The myrrh-streaming icon of the "Seven-shooter Mother of God" is currently located in the Church of the Archangel Michael, located on the Maiden's Field in Moscow. The holy image depicts the prophecy of the holy elder Simeon.
The story of the birth of the icon
This learned man, translating the Holy Scripture into Greek, doubted the virginity of conception, that is, he wanted the word "virgin", considering it a misprint, to be replaced by the word "wife". For this, he was destined to live until the moment of meeting with the Savior with his own eyes came. The meeting took place, and it happened in the Temple of Jerusalem, on the day of the Meeting of the Lord - one of the great Christian holidays, when Jesus reached the age of 40 days, and the elder was almost 300 years old. His eyes opened the depth of torment and suffering, to which the holy mother and son are doomed. Simeon figuratively defined the measure of suffering for Mary with seven arrows that would pierce her heart. Therefore, the icon "The Seven-Arrowed Mother of God", as well as the one with it in the iconography "Softener of Evil Hearts", depicts the Mother of God (without the Son), whose heart is pierced by 7 arrowsor swords placed on either side of the Virgin Mary. If there are 6 swords, then the Mother of God holds the baby Jesus in her arms. Some sources associate the number 7 not only with the suffering that fell to its lot, but also with the number of the most serious human sins from which the Ever-Virgin wants to save people.
Myths about the icon of the Seven Arrows
The icon of the Seven-shot Mother of God itself, incredibly revered by the Orthodox, has its own background. They found it in the Vologda region, in the 17th century, when a terminally ill peasant had a revelation in a dream. He was ordered to find an icon in the bell tower of the St. John the Theologian Church, which is located near the Toshna River, by praying to which he would recover. Three times they did not let him into the bell tower, assuring him that there were no images there. The search lasted a long time, and the image was found on the stairs, in dust and dirt, where its back side served as a step. The icon of the Mother of God of Seven Arrows was made on canvas and attached to the board. After restoration (washing and cleaning), it was suggested that this is a list from an ancient icon of the northern peoples of Russia, which is at least 600 years old. The peasant of the Kadikovsky district of the Vologda province fully recovered, and the fame of the miraculous icon spread throughout the district. But national fame came to her after 1830, when the Vologda province was engulfed by a cholera epidemic.
The icon that brings peace and protection
"The seven-shot icon of the Mother of God", an akathist and divine texts read in her honor inthe time when the holy image was carried around the perimeter of the city saved Vologda from cholera. Grateful residents at their own expense ordered a list (copy) of the miraculous icon. The city lived under her protection. After the revolution, both the list, which became myrrh-streaming and miraculous, and the found icon itself disappeared without a trace.
The icon "Softening of Evil Hearts" (its second name is "Simeon's Prophecy"), as well as the icon "Seven Arrows", the meaning, prayer, akathist, the honoring of which are identical, belong to the same type of iconography. This holy image is incredibly in demand, since, along with physical and spiritual healing, it protects a person from anger and hatred, both external and internal. In recent years, many believers are increasingly turning to this shrine before any litigation, in days of despondency, and ask Mary for mercy and reconciliation of the warring.
