The Icon of the Mother of God of Iberia, one of the most revered in Orthodoxy, has several other names associated with its history - “Hodegetria”, or “Guide”, “Goalkeeper”, “Gatekeeper” or in Greek “Portaitissa”, “Gracious”.
The icon of the Iberian Mother of God is covered with legends. According to legend, the first mention of it refers to the 9th century, the time of hard iconoclasm. On the territory of modern Turkey, near the town of Nicaea, in the house of an orthodox widow and her son, a shrine was kept and revered, which later received the name "Icon of the Mother of God of Iver". Soldiers came to the house to destroy it. Bribed by the widow, they left the icon until morning. But when, on leaving, one soldier hit the holy face with a spear, blood flowed profusely from the icon (therefore, the Mother of God on the icon is sometimes depicted with a wound on her cheek, sometimes without). The frightened soldiers ran away, and the widow, in order to preserve the holy face, took him to the sea. But the icon did not sink, but, being in a vertical position, began to move away from the shore.
She was not heard from for two centuries. ByAccording to legend, after this time the icon approached Athos, where the Iberian Monastery was located. Gabriel, one of the holy elders, brought the icon out of the sea and installed it in the temple, outside the gates of which they found it in the morning. After repeated repetition of this action, the monks realized that the face of the Mother of God did not want to be protected by anyone, but wanted to serve as the guardian of the monastery itself. For her, a church was built outside the gates of the temple, in which the icon was placed (hence the names - “Goalkeeper”, “Gatekeeper”). There she is now.
The icon of the Mother of God of Iver is revered as miraculous. Under her care, the monastery escaped the invasion of the barbarians, its supplies did not run short, the sick recovered. Her fame spread throughout the Orthodox world, providing an inexhaustible influx of pilgrims.
During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, who because of his piety received the nickname "The Quietest", the icon of the Mother of God of Iverskaya began to have a direct bearing on Russia.
Under Patriarch Nikon, on his initiative and with the support of "The Quietest" Romanov, in the likeness of Athos, they began to build a monastery in Valdai, which later received the name "Valdai Iberian Bogoroditsky Svyatozersky Monastery.
By order of the king on Athos, a copy of the Iberian Mother of God was written, which, after the work was completed, was taken to a new monastery and placed in the gate church. There were several more copies of the icon, also made on Athos and brought to Russia. One of them was in the churchResurrection Gate of the Kremlin, the other traveled in a special carriage around Russia. It has survived to this day and is located in the temple in Sokolniki. The gate church of the Kremlin, destroyed in 1928, has now been restored, but the icon stored in it has disappeared without a trace.
Prayer to the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God does not exist in the singular. The icon saves in case of fire, heals spiritual and bodily wounds, helps farmers, preserves the harvest, increases the fertility of the earth. In addition, it relieves sorrow and sadness, heals ailments. That is why the number of prayers, voices and kontakions pronounced before this bright face, the shrine of the entire Orthodox world, is so great.
