the robbers were waiting for the gates to open, Matins ended and the brethren began to disperse to their cells for temporary rest. There was only one abbot of the monastery left in the church.
Suddenly, from the icon of the Mother of God standing near him, he heard female voice, warning of the danger that threatened the monastery. The abbot fixed his gaze on the icon and saw that the faces of the Mother of God and the Infant God had changed. The Vatopedi icon was similar to the Hodegetria, on which the Infant God is always depicted with a blessing hand. And now the abbot sees how Jesus raised His hand, blocking the mouth of the Mother of God, with the words: “No, My Mother, do not tell them this: let them be punished for their sins.” But the Mother of God, evading His hand, uttered the same words twice: “Do not open the gates of the monastery today, but climb the monastery walls and disperse the robbers.”
The amazed abbot immediately gathered the brethren. Everyone was amazed at the change in the outline of the icon. After thanksgiving prayer In front of the holy image, inspired monks climbed the monastery walls and successfully repelled the attack of the robbers.
From that time on, the miraculous icon received the name “Consolation”, or “Consolation”. The outlines of the icon remained the same as during the warning given to the abbot: the Mother of God deviated from the outstretched right hand of Jesus Christ.
The icon was decorated with a silver-gilded chasuble and placed in a church built on the choir of the cathedral. The icon remains in this place to this day. In memory of the miracle, in the Church of the Mother of God “Otrada” the monks are tonsured and a prayer of thanksgiving is sung to the Mother of God in front of the miraculous icon.
The celebration of the icon takes place on February 3.

Monastic archives indicate that in the period from late XIX At the beginning of the 20th century, Russian monks distributed alms to the needy on a weekly basis. Every week, from the two southern Russian ports of Odessa and Taganrog, where the Athonite farmsteads of the St. Panteleimon Monastery were located, large and small ships with food and vital materials came to the Athonite pier. They were intended for 3,000 inhabitants of the St. Panteleimon Monastery and 4,000 Russian-speaking brothers who labored in various monasteries, metochas, cells and kalivas of the Holy Mountain.

An enlarged copy of the photograph with the image of the Mother of God is now placed at the gates of the Russian Svyatogorsk monastery of St. Panteleimon

A crowd of poor Syromachian monks and pious wanderers gathered at the Great Gate of the monastery. There is evidence that about 600-800 people received bread cakes - chereks - from the hands of the monks. On scheduled days, people who were doing nothing, drunkenly and obeying no one began to come to the monastery gates for alms. On the eve of the Dormition, on August 14, 1903, the monastery received a letter from the Holy Kinot, which expressed dissatisfaction with the “useless” and “harmful”, in his opinion, alms, which could accustom young and healthy monks to parasitism. The Higher Sacred Administration of the Holy Mountain asked the Hierarchy of the St. Panteleimon Monastery to cancel the distribution of alms and find a more acceptable and non-tempting form of help. The message, in particular, said: “Alms given in the Gospel are only pleasing and dear to God when they are given in the mind - to people worthy of alms and in need of it. Given to people who unworthily present themselves as alms-seekers and who rely only on this visit, and for this reason they live here, then such giving of alms becomes a cause of harm.”

According to other sources, the decision to stop distributing alms was made not under the influence of the Kinoto letter, but by the inhabitants of the St. Panteleimon Monastery themselves due to the fact that the monastery’s reserves had become scarce due to a reduction in material assistance from Russia.

On August 21, 1903, the monks of the Russian monastery decided to last time observe the tradition and give alms, and only then read the contents of the letter from Kinot to those present. At this time, as usual, hundreds of needy and wandering people had already gathered at the main port in anticipation of alms. During the distribution of chereks, Hieromonk Gabriel took a photograph in which the image of the Mother of God appeared, humbly receiving blessed alms together with other petitioners. Looking at the unusual photograph, the monks immediately remembered the story of the monk Sebastian, who heard from the porters that “one hermit saw a woman several times while distributing chereks.” Some of the ascetics, who also saw the Marvelous Virgin in reality among the wretched monks and alms-seekers, wanted to tell the gatekeeper about this, but on the very day of photographing, no one saw Her.

The Mother of God invariably provided for those who labored in Her earthly lot. At the behest of the Queen of Heaven, the monastery continued to satisfy the needs of the poor brethren: after fraternal meals in the monastery, they organized meals for the poor, and the cellarer gave them food from the warehouse.

History of veneration

Once Saint Andrew, the Fool for Christ's sake, going around the Heavenly Abodes, wanted to see the Mother of God there, but he heard a voice telling him that the Most Holy Theotokos had descended into a poor world to help all those calling on Her name.

Being a partaker of the ineffable glory of the Divine, She descends into the vale of earthly sorrows to help suffering people. The Most Holy Theotokos participates in the economy of human salvation, which was accomplished by Her Son. In order to save man, the Lord descended to earth not in the form of a Lord and Commander, but in the form of a slave, exhausting or humiliating Himself even to death (Phil. 2:7-11). This self-abasement or free exhaustion is called kenosis in theology (Greek κένωσις - humiliation, belittlement, exhaustion). Like Her Son, the Most Holy Theotokos often appears, especially on Holy Mount Athos, “simply,” hiding Her glory. So in this case, the Mother of God descended in the form of a poor petitioner, accepted alms from the hands of the elder monk in order to console the poor brethren, support the good tradition of the Monastery and settle an unexpected misunderstanding. By her condescension, the Mother of God reaffirmed Her promises about Holy Mount Athos.

Immediately after the miraculous event, the news of which spread throughout the Holy Mountain, the veneration of the photographic image began. Copies were made and kept by the monks in the holy corners among the icons. The photograph also found its way to Russia, finding its admirers there too.

At the end of the 1980s, with the beginning of the restoration of the monastery, the wonderful photograph was reproduced with a brief description of the event and distributed among pilgrims. For the new generation of Russian people who suffered from atheistic propaganda, photography served as a factor of reassurance in the existence of the spiritual world, which was repeatedly confirmed by pilgrims to the monastery.

The celebration in honor of the Painted Image was established by the Council of Elders of the monastery in 2003 with the blessing of the abbot Archimandrite Jeremiah on the 100th anniversary of the appearance for the liturgical perpetuation of the memory of the miraculous event. The name “Image in Light” was born during the preparation of the liturgical sequence (the word “photograph” is a literal translation of the Greek elephant “photography”). At the same time, an iconographic image was created for liturgical use. Based on chronicle records and surviving oral memories, the historical outline of the event was recreated.

In 2011, at the site of the appearance of the Mother of God, a memorial chapel was built, into which a source of water was supplied for performing water-blessing prayers. Cases of relief of physical and mental ailments from drinking water from this source have been recorded.

In the same year, on the first floor of the fraternal Pokrovsky building, a paraklis temple was built and consecrated in honor of the Light-Painted Icon.

In 2011, an image of a historical photograph on a marble plaque was installed in the monastery of the Athos Icon of the Mother of God in the village. Chopoviki Zhytomyr region.

A similar marble plaque depicting a photographic image was installed in 2012 at the parish of the Feodorovsky Cathedral in Tsarskoe Selo.

In 2013 at the next meeting Holy Synod V Kiev Pechersk Lavra It was decided to include in the monthly calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church the celebration of the remembrance of the appearance of the Light-Painted Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was in the Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos in 1903.

In the same year, the first temple in honor of the illuminated icon of the Mother of God was consecrated outside the Holy Mountain in the city of Kyiv (website: http://hram.co.ua).

Temple in honor of the appearance of the Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Kyiv). Easter 2014.

The veneration of painted icons has been known since ancient times of Christian history. The image not made by hands and the Shroud of Constantinople (the so-called Turin) belong precisely to this type of image. Actually, it is on them that icon painting and icon veneration are based. Both images of the Savior represented the same face. The Sinai Icon of the Savior completely coincided with them in proportions, which indicates an undoubted borrowing. From the 6th century, they spread in many copies and became widely known, completely replacing the ancient antique type of the face of Christ, and stimulating the development of the canon of icon painting throughout the Orthodox East.

Regarding the Image Not Made by Hands, it should be noted that it exists in two forms. These are the so-called Ubrus (slav.) or Mandylion (Greek - plate), representing the image of the Lord on the ubrus or plate, and Chrepie (slav.) or Keramidion (Greek - tile), representing the face of the Lord on a brick. Everyone probably knows what Ubrus is. But what is Skull? This is a photocopy of Ubrus itself, that is, the Face Not Made by Hands, on brick or tile. The fact is that Ubrus was hidden with a lit lamp from idolaters in a niche above the gates of Edessa and covered with bricks, that is, with a skull. In the 6th century, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to Bishop Eulavius ​​of Edessa and indicated the place where the image was hidden and blessed it to be found again. When they opened the masonry, they discovered that the lamp continued to burn, and on the brick that covered the niche was an exact representation of the Savior’s Face Not Made by Hands. Thus, we can say that the Savior on the skull is a light-painted reflection of the light-painted face of the Lord on the ubrus or board. This is, as it were, a secondary light-painted display.

The type of secondary light-painted images includes such well-known phenomena in the Church as displays of original icons on glass framing their icon cases. For example, the icon “Look at Humility.” In 1993, the face of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Child was miraculously reflected on the glass without touching it.

Another icon should also be classified as this type. As mentioned above, in 1903, copies of the wonderful Athonite photograph came to Russia. From one of them, by order of the St. Petersburg merchant Grigory Grigorievich Eliseev, an icon was painted, which is still preserved in the Estonian city of Kokhtla-Jarve. The icon was commissioned by Grigoriev for his home church in the town of Toila. Later, it was transferred along with the iconostasis to the Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the Kohtla-Järve district of Provandu. On December 13, 2011, during restoration in the temple, the glass was removed from the icon and it turned out that the image of the Mother of God was reflected on it. Thus, we can talk about the appearance of a light-painted copy of the light-painted image of the Most Holy Theotokos, or a secondary light-painted image, by analogy with the face of the Lord not made by hands.

Original light-painted icons are for the Church special meaning, special status. They not only elevate our mind to the prototype, but show us the divine features of the prototypes themselves. These are the primary sources of the iconographic canon, forming the Church’s understanding of the faces of the Lord and His Most Pure Mother. Without exaggeration, we can say that light-painted icons are one of the types of Divine revelation.

Troparion: We bow to Your Most Pure Face, O Good One, asking for intercession for us, Mother of God, by the Will of You you have deigned to appear among the brethren, so as to deliver them from the sorrow that You have gathered together. Thus we cry out to You with gratitude: You fill all with joy, O Most Pure Virgin, who entrust themselves to Your Protection.

Kontakion:
 Thy indescribable and merciful glance towards man, O most pure Cherub and most glorious without comparison seraphim. And Your Light-revealed and self-depicted Image, evidence of the appearance of Your ineffable love and mercy, we honor with kisses.

“In the wretched cell of a monk
I saw a wondrous image.
The soul was filled with fear,
When I learned about this miracle.

The photo was received without deception
He struck the Saints:
Without any lies or fog
He depicted the Mother of God.

Queen in a long robe,
Inexpressible beauty
In a wonderfully blissful radiance
Full of love and purity.

Ukrukh humbly received,
Behind her are the poor people of Athos,
By this miracle I taught the brethren
Do not reject Her hands.

She promised before
Athos to be observed for centuries.
The mountain has not yet become impoverished
Grace has not become scarce.

In the cell of the Athonite monk
I saw the original.
The soul was filled with fear,
And I involuntarily burst into tears.”

Hegumen Vissarion (Ostapenko)