The Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God, known to many Russians, is called perhaps the most important icon in the Russian church heritage.
It was written almost a thousand years ago, many events in Russia are associated with it, and many miracles are attributed to its miraculous power. Its significance for the Russian people is evidenced by the many lists (copies) from the original image, and the fact that people are striving for this icon with prayer in our days. About the history of the origin of the icon, its meaning for Christians - this article.
The history of the appearance of the icon
According to legend, in 1157 the Grand Duke of Suzdal Andrey Yurievich Dolgoruky was on his way from Vyshgorod to Suzdal, accompanied by the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir. On June 18, 10 miles before Vladimir, the cart stopped abruptly and, despite the efforts of the horses, they did not manage to move it. The retinue of the prince pitched a camp tent in this place. During the prayer, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to the prince and ordered him to build the Bogolyubskaya Church on this place.icon of the Mother of God, named after her Nativity, and to transfer the Vladimir icon to Vladimir.
The prince, inspired by this event, ordered the court icon painters to write the image of the Virgin on a cypress board in the form in which she appeared to him during prayer. This is how the Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God appeared, the photo of which is presented below. On this icon, the Mother of God is painted full-length, with her hands raised in prayer and with her face turned to the Son. In her right hand is a scroll with a prayer to the Lord written on it. Above the image of the Virgin Mary are the icons that accompanied the Grand Duke on his journey - Jesus Christ, the Vladimir icon, the Archangels Michael and Gabriel and John the Baptist.
Celebration of the Bogolyubsk Icon
At first, the Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God found its place in Bogolyubovo, in the church built by the prince at the request of the Virgin, along with the Vladimir icon. It is believed that being next to the icon of Vladimir, Bogolyubskaya seemed to have taken over miraculous power from her, becoming no less revered.
The calendar of Orthodox holidays mentions more than 260 revered icons of the Mother of God, which have miraculous powers, and in general there are more than 860 different names for it. Many icons have their own days of celebration, their own prayers, akathists and troparia have been written for them. Each of the icons of the Blessed Virgin has its own effect: one heals, the other protects, the third helps in family matters.
Has a day of veneration and the Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God. Celebration happens 18June according to Art. style and June 1 - in a new way. On this day, other images of the Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God are also revered - Moscow, Zimarovskaya, Uglichskaya, Kozlovskaya, Yuryevskaya, Elatomskaya, Tula, Tarusskaya, Usmanskaya Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God, photos of which are presented in this article.
Icon location
As mentioned above, at first this icon was in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin built by the Holy Prince Dolgoruky. Later, the Bogolyubsky monastery was built around this temple, in which the icon was located until it was closed at the beginning of the 20th century. However, after the closing of the monastery, it was kept in the church of Joachim and Anna in the city of Vladimir. Since 1946, the image could be seen in the local history museum of Vladimir. In 1992, it was transferred to the Knyaginin Assumption Monastery, and in 2009 it was sent for renovation (restoration) to the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum of the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God, where it is still located.
Types of iconography
Iconography in the church sense is the accepted system of rules and schemes for depicting certain images or events.
When depicting the Virgin, there are several well-known iconographic types:
- Oranta (the image of the Virgin Mary with her hands raised up with her palms turned outward and with the baby in her arms - symbolizes intercessory prayer).
- Eleusa (the image of the Virgin with a baby in her arms, pressing her cheek against the cheek of the Mother - symbolizesthe highest love of God for people).
- Hodegetria (the image of the Virgin on the throne with a baby in her arms, holding a scroll, with her right hand turned in his direction - symbolizes the worship of the baby).
- Panachranta (the image of the Virgin Mary on a throne with a baby in her arms with her right hand turned in his direction - symbolizes the greatness of the Virgin)
- Agiosoritissa (the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary without a baby in a prayer pose - symbolizes prayer for humanity).
Iconography of the image
The Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God belongs to the last iconographic type - Agiosoritissa, however, it has several differences from the traditional schemes for depicting the Virgin. In particular, it contains elements of the Hodegetria and Orant type. On the bundle, which is in the hands of the Mother of God, a prayer is written addressed to the Lord in defense of the human race. It is known that the text written on this sheet changed every time the icon was restored.
The Bogolyubskaya Mother of God is very similar to the images of the Virgin, lined with mosaics in the church of Santa Maria, located in the city of Palermo. A similar similarity can be traced with the image depicted on the fresco of the Mirozhsky Monastery in Pskov, as well as with the image of the Virgin Mary in the compositions “The Last Judgment” and “The Presentation”. Given these facts, historians have concluded that the first author of this icon was a Byzantine icon painter, who arrived at the court of Prince Dolgoruky and subsequently returned to his homeland.
Famous icon lists
The word "list" here means a copy copied from the original. The high veneration of the icon is evidenced by the fact that over the past millennium the Russian people have created several dozen copies of it, which adopted its miraculous power. The most famous in this series are the Moscow, Uglich and Zimarovskaya icons of the Mother of God (Bogolyubskaya). The significance of these icons for the Russian people is great: they prayed before them during internecine strife, invasions of foreigners, and deadly epidemics.
Moscow
The Moscow icon depicts the Mother of God with a scroll in her hand, praying to the Son, and in front of her, kneeling, are the saints. This list became famous for saving Muscovites from a terrible plague epidemic in 1771. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God has been in Moscow in the Church of Peter and Paul.
Zimarovskaya
The Zimarovskaya icon represents the Blessed Virgin without a baby, in full growth, facing the Son, blessing her from heaven. The icon is famous for its ability to heal people from serious diseases - pestilence, cholera. Until 1925, the icon was kept in the village of Zimarovo, Ryazan region, but after 1925 it was lost, and since then its whereabouts are unknown.
Uglich
Was written at the beginning of the 17th century, and after 200 years the insets from the icon were transferred to a new basis. The icon is famous for the miraculous healing of the inhabitants of Uglich from pestilence in the middle of the 17th century. Today the icon is located in the city of Uglich, in the church of St. Dmitry.
Ohwhat do they pray before the Bogolyubsk icon?
The Mother of God always speaks to those who pray as an intermediary between him and the Lord. The prayer of the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God often contains petitions for the salvation of a person from diseases and natural disasters, national strife and slander against the people, from fires in forests and fields, from hunger and poverty, from deadly epidemics, from floods, frosts and droughts, from attacks aggressors from other states and from destructive internal strife. In addition, travelers ask the icon for well-being on the way, and mothers ask for the he alth of their children in a foreign country.
Preservation of the icon today
The last restoration carried out revealed the original image of the Bogolyubskaya icon, made in unusually colorful colors. So, the clothes of the Virgin Mary are depicted in the form of a green-gray chiton and a brick maforium. The eyes of the Virgin are blue, and her cheeks are an unusually bright blush. However, in this form the icon became known only recently. Until now, this original image of this work has been hidden by numerous layers of paint and paraffin applied by previous restorers.
The fact that the great Russian icon is in a state of destruction was written back in 1915 by the famous Byzantinist N. P. Kondakov. Thanks to his words, trial openings of the icon were carried out in 1918. However, in 1946, the restoration specialist F. A. Modorov “strengthened” the paint with a paraffin layer according to a technology he had mistakenly chosen, which in a sharply negative wayaffected the state of the relic. So, in 1956, the icon was transferred to the museum, where experts issued a conclusion that pouring with hot wax significantly worsened the bond between the paint and the ground. As a result, it was decided to remove the paraffin layer from the image. For 20 years, museum restorers have been cleaning the surface of the icon from paraffin, but the deplorable state of gesso and paint by that time had become irreversible.
The condition of the icon worsened even more after it was stored in the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir with violation of the temperature and humidity regime due to the negligence of the staff. In 2009, the icon was transferred to the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum, where the condition of the icon was recognized as catastrophic.
Today the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God is stored in a specially equipped room of the museum and the restorers do not promise to present it for display in the foreseeable future.
Churches of Russia named after the Bogolyubskaya icon
Three cathedrals have been built in Russia: the Cathedral of the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God in Bogolyubovo, Suzdal District, in Michurinsk, Michurinsky District, and in Tver, in the Vysokopetrovsky Monastery.
In addition to cathedrals, 12 chapels named after the Bogolyubskaya icon were built in the country - for example, in Dobrynino (Sobinsky district), in Pavlovsky (Yuryev-Pavlovsky district), in Shustino (Kolchuginsky district), in Boldino (Petushinsky district), in Ivanovo and in the city of Tarusa, in the village. Teterinskoye (Nerekhtsky district), in the city of Krasnoyarsk and in other Russian villages and cities. In Moscowthe chapel of the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God is located at the Kalitnikovsky cemetery, in Davydkovo and on the Varvarskaya tower.
In addition to cathedrals, 69 churches were erected in Russia in honor of the icon.
Temples of Moscow demonstrating the Bogolyubskaya icon
In Moscow, the Moscow Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God is revered, placed above the gates of Kitay-Gorod. These gates are located near the Church of Peter and Paul at the Yauzsky Gates on Kulishki, at 4, building 6, Petropavlovsky lane. The Moscow icon was painted in the same year as the original - in 1157. On the days of the celebration, the icon is removed from the gate for three days and prayers are performed with it.
