Mother of jesus christ virgin mary. Immaculate Virgin Mary: life

Prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos

The ancient world has been waiting for the coming of the Savior for a very long time. And the whole Old Testament is saturated with this thought. But why didn't the Messiah appear in the human world for so long !? The point is that only a woman who was ready for the great feat of self-denial and endless love could give birth to the Son of God. She had to completely entrust her life to God and agree to the immaculate conception of her Son. Centuries passed and only when the Virgin Mary was born - it became possible.

Who is the Holy Mother of God

The Mother of God is the most humble and pure Virgin that has ever been born on earth.

In Christian denominations, Saint Mary is called differently:

• Virgin or Ever-Virgin, because Mary in her service to God remained a virgin and the conception of God's Son was immaculate;
• Theotokos, because in earthly life she is the Mother of the Son of God;
• She is quick to hear, since Mary humbly accepted the command of God to give birth to a Son from the Holy Spirit.

Holy Scripture about the Mother of God

The Holy Scripture contains a description of only a few episodes in the life of the Most Holy Theotokos, which reveal her personality. All information about the life of the Mother of God can be found only in the Church Tradition, which contains ancient legends and church-historical writings.

Basic information about the birth of the Most Holy Theotokos is contained in the "First Gospel of Jacob", written about 150 AD. The Virgin Mary was born in the family of the righteous Joachim of Nazareth and Anna of Bethlehem. The parents of the Virgin Mary were exits from noble royal families. They lived together in harmony until old age, but God never gave them children. But the time came and their piety was noted by the Almighty and the Angel told them the good news that soon they would have a noble daughter.

The next important event in the life of the future Mother of God is the moment when her parents brought a three-year-old girl to the Jerusalem temple for dedication to God. The little girl climbed fifteen steps on her own, and high priest Zacharius came out to meet her, who was instructed from above to lead the girl into the depths of the sanctuary, where none of the believers had the right to enter.

At the age of 14, the Virgin Mary independently made the decision to devote her whole life to God and made a vow of virginity. At the same time, she was betrothed to the elder Joseph, who came from the royal family of David through Solomon. They lived in Nazareth and the betrothed took care of the Virgin Mary, provided her and protected her if necessary.

Saint Luke tells about the Annunciation, when the Holy Archangel Gabriel was sent by God to the Blessed Virgin Mary with the good news of the birth of the Son. With great humility and humility, the young woman accepted the message that she should become the Mother of God. An angel also appeared to Joseph and announced that the Virgin Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit. And the husband accepted the command of God to accept the Mother of God as his wife.

When the time came for the end of earthly life, the Archangel Gabriel descended from heaven to the Holy Mother of God during her prayer on the Mount of Olives. In his hands he held a paradise date branch. He said that in three days the earthly life of the Most Holy Theotokos will end and the Lord will take her to Himself.

And so it happened. At the moment of her death, the room where the Virgin Mary was, was illuminated by an unusual light. And Jesus Christ himself appeared surrounded by Angels and took the soul of the Mother of God. The body of the Most Pure One was buried in a cave at the foot of the Mount of Olives, where her parents were previously buried.

Introduction to the Church of the Holy Mother of God

On December 4, believers celebrate a great church holiday - the introduction of the Holy Mother of God into the temple. It is on this day that the moment is celebrated when Mary was given by her parents to serve God. On the very first day, the high priest Zacharius took the girl to the sanctuary, where she could subsequently go every year on December 4. The girl spent 12 years in the church, after which she independently decided to preserve her virginity in the name of serving God.

The significant day began to be celebrated by the Church from ancient times. This is due to the fact that thanks to the introduction by her parents into the Temple, the Virgin Mary began her journey of serving God, which allowed people on earth to receive their Savior. Services are held in all churches on this day. The prayers pronounced on this day by believers give praise to the Ever-Virgin Mary and ask for the intercession of the Mother of God before the Almighty for everyone who prays.

Of course, such a great holiday associated with a significant event in the church world is reflected in icon painting. On icons dedicated to the Introduction, the Virgin Mary is always depicted in the center. The other characters are the parents on the one hand and the high priest Zacharias who meets the girl. Often the icons depict the steps to the Temple, it was their little Mary who overcame without anyone's help.

In the calendar cycle, this church holiday coincides with the end of the autumn season and the beginning of the winter period.

The Russian Orthodox people also celebrated on this day:

• Holiday of a young family;
• Opening the gates to winter;
• Luck.

Folk signs on this day:

• After that day, it was forbidden to dig the ground in the street, so women had to take care to stock up on clay for household needs;
• From that day until the ninth Thursday, rolling pins should not be used to knock out the laundry, otherwise it could cause bad weather;
• On a holiday, it was forbidden to engage in work related to beating and friction, it was impossible to clean and dig the ground.

Since this is a great religious holiday, it was necessary to spend it in harmony and peace with the people around. It is very good to invite close friends or visit them on this day. Since the Introduction always falls on Christmas fast, it was allowed to diversify the table with fish dishes and drink some wine on this day.

Prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos

Orthodox Christians have special and very deep feelings for the Mother of God. She is for all believers a model of piety and holiness. A huge number of prayers are addressed to the Most Holy Theotokos, services are performed in her honor on great church holidays and special canons are read.

The Prayer Book contains many prayers with which, for various reasons, you can turn to the Most Holy Theotokos for help. As a woman, during the period of her earthly life, she had a chance to experience many troubles and sorrows. She was destined to lose her own son. The Mother of God knows firsthand what need and weakness are. Therefore, any human misfortune finds understanding and sympathy in the soul of the Most Holy Mother of God, and any fall into sin gives her unbearable suffering and she is ready to ask God for the believer's forgiveness.

Mother's prayers for children

Mother's prayers are very important and effective. The Most Holy Theotokos must hear them. And no matter how old the child is, because mothers can always ask for blessings and protection for him from the Mother of God.

It should be remembered that prayer must come from the depths of the heart. It is important to know that you cannot pray for the good for your children at the expense of other people. This is a great sin. The following is considered a strong prayer.

It is read in Veil and reads as follows:

If the child is sick, then you can turn to the Most Holy Theotokos with the following prayer:

At Christmas, a prayer is read to the Most Holy Theotokos for the conception of a child. Her text reads like this:

Prayers for the coming sleep

The evening rule of the Orthodox believer also includes a prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos.

You can use another prayer in the evening rule:

Babies definitely require spiritual protection. Therefore, in the evening hour, mothers must necessarily pray to the Most Holy Theotokos for a child's coming sleep.

To do this, you can use the following prayer:

Prayers for health

Prayers to the Holy Mother of God for health are considered one of the most powerful. If you are praying for your own health, then you can use the following prayer. It is important to always pray in front of the icon of the Virgin Mary, but this can be done both in the temple and at home.

You can pray for the health of family members with another prayer directed to the Mother of God:

Prayer "Virgin Mary, rejoice"

The prayer "Virgin Mary, Rejoice" is considered miraculous. This is due to the fact that it was these owls that the Archangel Gabriel turned to the Virgin Mary when he brought her the good news of the Immaculate Conception of the Son of God.

Listen to the audio prayer "Virgin Mary, rejoice":

In the original, in the church language, the prayer reads as follows:

In prayer, the appeal to the Virgin Mary is already applied, as to the Mother of God. But further emphasizes the fact that the Lord will be with her and support her in the decision. The phrase "blessed in women" indicates that by God's power the Virgin Mary is glorified among all other wives. The word "Graceful" emphasizes that the woman received the grace of God.

This prayer can be translated into Russian as follows:

Prayer "Theotokos Virgin ..." is a miraculous word of God, which is able to give the grace of the Holy Heavens. This prayer reflects the hope and hope to receive help from the Mother of God in every grief, as well as to beg her forgiveness and salvation for yourself and your loved ones.

Prayer "My Queen, Abiding"

One of the most used prayer, which contains an appeal to the Most Holy Theotokos, is "My Queen, Abiding."

It is believed that she:

• Brings joy to those in need and grieving;
• Helps the offended and offended;
• Protects the poor and the wandering.

The text of the prayer reads as follows:

This prayer is read in front of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God, if it becomes necessary to preserve the pregnancy. It is also recommended to read it every day, including in the morning and evening rules.

Any prayer directed to the Most Holy Theotokos should be read correctly. It is important to have deep faith that prayer will be heard and help will be provided. You can't read a prayer casually. In every word and phrase, deep reverence and respect for the Mother of God should be felt. It is necessary to pray to the Holy Mother of God only in a positive mood. In addition, if a believer plans to pray to the Most Holy Theotokos, then he must love and honor his own mother.

The Most Holy Theotokos, as well as the Most High and all the Saints, should be addressed with pure thoughts. There should be no hatred, envy and anger in the soul. The Orthodox faith allows for the opportunity to pray in your own words. But if a believer decides to use the original, then you must first make out the whole meaning of the prayer text. Then the original text must be memorized in order to read the prayer without hesitation. It is allowed to insert your own request for help in your own needs into a prayer appeal to the Most Holy Theotokos. It is important that your request for help does not threaten or harm others.

When visiting the temple, you need to pray at the icon of the Holy Mother of God. Be sure to put candles at the same time. After prayer, you need to stand in silence for a while and think about your life. This will help you to acquire the necessary calmness and tune yourself to the fact that everything that is sent down from heaven must be accepted humbly. In especially difficult life situations, it is allowed to turn to the Most Holy Theotokos in silence. This can be done throughout the day in a secluded place, leaving for a second from all everyday problems.

Rose garden

Prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Who is like the Lord our God? You, holy Angels and Archangels, protect and guard us! Kind, gentle Mother, You are forever our love and our hope! Mother of God, send us holy Angels so that they protect us and drive away the evil enemy from us.

Holy Mother, come to the aid of the poor, turn Your gaze on the faint-hearted, comfort the grieved, ask for the people, plead for the priests, intercede for the people who have dedicated themselves to serving God! May all who honor You feel Your help!

Orthodox prayers ☦

14 most powerful prayers to the Mother of God

Prayer to the Mother of God for the granting of children

Prayer to the Virgin Mary for healing from drug addiction

“O All-merciful Mother of God Pantanassa, All Tsaritsa! I am not worthy, but come under my roof! But like a merciful God, amiable Mother, please say the word, may my soul be healed and my weak body strengthened. Imashi is an invincible power and every word for you will not wear down, about the Tsaritsa! You beg for me, You beg for me, but I glorify Your glorious name always, now and forever. Amen."

Prayer of the Kazan Mother of God for health, healing of sight

“O Most Holy Lady, Lady, Theotokos! With fear, faith and love, falling before Your honest icon, we pray to You: do not turn your face away from those who run to You, pray, merciful Mother, Your Son and our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, may preserve our peaceful country, may establish the Russian state in piety, let the Church keep her Holy One from unbelief, heresies and schism. Not imams of more help, not imams of other hopes, unless for You, Most Pure Virgin: You are the Almighty Christians, Helper and Intercessor. Deliver everyone who pray to You with faith from sinful falls, from evil slander, from all temptations, sorrows, troubles and from vain death; grant us the spirit of contrition, humility of heart, purity of thoughts, correction of sinful life and forsaking of sins, so that all, thankfully glorifying Your majesty, let us become worthy of the Heavenly Kingdom and there, together with all the saints, let us glorify the glorious and magnificent name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."

Prayer of the Mother of God for the healing of a patient from cancer

“O Most Pure Bogomati, All Tsaritsa! Hear our much-painful sighing before your miraculous icon, from the inheritance of Athos to Russia, brought before, look upon your children, incurable ailments of the suffering and to your holy image with faith who fall! As the krilom bird covers its chicks, so are You now, everlastingly alive, cover us with Your multifunctional omophorion. Tamo, where hope disappears, wake up with an unmistakable hope. Tamo, where fierce sorrows prevail, appear with patience and weakness. Tamo, where the darkness of despair has infiltrated the souls, may the ineffable light of the Divine shine forth! Faint-hearted consolations, strengthen the weak, grant softening and enlightenment to hardened hearts. Heal your sick people, O all-merciful Queen! Bless the mind and hands of those who heal, may they serve as an instrument of the all-powerful Physician Christ our Savior. As if you live with us, we pray before your icon, about the Lady! Stretch out Your hand, full of healing and healing, Joy of the mourners, Consolation in sorrow, yes, having received miraculous help soon, we glorify the Life-Giving and Indivisible Trinity, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen."

Prayer to the Mother of God from fire and healing from diseases

“O Most Holy and Most Blessed Mother of the sweetest of our Lord Jesus Christ! We fall down and worship You in front of Your holy and most honorable icon, which works miracles with it, from the fiery ignition and lightning thunder of our dwelling, save us, heal the sick, and fulfill all our good petitions for the good. We humbly pray to Thee, the omnipotent kind of our Intercessor, worthy, weak and sinful, of Your Mother's sympathy and welfare. Save and preserve, O Lady, under the roof of Thy mercy our God-protected country, her power and army, the Holy Church, this temple (or: this abode) and all of us who fall to You with faith and love and tenderly ask with tears of Your intercession. To her, O All-Merciful Lady, have mercy on us, overwhelmed by many sins and having no boldness to Christ God to ask Him for mercy and forgiveness, but we offer You to beseech Him, His Mother in the flesh; But you, All-Merciful, stretch out your God-accepting hand to Him and intercede for us before His goodness, asking us for forgiveness for our sins, a pious peaceful life, a good Christian death and a good answer at His Last Judgment. At the hour of God's terrible visitation, when our houses are kindled with fire, or we will be terrified with lightning thunder, show us Your merciful intercession and sovereign help, may we be saved by Your almighty prayers to the Lord, we will avoid God's temporary punishment here and we will inherit the eternal bliss of heaven and there with everyone Let us sing as saints the Most Honorable and Magnificent name of the worshiped Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and Thy mercy that is great to us forever and ever. Amen."

Prayer of the Mother of God for the protection of the home

“O mournful Mother of God, who surpasses all the daughters of the earth in her purity and in the multitude of sufferings that you carried on the earth! Accept our painful sighs and keep us under the roof of Your mercy. Inago bo refuge and warm intercession, do not you, do not we, but, as if they have boldness to the One who was born from you, help and save us with your prayers, so that we will unambiguously reach the Kingdom of Heaven, where with all the saints we will sing praises in the Trinity to the One God, always , now, and ever, and forever and ever. Amen."

Prayer of the Mother of God from enemies, anger and hatred

“O who will not please Thee, O Gracious Virgin, who will not sing Your mercy to the human race. We pray to you, we ask you: do not leave us, who are perishing in evil, dissolve our hearts with love and send your arrow to our enemies, so that our hearts bite with peace to those who persecute us. If the world hates us - You extend your love to us, if the world persecutes us - You accept us. Give us the blessed power of patience - without murmuring to endure the trials that are in this world. Oh Mistress! Soften the hearts of the wicked people who rise up against us, so that their hearts do not perish in evil, but pray, Gracious One, Thy Son and our God, so that they pacify their hearts with peace, but the devil, the father of wickedness, be put to shame! We, glorifying Your mercy towards us, evil, obscene, let us sing to Ty, O Most Perfect Lady, Blessed Virgin: hear us at this hour, broken hearts of those who have, protect us with peace and love for each other and for our enemy, eradicate all malice from us and enmity, let us sing to Thee and Thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ ours: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! "

Prayer of the Mother of God for marriage

“Oh, Most Holy Lady of the Theotokos, Queen of Heaven and Earth, the highest angel and archangel and the most honest of all creatures, pure Virgin Mary, a good Helper to the world, and affirmation to all people, and deliverance from all needs! Look now, O All-Merciful Lady, on Your servants, praying to You with a tender soul and contrite heart, falling down to You with tears and worshiping Your most pure and celibate image, and Your asking help and intercession. Oh, All-Merciful and Most Merciful Pure Virgin Mother of God! Look, O Lord, at Your people: we are not imams of any other help for sinners, unless You and from You born Christ of our God. You are our intercessor and representative. Thou art protection for the offended, joy for the grieving, refuge for the sire, the keeper for the widow, for the virgin glory, for the weeping joy, for the sick, for the sick, for the healing, for the sinful, salvation. For this sake, O Bogomati, we resort to You, and to Your Most Pure Image with the Eternal Child holding onto Your hand, our Lord Jesus Christ, gazing, we bring you a tender singing and cry: have mercy on us, Mother of God, and fulfill our petition, all of it is Thy intercession is possible, as for Thy glory befits now and ever and forever and ever. Amen."

Prayer for healing from illness

“Blessed Lady, Ever-ever Mother of God, God the Word, more than any word for our salvation, who has given birth, and His grace most abundantly manifested more than all, a sea of ​​Divine gifts and miracles flowing in a dream-flowing river, pouring out grace to all who come running to You with faith! Falling to your miraculous image, we pray to You, all-generous to the Mother of the philanthropic Vladyka: surprise us with the abundant mercy of Your mercy, and our petitions, brought to You, the Quick-To-Doer, hasten to fulfill everything, even for the benefit of consolation and salvation, which in some way arrange. Visit, Abiding, Thy servants with Thy grace, give the ailing celibacy and perfect health, overwhelmed by silence, captive freedom and various images of the suffering of consolation; Deliver the All-Merciful Lady, every city and country from gladness, plague, cowardice, flood, fire, sword and other punishment, temporary and eternal, by Your Mother's boldness, turn away the wrath of God; and spiritual relaxation, overwhelmed by passions and falls from sin, let Thy servant freedom, as if without stumbling, in all piety lived in this world, and in the future of eternal blessings we will be vouchsafed the grace and humanity of Thy Son and God, All glory, honor and worship of Him deserve to be Him By the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen."

Prayer for help in work

“O Holy Virgin, Mother of the Lord above, the hasty intercessor of all who come running to You with faith! Look from the height of Thy heavenly majesty upon me, indecent, falling to Thy holy icon, hear soon the humble prayer of me, a sinner, and bring it to Thy Son, pray Him, so that it illumine my gloomy soul with the light of His Divine grace and cleanse my mind of thoughts vain ones, may my suffering heart pacify and heal its wounds, may enlighten me to do good deeds and strengthen my work with fear, may forgive all the evil that I have done, may deliver me from eternal torment and not deprive me of His heavenly kingdom. O most blessed Mother of God! Thou hast deigned to be baptized in Thy image Quick-heed, commanding all to come to You with faith, do not despise me, the sorrowful one, and do not let me perish in the abyss of my sins, on Thee according to Boz all my hope and hope of salvation, and Thy cover and intercession I entrust to myself forever and ever. Amen."

Prayer of the Mother of God from sorrows and sorrow

“The Virgin to the Lady of the Theotokos, who, more than nature and words, gave birth to the Only Begotten Word of God, the Creator and Lord of all creation, visible and invisible, One of the Trinity of God, God and Man, who became the abode of the Divine, the repository of all holiness and grace, in the same with the good will of God and the Father, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the Divine dwells bodily, incomparably exalted by divine dignity and prevailing over every creature, glory and consolation, and the ineffable joy of angels, the royal crown of the apostles and prophets, the prenatural and wonderful courage of the martyrs, the champion in labors and the giver of victory, among and eternal and divine retribution, surpassing all honor, honor and glory of the saints, infallible guide and mentor of silence, the door of revelations and spiritual mysteries, the source of light, the gates of eternal life, the inexhaustible river of mercy, the inexhaustible sea of ​​all divine gifts and miracles! We ask You and We beg You, the most compassionate Mother of the philanthropic Vladyka: be merciful to us, your humble and unworthy servant, look mercifully at our captivity and humility, heal the contrition of our souls and bodies, scatter visible and invisible enemies, wake us unworthy faces our enemies a strong pillar, a cursed weapon, a strong militia, a Voivode and an invincible champion, show us now your ancient and wonderful mercies, that our enemies may know the iniquity, as your Son and God is One King and Lord, as you are truly the Mother of God, who gave birth to of the flesh of the true God, as all the essence is possible for You, and even if you admire, Lady, and the power to do all this in heaven and on earth, and for any request, grant something for the benefit: health to the sick, silence and good sailing for the sea. Travel those who travel and protect them, save captives from bitter slavery, comfort the sad ones, alleviate poverty and all other bodily misery; Free everyone from mental ailments and passions, invisible by Your intercessions and suggestions, as if yes, kindly and unstoppably completing the path of this temporary life, we will take advantage of You and this eternal good in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Faithful, venerated by the terrible name of Thy Only Begotten Son, trusting in Thy intercession and in Thy mercy and in everything who have Thy intercessor and champion, strengthen invisibly against existing enemies, scatter the clouds of despondency, save me from spiritual trouble and give them bright complacency and joy, and renew the peace and serenity in their hearts.

Save with Thy prayers, Lady, this flock dedicated to You, the whole city and country from gladness, cowardice, flood, fire, sword, invasion of aliens and internecine warfare and turn everyone righteously anger against us, according to the goodwill and grace of the Only Begotten Son and Thy God, All glory, honor and worship befitting Him, with His Beginning Father, with His Eternal and Life-giving Spirit, now and forever and forever. Amen."

Prayer of the Mother of God for the strengthening of faith

“Oh, Most Holy and Most Blessed Virgin, Lady Theotokos! Look with Your merciful eye on us, who stand before Your holy icon and pray to You with tenderness, raise us from the depths of sinfulness, enlighten our mind, darkened by passions, and heal the ulcers of our souls and bodies. Not imams of any other help, not imams of other hopes, do You, Lady, You weigh all our weaknesses and sins, we resort to You and cry: do not leave us with Your Heavenly help, but appear to us everlastingly and by Your ineffable mercy and mercies save and have mercy on us dying. Grant us the correction of our sinful life and deliver us from sorrows, troubles and diseases, from vain death, hell and eternal torment. You are Bo, Queen and Lady, an ambulance Assistant and Intercessor to all who come to You, and a strong refuge for sinners who repent. Grant to us, Abiding and Most Immaculate Virgin, the Christian end of our life, peaceful and unashamed, and grant us with Thy intercession to dwell in the Heavenly mansions, where the unceasing voice of those celebrating with joy glorifies the Most Holy Trinity, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy One , and forever and ever. Amen."

Prayer to the Mother of God from mental anguish

“Hope of all ends of the earth, Most Pure Virgin, to the Lady Theotokos, my consolation! Do not disdain me, sinner, I trust in Your mercy: extinguish my sinful flame and sprinkle my withered heart with repentance, cleanse my mind of sinful thoughts, accept the prayer from soul and heart brought to You with sighing. Wake for me the Intercessor to Thy Son and God and tame His wrath with Thy motherly prayers, heal mental and bodily ulcers, Lady Mistress, quench the sickness of the soul and body, calm the storm of enemy attacks, take away the burden of my sins, and do not leave me to perish until the end and comfort my broken heart with sorrow, may I praise Thee until my last breath. Amen."

Prayer of the Mother of God for guidance on the true path

“For the zealous intercessor, the Blessed Lord Mother, I run to You, the accursed and most sinful man, listen to the voice of my prayer, hear my cry and lament, as my iniquity has surpassed my head, and I, like a ship in the abyss, sink into the sea my sins. But Thou, All-Merciful and Merciful Lady, do not despise me, who is desperate and perishing in sin; have mercy on me, repenting in my evil deeds, and turn my deluded, cursed soul to the right path. On You, my Lady Theotokos, I lay all my hope. Thou, Mother of God, preserve and keep me under Thy roof, now, and ever, and forever and ever. Amen."

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14 most powerful prayers to the Mother of God: 1 comment

Hello! Prompt in the Prayer of the Mother of God for the strengthening of the faith there are some words, the meaning of which is not entirely clear: You weigh all weaknesses - weigh; but present to us ever - present; Your unspeakable mercy - unspeakable. Thanks!

The glory of the Virgin Mary began from the time when the Archangel Gabriel, greeting Her: “Rejoice, Blessed One, the Lord is with You! Blessed are You in wives! " He announced to Her the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God, incomprehensible to people. The same greeting with the addition of the words: "Blessed is the fruit of your womb," met the Most Pure Righteous Elizabeth, whom the Holy Spirit revealed that before her was the Mother of God (Luke 1: 28-42).

Reverent veneration of the Most Holy. The Mother of God in the Christian Church is expressed by many holidays, with which the Church celebrates the memories of various events in the life of the Blessed Virgin. Great ascetics and teachers of the Church composed songs of praise, akathists in honor of the Virgin Mary, uttered inspired words ... With such reverent veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of course, it is comforting and edifying to know how She lived, how she prepared, how she matured to such a height to become a repository incompatible God-Word.

The Old Testament Scriptures, predicting about the incarnation of the Son of God, also predicted about St. Virgin Mary. Thus, the first promise about the Redeemer, given to fallen man, already contained a prophecy about the Most Holy. Virgo in the words of the serpent's condemnation: "I will put enmity between you and between the Woman, and between your seed and between her Seed"(Genesis 3:15). The prophecy of the Virgin Mary is that the future Redeemer is here called the Seed of the Woman, while in all other cases the descendants were called the seed of one of the male ancestors. The Holy Prophet Isaiah clarifies this prophecy, pointing out that the Wife, who has to give birth to the Messiah-Emmanuel, will be a virgin: "The Lord Himself will give you a sign,"- says the prophet to the low-believing descendants of King David, - “ behold, Virgo(Isa. 7:14). And although the word "Virgo" seemed inappropriate to the ancient Jews, in the womb she will receive and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel, which means: God is with us ” because birth certainly presupposes conjugal intercourse, but nevertheless they did not dare to replace the word "Virgo" with another word, for example, "woman".

The earthly life of the Mother of God
Based on Holy Scripture and Church Tradition

The Evangelist Luke, who knew the holy Virgin Mary closely, wrote down from Her words several important events relating to the early years of Her life. Being a doctor and artist, He, according to legend, painted Her portrait-icon, with which later icon painters made copies.

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. When the time approached for the birth of the Savior of the world, a descendant of King David, Joachim, lived in the Galilean city of Nazareth with his wife Anna. Both of them were pious people and were known for their humility and mercy. They lived to a ripe old age, and had no children. This made them very sad. But, despite their old age, they did not stop asking God to send them a child and make a vow (promise) - if a baby is born to them, to dedicate it to serve God. At that time, not having children was considered God's punishment for sins. Childlessness was especially difficult for Joachim, because according to the prophecies, the Messiah-Christ was to be born in his lineage. For patience and faith, the Lord sent great joy to Joachim and Anna: finally, they had a daughter. She was given the name Mary, which means in Hebrew "Lady, Hope."

Introduction to the Temple. When the Virgin Mary was three years old, Her pious parents prepared to fulfill their vow: they took Her to the Jerusalem temple for dedication to God. Mary remained to live at the temple. There She, together with other girls, studied the Law of God and needlework, prayed and read the Holy Scriptures. At the temple of God, the Most Holy Mary lived for about eleven years and grew up deeply pious, obedient to God in everything, unusually modest and hardworking. Wishing to serve only God, She made a promise not to marry and remain a Virgin forever.

The Blessed Virgin Mary at Joseph. The aged Joachim and Anna did not live long, and the Virgin Mary was left an orphan. When She was fourteen years old, according to the law, She could not stay any longer at the temple, but she had to get married. The high priest, knowing her promise not to violate the law on marriage, formally betrothed Her to a distant relative, the widowed eighty-year-old Elder Joseph. He pledged to take care of Her and to guard Her virginity. Joseph lived in the city of Nazareth. He also came from the royal family of David, but he was not a rich man and worked as a carpenter. From his first marriage, Joseph had children Judas, Josiah, Simon and Jacob, who in the Gospels are called “brothers” of Jesus. The Blessed Virgin Mary led in the house of Joseph the same modest and secluded life as in the church.

Annunciation. In the sixth month after the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to Zechariah on the occasion of the birth of the prophet John the Baptist, the same Archangel was sent by God to the city of Nazareth to the Blessed Virgin Mary with the joyful news that the Lord had chosen Her to be the Mother of the Savior of the world. The Angel, having appeared, said to Her: “ Rejoice Blessed!(that is, full of grace) - The Lord is with You! Blessed are You between wives. " Mary was embarrassed by the words of the Angel and thought: what does this greeting mean? The Angel continued to say to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God. And, behold, You will give birth to a Son and you will call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the son of the Most High, and His Kingdom will have no end. " Maria asked Angel in bewilderment: “How will it be when I don’t know my husband?” The Angel replied to Her that this would be accomplished by the power of the Almighty God: “The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore, the Holy One being born will be called the Son of God. Behold, your relative, Elizabeth, who had no children until she was very old, will soon give birth to a son; for God will not remain powerless no word. " Then Mary humbly said: “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be according to my word yours. " And the Archangel Gabriel departed from Her.

Visit of Righteous Elizabeth. The Blessed Virgin Mary, having learned from the Angel that Her relative Elizabeth, the wife of the priest Zechariah, would soon have a son, hurried to visit her. Entering the house, She greeted Elizabeth. Hearing this greeting, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and learned that Mary was honored to be the Mother of God. She exclaimed loudly and said: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is it so joyful for me that the Mother of my Lord came to me? " The Blessed Virgin Mary, in response to Elizabeth's words, glorified God with the words: “My soul magnifies (glorifies) the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, My Savior, because He has looked (paid merciful attention) to the humility of His servant; henceforth, all generations (all peoples of the people) will bless (glorify) Me. Thus the Mighty One has created greatness for me, and His name is holy; and His mercy from generations to generations to those who fear Him. " The Virgin Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months, and then returned home to Nazareth.

God also announced to the righteous elder Joseph about the imminent birth of the Savior from the Blessed Virgin Mary. An angel of God, appearing to him in a dream, revealed that Mary would have a Son by the action of the Holy Spirit, as the Lord God announced through the prophet Isaiah (7:14) and commanded to give Him the name “Jesus (Yeshua) in Hebrew means Savior because He will save people from their sins. "

Further Gospel narratives mention the Most Holy. Virgin Mary in connection with the events in the life of Her Son - our Lord Jesus Christ. So, they talk about Her in connection with the Nativity of Christ in Bethlehem, then - circumcision, the worship of the Magi, offering a sacrifice to the temple on the 40th day, flight to Egypt, settling in Nazareth, traveling to Jerusalem on the feast of Easter, when He was 12 years and so on. We will not describe these events here. It should be noted, however, that although the Gospel mentions of the Virgin Mary are short, they give the reader a clear idea of ​​Her great moral height: Her modesty, great faith, patience, courage, obedience to the will of God, love and devotion to Her Divine Son. We see why She, according to the word of the Angel, was worthy to “find grace from God.”

The first miracle performed by Jesus Christ at a marriage (wedding) in Cana of Galilee, gives us a vivid image of the Virgin Mary as Intercessors before His Son for all people in difficult circumstances. Noticing the lack of wine at the wedding feast, the Virgin Mary drew the attention of Her Son to this, and although the Lord answered Her evasively - “What is Me and You, wife? My hour has not yet come. " She was not embarrassed by this half-refusal, being sure that the Son would not disregard Her request, and said to the ministers: "Whatever He says to you, do it." How evident in this warning of the servants is the compassionate solicitude of the Mother of God that the work begun by Her should be brought to a favorable end! Indeed, Her intercession did not remain without fruit, and Jesus Christ performed His first miracle here, leading poor people out of their predicament, after which “His disciples believed in Him” (John 2:11).

In further narratives, the Gospel depicts the Mother of God for us, being in constant anxiety for Her Son, following His wanderings, coming to Him in various difficult cases, taking care of the arrangement of His home rest and peace, to which, apparently, He never agreed ... Finally, we see Her, standing in indescribable sorrow at the cross of Her Crucified Son, listening to His last words and covenants, entrusting Her with the care of His beloved disciple. Not a single word of reproach or despair leaves Her lips. She surrenders everything to the will of God.

The Virgin Mary is also briefly mentioned in the book of Acts of the Holy Apostles, when on Her and on the Apostles in the day Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended in the form of tongues of fire. After that, according to legend, She lived for another 10-20 years. The Apostle John the Theologian, according to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, received Her into his home and with great love, like a native son, took care of Her until Her death. When the Christian faith spread to other countries, many Christians came from distant countries to see and listen to Her. Since then, the Blessed Virgin Mary has become for all the disciples of Christ a common Mother and a high example to follow.

Assumption. Once, when the Most Holy Mary was praying on the Mount of Olives (near Jerusalem), the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Her with a paradise date branch in his hands and told Her that in three days Her earthly life would end, and the Lord would take Her to Himself. The Lord arranged it so that by this time the apostles from different countries had gathered in Jerusalem. At the hour of death, an extraordinary light illuminated the room where the Virgin Mary lay. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, surrounded by angels, appeared and received Her most pure soul. The Apostles buried the most pure body of the Mother of God, at Her desire, at the foot of the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane, in the cave where the bodies of Her parents and righteous Joseph were buried. Many miracles took place during the burial. From touching the bed of the Mother of God, the blind received their sight, demons were cast out and every disease was healed.

Three days after the burial of the Mother of God, the apostle arrived in Jerusalem and was late for the burial. Thomas. He was very saddened that he did not say goodbye to the Mother of God and with all his soul he wanted to bow to Her most pure body. When they opened the cave where the Virgin Mary was buried, they did not find Her body in it, but only one burial shroud. The astonished apostles returned to the house. In the evening, while praying, they heard angelic singing. Looking up, the apostles saw the Virgin Mary in the air, surrounded by angels, in the radiance of heavenly glory. She said to the apostles: “Rejoice! I am with you all the days! "

She fulfills this promise to be the helper and intercessor of Christians to this day, becoming our heavenly Mother. For Her great love and omnipotent help, Christians from ancient times honor Her and turn to her for help, calling Her "The zealous intercessor of the Christian race," "The joy of all who grieve," "She does not leave us in His Assumption." Since ancient times, following the example of the prophet Isaiah and the righteous Elizabeth, Christians began to call Her the Mother of the Lord and the Mother of God. This name stems from the fact that She gave flesh to the One who always was and will always be the true God.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is also a great role model for all those who seek to please God. She was the first to decide wholly devote your life to God. She showed that voluntary virginity above family and marriage life . Imitating Her, starting from the first centuries, many Christians began to lead a virgin life in prayer, fasting and divine contemplation. This is how monasticism arose and was established. Unfortunately, the modern heterodox world does not at all appreciate and even ridicules the feat of virginity, forgetting the words of the Lord: “There are eunuchs (virgins) who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven,” adding at the same time: “Who can accommodate, yes will accommodate! "(Matt. 19: 1) .2

Summarizing this brief overview of the earthly life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it should be said that She, both at the moment of Her greatest glory, when she was chosen to become the Mother of the Savior of the world, and at the time of Her greatest sorrow, when at the foot of the cross, according to the prophecy of righteous Simeon, “ the weapon passed Her soul, ”she showed complete composure. By this she discovered all the strength and beauty of Her virtues: humility, unshakable faith, patience, courage, hope in God and love for Him! That is why we, the Orthodox, honor Her so highly and try to imitate Her.

Modern miracles and appearances of the Mother of God

WITH the first days after Her Assumption to this day, the Blessed Virgin Mary helps Christians. This is evidenced by Her numerous miracles and phenomena. Here are some of them.

Celebration of COVER The Mother of God is set in remembrance of the vision of St. Andrew of the Mother of God, covering Christians with Her omophorion (with a long veil) in the Blachernae Church during the siege of Constantinople by enemies in the 10th century. At four o'clock in the morning, the blessed one saw the majestic Wife, walking from the royal doors, supported by St. Forerunner and John the Theologian, and many saints preceded her; others followed her, singing hymns and spiritual songs. St. Andrew approached his disciple Epiphanius and asked if he saw the Queen of the world. “I see,” he replied. And when they looked, she, kneeling before the pulpit, prayed for a long time, shedding tears. Then She went up to the throne and prayed for the Orthodox people. At the end of the prayer, She removed the veil from Her head and spread it over all the standing people. The city was saved. St. Andrew was a Slav by birth, and Russians very much honor the Feast of the Intercession, dedicating many churches to it.

Further information in this chapter regarding the apparitions of the Mother of God is drawn mainly from the foreign press. Our Church has not yet expressed its opinion on their opinion, and we provide them here as additional information.

Shortly before the revolution in Russia, on May 13, 1917, the Mother of God appeared to three Portuguese shepherd children in FATIME ... After that, for several months, surrounded by radiance, She appeared to the children. Believers in numbers from five to eighteen thousand people flocked to Her apparitions from all parts of Portugal. An unforgettable miracle happened when, after a pouring rain, an extraordinary light suddenly shone, and the wet clothes on the people instantly dried up. The Mother of God called people to repentance and prayer and predicted the forthcoming “conversion of Russia” (from godlessness to faith in God).

Starting on April 2, 1968, for more than a year, the Mother of God appeared in the suburbs CAIRO Zeitune above the temple dedicated to Her name. Her apparitions, which usually took place between 12 am and 5 am, attracted large numbers of worshipers. The Mother of God was surrounded by radiance sometimes as bright as the sun, and white doves hovered around. Soon the whole of Egypt learned about the apparitions of the Mother of God, and the government began to take care that the public meetings at the place of Her apparitions were orderly. Local newspapers wrote about these frequent appearances of the Mother of God in Arabic. Several press conferences were held regarding the phenomena, at which people shared their impressions and what they heard from Her. She visited the Mother of God and individuals in the vicinity of Cairo, for example, the Coptic Patriarch, who doubted Her appearances to the people. During the apparitions of the Mother of God, many healings also took place, witnessed by local doctors.

The Washington Post on July 5, 1986 reported on new apparitions of the Mother of God over the Church of St. Demians in the working class of Terra Gulakia, north of Cairo. The Virgin Mary held the Infant Christ in Her arms and was accompanied by several saints, among them St. Demiana. As in previous years, the apparitions of the Mother of God were accompanied by numerous healings of incurable diseases, for example, blindness, kidney, heart and others.

Since June 1981, the Mother of God began to appear to people on the mountain in INTERDUGORIE (Yugoslavia). Sometimes up to ten thousand people flocked to Her apparitions. People saw Her in an unearthly radiance. Then the appearances to the people stopped, and the Mother of God began to appear regularly to six young people and talk with them. Mezhdorje has become a place of constant pilgrimage for believers from all over the world. Local, Italian and other newspapers wrote and are writing about these phenomena. The Mother of God gradually revealed 10 secrets to the young people, which they should in due time tell the representatives of the church. The Mother of God promised that 3 days after the announcement of Her last secret, She would leave a visible “sign” for unbelievers. Representatives of medicine and other respectable people testify that young people who see the Mother of God are completely normal and their external reactions to visions are natural. Often the Mother of God, crying, spoke to young people about the need to establish peace on earth: “Peace, peace! The earth will not be saved unless peace is established on it. It will come only if people find God. The Lord is life. Those who believe in Him will find life and peace ... People have forgotten prayer and fasting; many Christians have stopped praying. " It is interesting to note that in Mezhdugorje, where atheism prevailed before and there were many party members, all residents became believers and left the communist party. Many miraculous healings took place in connection with the apparitions of the Mother of God in Mezhdugorje. The phenomena continue.

On Easter 1985 in the city LVOV During the service of Metropolitan John in the cathedral in the name of the Holy Mother of God and in the presence of a large crowd of believers, a cloud suddenly appeared in the gap of the window, shining like a ray of the sun. Gradually, it formed into a human figure and everyone recognized the Mother of God in Her. In a spiritual outburst, people began to pray loudly and cry for help. The people standing outside also saw the image of the Mother of God in the window and tried to enter the church and prayed loudly. The crowd grew larger, and the rumor of a miracle spread with the speed of lightning. All the efforts of the police to disperse the worshipers were in vain. People began to arrive from Kiev, from the Pochaev Lavra, Moscow, Tiflis and other cities. The Lvov authorities asked Moscow to send military personnel and experts in the field of science to help. Scientists began to prove that there can be no miracles for people to disperse. And suddenly the Mother of God spoke: “Pray, repent of your sins, because there is very little time left ... “During the sermon, the Mother of God healed many crippled and sick people. The visions of the Mother of God and healing lasted three and a half weeks, and She still spoke a lot for the salvation of people. People did not leave either day or night.

Some miraculous icons of the Mother of God

VLADIMIRSKAYA the icon is one of the oldest miraculous icons of the Mother of God. In the middle of the 5th century it was transferred from Jerusalem to Constantinople, and in the middle of the 12th century it was sent by the patriarch to Kiev to the Great. book Yuri Dolgoruky and staged in the Maiden Monastery in Vyshgorod. In 1155 the prince of Vyshgorod Andrey, going north, took with him the miraculous icon of the Mother of God. On the way, prayers were served and miracles were performed. On the banks of the Klyazma, the horses carrying the icons could not move. The prince named this place Bogolyubov, created two stone churches here, in one of which the icon was placed. In 1160, on September 21, the icon was transferred to the Vladimir Church, and from that time it became known as "Vladimirskaya." Since 1395 St. the icon is in the Moscow Dormition Cathedral on the left side of the royal gates. The icon became famous for many miracles. Before her, Russian tsars were anointed for the kingdom, metropolitans were elected. The celebration of the icon takes place on September 8th, as well as on June 3rd (New Art). on the occasion of the deliverance of Moscow from the Crimean Khan in 1521, who was terrified by the vision of a miraculous army near Moscow.

KAZAN icon. In 1579, the nine-year-old girl Matrona, whose parents' house burned down during a fire in Kazan in 1579, saw in a dream the image of the Mother of God and heard a voice commanding to take St. an icon hidden in the ashes of a burnt house. The holy icon was found wrapped in an old cloth under the stove in a burnt house where it was buried, probably even during the Tatar rule in Kazan, when the Orthodox were forced to hide their faith. The holy icon was solemnly transferred to the nearest church of St. Nicholas, and then to the Cathedral of the Annunciation and became famous for the healings of the blind. A copy of this icon was made and sent to Tsar Ivan the Terrible. In honor of the appearance of the icon, a special holiday was established on July 21 (New Art.).

Icon SIGNS (Kurskaya Korennaya) was acquired on September 8, 1295 by a hunter on the banks of the Tuskari River in the Kursk region, on the ground at the root of a tree. They built a chapel and erected an icon, which began to manifest itself as miracles. In 1383, the Crimean Tatars, who were devastating the region, cut the icon into two parts and threw them in different directions. They took into captivity the priest Bogolyub, who served in the chapel. Redeemed by the ambassadors of the Moscow Grand Duke, Bogolyub found the split parts of the icon, folded them, and they miraculously fused together. In 1597 the icon was brought to Moscow at the request of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich. Upon the return of the shrine on the site of the chapel, a monastery was founded, called the Root Hermitage. Since the time of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich, the icon has been inserted into a cypress board with the image of the Lord of hosts above, and on the sides - the prophets. With a miraculous vision, the icon saved Kursk from its capture by the Poles in 1612. Grateful residents in the city built the Znamensky Monastery, in which she then stayed annually from September 12 to Friday 9th week after Easter. The rest of the time she was in the Root Desert. On March 7, 1898, the icon remained unharmed during an attempt by intruders to blow it up in the Cathedral of the Znamensky Monastery, although there was general destruction around it. During the revolution, the icon was stolen on April 12, 1918 and miraculously found in a well on August 1. The icon was taken out of Russia in 1920 by bishop. Theophanes of Kursk, and was in Yugoslavia in the Holy Trinity Church in Belgrade. Great help was provided by the shrine during the bombing of Belgrade during the Second World War: bombs never hit the houses visited by the icon, although everything around them was destroyed. Now the icon is in the Cathedral of the Sign of BM in New York. From time to time, the icon is taken to different churches of the Russian Church Abroad for worship.

Crying Icons. Over the past 100-150 years, several icons of the Mother of God have appeared, shedding tears. This kind of miracle probably indicates the grief of the Mother of God for the people about the disasters impending on the world.

In February 1854, one of the icons of the Mother of God began to shed tears in the Orthodox Church at the Sokol Romanian Monastery. This miracle coincided with the Crimean War in Russia. The miracle of shedding tears attracted thousands of pilgrims every day. The miraculous flow of tears happened sometimes every day, and sometimes at intervals of 2 - 3 days.

In March 1960, a lithographic icon "Passionate" (or "Roman") of the Mother of God began to shed tears in the Katsunis Greek Orthodox family living in Long Island, New York. During the transportation of the icon to the Greek Cathedral of St. Paul during the entire journey, white doves hovered in the air above the icon. From the profuse flow of tears, the paper on which the icon is written was completely wrinkled. Sometimes the tears seemed bloody. Pious pilgrims applied cotton wool to the icon, and the cotton wool filled with moisture. Soon, in the house of another Greek Orthodox family, Kulis, who lives in the same area, the lithographic icon of the Mother of God, Iverskaya, also began to shed tears. These two crying icons attracted a large number of worshipers. A large number of miracles originating from these icons have been noted in the foreign and local press. One of these icons has even been scientifically examined to determine the source of these tears. Scientists at the University of British Columbia testified to the fact that tears were flowing, but they could not explain it scientifically.

December 6, 1986 the iconostasis icon of the Mother of God in the Albanian Church of St. Nicholas the Pleasant in the city of Chicago began to shed tears. This miracle sometimes attracts 5 thousand people to the temple, who want to see the miraculous icon. This crying icon was painted 23 years ago by the Manhattan artist Konstantin Yussis. A specially assembled commission testified that "there can be no question of any hoax."

WORLDWIDE icon. The Orthodox Spaniard Joseph, living on Mount Athos, saw a copy of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God in the monastery and wished to acquire it. At first he was refused, but then, unexpectedly, the abbot handed him this icon with the words: "Take this icon must go with you!" Joseph brought the icon to Montreal. On November 24, 1982, at 3 am, Joseph's room was filled with a fragrance: drops of wonderfully fragrant myrrh (special oil) appeared on the surface of the icon. Archbishop Vitaly of Canada offered to bring the icon to the cathedral, then they began to visit other churches with the icon. During the chrismation, the glass door of the icon case opens, and each prayer can see how St. myrrh slowly flows from the surface of the icon. Sometimes, during the crowded services of St. myrrh also appears on the outside of the glass and, in front of the eyes of the worshipers, flows in abundant quantities onto the floor, and the fragrance fills the entire temple. It is also remarkable that on Holy Week myrrh does not appear on the icon at all, and after Easter it flows again. Many miraculous healings took place from the icon. The smell of St. the world changes from time to time, but it is always extremely pleasant and strong. Whoever doubts about miracles in our time should look at the Myrrh-streaming icon: an obvious and great miracle!

There is no way here to list all the miraculous icons of the Mother of God. After the revolution in Russia, a large number of old icons began to be renewed. Sometimes icons, right in front of the eyes of people, for a short time turned from dark ones to light, as if they had been recently painted. There are thousands of such renewed icons.

Signs and wonders do not work without a reason. There is no doubt that numerous modern miracles and appearances of the Mother of God are aimed at awakening in people faith in God and a sense of repentance. But the world has become deaf to everything spiritual. Turning more and more with his back to God, he, having bitten the bit, rushes swiftly towards his death. At this time of all kinds of disasters, shocks and temptations, we must remember our Heavenly Mother and Intercessor at the throne of God. Most Holy Theotokos, save us!

Mother of God, Mother of God, Mother of God, Virgin Mary - in the church tradition of naming the Blessed Virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus Christ.

The name "Mother of God" is known among all Orthodox Slavs. The constant epithet of the Mother of God among the Orthodox Slavs is the Most Holy, Most Pure, sometimes replacing her name.

The folk cult of the Theotokos differs from the church in greater down-to-earthness. The Mother of God acts as a protector from troubles, evil spirits, misfortunes and suffering. She is a heavenly intercessor, sympathetic, merciful and sympathetic. Therefore, they often turn to her in prayers, conspiracies, spells.

The Mother of God is considered the patroness of women in labor. And, of course, the Mother of God is the intercessor of children in this and the next world.

Except for Jesus Christ, there is not a single saint in Christian iconography who would be so often depicted by artists of all times as the face of the Blessed Virgin. At all times, icon painters tried to convey to the face of the Mother of God all the beauty, tenderness, dignity and greatness that their imagination was capable of.

The Mother of God on Russian icons is always in sorrow, but this sorrow is different: sometimes mournful, sometimes light, but always full of spiritual clarity, wisdom and great spiritual strength, the Mother of God can solemnly "show" the Infant to the world, can tenderly press the Son to Herself or easily support Him - She is always full of reverence, worships her Divine Infant and humbly resigns herself to the inevitability of sacrifice. Lyricism, enlightenment and detachment - these are the main features characteristic of the image of the Virgin on Russian icons.

Here is only a small part of the iconography dedicated to the Mother of God - the Theotokos.

Kazan is the most revered icon in Russia, the image of the intercessor of the whole people.

Vladimirskaya - The image of the intercessor mother in all troubles and sorrows.

Quick-hearted- pray that the Lord will hear people's prayers.

Iverskaya - they pray for protection from enemies and underdogs.

Soothe my sorrows- pray for consolation in sad moments of life.

Merciful - pray for the gift of a Divine miracle, healing.

Feodorovskaya - they pray in front of this icon in difficult childbirth.

Jerusalem - they pray for family well-being, health, and the conception of children.

Kozelshchanskaya - pray for the healing of orthopedic diseases,

Three-handed - pray for the healing of diseases of the hands and feet.

Look at humility- pray for healing from diseases, for women's health and well-being.

Blessed sky- pray for the gift of God's Grace in everyday life, help in business.

Softening Evil Hearts- pray for the softening of the hearts of those who come to you with evil thoughts.
Affection - mothers pray for a happy marriage of their daughters, for happiness and prosperity.

Smolenskaya - pray for help in finding the right paths in life.

Barskaya - pray for good family relations, for children and health.

Unexpected joy- pray for the gift of spiritual insight.

Three joys - they pray for forgiveness for their sins.

Prayer to all the icons of the Mother of God


O Most Holy Virgin, Mother of the Lord Vyshnyago, Intercessor and protection of all who come running to You! Look down from Thy holy heights on me a sinner who falls to Thy most pure image; hear my warm prayer and bring it before your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; pray to him, may he illumine my gloomy soul with the light of his divine grace, may he save me from all need, sorrow and illness, may send me a quiet and peaceful life, bodily and mental health, may he pacify my suffering heart and heal its wounds, may he instruct me for good deeds, my mind must cleanse me from vain thoughts, teach me the fulfillment of His commandments, and save me from eternal torment and not deprive me of His Heavenly Kingdom. O Most Holy Theotokos! You, Joy of All Who Sorrow, hear the sorrowful me too; Thou art, called Satisfaction of Sorrow, quench my sorrow; Thou, Burning Kupino, save the world and all of us from the enemy's harmful fiery arrows; You, Seeking of the lost, do not allow me to perish in the abyss of my sins. On Bose all my hope and hope. Wake me in life as a temporary Intercessor and for eternal life before Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Intercessor. To you, Most Holy Mother of God, Blessed Mary, reverently honor until the end of my days. Amen.

PS. The popular veneration of the Mother of God is associated with the "Mother of God Feasts" - Annunciation - April 7th,
Dormition - 28th August, Christmas - 21st September, Intercession - 14th October, Entry into the Temple - 4th December.

The couple, Joachim and Anna, came from a noble family and were righteous before God. Having material wealth, they were not deprived of spiritual wealth. Adorned with all the virtues, they blamelessly kept all the commandments of the law of God. On each holiday, the pious spouses separated two parts from their property - one they gave for church needs, and the other they gave to the poor.

By their righteous life, Joachim and Annathak pleased God that He vouchsafed them to be the parents of the Most Holy Virgin, the pre-chosen Mother of the Lord. From this alone it is already clear that their life was holy, pleasing to God and pure, since they had a Daughter, the Most Holy of all saints, who pleased God more than anyone else, and the Most Honest cherubim.

At that time, there were no people more pleasing to God on earth than Joachim and Anna, because of their immaculate life. Although at that time it was possible to find many living righteously and pleasing God, but these two surpassed everyone with their virtues and appeared before God the most worthy of the birth of the Mother of God. Such mercy would not have been bestowed on them by God if they did not really surpass everyone in righteousness and holiness.

But as the Lord Himself had to incarnate from the Most Holy and Most Pure Mother, so it was fitting for the Mother of God to descend from holy and pure parents. Just as earthly kings have their porphyry, made not of simple matter, but of gold-woven material, so the Heavenly King wanted to have His Most Pure Mother, in whose flesh, as in royal purple, He had to be clothed, born not of ordinary incontinent parents, as would be made of simple matter, but from the chaste and saints, as if from gold-woven fabric, the prototype of which was the Old Testament tabernacle, which God ordered Moses to make of scarlet and scarlet matter and of fine linen (Ex. 27:16).

This tabernacle represented the Virgin Mary, in whom God had dwelt "from mankind" as it is written: "behold, the tabernacle of God with men, and He will dwell with them" (Rev. 21: 3). The scarlet and scarlet matter and fine linen, of which the tabernacle was made, typified the parents of the Mother of God, who came and was born from chastity and abstinence, as if from scarlet and scarlet clothes, and their perfection in fulfilling all the commandments of the Lord, as if from fine linen.

But these holy spouses, by God's will, were childless for a long time, so that in the very conception and birth of such a daughter, the power of God's grace, and the honor of the Born and the dignity of parents would be manifested; for it is impossible for a barren and aged woman to give birth otherwise than by the power of the grace of God: here it is no longer nature that acts, but God, conquering the laws of nature and destroying the bonds of infertility. To be born from infertile and aged parents is a great honor for the one who was born herself, because she is born not from incontinent parents, but from temperate and elderly, such as Joachim and Anna, who lived in marriage for fifty years and had no children.

Finally, through such a birth, the dignity of the parents themselves is revealed, since after a long sterility they gave birth to joy to the whole world, in this way they became like the holy patriarch Abraham and his pious wife Sarah, who, according to the promise of God, gave birth to Isaac in old age (Genesis 21: 2). However, without a doubt, we can say that the birth of the Virgin Mary is higher than the birth of Isaac by Abraham and Sarah. As far as the born Virgin Mary herself is higher and more worthy of honor than Isaac, so much more and higher is the dignity of Joachim and Anna than Abraham and Sarah.

They did not immediately achieve this dignity, but only by diligent fasting and prayers, in spiritual sorrow and in heartbreak, they prayed to God for this: and their grief turned into joy, and their dishonor was a harbinger of great honor, and a zealous petition by the leader to receive benefits, and prayer is the best intercessor.

Joachim and Anna grieved for a long time and cried that they had no children. Once, on a great holiday, Joachim brought gifts to the Lord God in the Jerusalem temple; Together with Joachim, all the Israelites offered their gifts as a sacrifice to God. The then high priest Issachar did not want to accept the gifts of Joachim, because he was childless.

"You shouldn't," he said, "to accept gifts from you, because you have no children, and therefore the blessings of God: you probably have some secret sins."

Likewise, one Jew from the tribe of Reuben, who brought his gifts along with others, rebuked Joachim, saying:

- Why do you want to make sacrifices to God before me? don't you know that you are not worthy to bring gifts with us, for you will not leave offspring in Israel?

These reproaches grieved Joachim very much, and in great sorrow he left the temple of God disgraced and humiliated, and the holiday for him turned into sorrow, and the holiday joy was replaced by sorrow. Deeply grieving, he did not return home, but went into the wilderness to the shepherds who tended his flocks, and there he wept for his barrenness and for the reproach and reproaches made to him.

Remembering Abraham, his forefather, to whom God had already given a son at an advanced age, Joachim began to fervently pray to the Lord that He would grant him the same favor, hear his prayer, have mercy and take away from him the reproach from people, granting him in old age the fruit of his marriage, as Abraham once did.

“May I,” he prayed, “be able to be called the father of a child, and not be childless and rejected by God to endure reproaches from people!

Joachim added fasting to this prayer and did not eat bread for forty days.

“I won’t eat,” he said, “and I won’t return to my house; let my tears be food for me, and this wilderness my home, until the Lord God of Israel hears and takes away from me the reproach.

Likewise, his wife, being at home and hearing that the high priest did not want to accept their gifts, reproaching them for infertility, and that her husband had gone into the wilderness because of great sorrow, wept inconsolable tears.

“Now,” she said, “I’m the most unhappy of all: I’m rejected by God, reproached by people and abandoned by my husband! Why should we cry now: is it about her widowhood, or about her childlessness, about her orphanhood, or about the fact that she did not deserve to be called a mother ?!

She wept so bitterly all those days.

Anna's slave, named Judith, tried to comfort her, but could not: for who can comfort the one whose sorrow is as deep as the sea?

One day Anna sadly went to her garden, sat down under a laurel tree, sighed from the depths of her heart and, raising her eyes full of tears to the sky, saw a bird's nest with little chicks on the tree. This sight caused her even greater grief, and she began to cry with a cry:

- Woe to me childless! I must be the most sinful of all the daughters of Israel to be so humiliated before all women. All bear the fruit of their womb in their hands - all are comforted by their children: I alone am alien to this joy. Woe is me! The gifts of all are accepted in the temple of God, and they are respected for the childbirth: I alone am rejected from the temple of my Lord. Woe is me! Who will I become like? neither to the birds of the air, nor to the beasts of the earth: for they too, O Lord God, bring you their fruit, but I alone am barren. I cannot even compare myself with the earth: for it vegetates and grows seeds and, bearing fruit, blesses You, Heavenly Father: I alone am sterile on earth. Alas for me, Lord, Lord! I am alone, sinful, devoid of offspring. You, Who once gave Sarah in old age the son of Isaac (Gen. 21: 1-8), You, Who opened the womb of Anna, the mother of Your prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1:20), look now at me and hear my prayers. Lord of hosts! You know the reproach of childlessness: end the sorrow of my heart and open my womb and barren, making me fruitful, so that what I have born may we bring to You as a gift, blessing, singing and praising Your mercy in accordance.

When Anna cried out in this way with weeping and sobbing, an angel of the Lord appeared to her and said:

- Anna, Anna! your prayer has been heard, your sighing has passed through the clouds, your tears have appeared before God, and you will conceive and give birth to a blessed daughter; Through Her, all the tribes of the earth will receive blessing and salvation will be granted to the whole world; her name will be Mary.

Hearing the angelic words, Anna bowed to God and said:

- As the Lord God lives, if a child is born to me, I will give it to the service of God. May he serve Him and glorify the holy name of God day and night throughout his life.

After this, filled with inexpressible joy, Saint Anna quickly went to Jerusalem, in order there with prayer to give thanks to God for His gracious visit.

At the same time, the Angel appeared to Joachim in the wilderness and said:

- Joachim, Joachim! God has heard your prayer and is pleased to grant you His grace: your wife Anna will conceive and give you a daughter, whose birth will be a joy for the whole world. And here is a sign for you that I am preaching the truth to you: go to Jerusalem to the temple of God and there, at the golden gates, you will find your wife Anna, to whom I announced the same.

Joachim, amazed at such an angelic gospel, praising God and thanks to His heart and lips for the great mercy, with joy and gaiety, hastily set off for the Jerusalem temple. There, as the angel announced to him, he found Anna praying to God at the golden gates, and told her about the angelic gospel. She also told him that she had seen and heard an angel who announced the birth of her daughter. Then Joachim and Anna glorified God, who had done them such great mercy and, having worshiped Him in the holy temple, returned to their home.

And Saint Anna conceived on the ninth day of December, and on the eighth of September a daughter was born to her, the most pure and most blessed Virgin Mary, the beginning and intercessor of our salvation, about whose birth both heaven and earth rejoiced. Joachim, on the occasion of Her birth, brought great gifts, sacrifices and burnt offerings to God, and received the blessing of the high priest, priests, Levites and all people for being worthy of the blessing of God. Then he arranged a plentiful meal in his house, and everyone glorified God with joy.

The growing Virgin Mary of her parent was cherished like the apple of an eye, knowing, by the special revelation of God, that She would be the light of the whole world and the renewal of human nature. Therefore, they raised Her with such careful circumspection as befits the One who had to be the Mother of our Savior. They loved Her not only as a daughter, so long awaited, but also honored her as their mistress, remembering the angelic words spoken about Her, and foreseeing in spirit what should happen over Her.

She, filled with Divine grace, mysteriously enriched her parents with the same grace. Just as the sun illuminates the heavenly stars with its rays, giving them particles of its light, so the chosen Mary, like the sun, illuminated Joachim and Anna with the rays of the grace given to her, so that they too were filled with the Spirit of God, and firmly believed in the fulfillment of the angelic words.

When the adolescent Mary was three years old, her parents brought Her with glory into the temple of the Lord, accompanying her with lighted lamps, and dedicated Her to serve God, as they had promised. Several years after the introduction of Mary into the temple, Saint Joachim died, eighty years from birth. Saint Anna, remaining a widow, left Nazareth and came to Jerusalem, where she stayed with her Most Holy Daughter, praying incessantly in the temple of God. Having lived in Jerusalem for two years, she reposed in the Lord, being 79 years old from her birth 2.

Oh, how blessed you are, holy parents, Joachim and Anna, for the sake of your Most Blessed Daughter!

Especially blessed are you for the sake of Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all peoples and tribes of the earth have received blessings! The holy Church justly called you the Godfathers 3, for we know that God was born from your Most Holy Daughter. now standing close to Him in heaven, pray that we may also receive at least some part of your unending joy. Amen.

Troparion, voice 1:

Even in the more legitimate grace of the righteous former, the baby of God-given birth gave birth to us, Joachim and Anna: even now, too, she is brightly, too, joyfully celebrating, the divine church honoring your memory, glorifying God, erected a horn of salvation for us in the house of David.

Kontakion, voice 2:

Anna rejoices now, the infertility has resolved the sauce, and nourishes the Most Pure, conveying all the praises, given from her womb by man to the one Mother and the indiscriminate

To understand the Christian tradition and the Divine image of the Mother of God, it is useful for every Christian to know the following truths: The Most Holy Virgin Mary is literally the Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore the Mother of God; She is Ever-Virgin before the birth of Jesus Christ, in Christmas and after Christmas; The Mother of God follows the Savior as the highest power of all heavenly powers - the holy apostles and holy fathers of the church. The books of the Old and New Testaments, the very earthly life of the Mother of God, lead to such a generalization.

More than two millennia separate us from the day when the Most Holy Virgin was born into the light of God. Today it is difficult even to believe that She had an earthly life, filled with human concerns, joys and sufferings. We are accustomed to perceive Her as the Queen of Heaven, and She had her own earthly character traits - a tendency to rest, thoughtfulness, as evidenced by Her contemporaries. The divine touching smile of the Virgin Mary was forever captured by icon painters, this is not even a smile, but an image of kindness itself.

Mary's mother was called Anna, her father bore the name Joachim, both clan branches had venerable ancestors behind them, among whom were the patriarchs, high priests and Jewish rulers from the branches of the wise Solomon and the mighty David. Joachim and Anna were not considered wealthy and noble, although they lived comfortably, raising large flocks of sheep. Only one sadness oppressed them: there were no children. The coming of the Messiah was already predetermined, and childless people were deliberately deprived of the hope of having the Messiah as their descendant, which every family secretly dreamed of. Among the Israelites at that time, even the priests perceived the childless as being punished from above. This confirms a fact from the life of Joachim. On the feast of the renewal of the Temple of Jerusalem, he, along with other residents, brought rich gifts for the Temple, but the priest refused to accept them - Joachim's childlessness was the reason for this. He bore his grief heavily, for some time he even retired to the desert, where he repeatedly wept bitterly and turned to God: "My tears will be my food, and the desert will be my home until the great and wise Lord hears my prayer." And then Joachim heard the words of the Angel of the Lord: "I was sent to you to announce that your prayer has been heard."

Your wife Anna will give you a wonderful daughter, and you will call her Mary. Here is a confirmation of my words: entering Jerusalem, behind the Golden Gates, you will meet your wife Anna, and she will also please you with joyful news. But remember that your daughter is the fruit of a divine gift. "

The Angel of the Lord also appeared to Anna and also told that she would give birth to a blessed daughter. The small southern town of Nazareth, where Joachim and Anna lived, was located three days' journey from Jerusalem. From the very beginning of their life together, they walked from Nazareth on foot in order to express their great request to God in the famous Jerusalem Temple: to have a child. And now the dream came true, their joy knew no bounds.

December 9 (Hereinafter in the biography the dates are given according to the old style.) The Orthodox Church celebrates the conception of the Blessed Virgin, and on September 8 - Her birth. Mary three years old was introduced into the Jerusalem Temple. This was a very important moment, it is no coincidence that the Orthodox Church celebrates such an event. It took place in a very solemn atmosphere: the procession was opened by girls of the same age as the Blessed Virgin, with lighted candles in their hands, and Joachim and Anna walked behind them, along with their blessed daughter, holding hands. They were followed by numerous relatives, among whom were very noble persons. The faces of all were lit up with joy. The virgins walked with the singing of spiritual songs, their voices merged with the singing of Angels.

In the Temple of Jerusalem, the Blessed Virgin was destined to spend many years. That temple was the prototype of the monastic monastery. Within the walls of the Temple there were 90 separate spacious rooms-cells. A third of them were assigned to virgins who dedicated their lives to God, the rest of the rooms were occupied by widows who gave dinner to remain celibate. The elders took care of the younger ones, taught them to read sacred books and handicrafts. The Blessed Virgin Mary surprised everyone at once by the fact that she easily comprehended the most difficult passages of the sacred books, better than all adults who have studied these books all their lives.

After the birth of the desired child, parents die very soon, first Joachim at 80 years old, followed by Anna. There was no one even to visit the little child who was in the Temple. Orphanhood and the consciousness of her loneliness turned Mary's heart to God even more, in Him was her whole destiny.

When Mary was fourteen years old, the high priests announced to her that it was time to get married. Mary replied that she wanted to devote her life to God and wanted to preserve her virginity. How to be?

The Angel of the Lord appeared to the high priest Zechariah and told him the advice of the Most High: "Gather the unmarried men of the tribe of Judah, from the clan of David, let them bring their staffs. And to whom the Lord will show a sign, you give the Virgin to him, so that he becomes the guardian of Her virginity."

And that's what happened. The high priest Zechariah gathered unmarried men near the temple and turned to God with a prayer: "Lord God, show me a husband worthy to become a virgin's betrothed." The staffs of the invited husbands were left in the sanctuary. When they came for them, they immediately saw how one staff blossomed, and a dove was sitting on the branches that appeared. The owner of the staff was the 80-year-old widower Joseph, who was engaged in carpentry. The dove, flying off the staff, began to circle over Joseph's head. And then Zechariah said: "You will receive the Virgin and you will keep Her." At first, Joseph objected, fearing that with adult sons who are older than Mary, he would become a laughing stock of people. Tradition says that Mary herself was greatly grieved that She had to leave the Temple of God. But by the will of the Almighty, the betrothal took place, only Joseph became not the husband of Mary, in our usual understanding, but the keeper of holiness and a caring servant of the Virgin Mary.

Scripture does not say too much about Joseph, but nevertheless, even bit by bit, you can add a fairly clear image. The elder was a descendant of the kings David and Solomon, a man of firm and truthful disposition, modest, attentive, hardworking. From his first marriage with Solomiya, he had two daughters and four sons. Before his betrothal to Mary, he lived for many years in an honest widowhood.

Joseph brought the God-given young woman to his home in Nazareth, and they plunged into ordinary everyday affairs. Only Mary did not leave the premonition of a great accomplishment, something indescribable, extraordinary. All people were waiting for the coming of the Messiah, as the only deliverer from numerous vices that entangled people like a cobweb.

The roaming Rome, which conquered many countries, became sophisticated in pleasures, mired in debauchery, perversion, savagery, forgetting about all the virtues. A catastrophe of the spirit always leads to a catastrophe of the body. Only the Most High could be the healer of the spirit. And the Virgin Mary, as it were, instinctively, without realizing it, prepared herself for the fulfillment of the greatest Divine plan. With her soul she comprehended the appearance of the Savior, She did not yet know how God would send His Son to Earth, but Her soul itself was already preparing for this meeting. Thus, the Most Holy Virgin of things, by her only essence, could combine the age-old foundations of the Old Testament with the new Christian laws of life.

The Lord chose the archangel Gabriel, one of the very first angels, to proclaim His divine plan. The icon "Annunciation" (celebration of March 25) reveals to us this great deed of the Lord. It depicts a quiet rally from heaven to Earth of an angel in the guise of a magnificent young man. He gives the Virgin Mary a heavenly flower - a lily and utters priceless words; "Rejoice, blessed one: the Lord is with you! Blessed are you in women!" The meaning of these heavenly words is that the Most Holy Virgin conceives a Son, whose kingdom will have no end. Before, She read the sacred books, in particular, the prophet Isaiah, that a certain Virgin will give birth to the Son of Man from God. She was ready to become the servant of That woman, and did not think about her own divine destiny.

Modern man can create doubt in his mind. The Immaculate Conception has raised questions throughout the ages. But the most amazing thing is that the Good News heard, first of all, doubted Mary herself. "How will it be with me when I don't know my husband?" were her first words.

The fact may indeed seem dubious when taken with a cold mind. But it must be accepted not with the mind, but with the soul. The Immaculate Conception or ever-virginity of the Most Holy Theotokos is a combination of the heavenly and the earthly, the spiritual and the material. It was the moment of the rebirth of a worldly person into the Holiness, which people have been worshiping for two millennia.

Metropolitan of Moscow Saint Philaret (1782-1867) speaks of this phenomenon sincerely and sublimely: “The Virgin is ready to become a mother, She bows before the Divine appointment, but does not want and cannot experience earthly marriage, this common path to birth on Earth .. With Divine love alone this heart trembles. All - all thoughts, feelings, aspirations - are given to the invisible, unapproachable God. He alone could be Her desired, Her incorruptible bridegroom. And at that moment, as they spoke of Her about the Son, Her purest soul , frightened by the mere possibility of the thought of an earthly marriage, with power rushed there, in height, to the only desired and expected God. And then a mysterious, wonderful, immaculate conception took place ... "

Thus, the words of the Archangel Gabriel were confirmed: "The Holy Spirit will find on You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore, that which is born is holy, and will be called the Son of God."

Materialists cannot comprehend this miracle. Some accept only physics, others take a bolder step - into metaphysics. But how natural and logical to recognize the Divine principle! Although the concept of "beginning" is applicable to a specific phenomenon, and God is Eternity, which cannot have a beginning and an end. God is the power that affirms harmony in the Universe.

The icon "Annunciation" helps a mortal person to accept this spiritual essence and connects us with the Divine world. In Nazareth, where the archangel Gabriel preached the Virgin Mary, a temple was erected in the 4th century in memory of the Annunciation. In the altar, inextinguishable lamps burn, throwing light on the words, which contain the essence of the greatest sacrament: "Yic Verbum caro fuit" ("Here the word was made flesh"). Above the throne is the image of the Annunciation and next to a vase with white lilies. The flower that was in the hands of the Archangel Gabriel symbolizes purity.

We must imagine the state of the Virgin Mary, who must explain to her husband the reason for the already visible fruiting. The sublime and the sinful stood on the same scales in her imagination. A very difficult drama was brewing in the soul of an earthly man. And what was the state of Joseph, who was in awe of Mary, but saw changes in Her figure and suffered from the questions that tormented him ?! Of course, the Virgin Mary could tell Joseph everything as it was ... But will he believe that the Divine fruit is hidden in Her womb? And how to speak of Himself as Holiness? The Virgin Mary preferred silent suffering to all such supposed explanations, questions and answers. After all, She was aware of the fact of the ascension of a mortal man to an unattainable height.

Righteous Joseph, not knowing the secret of the Lord's incarnation, showed extraordinary kindness. After much agony, various assumptions and hesitations, he decides to secretly give the Virgin Mary a letter of divorce without specifying the reason for the divorce. St. John Chrysostom explains this act in the following way: "Joseph showed amazing wisdom in this case: he did not blame or reproach the Virgin, but only thought to let Her go." He really wanted to preserve the honor of the Virgin and save Her from the persecution of the law, thereby satisfying the requirement of his conscience. And as soon as he decided to carry out his plan with a letter, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. All contradictions and omissions were resolved in an instant by the Lord's revelation.

The Nativity of Christ and all His further earthly life are most fully and diversely represented in spiritual literature, in icon painting. For two millennia, such a number of books have been written about her that cannot be counted in the usual editions. There was no other similar life on Earth that would attract human souls to itself with such unshakable strength. For a giant period of time (in the usual human sense) in honor of Jesus Christ, the burning of lamps and candles on Earth did not stop. If black forces blew up the temple of God, then a candle burned in some hut. If it was extinguished in one part of the world, then it invariably shone with flame in front of a pure image - in another. At all times, the great spiritual feat of Christ, about which all people in the world are obliged to know, remained the highest ideal of service to God the Father and service of God the Son to mankind. The life of Jesus Christ was a living example of the fulfillment of two of the first biblical commandments: to love God and to love your neighbor.

Non-observance of these commandments by humanity leads him to destruction. Life has repeatedly convinced me of this. Evil, as it were, migrates across the planet in time. History records: the obscurantism of pagans of different stripes, the ferocity of the Herod dynasty, the cruelty of Nero, the savagery of the Jesuits, the pernicious consequences of the doctrines of philosophers like Nietzsche, the deception of false prophets and the pernicious temptations of new "kings" and the so-called democracy. Where the commandments of the Lord are not kept, evil invades, lies flourish, and faith in God becomes false; where the commandments of Christ the Savior are not observed, there is constant bloodshed, and love for one's neighbor is manifested only in words; where the commandments of the Most High are not kept, there the government lives luxuriously, and the people live in poverty. Such a society is doomed to perish.

If we imagine that Jesus Christ would not have come to earth, then, in contrast to evil, there would be no power at all, and humanity would have ended its existence long ago. The Savior appeared on earth during the reign of King Herod. What people associate with this name is clear. At all times and to this day, the most abominable rulers are called Herods. Whoever opposes them follows the commandments of Christ.

At all stages of the spiritual feat of Jesus Christ himself in the name of saving people, His Mother, the Most Holy Theotokos, stood next to Him. She bore her cross with the greatest earthly dignity. On a cold night She, having given birth to a son, could not shelter Him in Her house ("She gave birth to Her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and put Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the hotel) Luke 2: 7". King Herod, who commanded the people unjustly, was very afraid of the coming of the Messiah, he in every possible way prevented the fulfillment of God's intentions. Having learned about the birth of Christ, he committed a terrible, barbaric atrocity - he ordered to kill all babies in Bethlehem and its environs, hoping that among the killed there would be a newborn King of the Jews - the Savior. 14,000 innocent children - boys - fell victim for Christ at the behest of King Herod. What kind of fear did the Mother of God feel for the life of the Son ?!

She experienced every second of Jesus' life, from birth to crucifixion and ascension. And we must imagine Her grief, how it shook the soul when the ignorant crowd mocked Holiness, when the blood froze on the forehead of Her Son from the crown of thorns and when the Most Pure Body of Jesus had to be removed from the cross ...

After the Ascension of Christ, the earthly path of the Mother of God was still quite long and fruitful.

She was destined, together with the apostles, to carry the teaching of Christ around the world. Rejoicing at the success of the disciples of the Son, the Mother of God herself almost never spoke to the people. However, there is one wonderful exception in the legends ... About him later. The Mother of God sought the essence of the Christian teaching not in words, but in life itself. By the way, this is the most effective method of teaching children by parents: you can say little and do a lot, then the children will definitely understand how to do and what to do. The Virgin Mary diligently served the poor, gave to the poor, looked after the sick, helped orphans and widows. She devoted a lot of time to prayers at the tomb of the Son. The Virgin Mary buried Joseph the betrothed when Jesus was in his teens. Joseph also modestly and nobly performed his life feat. The life of each of us should be a heroic deed, the essence of life lies in that in order to fulfill with dignity the purpose given by God to each person. How to execute? Follow your conscience. Conscience should be the guide of life - pre-sent by God, guarded by man. Through her existence, material and spiritual efforts, the Mother of God taught people to live, awakening in a person Conscience - the voice of God. To the Mother of God - the Theotokos, standing in front of the icon - Her image, a person opens his soul, trusts secrets, sends repentance for sins, hoping for Her mercy and mediation before God. And the Mother of God unites a particle of this Divine principle in a person with the Most High.

The short-lived Virgin Mary once still had to speak to people with a wonderful sermon, the tradition of which has survived to this day. The Mother of God intended to visit Cyprus.

The ship crossed the Mediterranean Sea, and the desired island was about to appear. But suddenly a storm hit the ship, and it became uncontrollable, it was carried to the other side of the world, as if by the will of the heavenly Pilot. The ship got into the Aegean Sea, raced between the numerous islands and stopped at the will of the Almighty at the foot of Mount Athos. That area was literally teeming with idolical temples with a huge temple of Apollo in the center, where various fortune-telling and pagan sorceries were performed.

But now the Mother of God descended from the ship to the earth, and from everywhere people began to flock to Her with questions: who is Christ and what did He bring to Earth? And then She was forced to tell people for a long time about the mystery of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, about the sufferings that fell to His lot for the sins of people, about execution, death, resurrection and ascension to heaven.

She revealed to people the essence of the teachings of Jesus Christ - about repentance, forgiveness, love for God and neighbor - as great values ​​that affirm good, justice and prosperity in the world.

After such a deeply felt sermon of the Mother of God, an extraordinary action took place. All who heard Her wished to be baptized. Leaving Athos, the Mother of God blessed the newly converted Christians and uttered a prophecy: “Let this place be my lot, given to me by my Son and My God. May my grace rest on those who live here with faith and piety and keep the commandments of My Son and God. abundance and with little effort everything necessary for earthly life, and the mercy of my Son will not fail to them. Until the end of the age, I will be the Intercessor for this place and intercessor for it before My God. "

The further history of Athos to this day confirms that Divine protection has been felt and materialized over that place in all ages.

The blessings of the Mother of God similar to the Athos are so endless that one can compose a whole chronicle from them. Many icons of the Mother of God are dedicated to this. A story about them is ahead. Towards the end of her earthly life, the Mother of God strove towards Heaven with all her being. And once during prayer, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Her again with a joyful and radiant face, like decades ago, when he brought the Good News from the Almighty. This time the news was that the Mother of God had only three days left to stay on Earth. With the same great joy she received this message, for there could be no greater happiness for Her than to forever behold the image of Her Divine Son. Archangel Gabriel handed Her a paradise date branch, which emitted an extraordinary light day and night. The Mother of God was the first to tell the Apostle John about the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel, who almost never parted with the Mother of God.

Notifying all the household about her impending departure from the sinful Earth, the Mother of God ordered to prepare her chambers accordingly: decorate the walls and bed, burn incense, light candles. She exhorted those closest to her not to cry, but rather to rejoice in the fact that, while talking with Her Son, She would direct His goodness to everyone living on Earth, and would visit and protect the needy.

In a miraculous way, the apostles and disciples from all over the world, notified by the Holy Spirit, gathered to see the Mother of God on her last journey. There were about seventy of them - the most devoted preachers of the teachings of Christ. On the blessed 15th day of August and the third hour from noon, everyone gathered in the church, specially tidied up for the sacred unprecedented action. Many candles were burning, the Mother of God was reclining on a splendidly decorated bed and praying selflessly in anticipation of her exodus and the coming of His Son and His Lord. According to legend, you can imagine an extraordinary picture.

At the appointed time, the entire temple shone with anyone and never before unprecedented heavenly solemn light. As if the walls were parted and the King of Glory Christ Himself ascended above the heads of people, surrounded by a host of angels, archangels and other disembodied forces, with the righteous souls of the forefathers and prophets.

Having risen from the bed, the Theotokos bowed down to Her Son and the Lord with the words: "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in My God, the Savior, as a spectator of the humility of His servant! .. My heart is ready; awake Me according to Thy verb ..."

Looking at the bright face of the Lord, His dear Son, without the slightest bodily suffering, as if falling asleep sweetly, the Mother of God handed over her bright and pure soul to Him.

The Metropolitan of Moscow Saint Philaret, in his letters about veneration of the Most Holy Theotokos (M. 1844), explains to his compatriots this solemn moment of transition from earthly life to the life of the eternal Virgin Mary: then in return for this, the Son of God bears Her soul in His hands, at the beginning of Her heavenly life. "

On the ground, the burial of the body of the Virgin Mary took place. Saints Peter and Paul with the Lord's brother Saint James and other apostles lifted the bed on their shoulders and carried it from Zion through Jerusalem to the village of Gethsemane. Saint John the Theologian carried before the bedside a paradise date branch, handed over to the Virgin Mary by the Archangel Gabriel. The branch shone with heavenly light. Above the entire crowded procession and the most pure body of the Mother of God, a certain cloudy circle suddenly appeared - a semblance of a crown. And the joyous singing of the heavenly forces spilled over into space. Radiance and Divine chants accompanied the procession until the burial.

Tradition testifies how the unbelieving inhabitants of Jerusalem, amazed at the extraordinary grandeur of the funeral procession and embittered by the honors rendered to the Mother of Jesus Christ, reported what they saw to the Pharisees. Their order followed: destroy the entire procession, and burn the coffin with Mary's body! But a miracle happened: the shining crown - the Divine sphere, like a protective cap hid the procession. The warriors heard the steps of people seeing off the Mother of God, they heard singing, but they could not see anyone. They bumped into each other, houses and fences, felt as if they were blind. Nothing could interfere with the ceremonial burial.

In the Holy Scriptures, we will not find anywhere a story about the death of the Virgin Mary. Death did not happen. Of course, in the understanding, as it happens with an ordinary person, when the body is committed to the earth, and the soul - to God. The Holy Orthodox Church calls the departure from the earthly life of the Mother of God the Assumption. And he sings the Dormition of the Theotokos like this: "The laws of nature in You are defeated, Virgin is pure, virginity is preserved in birth and life is combined with death: being by birth a Virgin and after living death, You will always save, Mother of God, Your inheritance."

The Dormition means that the Virgin Mary, after a difficult long-term wakefulness, fell asleep in a sweet dream, passed away to the eternal source of life, becoming the Mother of Life, delivering with Her prayers the souls of mortals from the torment and death, instilling in them with Her Dormition a living foreboding of eternal life.

The Apostle Thomas, as legend says, arrived in Gethsemane only on the third day after the burial of the Most Holy Theotokos. He grieved and cried a lot about this and was very sorry that he had not been awarded Her blessing. And then the other apostles allowed him to open the tomb to make a final farewell. The stone was rolled away, the coffin was opened, but ... the body of the Virgin Mary was not there. The apostles began to pray to the Lord that He would reveal His secret to them.

Towards evening, the holy apostles sat down to eat. As was customary between them, they left one place unoccupied, and put a piece of bread in front of it, so that after the meal, making thanksgiving to the Lord, glorifying the name of the Holy Trinity, everyone could taste this piece of bread as a blessed gift with prayer: "Lord, Jesus Christ help us! " Everyone thought and talked at the meal only about the miraculous disappearance of the body of the Virgin. The meal was over, everyone got up and, according to custom, raised the bread set aside in honor of the Lord ... Looking up, preparing for prayer, everyone saw the Most Pure Virgin Mary surrounded by many angels. And they heard from Her: "Rejoice! I am with you all the days!"

The entire earthly life of the Mother of God fits into specific 72 years, as evidenced by the calculations of the ancient holy fathers of the Church (St. Andrew, Archbishop of Crete, St. Simeon Metaphrast), authoritative church historians agree with them. But from the entire holy life of the Blessed Virgin, the Orthodox Church singled out four most important spiritual events celebrated by great holidays: the Nativity of the Virgin, Introduction to the Temple, the Annunciation and the Dormition. These holidays are numbered among the so-called - twelve and equated to the great feasts of the Lord. There are twelve of them combined in a year. Behind each holiday is a great spiritual event, the reflection of which is an endless number of icons.

But at the same time, the icons of the Most Holy Theotokos themselves have a special life, a special history, they preserve miracles and still have a beneficial effect on a person.

Before interpreting the icons of the Most Holy Theotokos, it will be interesting and useful to present Her earthly appearance according to the descriptions of eyewitnesses that have come down to us in the sacred books. But the main feature of the Blessed Virgin, which determines all of Her spiritual content, Saint Gregory of Neocaesarea defined as follows: "She has a mind that is governed by God and directed towards God alone." All her contemporaries, without exception, put the impeccable spiritual qualities of the Mother of God in the foreground.

Saint Ambrose in the guise of the Mother of God notices those features that can serve as the ideal of a person: “She was not much talkative, a lover of reading ... Her Rule was not to offend anyone, to be well-disposed to everyone, to honor elders, not to envy equals, to avoid boasting, to be sane, love virtue. When, at least by the expression on her face, offended her parents? When was she in disagreement with her relatives? When did she take pride in front of a humble person, laughed at the weak, shied away from the poor? She had nothing harsh in her eyes, nothing careless in words, nothing indecent in actions: her body movements are modest, her step is quiet, her voice is even; so her bodily appearance was an expression of the soul, the personification of purity. "

Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, three years after his conversion to Christianity, was honored to see the Blessed Virgin Mary face to face in Jerusalem, describes this meeting as follows: and such a wonderful fragrance of various aromas spread around me that neither my feeble body nor my spirit itself could bear such great and abundant signs and the first fruits of eternal bliss and glory. "

Saint Ignatius the God-bearer surprisingly accurately defines the essence of the blessed influence of the Mother of God on ordinary mortals: "In Her, the angelic nature was united with the human."

From the legends, memoirs of the Blessed Virgin's contemporaries, a completely visible image emerges. Church historian Nikifor Callistos verbally described him as follows: “She was of average height, golden hair, quick eyes, with pupils like olive-colored, arched and moderately black eyebrows, oblong nose, blooming lips, full of sweet speeches; face not round and not sharp , but somewhat oblong, arms and fingers are long. "

At all times, the holy fathers of the church expressed their genuine delight before the image of the Most Pure Theotokos of our Ever-Virgin Mary. For example, the great theologian of the Orthodox Church, Saint John Damascene (VII century) says: “God loved her so much - the highest and purest light, that through the invasion of the Holy Spirit he essentially united with Her, and was born from Her as a perfect man, without changing or mixing properties ".

It is these properties, specifically defined and named by the venerable chroniclers of the church, the holy fathers and contemporaries of the Virgin Mary, are present in every icon of the Mother of God, corresponding to one or another event in Her life, one or another holiday of the Mother of God, one or another phenomenon associated with Her.

The earliest icon painter who left the most accurate image of the Mother of God was the disciple of the Apostle Paul and his assistant, the holy Evangelist Luke. The pious believers wished to see the face of the Mother of God. Saint Luke paints the image of the Virgin Mary and presents it to Her directly. When she saw the first icon of the Mother of God, or rather her own image, she involuntarily uttered: "The grace of him who was born of Me and Mine be with this icon!" Her blessing made the icons of the Mother of God blessed - giving the believer good, deliverance from vice, filling the soul with divine light.

The history of the first icon is unique. She spent many years in Antioch, where believers first called themselves Christians. Further, the holy image moves to Jerusalem, and then goes to Constantinople to the holy queen Pulcheria (in the middle of the first millennium). Together with their husband, Emperor Marcian, they erect three magnificent churches in Constantinople in honor of the Mother of God - Chalkoprateysky, Odi-gitria and Blakhernsky. An icon painted by the holy Evangelist Luke is placed in the temple of Hodegetria.

The Mother of God in the fate of Russia is like a mother for a baby. There is a special mystery in the veneration of the Mother of God by Russian people. She hides in the hope of an all-powerful mother's intercession before God. After all, the Almighty is not only a great benefactor, but also a formidable judge. The Russians, who have such a valuable trait as repentance in their character, have always coexisted with God-fearing God. As a mother, a god-fearing sinful man asks for the protection of the Mother of God, going to the judgment of the Lord. A person knows his sins, for this he was given a conscience by God. The great Intercessor, Protector, Savior - the Mother of God helps to answer to God for sins. It softens the punishment, as it were, but reveals the conscience in a person. When a poet says that "Russia cannot be understood with the mind," he means Conscience. The Russians entrusted this vulnerable and completely non-material "structure" - the divine essence to the Mother of God.

There is no more glorified name in Russia than the Most Holy Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary. From the very beginning of Russian history, the main cathedrals have been dedicated to the Mother of God. Byzantine masters erect the Assumption Cathedral in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra at the behest of the Mother of God herself. The desire of the Mother of God to stay in Russia is attested in the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon. And since then, people in Russia began to consider their Fatherland - the House of the Most Holy Theotokos.

The veneration of the Mother of God is accomplished primarily through icons. Only in the church month there are about three hundred revered icons of the Mother of God. Each has its own name. There is almost no day in the year that this day is not illuminated by the celebration of this or that icon of the Mother of God.

The outcome of great historical events is associated with the miraculous influence of the icons of the Mother of God. The Don icon helped in the Battle of Kulikovo; in the salvation of Moscow from Tamerlane and during the great stand on the Ugra - Vladimirskaya; during the Time of Troubles during the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow - Kazanskaya; with the approval of the ruling dynasty of the Romanovs - Feodorovskaya; in the Battle of Poltava - Kaplunovskaya. In 1917, on the day of the abdication of the Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II from the throne, the Mother of God herself, appearing unexpectedly in the form of the Sovereign One, took upon Herself the succession of the power of the Russian State. But many people have not preserved this holy image, have not preserved themselves.

For the Russian person, the salutary property of the Mother of God has always been revered as a blessing of his own mother. The people entrusted their soul and all themselves to the Mother of God. The icons of the Mother of God were treated as a living shrine, and therefore they were often given their own names, like a person.

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