Theotokos, Mother of God, Mother of God, Virgin Mary - V church tradition names Holy Virgin Mary, who gave birth to Jesus Christ.

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

The folk cult of the Mother of God differs from the church cult in being more down to earth. 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, and spells.

The Virgin Mary 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.

With the exception of Jesus Christ, there is not a single saint in Christian iconography who has been 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 grandeur of which their imagination was capable.

The Mother of God in Russian icons is always in sadness, but this sadness can be different: sometimes sorrowful, sometimes bright, but always filled with spiritual clarity, wisdom and great spiritual strength. The Mother of God can solemnly “reveal” the Child to the world, she can gently, press her Son to Herself, or lightly support Him - She is always full of reverence, worships her Divine Child and meekly resigns herself to the inevitability of sacrifice. Lyricism, enlightenment and detachment are the main features characteristic of the depiction of the Virgin Mary on Russian icons.

Only a small part of the iconography dedicated to the Mother of God - the Mother of God - is presented here.

Kazan is the most revered icon in Rus', the image of the intercessor of the entire people.

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

Quick to Hear- pray for the Lord to hear people’s prayers.

Iverskaya - they pray for protection from enemies and ill-wishers.

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

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

Feodorovskaya - people pray in front of this icon during 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 to humility- pray for healing from illnesses, oh women's health and well-being.

blessed sky- pray for the granting of God's Grace in Everyday life, help with business.

Softening evil hearts- pray to soften the hearts of those who come to you with evil thoughts.
Tenderness - mothers pray for the successful marriage of their daughters, for happiness and prosperity.

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

Barskaya - pray for good relations in the family, 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 icons Mother of God


O Most Holy Virgin, Mother of the Lord Most High, Intercessor and protection of all who resort to You! Look down from Thy holy height upon me, a sinner, falling before Thy most pure image; hear my warm prayer and offer it before your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; beg Him to illuminate my gloomy soul with the light of His Divine grace, to deliver me from all need, sorrow and illness, to grant me a quiet and peaceful life, physical and mental health, to pacify my suffering heart and heal its wounds, to guide me for good deeds, may my mind be cleansed from vain thoughts, and having taught me to fulfill His commandments, may He deliver me from eternal torment and may He not deprive me of His Heavenly Kingdom. O Most Holy Theotokos! You, O Joy of All Who Sorrow, hear me who mourns; You, called the Satisfaction of Sorrow, assuage my sorrow; You, Kupino the Burning, save the world and all of us from the harmful fiery arrows of the enemy; You, the Seeker of the Lost, do not allow me to perish in the abyss of my sins. According to Bose, all my hope and hope is in Tyabo. Be an Intercessor for me in temporary life and for eternal life before Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Intercessor. To you, Most Holy Mother of God, Most Blessed Mary, reverently honor you until the end of my days. Amen.

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

The glory of the Virgin Mary began from the time when Archangel Gabriel greeted Her: “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you! Blessed are You among women!” 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,” The Most Pure and Righteous Elizabeth met, to whom the Holy Spirit revealed that before her was the Mother of God (Luke 1:28-42).

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

The Old Testament Scriptures, predicting 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 Holy One. To the Virgin in the words of condemnation of the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the Woman, and between your seed and her Seed.”(Gen. 3:15). The prophecy about the Virgin Mary is that the future Redeemer is called here 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, indicating that the Wife who is about to give birth to the Messiah-Emmanuel will be a virgin: “The Lord himself will give you a sign,”- says the prophet to the unbelieving descendants of King David, - “ behold, Virgo(Isa. 7:14). And although the word “Virgo” seemed inappropriate to the ancient Jews, she will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Emmanuel, which means: God is with us.” because birth certainly presupposes marital communication, but still they did not dare replace the word “Virgin” with another word, for example, “woman”.

Earthly life of the Mother of God
Based on Holy Scripture and church tradition

Evangelist Luke, who knew the Holy Virgin Mary closely, recorded from Her words several important events related to early years Her life. Being a doctor and an artist, according to legend, He also painted Her portrait-icon, from 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 with his wife Anna in the Galilean city of Nazareth. 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 made a vow (promise) - if they had a baby, to dedicate him to serving God. At that time, not having children was considered God's punishment for sins. Joachim experienced childlessness especially hard, because according to prophecies, the Messiah-Christ was to be born in his family. For their patience and faith, the Lord sent Joachim and Anna great joy: finally, they had a daughter. She was given the name Maria, 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 to be dedicated to God. Maria remained to live at the temple. There She, together with other girls, studied the Law of God and handicrafts, prayed and read the Holy Scriptures. The Most Holy Mary lived at the Church of God for about eleven years and grew up deeply pious, submissive to God in everything, unusually modest and hardworking. Wanting to serve only God, She promised not to marry and to remain a Virgin forever.

Blessed Virgin Mary with Joseph. The elderly Joachim and Anna did not live long, and the Virgin Mary was left an orphan. When She turned fourteen years old, according to the law, She could no longer stay at the temple, but she had to get married. The High Priest, knowing her promise, so as 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 protect 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 Judah, Josiah, Simon and Jacob, who are called “brothers” of Jesus in the Gospels. The Blessed Virgin Mary led the same modest and solitary life in Joseph’s house as at the temple.

Annunciation. In the sixth month after the appearance of 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 appeared and said to Her: “ Rejoice, Thankful!(that is, filled with grace) - The Lord is with you! Blessed are You among women.” Mary was embarrassed by the Angel’s words and thought: what does this greeting mean? The angel continued to say to Her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And, behold, you will bear a Son and 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.” Mary asked the Angel in bewilderment: “How will it be when I don’t know my husband?” The angel answered Her that this would be accomplished by the power of Almighty God: “The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore, the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Behold, Your relative, Elizabeth, who did not have children until she was very old, will soon give birth to a son; for God will not remain powerless no word.” Then Mary said with humility: “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done according to my word yours.” And Archangel Gabriel departed from Her.

Visit to Righteous Elizabeth. The Most Holy Virgin Mary, having learned from the Angel that Her relative Elizabeth, the wife of the priest Zechariah, would soon have a son, hastened to visit her. Entering the house, She greeted Elizabeth. Hearing this greeting, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and learned that Mary was worthy 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 where does it give me such joy that the Mother of my Lord has come 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 (turned merciful attention) to the humility of His servant; from now on all generations (all tribes of people) will please (glorify) Me. Thus the Mighty One has done great things for Me, and holy is His name; and His mercy endures throughout all 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 give birth to a Son, through 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, bringing sacrifice to the temple on the 40th day, fleeing to Egypt, settling in Nazareth, traveling to Jerusalem for the Easter holiday, when He turned 12 -thous years and so on. We will not describe these events here. It should be noted, however, that although the Gospel references to the Virgin Mary are brief, they give the reader a clear idea of ​​Her great moral height: Her modesty, great faith, patience, courage, submission to the will of God, love and devotion to Her Divine Son. We see why She, according to the words of the Angel, was deemed 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, like Intercessors before His Son for all people in difficult circumstances. Noticing a lack of wine at the wedding meal, the Virgin Mary drew the attention of Her Son to this, and although the Lord answered Her evasively - “What do you and I need, Zheno? My hour has not yet come.” She was not embarrassed by this half-refusal, being sure that the Son would not leave Her request unattended, and said to the servants: “Whatever He tells you, do it.” How visible in this warning to the servants is the compassionate care of the Mother of God to ensure that the work She began is 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 a difficult situation, after which “His disciples believed in Him” (John 2:11.).

In further narratives, the Gospel depicts to us the Mother of God, who is in constant anxiety for Her Son, following His wanderings, coming to Him in different difficult cases, taking care of the arrangement of His home rest and peace, to which He, apparently, never agreed. Finally, we see Her standing in indescribable sorrow at the cross of Her Crucified Son, hearing Him last words and covenants, entrusting Her to 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 the Acts of the Holy Apostles, when on Her and on the Apostles on 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, took Her into his home and with great love, like his own son, took care of Her until Her very 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.

Dormition. 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 in such a way that by this time the apostles from different countries gathered in Jerusalem. At the hour of her 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, according to 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 the righteous Joseph rested. Many miracles took place during the burial. By 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, who was late for the burial, arrived in Jerusalem Thomas. He was very sad that he did not say goodbye to the Mother of God and with all his soul wanted to worship 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 burial shrouds. The amazed apostles returned to the house. In the evening, while praying, they heard angels 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 a helper and intercessor of Christians to this day, having become our heavenly Mother. For Her great love and all-powerful help, Christians since ancient times have honored Her and turned to Her for help, calling Her “The zealous Intercessor of the Christian race,” “The Joy of all who mourn,” “who does not leave us in Her Dormition.” 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 title is derived from the fact that She gave flesh to Him who always was and will be the true God.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is also a great example to be followed by all those who strive to please God. She was the first to decide entirely dedicate 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 spend a virgin life in prayer, fasting and contemplation of God. This is how monasticism arose and became established. Unfortunately, the modern heterodox world does not value at all and even ridicules the feat of virginity, forgetting the words of the Lord: “There are eunuchs (virgins) who have made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven,” adding: “Who can contain, yes will accommodate!”(Matt. 19:1).2

Summarizing this short review 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 in Her hours greatest sorrow When at the foot of the cross, according to the prophecy of the righteous Simeon, “the weapon passed through Her soul,” she showed complete self-control. With 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 Orthodox Christians honor Her so highly and try to imitate Her.

Modern miracles and apparitions of the Mother of God

WITH the first days after Her Dormition and to this day, the Blessed Virgin Mary helps Christians. This is evidenced by Her numerous miracles and appearances. Let's list some of them.

Holiday of Intercession The Mother of God was installed in memory of the vision of St. Andrew of the Mother of God covering Christians with Her omophorion (long veil) in the Blachernae Church during the siege of Constantinople by enemies in the 10th century. At the fourth hour of the night, the blessed one saw a majestic Woman coming from the royal gates, supported by St. the Baptist 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 approached 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 greatly honor the Feast of the Intercession, dedicating many churches to him.

Further information in this chapter regarding the apparitions of the Mother of God is gleaned mainly from the foreign press. Our Church has not yet expressed its opinion on them, and we present 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 FATIMA . After this, She appeared to children for several months, surrounded by radiance. Believers flocked from five to eighteen thousand people from all over Portugal to Her apparition. An unforgettable miracle happened when, after heavy rain, an extraordinary light suddenly shone, and the wet clothes on people instantly dried. The Mother of God called people to repentance and prayer and predicted the upcoming “conversion of Russia” (from atheism to faith in God).

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

The Washington Post newspaper of July 5, 1986 reported new apparitions of the Mother of God over the Church of St. Demian in the working-class town of Terra Gulakia, north of Cairo. The Virgin Mary held the Child Christ in Her arms and She was accompanied by several saints, among them St. Demian. As in past years, the appearances of the Mother of God were accompanied by numerous healings of incurable diseases, for example, blindness, kidneys, heart and others.

Since June 1981, the Mother of God began to appear to people on the mountain in INTERMOUNTAIN (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 regularly appear to six young people and talk with them. Medjugorje has become a place of constant pilgrimage for believers from all over the world. Local, Italian and other newspapers have written and are writing about these phenomena. Our Lady gradually revealed 10 secrets to the young people, which they should tell the church representatives in due time. The Mother of God promised that 3 days after Her message the last secret She will 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 during 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 Medjugorje, where atheism previously prevailed and there were many party members, all residents became believers and left communist party. In connection with the appearances of the Mother of God in Medjugorje, many miraculous healings occurred. The phenomena continue.

At 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 window opening, shining like a ray of sun. Gradually it formed into a human figure and everyone recognized Her as the Mother of God. In a spiritual impulse, people began to pray loudly and cry for help. 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 kept growing, and rumors of the miracle spread like lightning. All efforts of the police to disperse the worshipers were in vain. People began to arrive from Kyiv, from the Pochaev Lavra, Moscow, Tiflis and other cities. The authorities of Lvov asked Moscow to send the military, as well as experts in the field of science, to help. Scientists began to prove that there could 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 cripples and sick people. The visions of the Mother of God and healings continued for 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 Kyiv to the great. book Yuri Dolgoruky and staged at the Maiden Monastery in Vyshgorod. In 1155, Prince Andrei of Vyshgorod, going north, took with him the miraculous icon of the Mother of God. Along the way, prayer services 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 began to be called “Vladimir.” Since 1395 St. The icon is located in the Moscow Assumption Cathedral left side royal gates. The icon became famous for many miracles. Before her, Russian tsars were anointed as kings and metropolitans were elected. The celebration of the icon takes place on September 8, as well as on June 3 (new art). on the occasion of the deliverance of Moscow from the Crimean Khan in 1521, who was frightened by the vision of a miraculous army near Moscow.

KAZAN icon. In 1579, a 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 her to take St. an icon hidden in the ashes of a burnt house. The holy icon was found wrapped in old cloth under the stove in a burnt house, where it was buried, probably during the rule of the Tatars 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 Annunciation Cathedral and became famous for healing the blind. A copy was made of this icon 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 (Kursk Root) was found on September 8, 1295 by a trapper on the banks of the Tuskari River in the Kursk region, on the ground at the root of a tree. He built a chapel and erected an icon, which began to manifest itself in miracles. In 1383 Crimean Tatars, who devastated the area, cut the icon into two parts and threw them in different directions. They took prisoner the priest Bogolyub, who served in the chapel. Ransomed by the ambassadors of the Moscow Grand Duke, Bogolyub found the broken parts of the icon, put them together, and they miraculously grew together. In 1597, the icon was brought to Moscow at the request of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich. Upon the return of the shrine, a monastery was founded on the site of the chapel, 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 at the top, and the prophets on the sides. The icon, with a miraculous vision, saved Kursk from being captured by the Poles in 1612. Grateful residents of the city built the Znamensky Monastery, where she then stayed annually from September 12 until Friday of the 9th week of Easter. The rest of the time she was in the Root Desert. On March 7, 1898, the icon remained unharmed during an attempt by attackers 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 from Russia in 1920 by Bishop. Theophan of Kursk, and was in Yugoslavia in the Holy Trinity Church in Belgrade. The shrine provided great assistance 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 resides in the Cathedral of the Sign of the B.M. in New York. Periodically, the icon is taken for veneration to various churches of the Russian Church Abroad.

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

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

In March 1960 in the Greek Orthodox family Katsunis, who lives in Long Island, New York, began to shed tears from the lithographic icon of the “Passionate” (or “Roman”) Mother of God. During the transportation of the icon to the Greek Cathedral of St. Paul, throughout the entire journey, white doves hovered in the air above the icon. Due to the profuse flow of tears, the paper on which the icon was written became 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, living in the same area, the lithographic icon of the Mother of God, Iveron, also began to shed tears. These two weeping icons attracted a large number of worshipers. A large number of miracles occurring from these icons were noted in the foreign and local press. One of these icons was even subjected to scientific research to determine the source of these tears. Scientists at the University of British Columbia witnessed the fact of the flow of tears, but could not explain it scientifically.

On December 6, 1986, the iconostasis icon of the Mother of God in the Albanian Church of St. Nikolai Ugodnik 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 weeping icon was painted 23 years ago by Manhattan artist Konstantin Jussis. A specially assembled commission testified that “there can be no talk of any hoax.”

MYRRHSTREAMING icon. The Orthodox Spaniard Joseph, living on Athos, saw a copy of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God in the monastery and wished to purchase it. At first he was refused, but then unexpectedly the abbot handed him this image with the words: “Take it, this icon should go with you!” Joseph brought the icon to Montreal. On November 24, 1982, at 3 o’clock in the morning, 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 Chrismation, the glass door of the icon case opens, and each worshiper can see how St. myrrh slowly flows from the surface of the icon. Sometimes during crowded services, St. Myrrh appears on the outside of the glass and, before the eyes of the pilgrims, it flows in copious amounts onto the floor, and the fragrance fills the entire temple. It is also remarkable that during Holy Week the myrrh does not appear on the icon at all, but after Easter it flows again. Many miraculous healings occurred from the icon. The smell of St. the world changes from time to time, but is always extremely pleasant and strong. Anyone who doubts miracles in our time should look at the Myrrh-Streaming Icon: an obvious and great miracle!

It is not possible here to list all the miraculous icons of the Mother of God. After the revolution in Russia, a large number of ancient icons began to be updated. Sometimes, right before people’s eyes, within a short time, icons turned from dark to light, as if they had been recently painted. There are thousands of such updated icons.

Signs and wonders do not happen 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 his back more and more to God, he, having bitten the bit, is rapidly rushing towards his death. At this time of all kinds of catastrophes, shocks and temptations, we must remember Our Heavenly Mother and Intercessor at the throne of God. Most Holy Theotokos, save us!

The Most Holy Theotokos occupies one of the main positions in the Orthodox Church. She is also important for Catholics, who prefer to call her the Virgin Mary. On many icons, the Mother of God is most often present and occupies one of the central positions there. The biography of the Virgin Mary perfectly shows central role Mother of God throughout Christian culture.

But how many believers know who the Most Holy Theotokos is? To understand how important it is in Orthodoxy, you need to know its history.

History of the Virgin Mary

The important events from the early and late life of the Virgin Mary are narrated by the Apostle Luke, who was closely acquainted with her and even painted her icon, which became the original for all subsequent images.

It is known that Mary was the daughter of Joachim and his wife Anna, who were pious people, but did not have children until old age. They were known throughout the city of Nazareth, where they lived for their meekness and humility. Joachim came from the family of King David and knew that, according to prophecies, the Messiah should be born in his family. Therefore, they tirelessly prayed for the child and made a vow to give him to the service of the Lord.

Blessed Virgin Mary

The Lord heard them and sent them a daughter - Mary. At the age of three, the girl, while taking care of her parents' dinner, was sent to serve in the temple and lived there with the rest of the pious virgins, learning the Law of God.

When she was 14 years old, the priest betrothed her to the carpenter Joseph, who was also from the line of David. Maria's parents had died by that time. Some time after the betrothal, the Archangel Gabriel brought joyful news to Mary - she would become the Mother of God.

Mary, remaining a Virgin, conceived a Son. Her sister Elizabeth was pregnant at the same time with a child, the future John the Baptist. And she, as soon as Mary visited her, realized that she had received the honor of becoming the Mother of the Messiah.

Anyone can read the story of the birth of Christ and the flight to Egypt in the Gospels. Mary and Joseph experienced a lot in the first days of the life of Jesus Christ, but with humility they accepted the role of earthly parents of the Savior himself.

The very first miracle of Christ, during the wedding in Cana of Galilee, shows the compassion and caringness of Mary, because it was she who asked Christ to help. Thanks to her request, the Messiah performed the first miracle there. Reading the Gospels, you can see Mary coming to the place where Christ taught. She was on Golgotha, at the foot of the cross, where her Son was crucified. After the death of Jesus, John the Theologian became her son.

The whole life of the Virgin Mary is humility. She was given to the service of the Lord by her parents and fulfilled the obligation with dignity. The Lord saw her meekness and humility and despised her, giving her important role- to be the Mother of the Messiah himself. To bear and give birth to a Savior to this sinful world.

Dormition of the Virgin Mary

The legends of the elders, in addition to the miracles of the Mother of God described, report that after the death of Jesus Christ, she lived for about 20 years. The Apostle John the Theologian took her into his home, as Christ commanded him, and took care of her as if he were his mother.

There is a legend according to which, before her death, the Mother of God prayed on the Mount of Olives and saw an angel who said that she had no more than 3 days to live. The angel had a date branch in his hands. It so happened that at this time all the apostles, except Thomas, were in Jerusalem, where the woman lived. They came to her on the day of her death and saw a wonderful picture: the room was filled with bright light, Christ appeared with a host of angels and accepted the soul of his Mother.

The icon “Assumption of the Virgin Mary” was painted on this topic, where you can see all the participants in that action.

About other Mother of God icons:

Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The apostles buried the body of the Ever-Virgin in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ prayed on his last free night, in the tomb of her parents and Joseph, her husband. During her burial, numerous miracles occurred: the blind received their sight and the lame began to walk upright.

Important! During her lifetime, the Lady of Heaven was a symbol of meekness before the Lord and strictly followed His words and accepted them. Therefore, after death, she was awarded the honor of helping believers and hearing their prayers, as well as interceding with the Lord for believers and those asking.

Our spiritual mother

Why do Orthodox believers venerate the Mother of God? Because it has a basis set out in the Gospels.

When the Virgin became pregnant and was talking to her sister Elizabeth, she said: “For from now on all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48). We are not talking about simple respect here, since respect implies a polite attitude. The Mother of God speaks of satisfaction, which includes prayer. That is why Catholics and Orthodox Christians have prayerful veneration of the Most Pure One, integrated into their worship.

Virgin and Child

The Virgin is distinguished by her meekness before God. She not only carried out the order, she wanted to carry it out and agreed, voluntarily, to carry and give birth to a child, although this threatened her with death. After all, earlier, in Israel, a girl who got married while already pregnant, and the Mother of God had just become engaged to Joseph, was stoned. That is, Mary voluntarily risks losing her life for the sake of fulfilling the Lord’s words.

Jesus Christ could not have been born through the violence of man's good will. Full consent and acceptance of the girl was necessary. However, in worship it is easy to fall into sin.

Important! The veneration of the Virgin should not equate her with the Lord in the eyes of believers. Because it would be blasphemy.

In the 80s of the last century there was a sect called “Theotokos Center”, whose members had communion not only with the Blood and Flesh of Christ, but with the tears of the Mother of God. This is heresy and blasphemy. These people, members of the sect, did not know the Scriptures and the commandments of the Lord. They compared a woman, albeit an immaculate one, but a woman, with our Lord Jesus Christ. It is unacceptable. The Lord says in the book of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 42: “I will not give My glory to another,” and the Venerable One said to herself: “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord.”

The Mother of God is the prayer book and spiritual Mother of all people. If through Eve everyone was born into the world, then through Mary everyone was born spiritually. There are many testimonies about the Mother of God when she answered prayers and prayed to the Lord for the believers.

Prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary:

Almost every icon of hers is known for great miracles. The tears of a mother who prays for her child will never go unanswered, so can the prayer of the Heavenly Lady, the spiritual Mother of all people, go unanswered? Of course not.

The Most Holy Theotokos gives us a will

We know about the Nativity and childhood of the Most Holy Theotokos not from the books of the New Testament, but on the basis of Holy Tradition. An apocryphal text from the 2nd-3rd centuries, the so-called Proto-Gospel of James, tells in detail about these events. This legend, although it did not belong to the canonical New Testament texts, has enjoyed authority since ancient times.

It tells the story of a pious couple from Nazareth of Galilee - Joachim and Anna. Joachim came from the royal family of David, and Anna was the daughter of a priest from the Aaronic tribe, Matthan (his other daughter, Sophia, was the mother of Elizabeth, who became the mother of John the Baptist). Joachim and Anna were righteous before the Lord, kept His commandments and were known to everyone not so much for the nobility of their origin, but for their humility and mercy.

They lived comfortably, Joachim owned numerous herds. They spent only one third of their income on themselves, donated the other to the temple, and distributed the third to the poor. However, they did not have children, and among the Israelites this was considered shameful, since childless people lost the hope of having the Messiah as their descendant. According to the concepts of that time, childlessness was considered disgrace and a severe punishment. On one of the great holidays, Joachim came to the Jerusalem Temple to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, but the high priest rejected Joachim’s offering, reproaching him for childlessness. Also, other fellow tribesmen reviled him, saying: “It is not permissible for you to bring your gifts with us, for you have not created a seed in Israel.” Joachim was so sad that he did not want to return home, but went into the desert, where he remained in fasting and prayer for forty days.

Anna was left alone. She was walking around the garden and crying when she suddenly noticed a nest with chicks on a laurel branch. “Alas!” cried Anna. “To what can I compare myself? Who gave me life that I am so cursed before the children of Israel? They laugh at me and insult me, and expel me from the Temple of the Lord! Alas! What can I liken myself to? I cannot compare "with the birds of the air, for the birds are fruitful before You, O Lord. I cannot compare with the creatures of the earth, for they are fruitful. I cannot compare with the sea, for it is full of fish, nor with the earth, for it gives fruit in its season and blesses the Lord." .

And then the Angel of the Lord appeared in the garden and said: “Anna! The Lord has heard your prayers, and you will give birth to a blessed Daughter. For Her sake, all generations of the earth will be blessed. Through Her, salvation will be given to the whole world, and She will be called Mary.” Anna made a vow: if she had a child, she would give him to serve God. Joachim had the same vision in the desert. Joachim and Anna met, together made thanksgiving sacrifices in the temple and returned home, with firm faith that they would receive according to the promise of the Lord.

Since ancient times, the Orthodox Church has been celebrating on December 9 (22) the Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos from elderly parents, and nine months after this day, on September 8 (21), the Most Pure Virgin was born. According to Jewish custom, on the 15th day after the birth of the baby, She was given the name indicated by the angel of God - Mary, which means “lady”, “hope”.
Maria grew and strengthened, surrounded by the care of her parents. Tradition says that when She was six months old, Anna put Her on the ground to see if She could stand. Maria took seven steps and returned to her mother's arms. Anna decided that her Daughter would not walk on earth until she brought Her into the temple of the Lord. She created a special place in her daughter’s bedroom, where nothing unclean was allowed, and called the virgin daughters of the Jews to care for the baby.

When Mary was one year old, Joachim arranged a feast for which he gathered priests, elders and many people, and brought Mary to this meeting, asking everyone to bless Her. “God of our fathers, bless this Child and give Him a glorious and eternal name throughout all generations,” was the blessing of the priests. Anna joyfully glorified God that He resolved her infertility and “took away the reproach of her enemies.” Another year later, Joachim thought about fulfilling Mary’s vow of dedication to God, but Anna, fearing that the child would become homesick in the temple, and wanting to keep Her with her longer, persuaded her husband to postpone his intention for one year.

Only three years old, the Blessed Virgin was introduced into the temple. Many relatives and friends of Joachim and Anna gathered in Nazareth for the celebration of dedication. They all went to Jerusalem, three days' journey from Nazareth. After entering the city and seven days of purification by fasting and prayer, the righteous Joachim and Anna with all those accompanying them approached the temple, leading their three-year-old daughter. The priests, led by the high priest Zechariah, came out of the temple to meet them.

The porch leading to the temple consisted of 15 high steps, according to the number of sedate psalms that the priests and Levites sang on each step upon entering the temple. Joachim and Anna placed their daughter on the first step, and, to everyone’s amazement, three-year-old Mary climbed to the very top without outside help, where the high priest Zechariah received her. According to the word of legend, he did not stop where those praying usually stood, but led her into the Holy of Holies, like the Old Testament ark of God.

During her entire stay in the temple, Mary entered there for prayer without any restrictions. After the introduction, Joachim and Anna, having made a thanksgiving sacrifice, returned home, and three-year-old Mary was left at the temple to be raised with other virgins. Special rooms were built around the temple where virgins lived, dedicated to and serving God. The life of the Virgin Mary at the temple was distinguished by its special purity and holiness. She got up at dawn and, according to legend, prayed three times a day: morning, noon and evening. The rest of the time She occupied herself with reading the books of the Holy Scriptures and doing handicrafts. The hymns of the Church testify to the appearance of angels to the Most Pure Virgin with heavenly food.

When Mary was about nine years old, She lost Her elderly parents: first Joachim died, and soon Anna died.

The article uses materials from the book " Earthly life The Most Holy Theotokos and a description of the holy miraculous icons" (compiled by S. Snessorev),

as well as images of icons:

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Sinai, Egypt)

Conception of Righteous Anna (Germany, 15th century)

Easter.ru

Despite the fact that in holy book Christians of the Bible (New Testament), there is little information about the words and deeds of the Virgin Mary. Her wonderful image and special respect for it are found all over the world, continuing to this day with inexplicable force to attract believers and atheists in various corners of the globe. We again turn to this beautiful, luminous topic, because we consider it the most worthy of the topics that we can raise, and to which a person is obliged to pay attention, due to his limited understanding of the essence of the hidden processes of the universe. Even though many people live in earthly and perishable things, and I still can’t accept what they don’t see, even though conversations about spirituality and deep feelings cause distrust and detachment, however, even the most ingrained opinion and extinguished interest can be convinced and ignited with interesting and obvious facts, because facts are a stubborn thing.

Yes, Maria "most likely somewhere exists," both believers and skeptics will quietly agree with me. Yes, for some reason it is revered throughout the planet. Yes, perhaps there is something more behind this than the ordinary status of a canonized saint. But what next? And then the facts!

MARIA...

Isn’t it amazing that in Catholicism she is revered as the immaculate Virgin Mary, in the Orthodox tradition the Most Holy Theotokos, and in Islam, in the holy book of Muslims, the Koran, She is noted as the only and most worthy of all earthly women. In confirmation, I will quote from the Koran: “The angels said: “O Maryam (Mary)! Verily, Allah has chosen you, purified you and elevated you above the women of the worlds" (Quran 3:42-43)." The following follows from this, given that total There are more than 3.8 billion followers of the world's two leading religions, Christianity and Islam (2.3 + 1.5, respectively), a good half of the world's population knows about Mary and, to one degree or another, expresses their respect.

Doesn’t it look unique that with the image of Mary, on some subconscious and spiritual level, many residents, regardless of age, religious affiliation and nationality, associate the purest, kindest, most ideal ideas about human nature, thanks to which, people are convinced , The Virgin Mary rightfully occupies a special, honorable place in the divine “heavenly” hierarchy. And the point is not how high her hierarchical level is and how close she is to God; for some reason, no one doubts that she is a great spiritual being who has been providing invisible support to suffering humanity for centuries. Probably, many of us, in difficult moments of life, came to Her most pure image, asking for help and consolation.

Don’t you, dear readers, also find it surprising that no matter what changes the evolving society has undergone over two millennia, no matter how history has been rewritten to suit someone’s interests, the authority of the Virgin Mary still remains unshakable and unshakable?

APPEARANCES OF THE VIRGIN

Don’t you think it’s amazing and strange that the largest number of evidence of miraculous healings, visions and phenomena of a supernatural nature - when compared with all the canonized saints combined - is again associated with the Virgin Mary. The historical chronicle is literally filled with Her miracles, it’s hard to deny. To be fair, note that neither Buddha, nor Mohammed, nor Jesus, nor saints and prophets come to people in moments of the most difficult trials, but for some reason it is the Virgin Mary. There is even a specially created website (http://miraclehunter.com) that collects confirmed and unconfirmed facts about the appearance, visions and revelations of St. Mary in different times. Here is a map from this site that displays the geography and chronology of Mary’s apparitions to certain inhabitants of the Earth. Pay attention to the end of the 20th century.

FACTS OF THE APPEARANCE OF THE VIRGIN MARY...

The name of the Mother of God, the name of the icon or place of appearance	A country	Date of Apparition		Who saw
Zaragoza	Spain	39		Jacob Zavedeev
Anastasiopol	Byzantium	601		Theodore Sikeot
Blachernae Church	Byzantium	2 October 910		Andrey Yurodivy
Virgin Mary of Walsingham	England	1061		Richeldis de Favershe
Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God	Russia	1155		Andrey Bogolyubsky
Trinity-Sergius Lavra	Russia	1385		Sergius of Radonezh
Our Lady of Healing	France	1515		Anglèze de Sagazan
Our Lady of Guadalupe	Mexico	12 December 1531		Juan Diego
Kazan Mother of God	Russia	July 8 1579		Matrona Onuchina
Lo	France	from May 1664 to 1718		Benoit Rancourel
Wonderful medallion, Rue du Bac 140, Paris	France	1830		Ekaterina Labure
Sarov	Russia	November 25 1831		Seraphim of Sarov
Rome	Italy	January 20th 1842		Alphonse Ratisbon
Virgin Mary of La Salette	France	September 19, 1846		Maxime Giraud and Melanie Calvat
Lourdes	France	11 February au 16 July 1858		Bernadette Soubirous
Our Lady of Pontmain	France	January 17, 1871		Eugenia Barbedet, Joseph Barbedet.
Gitterzwald	Poland	du 27 juin 1877 au 16 septembre 1877		Justyna Szafrynska, et Barbara Samulowska
Our Lady of the Sovereign	Russia	end of February 1917		peasant of the settlement of Pererva, Bronnitsy district, Evdokia Adrianova
Virgin Mary of Fatima	Portugal	from May 13 to October 13, 1917		Lucia dos Santos, Francisco Marto and his sister Jacinta
Boren	Belgium	November 29, 1932, January 3, 1933		Fernande, Gilberte et Albert Voisin, Andrée et Gilberte Degeimbre
en:Our Lady of Banneux	Belgium	January 15, 1933 – March 2, 1933		Marietta Beko
Amsterdam	Netherlands	1945		-
L "Il-Bouchard	France	from 8 to 14 December 1947		four small children
Bethania	Venezuela	de 1940 au 5 January 1990		Maria Esperanza Medrano de Bianchini
Our Lady of Garabandal	Spain	from 1961 to 1965		four girls aged 11 and 12: Maria Loli Mason, Jacinta Gonzalez, Maria Cruz Gonzalez, Conchita Gonzalez
Our Lady of Zeytun	Egypt	from April 2, 1968 to May 29, 1971		hundreds of thousands (probably millions) of Egyptians and foreigners, Christians and Muslims
Our Lady of Akita	Japan	from July 6 1973 to October 13, 1973		nun Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa
London	Great Britain	1985		Patricia Meneses
Kibuye	Rwanda	from November 28 1981 to November 28, 1989		Alphonsine Mumureke, Nathalie Mukazimpaka, Marie Claire
Tskhinvali, armed conflict 2008	South Ossetia	August 2008		many people who saw the silhouette of a woman during battles

RECOGNIZED AND UNRECOGNIZED APPEARANCES OF THE VIRGIN.

FLYWAY OF AN ICON OF THE VIRGIN AROUND MOSCOW IN DECEMBER 1941.

The story of how on December 8, 1941, on the orders of Stalin, a flyover was made of the besieged by fascist troops on the outskirts of Moscow with Tikhvin icon The Most Holy Theotokos, the Orthodox writer Nikolai Blokhin told the world. This message amazed many and was distributed in a large number of publications in the media. According to some, this story proves that Stalin was a leader of secret faith, that he was transformed during the war, and that the Mother of God helped him. However, there were also many objections to this matter; military historians and church ministers began to conduct their investigations, proving that myths about religious processions and signs arose around all major battles, they say, these are all fictions. I won’t say anything, because I don’t know for sure. I would only like to note that after the “flight of the icon of the Mother of God around Moscow,” in December 1941, a turning point in the entire Second World War took place, the capital of the USSR survived and for the first time a counteroffensive began, which later developed into the final Victory over Nazi Germany.

As a humble observer, I would like to point out something very strange weather phenomenon, associated with an unnaturally sharp warming on December 8 in the central region of Russia. For some reason, critics do not pay attention to the fact that in two days the temperature in the region rose from -29 to +1 0 C (!). Specifically, the difference during one day alone was 24 degrees. Have you seen this in your lifetime, dear reader? I found an archived weather service for CIS cities in the 19th-20th century: www.thermo.karelia.ru, where you can see a report for the city of Tambov (for some reason there is no Moscow), and I provide a screenshot as proof:

IMAGE OF MARY OF GUADALUPE IN LATIN AMERICA.

Residents of Latin America sacredly honor the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, who is considered the patroness of both Americas and is respectfully called “Our Lady of Guadalupe.” And the cult of veneration of the Virgin of Guadalupe began with the modest Indian Juan Diego, who lived near Mexico City. On December 9, 1531, as a Catholic convert, he hurried past Tepeyac Hill to attend morning mass at church, but unexpectedly heard beautiful singing. Deciding to be curious about where this voice (or voices) was coming from, he climbed to the top of the hill and saw a shining cloud. In the cloud, Juan Diego saw a beautiful young woman who looked more like the girls of his tribe than a white-skinned Spanish woman.

The lady called herself the Virgin Mary and asked to build a temple at the site of her appearance so that everyone could honor her Son, Jesus Christ. But bad luck! The priests did not believe Juan, deciding that the Mother of God could not appear to some Indian without a soul (previously, the Spaniards believed that the indigenous population of Latin America did not have a soul, which means that Indians could be killed without a twinge of conscience).

But the Mother of God did not retreat. One day, when Juan Diego went to find a priest for his sick uncle, the Virgin Mary once again appeared to the unfortunate Indian and ordered him to collect all the flowers that he could find on the hill. The young man obeyed, although nothing grew on the hill. But suddenly he saw a rose bush growing on a rock. “Here is My sign,” said the Virgin Mary. “Take these roses, wrap them in your cloak and take them to the bishop.” This time he will believe you." Arriving at the bishop, Juan Diego unrolled his cape, where there were roses, and everyone saw the Virgin Mary standing on the cloth. new month, surrounded by stars and the Sun. After this, the priests repented of their unbelief, and Juan Diego's uncle, who was dying, was miraculously healed. All this convinced the indigenous people of Mexico, who continued to worship their gods, that Christianity was the true faith. And after the appearance of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, almost 6 million Indians independently converted to Catholicism. Thus the baptism of Latin America took place.

APPEARANCE OF MARY IN LOURDES, FRANCE, 1858.

In 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared to a simple village girl from the French town of Lourdes. 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous, who did not shine with intelligence, actually became the messenger of dogma catholic church O Immaculate Conception Holy Mother of God. On February 11, 1858, Bernadette and her other children were sent by her parents to fetch branches for kindling. To get to the grove, where they could collect these same branches, the children had to cross a small stream. Bernadette's friends quickly completed this task, but the girl was left standing undecided whether to cross the stream or not.

Without waiting for her decision, the children left Bernadette alone. When the girl finally decided to cross the cold stream, she suddenly saw a golden cloud that floated out of the cave on the other side of the stream. A woman of unearthly beauty stood on a cloud... The first time Bernadette did not dare to follow beautiful lady, however, during all the other 18 apparitions, the shepherdess not only followed the stranger, but also talked to her. At first, the girl thought that this was the soul of one of the village residents who had died a year earlier, but later she realized that the Virgin Mary herself was talking to her.

FATIMA APPEARANCE OF THE VIRGIN MARY.

It is believed that the Virgin Mary appeared to three children from the Portuguese town of Fatima in 1917, but some researchers claim that these apparitions continued from 1915 until the end of 1917. The Virgin Mary left three predictions for three children - two sisters Lucie and Jacinta and their brother Francisco - that were not immediately revealed. Firstly, the children were not believed at first. When Jacinta told her parents about her meetings with the beautiful Virgin, she was ridiculed, and Lucia was even beaten. The headman, interrogating the children together and separately, could not get a confession that all these meetings and predictions were an invention of the children themselves.

We have written about this several times, read on our website in the articles “The Fatima Apparition of the Virgin Mary and the Prophecy of Saint Malachi”, “Predictions about the Last Pope”.

APPEARANCE OF THE VIRGIN IN ZEITOUN, EGYPT, IN 1968.

APPEARANCE OF THE VIRGIN MARY IN JAPAN, IN THE TOWN OF AKITA.

The Most Pure Mother of God appeared to people not only in Europe. In the early 70s of the last century, the Virgin Mary appeared in Japan, in the small town of Akita. The Mother of God was seen by the deaf nun Agnes Sasagawa Katsuko. At the age of 19, after an unsuccessful operation, she lost her hearing and was bedridden for 16 years. The doctors just shrugged their shoulders. They were powerless to help the girl. A deaf patient was transferred from hospital to hospital. And in one of the hospitals, she met with a Catholic nurse who told the unfortunate woman about the Christian faith. Thanks to the nurse, Agnes's condition improved, and in 1969 she decided to enter a monastery and devote herself to God. True, 4 months after the tonsure, the woman’s condition worsened again, and only holy water from a source in Lourdes helped the nun get back on her feet.

The first time Agnes saw the Virgin Mary was on June 12, 1973 during prayer. Brilliant mysterious rays came out of the Monstrance. Agnes saw these rays for several days, and then a stigmata in the shape of a cross formed on her left palm. The pain was unbearable, but the nun held firm, answering the sisters who consoled her that the wound on the hand of the Blessed Virgin Mary was much deeper. The amazed sisters decided to go into the chapel and discovered the same wound on the statue of the Virgin Mary... But the miracles in Akita did not end there. That same evening, Agnes, praying to the image of the Mother of God, heard the first message. The Virgin Mary told the nun that she would soon be healed and called on all the sisters to pray for people in order to atone for their sins and stop the wrath of the Heavenly Father.

The Mother of God appeared to Agnes several more times, calling her to patience and perseverance. She predicted the nun not only her future fate, which included persecution and ridicule, but also the fate of the Japanese people, in particular the deadly tsunami in March 2011. 10 years after the appearance of the Virgin Mary, Agnes’s hearing returned and she finally recovered. After humiliating examinations of the sisters who witnessed the miraculous phenomenon, the Roman Catholic Church nevertheless recognized this fact as genuine, although before the investigation, more than 500 people, including both Christians and Buddhists, saw the statue of the Virgin Mary in the Akita monastery exuded blood, sweat and tears.

APPEARANCES OF THE VIRGIN MARY IN BOSNIA, IN 1981.

For the first time, information about Medjugorje became known in the summer of 1981, when six local young children (4 girls and 2 boys) announced that the Virgin Mary appeared to them, who introduced herself as the “Mistress of the World.” There is evidence that these phenomena continue to this day. In them, the Virgin Mary conveys short messages - she calls believers to conversion, prayer and peace. To date, three witnesses to the apparitions receive messages from Mary daily, while the other three receive messages only once a year. Phenomena occur systematically - at the same time. Interestingly, four of the witnesses live in Medjugorje, while the other two live in Italy and the USA. Despite these circumstances, they all continue to hear and see Mary.

THE MIRACLE OF THE MOTHER OF GOD IN THE SKY OVER SUFFERING NANEVIA, 2015.

Christians living in the Nineveh Valley, partially occupied by IS, report the miracle of the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to them. On the evening of December 21, 2015, eyewitnesses in various areas of the cities of Alkash and Ankawa witnessed an unusual phenomenon: a bright red figure lit up in the completely dark night sky, which did not go out for several minutes. The fiery image shocked local residents: according to the majority of the believing Ninevites, the figure of light was nothing more than the silhouette of the Blessed Virgin Mary, well known to Christians from iconography and church sculpture. The miraculous event caused a wide resonance in the Christian society of Iraq.

HOW MANY PHENOMENA ARE REMAINED UNACCOUNTED?

The miracle happened on December 16, 1890 in house No. 1 on Voskova Street in St. Petersburg. A terminally ill boy turned to heaven with a prayer, after which the Mother of God appeared to him with instructions to go to the other end of the city to see her miraculous icon. She was then in the church on Obukhov Defense Avenue. He did so, and after praying at the miraculous icon, the paralyzed boy returned home on foot on his own feet. When he grew up, he became a monk in the parish of the Most Holy Theotokos, established in this house. Now he is not there, but the memory of the appearance of the Mother of God to the child has been preserved to this day.

The miracle happened on December 16, 1890 in house No. 1 on Voskova Street. A terminally ill boy turned to heaven with a prayer, after which the Mother of God appeared to him with instructions to go to the other end of the city to see her miraculous icon. She was then in the church on Obukhov Defense Avenue. He did so, and after praying at the miraculous icon, the paralyzed boy returned home on foot on his own feet. When he grew up, he became a monk in the parish of the Most Holy Theotokos, established in this house. Now he is not there, but the memory of the appearance of the Mother of God to the child has been preserved to this day.

How many apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary remained unaccounted for? official statistics? Tens, hundreds, thousands?

EPITHETS...

Now let's see how great is the grateful, laudatory series of names and epithets given to her, the Most Holy Theotokos, in the Russian Orthodox tradition of akathists and prayers. And this list is far from complete.

United by proper name:

• Maria,
• Mariam,
• The Virgin Mary,
• Our Lady,
• Mother of God,
• Mother of God,
• Seide Mariam (Lady Mariam in Islam),
• Mother,
• Mati,
• Bogomati,
• Mother of Light,
• Mother of the world
• Madonna,
• Mother...

Holiness and purity are noted in the following titles:

• Holy
• Holy,
• Good,
• Offering
• Most pure,
• Beautiful,
• Blessed One,
• Blessed Mary,
• Strong,
• Lady,
• Benevolent,
• Gracious,
• Virgo,
• Maiden,
• Ever-Virgin,
• Ever-Maiden,
• Immaculate,
• Bride of God,
• Innocence,
• Innocence and Help,
• Patronage,
• Most Pure Mother,
• Mother of God,
• Tenderness,
• Joy,
• All-merciful,
• Responsive, Merciful and Compassionate,
• Undefiled, Unglamorous, Imperishable,
• Glorious...

And Her power and strength are expressed in the following words:

• Lady,
• Queen,
• Intercessor,
• Madam,
• Assistant,
• Handmaid,
• Intercessor,
• Intercessor,
• Prayer book,
• Comforter,
• Superior,
• Hope,
• Guidebook,
• Hope and Refuge,
• Intercession and Help,

Akathists of the Most Holy Theotokos, filled with figurative comparisons:

• Our Holy Lady Theotokos,
• Queen of heaven and earth,
• Protection of all who come running to You,
• Burning bush,
• Light-receiving candle,
• The mountain is not cut by hands,
• Unbreakable wall
• Intercessor and Helper of the world,
• Life-giving Source,
• Most Pure Mother,
• The bride is not a bride,
• Unexpected joy
• Strong helper to the human race,
• Helper and supporter of life and salvation,
• The most honorable Cherub and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim,
• Deliverer from sorrows,
• Ambulance Assistant,
• Heavenly Intercessor,
• Great Panagia,
• Satisfying sorrows
• Zoryanitsa, Red Maiden, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
• Mother Most Holy Theotokos,
• Blessed Virgin Mary,
• Mother of God, Unfading Color,
• All-generous Mother of the philanthropic Lord,
• God's Chosen Lady,
• One purest soul and body,
• The One who surpasses all purity, chastity and virginity,
• One who has completely become the abode of the complete grace of the all-holy Spirit,
• The most insubstantial forces,
• Friend of the orphaned and strange to the Representative, mourning Joy,
• Offended by the Patroness,
• this list goes on and on...

For centuries, great elders, prayer books and just ordinary people wove into Her praises the purest and most sublime, the most best words Russian language! Isn't this a miracle?! As an example, Saint Andrew of Crete gives a list of Old Testament prototypes of the Mother of God: “With how majestic names She is adorned, and how expressively she is shown in many places of Scripture. So, wanting to talk about Her, it calls Her the Virgin, the Young Lady, the Prophetess, further - the Bridal Chamber, the House of God, the Holy Temple, the Second Tabernacle, the Holy Meal, the Altar, the Purification House, the Golden Censer, the Holy of Holies, the Cherub of Glory, the Golden Staple, the Ark homo of the Covenant, the Priestly Rod, the Royal Scepter, the Diadim of Beauty, the Vessel with the Anointing Chrism, the Alabaster, the Candlestick, the Incense, the Lamp, the Lamp, the Chariot, the Bush, the Stone, the Earth, Paradise, the Country, the Field, the Source, the Lamb...”

Incredible, isn't it? And it's all about one person!

ICONS...

At this religious segment of the story, the ever-hurrying reader may pause somewhere and doubt; in this case, I have a few questions in store for him:

• Has there ever existed in history (and in what religion) such a true saint, whom people would so generously sing in their prayers?
• Has there ever been such a true saint in history (and in what religion), who would have shown so many miracles of his Presence and support to people?
• Has there ever existed in history (and in what religion) such a true saint, whom iconography would depict in such rich abundance and diversity? In the calendar of only Russian Orthodox Church About 260 revered and miraculous icons of the Mother of God are mentioned; in general, more than 860 (!!!) names can be counted.

I admit, I feel a certain awe just from writing these lines. And whoever She is, or the mother of Jesus, or His devoted ascetic Mary Magdalene - and we are inclined, not without reason, to believe that this is so... now it doesn’t matter, the point is different - Her presence, support and Love bestowed upon all of us so clearly, obviously (!), that the proper, seemingly logical response step, ours with you, - Hey, - Love!.. But for some reason we continue to run, rush, sin, problematic - preoccupied and chilled, paying attention to others... And Maria is still waiting... And will she wait? Who should I ask about this?.. Myself!

Isn’t there a charmingly incomprehensible mystery in those amazing and, judging by historical artifacts, indisputable evidence that confuses learned men, that the most holy image of Her with a baby in her arms was well known to ancient people long before the advent of Christianity as a religion, and this is what we are talking about wrote in detail in the article “The Cult of the Mother of God,” presenting the most complete photo collection of materials on the Internet. Look at the photo, who can explain this? Let's say historians have agreed, but let us - people - remain adequate!

PEOPLE...

Oh Maria! How much unearthly warmth and spiritual affection your radiant image gives us! There are so many who turn to You with hope... and whom You helped!

MARIA!

O most beloved, most beautiful of women! The most caring of mothers! The most devoted of friends! Your mercy has no boundaries. Holy Face Yours is protected by closed eyelashes. Your quiet steps have left divine traces in the hearts of many of us - they awaken, beckon, and affectionately call us to our Father’s House. Why does my chest feel so warm when I mention You? Why do tears inevitably flow during a heartfelt call? Why again and again, despite our ignorance and animal rabid savagery, do you continue to knock on our door? dark house, willing to bring a ray of light to help? What is the greatest secret hidden in Your charm, in your spiritual achievement and service?

Yes, today many things seem like an outlandish fairy tale and there are countless reasons for ridicule, but can an outside opinion shake, doubt, or shake a true believer, a true Muslim? When God - Allah - comes first, everything else falls into place.,