Every year, on the first Sunday following the feast of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Peter and Paul, the Russian Orthodox Church honors the icon of the Theotokos, found a little more than a century ago among the harsh rocks of the island of Valaam. How did the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God become famous, how does it help and where is it now? Let's talk about it in the article.
Sick servant of God Natalia
The circumstances under which the icon of the Valaam Mother of God was found are very surprising, and this story stretches for two decades. It began with the fact that in 1878, a resident of St. Petersburg, Natalya Andreevna Andreeva, a pious and pious person who came from peasants, caught a cold.
In St. Petersburg, with its damp B altic climate, this is quite a common thing, but for Natalya Andreevna, a cold ended in a complication - her legs began to ache and swell, so that the sufferer could hardly move. This went on for nearly ten years.
Because the doctors she consulted were unable to provide significant assistance, Andreevaon the advice of her relative, she decided to make a pilgrimage to the Valaam Monastery known to the entire Orthodox world. There, on the islands of the harsh Lake Ladoga, in holy temples and in secret monastic sketes, the grace of God has always dwelt, generously poured out on all who opened the doors of their hearts to her.
Wonderful night vision
On the night before the departure, and it was in June 1887, Natalya Andreevna was visited by an extraordinary vision. In a subtle dream, she saw a woman dressed in a robe of crimson velvet, holding a baby in her arms and surrounded by a wondrous radiance. Having encouraged the sick woman with her smile, the young mother ordered her to visit the monastery without fail, promising her help and intercession.
After these words, the woman disappeared without revealing her name to the astonished pilgrim. Excited by what she saw, Natalya Andreevna did not even dare to think that that night she had been honored with the appearance of the Queen of Heaven herself. But a wonderful vision gave her strength, and the next morning the sick woman went to the pier.
First trip to the monastery
The first time she set foot on the shore of the island on the day of the feast of finding the relics of the local saints St. Herman and Sergius. On this occasion, all the churches were overflowing with pilgrims, and only at the very end of her stay on the island, Natalya Andreevna managed to break into the Assumption Church, where, in the image of the Most Holy Theotokos hanging on one of the columns, to her amazement, she recognized the guest from her night vision, who promised her help and intercession. This was the icon of the Valaam Mother of God, tothat time, not yet glorified by miracles.
However, as soon as she had time to venerate the icon, a steamship whistle sounded in the distance, calling the pilgrims to the pier, and on this first visit, Andreeva did not even have time to serve a prayer service to the Mother of God. But nevertheless, when she returned home, she felt an inexplicable lightness in her legs, the feeling of which was caused by the pain that had stopped. From that time on, she quickly recovered and was already moving without crutches.
Revisit the island
Ten more years passed, during which the disease did not return, and the grateful Natalya Andreevna wished to go again to the island where the icon of the Valaam Mother of God was kept, through which the Blessed Virgin showed her a miracle of healing. Again, like the first time, she got ready for the road and went to the familiar pier.
However, disappointment awaited her on the island - the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God disappeared without a trace from the Assumption Church. Moreover, not only could none of the inhabitants of the monastery say where she could have gone, but many even assured that there was no such image at all. Even the omniscient sacristan father shrugged his hands in bewilderment, but suggested that if there was such an icon, then, apparently, it was sent to St. Petersburg, where the monastery courtyard had been opened by that time.
Searching in the city on the Neva
Returning to St. Petersburg, Andreeva first of all hurried to the Narva side, where the courtyard of the Valaam Monastery was located. However, to her great disappointment, the cherished image was not there either. Icon of the Valaam Mother of Goddisappeared as completely as a night vision that once visited God's servant Natalia.
But some inner voice never ceased to inspire her that the marvelous image that once saved her from suffering really exists and it is she who is destined to find it. Filled with faith in her so wonderful destiny, Natalya Andreevna went to the island for the third time.
Second prophetic vision
Hoping in her labors for the help of the Valaam saints, she began by serving a prayer service before their relics. On the very first night spent in the monastery hotel, Andreeva saw a wonderful dream, which the next morning she hurried to tell Father Pafnuty, who was already familiar to her - the same sacristan whom she had addressed on her last visit.
She dreamed that, wandering around the monastery and not ceasing to pray to the Mother of God, she approached the ancient church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, long abolished and closed due to extreme dilapidation. And there, standing on the porch, the servant of God Natalia suddenly clearly heard a voice addressed to her from heaven: “You will soon find me. I'm here.”
Before the sounds of the voice had stopped, the church door was suddenly opened by an old man in a blue kamilavka, who appeared out of nowhere, in whom Andreeva immediately recognized St. Sergius of Valaam, before whose image she prayed that day. He pointed her inside, where in the depths of the temple, among the old church utensils, stood in the corner an icon of the Valaam Mother of God.
The meaning of the dream was quite obvious - the Queen of Heaven herself pointed out to her the place wherethere was her miraculous image. But before doing the holy deed, Natalya Andreevna considered it her duty to first take communion and gain strength in the holy gifts. For three days she fasted and prepared herself for the sacrament of the holy gifts, and the night before in a dream she saw Father Paphnutius leaving the church, in whose hands was the very image.
Acquiring the holy image
Having Communion at the early Liturgy of the Holy Gifts and barely leaving the church, Andreeva saw a crowd of pilgrims in front of her, in front of which Father Pafnuty walked solemnly, carrying the image of the Most Holy Theotokos in front of him. The scene was undoubtedly a continuation of her dream today. Having caught up with Andreeva, the priest, in a voice breaking with excitement, uttered only one word: “She?” There was no doubt, it was the same icon of the Valaam Mother of God that miraculously healed her ten years ago.
The appearance of Father Pafnuty with an icon in his hands in front of Natalya Andreevna is explained as follows. Hearing her story about what he saw in a dream, he also interpreted it as a sign from above and, having received a blessing from the rector, went to the old church, the doors of which had not been opened for many years. In it, he found a shrine that stood in the corner, among the icons darkened with time with the faces of saints, as well as broken lecterns and other church utensils that had served their time.
Glorification of the miraculous icon
The miraculous image was placed in the main monastery cathedral and a solemn prayer service was served in front of it on the same day withblessing of water, during which many new healings took place. The prayer of the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God, offered with faith and hope, was always heard.
Detailed records were made of all the miracles, and so that no one would later doubt their authenticity, each page was certified by the signatures of numerous witnesses. When Abbot Gabriel headed the monastery in 1901, he put the greatest shrine in the lower part of the icon - a particle of the robe of the Mother of God.
Shortly after the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God gained fame for its miraculous works and thousands of pilgrims flocked to it, it was possible to establish the name of the master who painted it. It turned out to be Hieromonk Alipiy (Konstantinov), who once labored in the monastery.
He completed the image of the Virgin in 1887, shortly before his death, just at the time when Natalya Andreevna caught a cold. How amazingly these two events turned out to be interconnected - in the silence of the monastery the artist painted an icon, and in St. Petersburg at that time a woman fell ill, whose illness ultimately served her glorification.
Iconography of the Miraculous Icon of Valaam
Let's take a closer look at what the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God is, the photo of which is presented in the article. According to art historians, it belongs to the type of the Mother of God images, originating from Byzantium and called "Panagia", which means "All Saints". Also, this icon, in its compositional construction, can be attributed to a different, but close type of "Nicopeia" - "Victorious".
It is related to them by the image of the Virgin, standing in full growth and holding a baby in front of her, blessing the viewer with a gesture of her right hand. However, the orb in his left hand is not of Byzantine origin. This detail of the composition is typical for Western European icons "Christ the Savior of the World".
The icon of the Valaam Mother of God has a curious detail that is unique in Orthodox icon painting: the Queen of Heaven is depicted with bare feet, they are visible from under the edge of her vestment. Nothing of the kind is found in other Mother of God icons of the Eastern Church.
Departure to a foreign land
Until 1940, the island of Valaam belonged to Finland, and among other shrines there was the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God. The celebration of the day of its acquisition, once crowded with pilgrims who came from St. Petersburg and other Russian cities, after the revolution began to be performed only by the inhabitants of the monastery and those few of her admirers who immigrated to the West after the October Revolution.
When, at the end of the Finnish War, Ladoga with all its islands was annexed to the Soviet Union, the inhabitants of the monastery, leaving their habitable place, moved into the depths of Finland, where they founded a monastery called "New Valaam". They tried to take everything they could with them. First of all, of course, they took the shrines most dear to them, among which were crosses, icons, church books and vestments.
This is how the miraculous image ended up in Finland, which once healed Natalya Andreevna andmany other pilgrims. The troparion to the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God, written shortly after its acquisition, from now on began to sound in a foreign land, and every year more and more Orthodox Finns began to come to her in order to ask through her the intercession of the Queen of Heaven in prayers. It is also located there to this day, installed in the main temple of the monastery - the Transfiguration Cathedral (photo at the end of the article) and is rightfully considered the main monastery shrine.
The subsequent fate of the island of Valaam and its monastery
And on the island abandoned by the monks for almost the entire Soviet period, religious life was not resumed. For a long time there was a house for the disabled of war and labor, where the unfortunate cripples were brought from the mainland, sometimes by force. Only in the sixties this marvelous corner of the northern nature was opened to tourists, and ten years later the premises of the former monastery and the sketes that belonged to it received the status of a museum-reserve. At the same time, their restoration began.
The revival of the monastery began in September 1989, when by the decision of the government of Karelia its territory and all the buildings located on it were transferred to the use of the Leningrad diocese. The Day of the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God, celebrated, as already mentioned, on the first Sunday after the feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, was officially established in 2002 by decree of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia.
Among other structures, the building of the same once abolished Nikolskayachurch where the miraculous icon was found. After a major overhaul and proper restoration, a temple of the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God was created in it. It contains a list made from an original that has remained forever in Finland.
Valaam Icon of the Mother of God: what helps?
The very glorification of the Valaam Icon, through which many miracles were revealed, began with the healing of a suffering Petersburg woman, which was described in detail above. This marked the beginning of the tradition of praying before this image to the Most Holy Theotokos for deliverance from ailments and the granting of he alth. There are a lot of examples of how generously the Grace of God was poured out on those who prayed and they received what they asked for. Most of these cases are recorded in the monastery books and confirmed by the signatures of witnesses. It is even hard to imagine how many people the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God brought the desired healing.
What do they pray for even before this wonderful way? Of course, one cannot reduce the idea of help sent down by the Queen of Heaven, only to the healing of human flesh, no matter how important this may be for us. Her mercy is boundless, and, interceding before the Lord, she intercedes for the fulfillment of all prayers that come from a pure heart and strengthened by faith. The Mother of God will not leave without her participation those who, before her, honestly ask for the reign of peace in the family, for a safe resolution from pregnancy, for admonishing children and guiding them on the true path.
