Often people think that miracles are something from the realm of legends and fairy tales. Or, at least, something very old, ancient, forgotten. But, oddly enough, in our time there are real miracles. Parishioners of Orthodox churches and inhabitants of monasteries from time to time become witnesses of healing from diseases through prayers before the icons of the Virgin.
The custom of praying to the Mother of God
Together with the adoption of Christianity in the tenth century, the tradition of honoring the Mother of God came to Russia. Along with churches in honor of Christ the Savior, churches dedicated to His Most Pure Mother also appeared on our land. The domes of such temples are traditionally painted blue, which is considered the color of the Virgin. Images of the Blessed Virgin are always present in the iconostasis of any Orthodox church.
There are many options for images of the Mother of God, which are considered miraculous. According to rough estimates, there are about six hundred of them. People often ask themselves the question: "Which icon should be prayed to in each case?" Priests usually answer this questionthey answer like this: for all needs, you can pray to any icon to which the soul lies. The Mother of God is one. Before whatever icon we offer our prayer, it is addressed to the same Mother of God, who is always ready to put in a good word for us before her Son.
There is, however, a tradition to turn to different icons in different everyday needs. Some icons of the Mother of God were specially "closed" to certain needs of people. For example, the mother of infants is asked for help from the "Mammal Feeder". They pray for older children in front of the icons "Raising Children" and "Increasing the Mind". There are other cases. Someone, having turned with a prayer to the Mother of God, received miraculous help from Her. A person seeks to tell others about the miracle that happened. Another person who has a similar problem, having heard about the mercy of God through the prayers of the Mother of God, turns to the same icon and, according to his faith, also receives what he asks. So the tradition is fixed among the people. Before the Tikhvin icon they pray for children, before the Kazan icon they pray for the healing of the eyes. On the healing of tumors, according to tradition, the akathist "The Tsaritsa (Pantanassa)" is read.
The icon of the Mother of God "The Tsaritsa (Pantanassa)" and the holy Mount Athos
According to folk tradition, they pray for the healing of cancer patients in front of the icon "The Tsaritsa" or, in Greek, "Pantanassa". This icon appeared and gained fame in the Vatopedi Monastery, located on Mount Athos. According to legend, the Most Holy Theotokos, accompanied byJohn the Theologian, in 48 went to Cyprus. However, the ship, caught in a storm, was forced to moor at Athos. Fascinated by the extraordinary beauty of the peninsula, the Blessed Mary wished to stay here to preach the gospel. It is generally accepted that Jesus Christ Himself, at the request of His mother, made Athos her lot.
Athos is still considered a special place by Christians. Since 1046, he officially acquired the name "Holy Mountain". Life here flows according to its own special laws. This is a place of special monastic prayer. Athos today there are twenty male monasteries, and both the creation of new monasteries and the abolition of existing ones are prohibited by Athos laws. A large number of Orthodox shrines are kept in the monasteries of Athos. Among them are about sixty revered icons of the Most Holy Theotokos. One of these icons is "Pantanassa"
The icon "The Tsaritsa" has been known since the seventeenth century. The story of Elder Joseph the Hesychast, who lived on Athos for many years, to his disciples has been preserved. Once (in the seventeenth century) a strange-looking young man appeared in front of the icon "The Tsaritsa". He stood for a long time in front of the icon of the Mother of God, muttering something. Suddenly, something like lightning flashed in the face of the Virgin, and the young man was thrown to the ground by some unknown force. Having come to his senses, the young man wished to confess and confessed to the priest that he was fond of magic and arrived at the monastery to test his magical abilities in front of the holy icons. After the miracle that happened to him, the man completely changed his life, left magic classesand stayed in the monastery. This was the first miracle that came from the "Tsaritsa".
All in the same seventeenth century, one of the Greek monks made a list with a miraculous icon. People who prayed before the icon began to notice that its effect on patients with malignant tumors was especially beneficial. Over time, the icon of the All-Tsaritsa gained fame as an assistant in the healing of cancer patients.
Iconography of the All-Queen
The Most Holy Theotokos is depicted on the icon in crimson robes. The icon painter depicted Her seated on the royal throne. The Divine Infant in the arms of the Mother holds a scroll in his left hand, blessing those praying in front of the image of believers with his right hand. The Mother of God points to Her Son with her right hand, as if saying: "Here is your Savior, who has come to save you from sin, sickness and death." In the background of the icon there are two angels, overshadowing the Most Pure Virgin with their wings and stretching out their hands to her. The halo over Christ contains the inscription in Greek: "He from whom everything is around."
The whole icon is made in bright, warm colors. Here is a scarlet robe, indicating royal dignity, and the complete perfection of the Virgin, and a golden background, symbolizing eternity.
The first appearance of the icon in Russia
The first copy of the Vatopedi icon "The Tsaritsa" for Russia was made in 1995. On August 11 of this year, the icon, painted with the blessing of the abbot of the Vatopedi Monastery, Archimandrite Ephraim, was delivered to Moscow, to the Children's Cancer Center forKashirka. The staff of the center noticed that after the children took it, many experienced noticeable improvements that are difficult to attribute solely to the action of drugs.
Convent in honor of the icon of the "Tsaritsa" in Krasnodar
There is a monastery in Russia dedicated to the famous icon of the Mother of God "The Tsaritsa". It is located in Krasnodar. The main shrine of the monastery is "The Tsaritsa" - an exact copy of the Athos icon. The list was made in 2005 by the Russian master icon painter from Pereslavl-Zalessky Valery Polyakov. On the feast of Easter, Archimandrite Ephraim of Vatopedi served a special prayer service, at which the newly painted icon was consecrated. After the prayer service, the icon was applied to more than a hundred Vatopedi shrines, including the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos.
With great honors the icon was delivered from Athos to Krasnodar. Since then, services to the All-Tsaritsa have been regularly performed in the monastery: akathist, prayers, prayer services. Patients of the Krasnodar Regional Oncological Dispensary became frequent participants in prayer singing. Many of them came to the temple quite recently, having learned about their terrible diagnosis. Hoping for a miracle, they turn with sincere prayer to the Most Pure Theotokos.
Church of All Saints in the Novoalekseevsky Monastery in Moscow
One of the most famous miracles of Pantanassa happened in this temple - the image suddenly became myrrh-streaming. Only a few drops of the wonderful world appeared on the icon, and an unusual fragrance from it spread throughouttemple.
An akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos "The Tsaritsa" is regularly served in the church. At the prayer service, oil is consecrated to anoint all the sick and suffering. Not only cancer patients, but also other sick people can anoint themselves with consecrated oil.
The image of the "All-Tsaritsa" from this temple is often delivered to the nearest oncology clinic for prayers.
Novospassky Monastery in Moscow
This is one of the most ancient Moscow monasteries, the place of the oldest burial places of roy alty. There are quite a lot of miraculous icons and relics here. Since 1997, among the shrines of the monastery there is also a list from the Vatopedi icon. Her image is revered as miraculous. Every Sunday, before the holy image, the akathist to the Theotokos "The Tsaritsa" is read, water-blessing prayers take place. The servants of the monastery here, as in other places, keep a special book in which they note cases of miraculous help through prayers in front of the Pantanassa icon.
Once a year, an icon from the Novospassky Convent is delivered to the Institute of Oncology. Herzen. In the hospital church of the institute, a prayer service and an akathist to "The Tsaritsa" are performed. After the prayer service, everyone can venerate the miraculous image and ask for help and healing in the fight against the disease.
Can church prayer really cure cancer patients?
It can be argued that in some cases this actually happens. The abbess of the Krasnodar monastery mother Neonilla can tell about cases of amazing helpHoly Mother of God. It happens that a sick person turns to the "All-Tsaritsa": he reads an akathist, prays earnestly, and suddenly the tumor either disappears without a trace, or stops its development, as if "frozen" at the stage at which the person began his prayer feat. The nuns diligently collect testimonies of the miraculous help of the monastery shrine and post them on the monastery website.
Despite the fact that the icon is known, first of all, as a deliverer from tumor diseases, there have been cases when the akathist in front of the icon "The Tsaritsa" heals from various other diseases. There are known cases of getting rid of severe addictions - alcoholism and drug addiction. Remembering the first miracle of the icon, believers turn to her with prayers for those who practice magic and also receive help from the "Tsaritsa".
To receive help from above, it is desirable that not only the relatives of the sick read or sing the akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos "The Tsaritsa", but the suffering ones themselves, wanting to get rid of the disease, pray to her.
What causes healing?
As the priests say, according to the faith of Orthodox Christians, according to their labors and sincere prayers, grace is sent from God. The Lord will certainly turn his gaze towards the person striving for him. What does it mean to seek the Lord? First of all, it is to try to regularly participate in the sacraments established by Christ for your Church. First of all, this is the Sacrament of Confession, established for the cleansing of believers from sins, and Holy Communion, granted to us forconnection with our Savior Christ. The sacrament of Unction has also been established to help the sick. It is performed in all churches during the days of Great Lent. Some churches also perform unction during the Nativity Fast. For seriously ill bedridden patients, you can invite a priest to the house to perform unction. In this case, the sacrament is performed regardless of calendar dates. In addition to church sacraments, you can make an intense prayer to Jesus Christ and the Mother of God. One of these additions is the akathist to the icon of the Mother of God "The Tsaritsa".
How to read the akathist "The Tsaritsa"
Serious prayer work is not customary to start without a blessing. Therefore, first of all, it is advisable to turn to an Orthodox priest and ask for blessings to read the akathist to the All-Tsaritsa. The text of the akathist can be purchased at the church shop.
Reading the akathist to the Theotokos "The Tsaritsa", it is logical to have this icon before your eyes. It does not matter whether it is an icon made on a board by a professional icon painter using special paints, or a small reproduction. It is desirable, however, that the acquired icon be consecrated in the temple. All icons sold in church shops have already been consecrated.
Before any icon, it is quite possible to pray in your own words - the main thing is that the prayer comes from the heart. However, "bookish" prayers composed in antiquity by well-known or unknown saints are very popular among the Orthodox. Reading these prayers, we seem to be praying together with our co-religionists, who compiled the prayer text,and also together with generations of people who once read these prayers.
To perform services in front of a particular icon, special prayer texts have been compiled - canons and akathists. Akathist, for example, consists of twenty-five small prayers, called ikos and kontakia. In any akathist, there are thirteen kontakia and twelve ikos. Ikos are usually read, kontakia are sung. However, if the worshiper is deprived of musical abilities or simply does not know how to sing an akathist, you can refuse to sing and simply read the akathist to "The Tsaritsa". If a person prays alone, it may be more convenient for him to read the text of the akathist to himself. This option is also possible. The Lord and the Mother of God hear the silent prayer. The main thing is that our heart should scream at the same time.
It is worth remembering that the word "akathist" in translation means "do not sit." Akathists are always read standing up. However, many priests do not tire of reminding that this rule applies only to he althy people. If for he alth reasons it is difficult or impossible for a person to stand, you can read the akathist of the Mother of God "The Tsaritsa" while sitting, lying down or reclining.
Reading the "All-Tsaritsa" akathist, canon or any other prayer, one should not necessarily expect any special sensations, strong emotions from prayer. Such sensations are possible, but not required. Orthodox priests, following the holy fathers of antiquity, warn against specifically looking for such feelings or giving themsome special meaning. The Lord often quite invisibly touches the soul of a person, not accompanying what is happening with unusual sensations. At the same time, it is possible that a person, in pursuit of the sweetness of prayer, gradually forgets about God and, as the holy fathers say, "falls into delusion", exposing his soul to serious danger.
Like any prayer, the akathist to "The Tsaritsa" requires full attention. The one who prays should try to delve into every word he reads. It is known, however, that our thoughts tend to scatter and "fly away" rather far from the content of the prayer. Do not fall into despair because of this. Simply, having noticed the "disorder", you need to return the thought to the required channel and do this every time we catch ourselves distracted from prayer.
In Great Lent, it is not customary to read akathists in the church, except for the akathist "To the Passion of Christ". However, for home prayer, a Christian has the right to independently choose a rule. Therefore, if a sick person reads an akathist to the icon "The Tsaritsa" at home, this cannot be considered a sin or a violation of church canons.
There is a tradition to read an akathist for forty days. However, this is not a law; the time of prayer should be chosen according to one's strength. You can pray for a smaller number of days or more, if you wish.
Reading prayers, you should not "beg" for the decision that seems to us the only desired one. While expressing our ardent request to the Theotokos, we must still leave room for the will of God, which does not always coincide with our desire, but is always aimed atgood for our soul. Some priests recommend, after praying for forty days, to leave the intensified prayer for a while and wait for a while. If the situation has not changed and the worshiper has not come to any conclusions important for himself during this time, you can resume prayer work and read the Akathist again to the All-Tsaritsa.
