Orthodox Christians have long revered not only Jesus Christ, but also the Mother of God. The reverent attitude towards her was embodied in seven hundred icons depicting the Queen of Heaven both alone and with the Divine Son. Even the very first church in Russia, consecrated in 996, was named after the Mother of God. Many hymns and prayers addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary fill the hearts of believers with love and hope, and for the second millennium more than one miraculous icon of the Mother of God has been giving people salvation, healing and happiness. Georgian is no exception. Its amazing properties will be discussed later.
The role of icons in Orthodoxy
From the point of view of the clergy of the Orthodox Church, the icon is a kind of link between the earthly and divine worlds. The main idea of worship before images is that honors and prayers are addressed not to the image, but to the essence they represent.
Understand the icon can only be a deeply religious person who does not doubtthe reality of the Lord and his inconceivable nature. God endowed his children with the ability to imagine, which allows them to imagine what is impossible to see every minute and every hour. But it is easier for us to turn to the saints if their image is before our eyes, and with its symbols it reminds us of the importance of certain moments.
What are the icons of the Mother of God
All the images of the Virgin, painted during the procession of Christianity around the planet, can be divided into several types according to compositions. One of the favorite icons of all Orthodox is the icon of the Georgian Mother of God.
Hodegetria (Guidebook)
The icon we are considering belongs to this type. A specially constructed image, in which the Mother of God points to the Son with one hand, speaks of the path that humanity is destined to go through to purify its soul. Here the Virgin Mary appears before us as a guide to God. It is believed that the first icon was painted by the Apostle Luke in this style.
Eleusa (Tenderness)
The images of the Mother of God, embracing the Divine Infant and accepting his embrace, represent the type of icons known as "tenderness". Endless love reflected in such images can be seen, for example, on the Vladimir Icon.
Agiosoritissa (Protector)
The icon of the Georgian Mother of God is very different from those that belong to the type of "Intercessor". In such images, the Mother of God appears alone. She is depicted in full growth, slightly turned to the right. A scroll can be depicted in the hand.
Oranta (Omen)
The fourth type of icons depicting the Virgin Mary is the "Sign". Here the Heavenly Queen, holding the Divine Infant in her heart (depicted in a circle in the middle of the Mother's chest) and raising her hands to heaven, symbolizes a prayer for all mankind.
Pantanassa (All Queen)
On the icons of this type, the throne on which the Mother of God sits, holding little Jesus in her arms, denotes the glory of the Mother of God, which has spread both on earth and in heaven.
Features of writing the Georgian icon of the Mother of God
When we have a half-length icon of the Georgian Mother of God before our eyes, we can determine the characteristic features of its writing. All the images located in the ark of the icon (a recess in the center of the board) occupy most of it and are built as a triangle, the longer side of which falls on the inclination of the head of the Virgin towards the Divine Infant. The baby raises its right hand high, blessing the Mother and all people. The scroll that the Son of God holds in his left hand symbolizes the Old Testament, which will be supplemented by the Savior. The right foot of Christ is located under the left, and its bare sole is visible.
The Mother of God, depicted frontally, slightly turned her head towards the seated Son and leaned towards Him, supporting Him with her left hand. The face of the Child is also turned to the Mother, whose right hand, pointing to Jesus, marks the way to Salvation for believers. A special feature of this icon is the characteristic way of depicting a maforium falling from the headMother of God so that its folds leave in sight on the chest a triangular section of a blue tunic and symmetrical lapels of a cape of a different color.
Those who constantly go to church saw the icons of the Georgian Mother of God mostly in large sizes. Temple images provide an opportunity to examine them in detail.
When and by whom was the icon captured
Abbas Mirza, better known in world history as Shah Abbas, ascended the Iranian throne at the end of the 16th century. There is a legend that on the day when the great despot was born, the monastery of St. George was destroyed in Georgia due to a strong earthquake, which symbolized the huge losses that the country suffered from the actions of the ruler of Persia in the future.
Abbas, seeing the strengthening of relations between Georgia and Russia as a threat to the Persian kingdom, organized in 1622 a destructive campaign against the mountainous country. He plundered it and seized many valuables and shrines for their further sale to foreign merchants. The icon of the Georgian Mother of God also came to him.
Three years later, Stefan Lazarev, the clerk of the Russian Yaroslavl merchant, saw her at the Persian bazaar. Of course, a true Christian could not pass by the miraculous image and purchased the icon, despite its high price. The shrine immediately showed itself when the owner of the clerk Yegor (in some sources - Georgy, Grigory) Lytkin had a divine instruction in a dream about the transfer of the icon to one of the monasteries of the Arkhangelsk province. Not knowing about the icon, the merchant did not attach any importance to the dream and remembered it only in 1629, when the clerk returned and showed Yegorbought from the Persians.
The fate of the creation of Georgian icon painters in Russia
As ordered in a dream, Lytkin sent the icon to the Pinega River to the Krasnogorsk Monastery, which stood in a mountainous forest area and was previously called Montenegrin (formed in 1603). The Georgian image of the Mother of God immediately showed its miraculous nature, healing monk Pitirim from deafness and blindness. For further incomprehensible phenomena, the icon, by the royal decree and the blessing of Patriarch Nikon, in 1650 was awarded its own day of veneration - September 4.
The miraculous work of Georgian icon painters traveled around the country for a long time, even visiting Siberian cities. And everywhere the Mother of God healed the true believers, as evidenced by church documents of those years.
Unfortunately, the original of the icon was lost when the Krasnogorsk monastery was closed in the 20s of the 20th century. After its discovery in 1946, the icon was used in the Procession of the Cross, about which the Bishop of Arkhangelsk reported to the Moscow Patriarch, but since then the icon has disappeared and has not been found anywhere else.
The very first icon list
Parishioners, who know the history of Christianity and Orthodox shrines well, always know which icon should be addressed with this or that request, which temple to visit. Icons of the Georgian Mother of God today are stored in the form of lists in various churches of our country. Many of them, like the original, are miraculous.
For the first time, a copy of the image of the Virgin Mary from Georgia was written in 1654 in Moscow according tothe order of the artisan Gavriil Evdokimov, who thus showed his gratitude for the healing of his seriously ill son. This list was transferred to the church on Glinischi, which is now known as the Church of the Holy Trinity (Nikitnikov Lane). The icon turned out to be miraculous and helped the residents of the capital to avoid a terrible disease when Moscow was covered by a plague epidemic.
What other lists are known from the original Georgian image
The Georgian Raifa icon of the Mother of God is incredibly glorious. She appeared in the Kazan diocese in 1661. Then Metropolitan Lawrence commissioned an icon from the famous icon painter. A separate church was built for the image in the Raifa Bogoroditskaya Hermitage, and after bringing the shrine from the artist, she began to work real miracles, bringing healing to the blind, lame and mentally ill.
Another very revered Georgian icon of the Mother of God in Moscow is located in a special aisle of the church of Martin the Confessor, which is located on Taganka. Previously, this list was kept on the Vorontsovo field in the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, and at the behest of Empress Paraskeva Feodorovna, a precious kiot was created for it at the beginning of the 18th century.
In the Ostankino Museum-Estate in Moscow there is a Church of the Life-Giving Trinity, the main chapel of which was consecrated in 1991, it also has an icon of the Georgian Mother of God, whose history is very interesting. Previously, she was owned by Sheikhumene Tamar, known to the world as Princess Marjanishvili. The image was presented by her to a family friend Yakov Nemstsveridze, to whom the Virgin Mary appeared in a dream witha request to donate an icon to the church in Ostankino. Jacob intended to take the icon to the Georgian Orthodox Church, but all three times something interfered with him, meanwhile the paint began to peel off the icon. Then Yakov heeded the advice heard in the vision and appeared at the Ostankino Church, where he was met by a woman who also had a vision of the upcoming arrival of the icon in the church. During the restoration, the colors recovered by themselves, which was one of the wonders of a beautiful image. The Akathist to the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God is regularly read here, and the parishioners, who greatly revere the shrine, perform heartfelt prayers with her.
Another list of the image of the Mother of God from the Georgian original appeared in the 17th century in the Alekseevsky convent, which was located on Prechistensky Boulevard. One of the ill nuns wanted to turn to the image that was in the temple at the Barbarian Gates, but no one could bring it. Then the monk, who appeared to her in a dream, said that somewhere in the depths of the temple there was a copy of the Georgian icon. After a short search, a sacristy with an image was found in one of the walls, which immediately healed the nun. The icon was enclosed in a precious chasuble by order of Emperor Alexei Mikhailovich with the blessing of Patriarch Nikon. In the 19th century, the temple was moved to Krasnoye Selo, and the list of icons found in the monastery is venerated in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ on Sokolnicheskaya Square.
Operating temples dedicated to the miraculous icon
Churches bearing the name of a Georgian shrine can be found in many cities of our country and evenabroad. Raifa Cathedral is the most famous. It was built at the Bogoroditsky Monastery for men in 1842 specifically in honor of the miraculous icon. Parishioners note the extraordinary beauty of the temple, the fertile atmosphere and the unique energy coming from ancient icons. The Georgian icon of the Mother of God in the Raifa Monastery is very famous, and many tourists visit the cathedral. Therefore, if you want to be almost alone with the shrine, it is recommended to come there early in the morning.
Another functioning church of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God is located in the village of Yakshino, Moscow Region. The temple is very beautiful, it was built in the 18th century, but it was blown up during the Soviet era. Restoration began in the 1990s, services resumed in 2004. Before the revolution, the church had a miraculous icon of the Georgian Mother of God, today there is also such an icon.
Many temples, aisles, chapels dedicated to the miraculous image are in Chuvashia, the Republic of Tatarstan, Tver, Ryazan, Kaluga and other regions of the Russian Federation.
Where else were churches dedicated to the Georgian icon of the Mother of God
In the Tver region, since 1714, the Gorbasyevskaya (Gorbasyevo village) church, built in the name of the icon we are describing, has been operating. It is said that the temple was built by a we althy Georgian merchant who got lost in the surrounding forests. Prayers to the Mother of God helped him get to the village, thanks to this miracle, a church appeared. In 1860, it was decided to replace its old wooden building with a stone one. Stopped actingtemple in the 30s of the last century.
The ancient church of the icon of the Georgian Mother of God is in the village of Vasilyevskoye, Shuysky district. True, now the temple complex, which includes the church, is in a state of disrepair, and the ancient icons that made up the iconostasis are stored in the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum.
What the icon prays for
It is not in vain that the Gospel says that people receive from God “according to their faith”. It has long been noted that among the thousands of parishioners and pilgrims, from whose lips a prayer pours out to the icon of the Georgian Mother of God, not everyone finds happiness in healing, but only those whose souls are truly pure and ready for Grace.
It is believed that a beautiful image can give recovery to those who suffer from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, various tumors, ailments that affect the eyes, teeth and ears, from obsession with evil spirits. With special reverence, they rush to the image of a woman who has been diagnosed with infertility.
A prayer pronounced by a person on his birthday, which coincides with or is close to the day of honoring a certain image, is considered very strong. The Georgian icon of the Mother of God helps and has already helped many, about which believers pray, it has already been written. At the end there is a story about how it is usually done.
What to say in prayer
Prayer can sound different, the most important thing is that the words come from the heart. With a request to grant the ability to conceive, they mention that the Queen of Heaven, listening to the prayers of her earthly children, possessingmiraculous powers, heals from ailments and the dominance of demons, eases sorrows, relieves insults, saves from misfortunes and cleanses from sins. They ask the Virgin Mary to resolve infertile couples from infertility, intercede for them before Her Divine Son and pray for those who worship her, hope for her and tirelessly sing of Her Glory.
In some prayers, the role of Jesus is emphasized, the intercession of the Mother of God before which can heal or save from troubles. The one who asks says that he himself may not be worthy to be heard by the Lord, but His Mother, who never turns away from a simple person, can convey to the Son even the quietest, but sincere prayer. They ask that God, through the Virgin Mary, help the prayer to live in piety and in the light of the Lord's commandments.
Evidence of the gratitude of many people for the miracles bestowed through a unique image are the crosses, which are hung in the temples of the icon of the Virgin. Whatever and wherever a Christian prays to the Most Pure Virgin, his indestructible faith and pure soul will certainly lead to a real miracle.
