The iconography of the Mother of God icons, in which the Infant God is depicted directly on the bosom (on the chest) of the Mother of God, represented from the waist up (a version of the “Great Panagia”). The iconography is based on a prophecy about the incarnation of the Savior (“... The Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin will be with child and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel” (Is 7.14)); the name is associated with the miraculous icon of the Mother of God (see section “The Sign” Novgorod Icon of the Mother of God), through which in 1169/70 Vel. The intercession of the Most Holy One was revealed to Novgorod. Mother of God (Festal Menaion - RNL. Soph. No. 369). From the end XV century the name “Sign of the Most Pure One” is found in Novgorod sources in relation to this icon and its repetitions, i.e. it becomes the name of an iconographic type, another name of which is “Our Lady of the Incarnation”.
The image of the Virgin Mary with Christ Emmanuel in a medallion first appeared on the seals of the Emperor. Mauritius (582-602). The same full-length image of the Mother of God is on a fresco from the Bauit monastery (chapel of the monks (XXVIII), VI-VII centuries, Coptic Museum, Cairo), in the monastery of St. Jeremiah in Saqqara (VI century), in Sir. manuscript (Paris. syr. 341. Fol. 118), on a fresco in the lunette of the crypt of the Ostrian catacombs near the tomb of St. Agnes in Rome (late IV-V centuries).
In the post-iconoclastic period, images of the Mother of God praying with raised hands, standing tall or waist-high, were sometimes accompanied by the inscription: “Blachernitissa.” Icons of other iconographic types are also named, the origin of which is associated with the temple at Blachernae, built in K-pol in the 5th century. imp. Pulcheria (for example, the image of the Mother of God and Child of the “Tenderness” type, 12th century, monastery of the Great Martyr Catherine in Sinai). Imp. Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, in his treatise “On the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court” (10th century), mentioned that there were several in Blachernae. miraculous icons of the Mother of God, with which various miracles and customs are associated. From the 8th century There were weekly night services in honor of the icon of the Mother of God, during which on the night from Friday to Saturday there was a miracle with a veil. The description of this miracle says that “Mary carries the Child with both hands of prayer.” What was near the imp is also described. baths, a marble relief image of the Mother of God with raised hands, from which St. flows. water (Const. Porphyr. De cerem. 2. 12). Numerous repetitions of the relief icon with holes in the palms of the 11th-13th centuries have been preserved. Images of the Mother of God with the Child in a medallion in front of the chest are found on the seals of the emperors John Tzimiskes (969-976), Michael VII Ducas (1071-1078), Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118) and later - during the time of the Komnenos, on the silver coin of Constantine IX Monomachos (1042-1055) with the legend Η ΒΛΑΚΕΡΝΙΤΙΣΑ.
An image with a half-figure of the Mother of God is present on the gold seal of Leo VI (886-912). According to the description of St. Photius, Patriarch of K-Poland, it was on the mosaic of the apse of the church of the Nea Moni monastery on the island of Chios (1042-1056). The full-length image of “Blachernitissa” is found on the frescoes of the apse c. Our Lady of Trikomo, Cyprus (early 12th century), apse c. Transfiguration of the Savior on Nereditsa (1199), on the icon of the Mother of God with the prophet. Moses and Patriarch Euthymius (XIII century, monastery of the Martyr Catherine on Sinai), on the icon “Yaroslavl Oranta” (XIII century, Tretyakov Gallery).
Another name for the image of the Mother of God with the Child in front of her breast is “Platitera” (“Broadening the Heavens”). This epithet is associated with the liturgy of St. Basil the Great, in which a verse is sung that the womb of the Mother of God is more spacious than the heavens. Half-figures of Our Lady Platythera are found on seals and coins of the Emperor. Nikephoros Phocas (963-969), in the painting of the apses of the churches of the Nativity of Christ in Bethlehem (1169), the Virgin Mary of Evergetis in the Studenica monastery, Serbia (1208-1209), the Virgin Mary of Leviski in Prizren, Serbia (20s of the 13th century. ), on the mosaic of the outer narthex of the Hora monastery (Kahrie-jami) in K-pol (1316-1321). Marble images of this iconography were widespread, repeating the relief above the phial in the temple at Blachernae (12th-century relief from the Church of Santa Maria Mater Domini in Venice).
Blachernae (associated with Blachernae) images of the Mother of God - Oranta without the Child, but with holes for water in her hands; holding a medallion in front of her chest; Orants with the image of the Child in a medallion are also called the “Great Panagia” (patena from the Xiropotamus Monastery on Athos, “Yaroslavl Oranta”). In Rus', the type of “Blachernitissa” with raised arms and a medallion in front of the chest received names from miraculous icons: Abalakskaya, Kursk-Korennaya, Mirozhskaya, Novgorodskaya, Seraphim-Ponetaevskaya, Tsarskoye Selo, etc.
Lit.: Kondakov. Iconography of the Mother of God. 1915. T. 2. P. 193-196; Smirnova E. S. Novgorod icon “Our Lady of the Sign”: Certain questions of the Mother of God iconography of the 12th century. // DRI: Balkans. Rus. St. Petersburg, 1995. pp. 288-310.
“The Sign” Novgorod Icon of the Mother of God
(celebration November 27), miraculous image of gray. XII century; with its help the protection of Vel is associated. Novgorod in 1169/70 from the troops led. book Andrei Bogolyubsky, who, wanting to punish the Novgorodians who collected illegal tribute from the princely Dvina land, sent his squads to the city.
The icon gained all-Russian fame in the 14th century, when the Legend of the Miracle was written, which was included in the Novgorod and Moscow chronicles (Tikhomirov. 1872; Frolow. 1949). This icon was in the c. Spasa on Ilyina st. behind the throne. On the 3rd night of the siege of the city, Archbishop of Novgorod. John, praying in front of the icon of the Savior, heard a voice coming from the image: “Go to the Church of the Holy Savior on Ilya Street, and take the icon of the Holy Mother of God, and take it to the prison opposite the adversary.” The icon was taken to the city fortifications, “and now there is a monastery of the Holy Mother of God on Tithes.” The arrows fired by the Suzdal residents, “like the rain has multiplied,” hit the icon, which turned its face to the city, and “tears” flowed from the “wounds” received. The attackers were covered in darkness, seized with “awe and horror,” and they began to beat each other. In memory of the miraculous victory, Archbishop. John 27 Nov. a holiday was established. Until the beginning 40s XV century Pachomius the Serb compiled the “Memory of the Sign”, the church “Service for the Sign” and the “Word of Praise for the Sign”. Later the Legend was included in the Life of St. John of Novgorod (SKKDR. Issue 2. Part 2. pp. 347-351). In 1356, the icon was transferred to a stone church specially built for it in 1354. in honor of the Sign of the Most Holy. Mother of God, in the 17th century. A large stone cathedral was erected in honor of the icon. In 1999, the miraculous image, which was kept in the NGOMZ during the Soviet period, was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church and placed in the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Vel. Novgorod - on the salt in front of the iconostasis to the left of the royal doors in a glass icon case.
The icon (size 59x52.7 cm), double-sided, mounted on a pole, is portable. On the front side there is a waist-length depiction of the Mother of God with raised arms, and on Her chest there is a medallion with the image of Christ Emmanuel. On the margins of the icon are life-size figures of Saints George, James of Persia, Peter of Athos and Onuphrius (Macarius of Egypt?). On the reverse side, 2 saints are presented in prayer before the Savior, blessing with both hands, depicted in the segment. In the later recording there were inscriptions on the icon with the names of St. Petra and MC. Natalia. The ancient inscriptions have not survived, but an analysis of the iconography suggests that these are images of the righteous Joachim and Anna. In the 16th century the icon was renewed, perhaps personally by the archbishop. Macarius (later Metropolitan of Moscow). From the original painting of the ancient image, fragments of the blue maforia and dress of the Mother of God, as well as fragments of the medallion surrounding the image of the Infant God, have been preserved on the front side. The images on the reverse side are from the original painting.
One of early lists Novgorod icon - icon of the 12th century. with a martyr on the back (Tretyakov Gallery, Museum-Apartment of P. D. Korin). Numerous lists date back to the 16th century. (State Tretyakov Gallery, TsAK MDA). A half-length image of Oranta with a medallion is found on the seals of the Kyiv metropolitans Nikephoros I (1104-1121) and Michael (1131-1147), the Novgorod bishops (Yanin V.L. Actual seals of Dr. Rus'. M., 1970. Vol. 1). In the XV-XVI centuries. images of the “Sign” were often placed on icons of selected saints.
Lit.: Tikhomirov P.I., priest. The legend of the Novgorod miracle. St. icon of the Sign of the Mother of God. Novgorod, 18722; Villager E. Mother of God. P. 730; Kondakov. Iconography of the Mother of God. 1915. T. 2. P. 193-196; Frolow A. Le “Znamenie” de Novgorod // RES. 1949. Vol. 24. P. 67-81; Vol. 25. P. 45-72; Smirnova E. S., Laurina V. K., Gordienko E. A. Painting Vel. Novgorod, XV century. M., 1982; Smirnova E. S. Novgorod icon “Our Lady of the Sign”: Certain questions of the Mother of God iconography of the 12th century. // DRI: Balkans. Rus. St. Petersburg, 1995. pp. 288-310.
N. V. Kvlividze
“The Sign” Tsarskoye Selo Icon of the Mother of God
(celebration November 27), miraculous image, ancestral icon of the House of Romanov; known in Russia since April. 1653, when it was presented to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich by the K-Polish Patriarch St. Athanasius III Patellarius; It is believed that last time she was seen during the abdication of the sovereign from the throne.
According to legend, imp. Peter I, who transported the image from Moscow to St. Petersburg, blessed Princess Elizabeth with it, and in 1734 she commissioned the archit specially for this icon. I. Ya. Blank to develop a project for a stone temple in the imp. residence of Tsarskoe Selo, built by him in collaboration with M. G. Zemtsov and consecrated in May 1747. Dr. evidence of reverent veneration of the icon of the emperor. Elizaveta Petrovna has information that on the night before the coup, after which she ascended the throne (November 27, 1741), she prayed fervently in front of the icon.
The Holy Synod and the entire court took part in the celebration of the 3-day transfer of the icon from St. Petersburg to the new church in Tsarskoe Selo; the empress walked all the way and even helped to carry the image. Until 1831, the image was located above the royal doors of the iconostasis, above the image of the Last Supper. She was taken out of the temple only on May 12, 1812, during a fire that engulfed the palace and threatened Znamenskaya Church. In 1831, after Tsarskoye Selo was freed from cholera, which happened after a prayer service was held on July 5 in front of the “Sign” icon placed in the center of the church and a religious procession with it around the city, it was placed in front of the right choir of the Znamenskaya Church. At the same time, at the request of the townspeople, an annual religious procession was established: until 1917, on this day, after mass, the icon was taken to the palace square, where a kneeling prayer service was performed in front of it before the religious procession. In the 18th century Her 1st list was completed, which was also located in Tsarskoye Selo, including during fires and epidemics. Probably in front of this icon the imp. Alexandra Feodorovna prayed during the First World War, when the sovereign went to Headquarters. In 1942, from besieged Leningrad, having heroically crossed the front line, sisters Zoya and Vera Shamonin, daughters of the famous St. Petersburg archpriest, came to the occupiers of the city of Pushkin (formerly Tsarskoye Selo). Vladimir, the spiritual son of rights. John of Kronstadt. They asked to give them the church located in Znamenskaya. image (18th century list) and received it. Without returning to the besieged city, they went to Riga, where the icon remained until the end of the war. In 1946, Metropolitan. Leningrad and Novgorod Grigory (Chukov) transferred it to the church. ap. John the Theologian at SPbDA, where she currently resides. time. In Znamenskaya Ts. there is a list of it from the 20th century.
The icon became famous for many people. miracles: deliverance from cholera, salvation from fires, drowning and other troubles, healings, help in sorrows and everyday adversities. In 1853, a chromolithographic image of the icon was published, and there are known cases of beneficial help from engraving images of it. In the beginning. In the summer of 1916, lithographic images of the icon were consecrated in Znamenskaya Church. and were sent to soldiers in the active army, who wore icons on their chests.
Since 1999, on Wednesdays, an akathist is read before the image. From the same time in St. Petersburg every year from December 10 to 13. General educational readings of the Sign are held, opened after the liturgy and prayer service in front of the icon “The Sign”.
There is no exact information about the time of painting of the icon (approx. 138×107 cm). Traditional iconography of "Z." supplemented at the request of the Emperor. Elizabeth Petrovna shortly after her accession to the throne with images in the margins of St. Peter, righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth, St. Alexy, man of God. On the list of the 18th century. to them by order of the emperor. Maria Alexandrovna were added (1859) images of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and MC. Alexandra in memory of the Emperor. Nicholas I and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna.
Upon the accession of the Emperor. Elizabeth made a chasuble for the icon from red gold (approx. 8.73 kg). In 1849, in gratitude for the deliverance of Tsarskoye Selo from the cholera epidemic that swept Russia in 1848, the icon was covered with an embroidered chasuble, with many diamonds, pearls, turquoise, amethysts, sapphires, emeralds, and opals, the basis of which was gold foil. The chasuble (111 × 89 cm), like a multi-colored mantle with wide sleeves, over which a wide omophorion bordering it descended from the shoulders, adorned the image of the Virgin Mary. The forehead of the Mother of God was decorated with a trim made of precious stones (according to the church inventory of 1860, 32 groups of jewelry were used). The same mantle and omophorion covered the image of the Infant God. Precious vestments were also made for the images of saints in the fields. Big and best part jewelry (on the urn and breast decoration of the Mother of God, on the clothes of the Savior) was donated by Empresses Alexandra Feodorovna and Maria Alexandrovna, led. princesses Alexandra Iosifovna, Maria and Olga Nikolaevna. The chasuble was embroidered with her sisters by a pious maiden, a resident of Tsarskoye Selo, Maria Davydova, who appeared in a dream to the Mother of God and indicated exactly what and how she should do, and when there was a lack suitable stones, donors suddenly appeared. The largest stone on the frame was a heart-shaped topaz (an offering from V.A. Pryanishnikova); the dates of the miraculous deliverance of Tsarskoye Selo from cholera - 1831 and 1848 - were carved on its faces. At the bottom, on a heart-shaped gold plate, skillfully made from small gold items donated by pilgrims (rings, brooches, chains, earrings), the words were engraved: “For salvation from the epidemic, accept, Merciful Lady, Patroness of the city of Tsarskoe Selo, these pearls, like tears of gratitude, watering Your most pure robe, from Your zealous servants, continue to have mercy on us”; Below is the signature: “This robe was embroidered by the maiden Maria Davydova and her sisters as a result of a dream.” From the remaining offerings, the Davydov sisters made a shroud for the icon, sewn on crimson velvet with precious stones, gold, silver, beads and roman. pearls Embroidered on the shroud are a radiance, a Gospel, a vessel, 2 tablets, a censer, grape leaves, brushes, ears. Under hand Davydov at the same time, a “carpet of zeal” was made, covering the floor in the altar and reaching to the middle of the church. The chasuble was lost during the confiscation of church valuables in 1922. The one made in 1853 at the expense of the parishioners of the Znamenskaya Church did not survive either. icon case, as well as made through the efforts of the pious ladies-in-waiting of the imp. yard according to Fig. F. P. Solntsev bronze gilded candlestick, called the maid of honor.
Villager E. Mother of God. pp. 700-705; Sochagin A. Tsarskoe Selo in postcards. XIX - early XX century St. Petersburg, 2002; Dmitrieva N.K. Miracle of Tsarskoye Selo. icon B. M. “The Sign” // Cultural enlightenment. work (Meeting). M., 2005. No. 7. P. 28; No. 8. P. 18; Tsarskoye Selo Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”. St. Petersburg, 2007.
E.P.I.
“The Sign” Tavern Icon of the Mother of God
(celebration November 27), a miraculous image residing in the husband. mon-re in the name of the ap. John the Theologian in the village. Poschupov, Ryazan region. The monastery also houses the handwritten “Narrative of the Icon” Holy Mother of God, Her honest and glorious Sign, called “revealed,” which in the city of Ryazan in the chapel at the Church of St. Simeon the Stylite was written according to the story of the elderly and according to modern events in the month of May 1851.” It contains information about the history of the icon and the signs revealed through it.
According to the “Narrative...”, a certain widow lived in Ryazan, obsessed with the disease of drunkenness. When she had spent everything she had, she took the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” from the house and took it to the tavern called “Red”, which was located near the church. St. Simeon the Stylite to exchange the image for wine. The innkeeper began to reproach the woman, saying that the icons with which parents bless their children should be kept with reverence and passed on from generation to generation. Nevertheless, the widow could not overcome the destructive passion, but promised to later buy the image. Taking the icon, the owner of the tavern placed it in the red corner. After several days, the woman, having repaid her debt, put the icon in her house in its original place. The next morning the icon disappeared. That same morning, the innkeeper, who got up to pray, saw the icon in his shrine and decided that in his absence the widow had brought the icon again. However, members of the household did not confirm his assumption. Soon a widow came to the perplexed innkeeper and told about the disappearance of the icon. After the innkeeper’s words: “You see, here She is, the Mother Queen of Heaven! Ask Her yourself how She became here” - the woman fell to her knees in front of the icon: “I see, Lady, that You do not deign to be with me, for the sake of my sin before You, but rather deign to stay here, where I, the accursed one, betrayed You . Nevertheless, in the remaining days of my life, do not completely deprive me of Your protection and mercy!” Through the prayers of the Most Rev. The widow of the Mother of God did not drink wine from that time until the end of her life.
Rumors spread among the townspeople about the miraculous return of the icon to the tavern. Residents of Ryazan and visitors went there to venerate the image, in front of which the innkeeper lit a lamp, and the priest c. St. Simeon the Stylite performed prayer services. Pious people made offerings to maintain the unquenchable fire. Even those who came to the tavern for wine first worshiped the icon of the Mother of God and put money into a mug to buy oil for the lamp. The icon began to be called “The Revealed Tavern”. The image became famous for many people. miracles that alleviated suffering in illness and comforted in sorrow. Soon people found out about her. cities and villages of Russia. Many pilgrims always came to the site of the miraculous image. After the tavern closed in mid. XIX century with the blessing of St. Gabriel (Gorodkova), archbishop. Ryazan and Zaraisky, the icon publicly procession moved to c. St. Simeon the Stylite, where the all-night vigil was celebrated. In the morning after the liturgy, with prayer singing, she was brought into the chapel near this church, which, according to legend, was cut down on the occasion of the meeting of the Theodotian Icon of the Mother of God (1487) and rebuilt in stone in 1846. The Tavern Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” was placed for veneration in the open doors in the middle of the chapel on a lectern. From that time on, at the request of the parishioners, a celebration in honor of the icon was established according to the temple charter on November 27. and she received the modern one. Name. The day before, the icon was carried in a procession from the chapel to the all-night vigil in the church; in the morning after the liturgy, the image was returned to the chapel. The same procession was established on Monday of Bright Week.
In 1848, cholera struck the central provinces of Russia. In Ryazan, the epidemic was especially severe in June-July. The townspeople carried the icon to their homes with prayer singing, after which, with the exception of the residents of 2 houses, not a single person died. In the same year, after fervent prayer before the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign,” the drought that caused a fire in a pine forest on the left bank of the Oka, about 10 miles from the city, stopped.
12 Oct. In 1882, the chapel where the icon was located burned down from a candle falling on the icon, but the image was not damaged, “the icon case burned, part of the silver frame melted” (Dobrolyubov. 1884. p. 34). Until the restoration of the chapel, the icon remained in the church. St. Simeon the Stylite.
At the request of pious Ryazan residents, the icon was often brought into homes for prayer services. In front of her, merchants asked for blessings on the eve of city fairs, newlyweds asked for help and patronage in the upcoming family life . Through the zeal of those praying, the icon was decorated with a golden robe with precious stones. Every Tuesday prayers with an akathist were held in the chapel. In the beginning. 20s XX century, when the chapel was closed, the icon was moved to the church. St. Simeon the Stylite. During the campaign to confiscate church valuables “in favor of the starving Volga region,” this “Sign” icon was preserved thanks to the nobleman Dmitry Serebryakov (or Serebryansky), who was a member of the commission. The young man told the members of the commission that he wanted to take the icon home to carefully remove the precious robe from it; when handing it over the next day, he said that the icon had crumbled from disrepair when the frame was removed. For some time the icon was hidden in the Serebryakovs’ house; after their departure from Ryazan, the former keeper of the shrine became the keeper. The family's servant is Alexandra Ivanovna. In con. 50s XX century Alexandra Ivanovna lived with Sofia Vasilievna Zlobina, she was initiated into the secret of the Serebryakovs and kept the icon in her house on the street. Gorky. An unquenchable lamp burned in front of the icon; in the darkened icon board, split into two parts (the crack ran along the face of the Mother of God), it was difficult to recognize one of the main shrines of Ryazan. Zlobina bequeathed this icon to Archimandrite. Abel (Makedonov; in the schema of Seraphim; † Dec. 6, 2006), who transferred it on Sept. 8. 1961 to the Boris and Gleb Cathedral of Ryazan, where he served at that time, and, placing it in the chapel in the name of St. Vasily of Ryazan to the throne, performed an akathist singing before her. The altar girl of the temple, monk, prayed with him. Augusta immediately recognized the shrine. This ex. a novice of the Assumption Olgov Monastery, after the closure of the monastery, served for some time as an altar girl in the church. St. Simeon the Stylite, after the closure of the temple (November 18, 1924), she kept the handwritten “Narration...”. Handing it over to Archim. Abel, she told that she had witnessed the miracle of healing of a blind girl. Every year since 1961, on the days of the celebration in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign,” the shrine was brought to the Boris and Gleb Cathedral for a solemn service. For the restoration of the icon, Archimandrite. Abel intended to invite A.I. Shibaev, who studied the art of painting icons with the blessing of the rights. John of Kronstadt. All R. 60s XX century The icon painter was 90 years old and became blind. Having learned about this, Archimandrite. Abel was ready to abandon the restoration of the icon, but after some time, on the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy. The Mother of God received a letter from Yaroslavl from Shibaev, who reported the miraculous return of vision. On the same day, the icon was sent to him for restoration, and the archimandrite also asked that a copy of it be made. Upon completion of the work, at the request of the residents of Yaroslavl, the icon painter began writing another list and became blind again.
When the husband mon-ry in the name of St. John the Theologian in the village. Poshchupov was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church (1988) and Archimandrite. Abel was appointed his deputy (1989), the icon was transferred to the monastery and it became one of its main shrines. The icon was decorated with a golden embroidered chasuble. Currently During this time, the icon constantly remains on the throne in the Theological Cathedral of the monastery. Every Sunday at the end of the liturgy, she is taken out of the altar and placed on a lectern in the middle of the church, where a water-blessing prayer service is served before her. Since 1994, for 4 years, every Tuesday at the monastery courtyard in Ryazan (Koltsova St., 10) prayer services were held in front of the Tavern Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”. A list of icons was brought for veneration. After the opening of the 2nd monastery courtyard (Nikolo-Yamsky Church) in Ryazan in 1998, the list made by Shibaev remains there. In 2004, with the blessing His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', this icon was included in the list of miraculous icons revered by the Russian Orthodox Church. An akathist, prayer, troparion, kontakion, and magnification were compiled. Under the care of Archimandrite Abel's lists of icons are sent to many. churches of the Ryazan diocese.
10 Dec. In 2000, in Ryazan, in the name of the Holy Trinity, the gate temple was consecrated in honor of the Korchemnaya Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”. On Fridays, a prayer service with a canon is held at the Trinity Monastery for those suffering from wine drinking and drug addiction.
Icon, traditional for the image of the “Sign” the iconography is written on a board (38.9×28.9 cm) and represents a half-length image of the Mother of God with her hands raised in prayer; in the medallion Christ Emmanuel holds a scroll.
Source: GARO. F. R-4. Op. 1. D. 1748. St. 171. L. 464. Ryazan executive committee of the councils of the R.K. and Kr. Deputies. Extract from the protocol of the Presidium of Moscow. region Execute Committee No. 20 dated November 18. 1924 about the closure of the center. Simeon the Stylite for the purpose of using it as a grain warehouse; F. R-6. Op. 1. D. 390. L. 53 vol. Decision dated 12.12. 29 on the provision of the building c. Simeon the Stylite under Okrarchiv; F. R-6. Op. 1. D. 492. L. 30 vol. Decision dated August 24, 31 on the transfer of the premises to the center. Simeon Stolpnik for the Soyuztrans garage; D. 547. L. 17-20. Resolution of the Presidium of RyazgorIK dated August 24. 1931 on the transfer of c. Simeon Stolpnik for the Soyuztrans garage; F. R-496. Op. 1. D. 52. St. 2. 1922 L. 10. Deciphered telegram: Particularly revered icons subject to mandatory confiscation; F. R-497. Op. 1. D. 13. 1922 L. 141, 145, 150-155. A brief report on the work carried out to seize the church. valuables in Ryazan; F. 1280. Op. 1. D. 520. Not numbered. June 30, 1883 List of miracles. icons available in the Ryazan diocese, which are worn for prayer services before them in the surrounding parishes (information compiled at the Ryazan Diocese Congress of Deputies in 1883 according to statements by Father Deputies); F. 627. Ryazan spiritual consistory. Op. 171. D. 4. St. 2165. 1912. The case is not numbered. Chapels in Ryazan and Ryazan district; F. 869. Op. 1. D. 1. L. 325-332. List of churches, bell towers, chapels, 1884-1886; D. 325. Not numbered. Description of miracles. images from churches and mon-rays of the Ryazan province.
Lit.: Dobrolyubov I., priest. Historical-stat. description of churches and mon-rays of the Ryazan diocese, currently existing and abolished. Zaraysk, 1884. T. 1. P. 33-35; Description of the church. things, remarkable in their antiquity, located in the churches of the Ryazan diocese // Ryazan diocese. Vestn. 1887. No. 11. P. 263; Ts. Simeonovskaya: (About the miraculous icon “The Sign” of the Mother of God, located in the stone chapel near Ts. Simeon the Stylite) // Ibid. 1892. No. 4. P. 179-182; East. sketch of all the churches and mon-ray of Ryazan in their chronol. sequence from the founding of the city to the present day. time: Simeonovskaya ts. // Ibid. 1906. No. 14. P. 413; Solodovnikov D. Pereyaslavl-Ryazan: The past of Ryazan in ancient monuments. Ryazan, 1922. P. 125-128; Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign-Korchemnaya”: Narration, akathist, prayer // Ryazan miracles. icons. Ryazan, 1996; Saints and righteous lands of Ryazan: X-XX centuries. Ryazan, 2000. P. 200-208; Seraphim (Petersburg), hierome, Pankova T. M. Life of St. Gabriel, Archbishop. Ryazan and Zaraisky. Ryazan, 2001. pp. 23-24; Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign-Korchemnaya”: Narration, akathist, prayer. Ryazan, 2002; Icon of the Most Holy Our Lady of the Sign-Korchemnaya // Ryazan Church. Vestn. 2002. No. 12. P. 47-52; Agramakov N.N. Churches and monasteries in Ryazan: Ist. travel Ryazan, 2004. pp. 28-29; Sinelnikova T. P. Ryazan Church in the name of St. Simeon the Stylite // Ryazan Church. Vestn. 2004. No. 5. P. 66-71; Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign-Korchemnaya”. Ryazan, 2005; St. John the Theological Monastery. M., 2007. P. 270-289; Dmitrieva N. Chudotv. icon B. M. “The Sign-Tavern” // Cultural enlightenment. work (Meeting). 2007. No. 3. P. 18-21; Meletia (Pankova), mon. A shrine entrusted by God // Ryazan: History, culture, Orthodoxy. Ryazan, 2007. pp. 33-34, 436.
Igum. Seraphim (Petersburg), mon. Meletia (Pankova)
“The Sign” icon of the Mother of God from the Chrysostom Monastery in Moscow
(celebrated March 3, November 27), a miraculous image, the main shrine of the monastery, lost after its closure and destruction in 1933. The icon became famous in the winter of 1847/48, when cholera was raging in Moscow. To a merchant living in Zamoskvorechye - a 60-year-old parishioner c. VMC. Catherine on Ordynka, Herodion Vorobyov, during his illness, dreamed that he was in the Chrysostom Monastery, where a monk and a novice were preparing to consecrate something. On the wall there was an image of the “Sign”, which the merchant hastened to venerate. The Divine Infant depicted on it smiled, and the Mother of God, pronouncing the name of the sick man, handed him a crystal vessel to give to the novice. When Herodion woke up, he felt relief. 17 Feb he came to Vespers at the Chrysostom Monastery, where he often prayed in his youth, and discovered an icon hanging above the entrance to the porch of the Trinity Church. At Vorobyov’s request, on March 3, the image was removed from the arch and brought into the temple. Before him, a prayer service was served with the blessing of water and the reading of an akathist to the Mother of God. The icon was placed on a lectern in the chapel of St. Innocent of Irkutsk. Vorobyov donated a silver gilded chasuble with precious stones to her and built an icon case for her. Since 1865, when the monastery church. in the name of St. John Chrysostom became warm, the icon was in the carved iconostasis of this temple, behind the left pillar. In Trinity Church a list was left in a silver-gilded robe (location unknown), made by order of a woman who received healing from the icon.
On the icon “in Greek writing, on a linden board” (approx. 53x44 cm), St. is depicted on the sides of Our Lady of the Sign. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archbishop. John of Novgorod.
During the existence of the monastery, prayer services were served before the icon every day: after the early mass - in the Trinity Church, after the late mass - in the cathedral. On Fridays, during Vespers, an akathist to the Mother of God was read before the icon.
Lit.: Villager E. Mother of God. pp. 174, 741.
E.P.I.
“The Sign” Verkhnetagil Icon of the Mother of God
(celebration November 27), a miraculous image revered in the Urals. According to the prevailing con. XIX century According to legend, the icon was revealed in 1709 in the forest, on the site of which a village arose in 1716. Verkhnetagilsky Plant (now a city in the Sverdlovsk region).
Initially, the icon was located in one of the Ural monasteries, which was destroyed by barge haulers who killed the inhabitants. When the robbers were about to leave the monastery, a voice came from the icon commanding them to take the image with them. They did not dare to disobey and delivered the icon to the village. Nevyansk Plant, where it was located for some time. One of the village residents, Savva Medvedev, was falsely accused of theft. He fervently prayed to God for deliverance from the slander, and the icon “The Sign” appeared to him, from which a voice emanated: “If you promise to take me to your house, you will be delivered from the accusation brought against you in vain.” Savva bought the icon for 3 rubles, moved it to his house and was truly freed from suspicion. Soon he was transferred to live in the village. Verkhnetagil Plant and took the icon with him. In 1753, he transferred it to the Verkhne Tagil Znamenskaya Church. In 1861, the wooden church burned down, but the icon, the end part of which was burned, survived. Until Nov. In 1876, when the stone Znamensky Church was consecrated, it was located in the church set up in the factory office. in the name of the prophet Elijah. Currently for the time being she stays in Znamenskaya Church. at the left choir on a lectern under glass. Decorations are attached to the image - gifts from people who received healing from the icon.
The legend about the Verkhnetagil Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”, telling about its appearance and the miracles that came from it, was preserved in the manuscript of the beginning. XX century The manuscript in the 8th part of the sheet, written in a clear half-letter with one hand on paper without stamps and watermarks, is kept in the altar of the Verkhny Tagil Znamenskaya Church.
Until the end 20s XX century Every year during the summer religious processions with the icon were held at the Nevyansky, Verkh-Neyvinsky, Neyvorudyansky, Byngovsky and Shuralinsky factories. By the Decree of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II dated October 5. In 2001, a church-wide celebration of this icon was established (there is no special service).
The icon, painted on a board (70×53.8×2.5 cm), shows a half-length image of the Mother of God; on Her chest in a medallion there is a picture of Christ Emmanuel blessing with a rolled up scroll in his left hand. To the right of the face of the Mother of God is an image of a cherub, to the left is a seraphim. Until 1922, the icon had a silver gilded chasuble with precious stones, which was confiscated and disappeared.
Numerous lists were made of the miraculous image, among them Nevyansk and Byngovsky are especially revered. Until 1932, the Nevyansk list was in the Nevyansk Transfiguration Cathedral in the icon case behind the left choir, and was dressed in a silver chasuble. After the cathedral was closed, the icon was saved to this day. time stays in Voznesenskaya Church. Nevyansk behind the left choir. The Byngovsky list is in the church in the name of St. Nicholas in the village Byngi, Nevyansky district, Sverdlovsk region. Among other revered images are lists in the Assumption Church in the city of V. Pyshma and in the temple in the name of the Great Martyr. Panteleimon in Yekaterinburg.
Lit.: Spread of Christianity in the Perm province. // ZhMNP. 1857. Feb. Dept. 2. P. 267; Parishes and churches of the Ekaterinburg diocese. Ekaterinburg, 1902; About the actions of the mission and the clergy during the services of the Old Believers on the Merry Mountains // Yekaterinburg EV. 1913. No. 36. Dept. unofficial pp. 862-866; About trips and interviews of dioceses. missionary with the Old Believers // Ibid. No. 47. Dept. unofficial P. 1114; Ural icon: Picturesque, carved and cast icon XVIII - early. XX century Ekaterinburg, 1998; Shcherbinina O. Victorious by invisible force: The legend about the icon of the Sign of the Virgin Mary in V. Tagil // Rodina: Zhurn. 1998. No. 9. P. 104-105; Shrines of the Yekaterinburg diocese. Ekaterinburg, 2000. P. 105-106; Sulotsky A.I. Works: In 3 volumes. Tyumen, 2000. T. 1: About the church. antiquities of Siberia. P. 238; Lavrinov V., prot. Ekaterinburg diocese: Events, people, churches. Ekaterinburg, 2001; Sedin S., priest. The icon from V. Tagil is glorified throughout Russia // Orthodox Church. gas. Ekaterinburg, 2001. No. 33(174). S. 3; aka. Veneration of the icon of St. Our Lady of the Sign of Verkhnetagil // ZhMP. 2004. No. 5. P. 37-39; Mangilev P., prot. Verkhnetagil miraculous icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” // Vestn. Museum "Nevyansk Icon". Ekaterinburg, 2002. Issue. 1. pp. 131-140; aka. Miraculous and revered icons of the Mother of God in the Yekaterinburg diocese // “Rejoice, zealous Intercessor of the Christian race”: Materials of All Russia. Orthodox scientific-theological conf. Ekaterinburg, 2005. pp. 15-32.
Prot. Peter Mangilev
“The Sign” Pavlovskaya
icon of the Mother of God(celebrated November 27), a miraculous icon found in 1696 among the ruins of the Azov fortress after its conquest by Tsar Peter I, who transferred the icon to the fortress cathedral. After the return of Azov to the Turks (1711), the icon was transferred to the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Osered Fortress (later the city of Pavlovsk). Lost after October revolution 1917, the icon was restored on March 17, 2002 according to the description and is located in the Transfiguration Cathedral of Pavlovsk (Voronezh region).
The image was “inscribed with strokes” (Poselyanin. p. 746) on the inside of a sea shell about 23 cm in size. Initially, the icon was inserted into a large wooden icon case depicting in 6 scenes the events of the conquest of the Azov fortress and the discovery of the icon. There was an inscription on it: “This image of the “Sign” of the Mother of Christ, inscribed with honor on pearl barley, when the Tatar city of Azov was taken from the Busurmans, was found on an earthen rampart and overlaid in gold, for it is unworthy to be sacred in an earthly pit, but let it shine in holy temple, which, in Her praise, was transformed from a mosque in honor of the Christian God to the destruction of Mahmet.”
In the 18th century a custom was established to carry the image around the homes of Pavlovsk residents to perform prayers before it. Every year on the 9th Friday of Easter, a religious procession was held with the icon to the Icy Well located 10 km from the city, a prayer service was held there for the Mother of God, after which a memorial service was served for the Emperor. Peter I. With the blessing of Metropolitan. Voronezh and Borisoglebsky Sergius (Fomin), this tradition was revived in 2004.
In the 20s XIX century The icon was placed in a large gilded ray-shaped icon case above the royal doors of the Transfiguration Cathedral of Pavlovsk. At the end of the service, she was lowered on cords for worship.
Lit.: Villager E. Mother of God. P. 746; http://pokrov.gatchina.ru/icon/z.htm [Electr. resource].
Celebration days:
March 16 - Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” of Zlatoust
March 21 – Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” Kursk-Root
June 8, 2018 (movable date) - Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”
September 21 – Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” Kursk-Root
December 10 - icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” (common day)
WHAT DO YOU PRAY FOR BEFORE THE ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD THE SIGN
The icon of the Mother of God, called the “Sign,” depicts the Most Holy Theotokos sitting and raising Her hands in prayer; on her chest, against the background of a round shield (or sphere) is the blessing Divine Child.
We pray, of course, not to a specific icon, but to the Mother of God, and it doesn’t matter through which image of Her. The very history of the “Sign” icon suggests that one should pray in front of this image during various illnesses, ailments, wars, when accused of slander and other disasters.
And, although the Mother of God is prayed in such or similar cases through Her icon of the Sign, we must not forget that peace comes first of all in our hearts, and then this manifests itself externally: in the family, in the home, in the state.
The Mother of God is our prayer book and intercessor for us, sinful people, before Her Son. Any prayers before any image of Her can help in delivering and cleansing us from sins. It is for this, first of all, that we must pray to Her bright image.
It must be remembered that icons or saints do not “specialize” in any specific areas. It will be right when a person turns with faith in the power of God, and not in the power of this icon, this saint or prayer.
And .
ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD THE SIGN OF NOVGOROD
The Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos, which occurred in Novgorod the Great in 1170 and after this event the Novgorod icon received Russian name"The Omen".
That year, the son of the Suzdal prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, at the head of a united army, approached the walls of Veliky Novgorod, the townspeople could only rely on God's help and they prayed to the Lord day and night.
On the third night, Archbishop John of Novgorod heard a wondrous voice that told him to take the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the Novgorod Church of the Transfiguration on Ilinaya Street and take it to the city wall.
The icon was carried under fire from the besiegers, and one arrow pierced the iconographic face of the Mother of God. Tears flowed from Her eyes, and the icon turned its face to the city. After such a Divine sign, the enemies were suddenly attacked by inexplicable horror, they began to beat each other, and the Novgorodians, encouraged by the Lord, fearlessly rushed into battle and won.
In memory of such a miracle of the Queen of Heaven, Archbishop John established a holiday in honor of the Sign of the Mother of God, which is still celebrated by the entire Russian Church. The Athonite hieromonk Pachomius Logothetes, who was present at the celebration of the icon in Russia, wrote two canons for this holiday. Some Novgorod icons of the Sign, in addition to the Mother of God with the Eternal Child, also depict the miraculous events of 1170. The miraculous icon was in the same Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyinaya Street for 186 years after the appearance of the sign. In 1356, the Church of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built for her in Novgorod, which became the cathedral of the Znamensky Monastery.
Numerous copies of the Icon of the Sign are known throughout Russia. Many of them shone with miracles in local churches and were named after the place where miracles occurred.
ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD THE SIGN OF ZLATOUST
In 1848, cholera raged in Moscow and sixty-year-old merchant Herodion Vorobyov fell ill with this disease. Once in a dream he dreamed that he was in the Chrysostom monastery near the porch, and as if a monk and a novice were preparing to consecrate something. Then he saw the image of the “Sign” of the Mother of God on the wall and went up to venerate it. In the icon, the Infant God smiled, and the Mother of God, pronouncing the name of Herodion, gave him from Her hands a crystal vessel to give to the novice.
On February 17, he went to the Chrysostom Monastery for Vespers, where he saw the “Sign” icon of the Mother of God above the arch of the porch of the Trinity Church. Herodion recognized her as the one he had seen in his dream. At the request of the healed man, this icon was removed from the arch on March 16 (new style) and transferred to the Trinity Church. Before the image, a prayer service was performed with the blessing of water and the reading of an akathist to the Mother of God. Then the image was placed on a lectern in the chapel of St. Innocent of Irkutsk. 
The grateful merchant decorated the image with a precious robe, and one woman, who received healing from the icon, made a copy of it and placed it in the same Trinity Church, where the original miraculous icon was located, transferred in 1865 to the cathedral monastery church in the name of St. John Chrysostom.
The monastery chronicle for the year 1848 alone describes eight miraculous healings from this icon.
The Zlatoust icon is written on a linden board and is 53 cm high and 44 cm wide. On the sides of the Mother of God there are images of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and John, Archbishop of Novgorod.
Every day in the Chrysostom Monastery, prayer services are performed in front of the icon of the “Sign” of the Mother of God: after the early liturgy in the Trinity Church, and after the late liturgy in the cathedral church of Chrysostom. Every Friday in this monastery, an akathist to the Mother of God is also read before the miraculous icon.
ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD THE SIGN OF KURSK-ROOT
In the 13th century, during the Tatar invasion, when everything Russian state was attacked by Batu Khan, the city of Kursk was devastated and fell into desolation. One day, in the vicinity of the city, a hunter noticed unusual thing lying on the ground. When he picked it up, he saw that it was an icon similar to the “Sign” icon of Novgorod. Simultaneously with the appearance of this icon, the first miracle took place - in the place where the icon lay, a source of clean water began to flow with force. This happened on September 21 (new style) 1295. Not daring to leave the icon in the forest, this hunter built a small wooden chapel at the site of its discovery, where he left the newly appeared image of the Mother of God.
Soon, residents of the nearby city of Rylsk learned about this and began to visit the site of the apparition to worship the new shrine.
Then this image was transferred to Rylsk and placed in a new church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But the icon did not stay there for long; miraculously it disappeared and returned to the place of its appearance. Residents of Rylsk repeatedly took it and took it to the city, but the icon inexplicably returned to its original place. Then everyone understood that the Mother of God favored the place where Her image appeared.
Every year on Friday of the ninth week after Easter, the “Sign” icon was solemnly transferred with a religious procession from the Kursk Sign Cathedral to the place of its appearance in the Root Hermitage, where it remained until September 12 (old style), and then again solemnly returned to Kursk. This religious procession was established in 1618 in memory of the transfer of the icon from Moscow to Kursk and in memory of its initial appearance.
The special help of the Mother of God through this icon is associated with important events in the history of Russia: liberation war Russian people during the Polish-Lithuanian invasion of 1612 and Patriotic War 1812.
The miraculous icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” of Kursk-Root last stayed on Russian soil on September 14, 1920 in Crimea, among the troops fighting against the Bolsheviks. Having left Russia in 1920, the holy icon became the “Hodegetria” (Guide) of the Russian Diaspora, inseparably staying with all the first hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad. Now she resides in one of the temples of the New Root Hermitage near New York (USA). A copy of the miraculous image is kept in the Kursk Cathedral of the Sign.
In Russian Orthodoxy there are several icons of the Mother of God “The Sign”:
“The Sign” Vladimirskaya; “The Sign” Verkhnetagilskaya (1753); Znamenie Serafimo-Ponetaevskaya (1879); “The Sign” Tavern (XVIII); “The Sign” Abalatskaya (1637); “The Sign” Zlatoust (1848); “Znamenie” Moscow; “The Sign” Solovetskaya; Znamenie Vologda; The Sign of Tsarskoye Selo (1879); “The Sign” Kursk-Root (1295); “The Sign” of Novgorod (XII).
THE GREATNESS OF THE VIRGIN BEFORE HER ICON THE SIGN OF KURSK-ROOT
We magnify You, Most Holy Virgin, and honor Your honest image, in which You have shown a glorious sign.
VIDEO
The icon of the Mother of God, called the “Sign,” depicts the Most Holy Theotokos sitting and raising Her hands in prayer; on her chest, against the background of a round shield (or sphere) is the blessing Divine Infant - Savior-Emmanuel. This image of the Mother of God is one of Her very first iconographic images. In the tomb of St. Agnes in Rome there is an image of the Mother of God with her arms outstretched in prayer and with the Child sitting on Her lap. This image dates back to the 4th century. In addition, the ancient Byzantine image of the Mother of God “Nicopeia”, 6th century, is known, where the Most Holy Theotokos is depicted sitting on a throne and holding in front of her with both hands an oval shield with the image of the Savior Emmanuel.
Icons of the Mother of God, known under the name “The Sign,” appeared in Rus' in the 11th-12th centuries, and they began to be called that after the miraculous sign from the Novgorod icon, which happened in 1170.
This year, the united forces of the Russian appanage princes - Vladimir, Smolensk, Ryazan, Murom, Polotsk, Pereyaslav and Rostov - led by the son of the Suzdal prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, approached the walls of Veliky Novgorod. The Novgorodians could only rely on God's help. They prayed day and night, begging the Lord not to leave them.
On the third night, Archbishop Elijah of Novgorod, praying before the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, heard a voice: “Go to the Church of the Holy Savior on Ilina Street, and take the icon of the Holy Mother of God, and put it on the prison opposite the military.” Having performed a prayer service in the Church of the Holy Savior, Archbishop Ilia, in the presence of the praying people, raised the icon to the city wall.
When the icon was being carried, the enemies fired a cloud of arrows into the religious procession, and one of them pierced the iconographic face of the Mother of God. Tears flowed from Her eyes, and the icon turned its face to the city. After such a Divine sign, the enemies were suddenly attacked by inexplicable horror, they began to beat each other, and the Novgorodians, encouraged by the Lord, fearlessly rushed into battle and won.
In memory of the miraculous intercession of the Queen of Heaven, Archbishop Elijah then established a holiday in honor of the Sign of the Mother of God, which is still celebrated by the entire Russian Church on December 10 (November 27). The Athonite hieromonk Pachomius Logothetes, who was present at the celebration of the icon in Russia, wrote two canons for this holiday. Some Novgorod icons of the Sign, in addition to the Mother of God with the Eternal Child, also depict the miraculous events of 1170. The miraculous icon was in the same Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyinaya Street for 186 years after the appearance of the sign.
In 1352, through prayer in front of this icon, those affected by the plague were healed. In gratitude for the numerous good deeds performed by the Mother of God, the Novgorodians built a special temple, and in 1356 the icon from the Church of the Transfiguration was triumphantly transferred to the new temple of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary, erected in 1354, which later became the cathedral of the Znamensky Monastery.
Numerous copies of the Icon of the Sign are known throughout Russia. Many of them shone with miracles in local churches and were named after the place where miracles occurred. Such lists of the icon of the Sign include the icons of Dionysius-Glushitskaya, Abalatskaya, Kursk, Seraphim-Ponetaevskaya and others.
Looking at the holy icons of the Blessed Virgin, believers are lifted up in spirit in prayer, asking for mercy and bounty, intercession for salvation and the sending of peace to our country and the whole world.
December 10(November 27, old style) The Church remembers Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Veliky Novgorod during its siege by the Suzdal army. Icons of the Mother of God “The Sign” appeared in Rus' in the 11th - 12th centuries and are one of the most revered icons of the Mother of God. They began to be called this after a miraculous sign from the Novgorod icon that happened in 1170.
Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos. history of the holiday
In the 12th century, the conflict between Novgorod and the Suzdal prince escalated. Andrey Bogolyubsky. Here's what the chronicle says about it:
The Dvinians did not want to give tribute to Novgorod, but surrendered to the Grand Duke Andrei Yuryevich, who was then in power in Suzdal. The Novgorodians sent a detachment to the Dvina to demand legal tribute. Andrei heard this and sent his regiment against them, which the Novgorodians defeated on Bela Lake.
According to the chronicle, the allies of Andrei Bogolyubsky were 72 princes: Smolensk, Ryazan, Murom, Polotsk, Pereyaslavl and others. The sick Andrei put his son, Mstislav, at the head of the troops. In February 1170, the Suzdal residents and their allies approached Novgorod, plundering and destroying villages, capturing residents. Peace negotiations were unsuccessful and a siege began. The Suzdal residents were so confident of victory that they divided up the Novgorod streets in advance for robbery.
Novgorod was defended by the mayor Yakun (Iyakov) and the young prince Roman Mstislavich. Novgorodians, seeing countless enemies, could only hope for God's help. Day and night, in all the churches, city residents offered prayers to the Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos, asking for help and intercession. Archbishop John prayed incessantly for several days and on the third night he heard God’s command to take the icon of the Mother of God, which was in the church on Ilyinskaya Street, and carry it to the city walls.
The next morning, the clergy and people went in procession to the indicated temple. Archbishop John took the icon of the Mother of God, carried it to the city walls and placed it opposite the attackers, but the Suzdal residents not only did not relent, but intensified the attack. Clouds of arrows flew at the Novgorodians, and one arrow hit the face of the Virgin Mary. Suddenly the icon turned away from the enemy, and the Novgorodians saw that tears were flowing from the eyes of the Mother of God! At the same moment, the Suzdal residents were seized with horror, and in a daze they began to strike each other. Novgorodians, inspired sign from the icon of the Mother of God, left the city and defeated the enemies. Many were taken prisoner, and those who escaped died from cold, hunger and disease in the Novgorod lands they had devastated.
After the miraculous deliverance of Novgorod from numerous enemies, Archbishop John established. Mysteriously, the holiday was moved from February 25, the day of the victory of the Novgorodians over the Suzdalians, to November 27th. According to one version, this happened because February 25 falls during Lent. According to another, the date November 27 was chosen because on this day was the name day of Yakun (Iyakov), the Novgorod mayor, defender of the city.
The miraculous icon was returned to the Transfiguration Church on Ilinaya Street, where it had been located before. In 1356, the Cathedral of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built for her. During the Soviet years, the icon was in the Novgorod Museum-Reserve. In the 1980s, experts carried out its restoration and found traces of arrowheads on the board; one of the wounds is located above the left eye of the Virgin. The image has been updated many times. In 1527, Metropolitan Macarius restored it and decorated it with a frame. Currently, only a few grains of paint and the figures of the Apostle Peter and the Martyr Natalia on the back (the icon is double-sided) remain from the 12th-century image. Experts date the face of the Virgin Mary to the 16th century. Currently, the icon is in the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral.
Worship. Troparion and kontakion for the holiday
Liturgical texts of the holiday Signs of the Blessed Virgin Mary This is what they say about the events of 1170:
With the arrow of those who shot foolishly, Thy Most Pure Image, with the god-burned arrow they wounded not only the hearts, but also the soul. And the source of Your honest icon will bring tears to the inconsolable. For us, Thy people, bring great joy to Thy icon of the Most Pure Mother of the Word. For her sake, save our soul
(Those who foolishly shot at Your image, Most Pure One, You wounded with God’s arrow, not only their hearts, but also their souls. And Your icon, to which we give honor, became for them a source of inconsolable crying. But for us, Your people, Your icon created great joy , Most Pure Mother of the Word of God (Christ). For her sake, save our souls).
Library of Russian Faith
Troparion, tone 4:
Like an insurmountable wall and a source of miracles, which Your servants, Most Pure Mother of God, have acquired for You, we overthrow the resistant militia. In the same way we pray to Thee: grant peace to Thy city, and great mercy to our souls.
Kontakion, tone 4:
The honorable image of Thy sign, celebrating Thy people, Mother of God, to whom Thou hast bestowed a wondrous victory against Thy city, we cry by faith: Rejoice, Virgin, praise the Christians.
Icons of the Mother of God “The Sign”
Icon of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary belongs to the “Oranta” icon painting type (from lat. orans- praying). Such icons existed back in the 4th-6th centuries in Rome and Byzantium, and in Rus' they appeared in the 11th-12th centuries.
The icon of the Mother of God, called the “Sign,” depicts the Most Holy Theotokos with her hands raised in prayer; on her chest, against the background of a round shield (or sphere) is a blessing Baby.
It is interesting that later, in the 15th century, an icon about this icon arose. It is called " Miracle from the Icon of the Sign (battle of Novgorod with Suzdal)" In the upper part, Novgorodians are depicted walking in a religious procession with the image of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos. In the middle are peace negotiations and the ensuing battle; many arrows fly at the icon of the Mother of God located on the city wall. The lower part depicts the Novgorod army led by the holy princes Boris and Gleb, the Great Martyr George and the Old Testament leader of the Jewish people Jesus Navvinus (in a helmet). Above the heads of the Suzdal warriors, who are putting to flight, is an angel with a sword.
Temples in honor of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rus'
In 1625, in honor of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Church of the Archangel Michael Monastery in Yuryev-Polsky was consecrated. The temple occupies the southern side of the monastery courtyard and has the usual layout and design for 17th-century buildings of this type. This is a simple low temple with a spacious refectory.
In honor of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos, a temple was consecrated in Moscow, in Medvedkovo. In the fall of 1612, in the village of Medvedkovo, devastated during the Time of Troubles, a military prayer service was held before the decisive battle with the Poles for Moscow under the leadership of Dimitri Mikhailovich Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin. In memory of this event, in 1620, at the expense of Pozharsky, the first wooden tent church was erected and a memorial bell was cast for it in honor of the liberation of Moscow. In 1634-1635 In memory of his untimely deceased beloved son Fyodor, Pozharsky ordered the replacement of the wooden church with the existing stone tented church, one of the last examples of this style, since soon Nikon’s church reform banned this type of religious buildings as “not corresponding to the rank.”
In Moscow on Znamenka there was a temple in the name of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The first mention of the temple dates back to the beginning of the 17th century, during the interrogation of followers of False Dmitry. It is also known that one of the church bells had the inscription “alms from the parish people”, which appeared in 1600. The Znamenskaya Church was located on the corner of Znamenka Street and Bolshoy Znamensky Lane (Znamenka, vl. 17), which were named after this church. The temple became stone in 1646, later rebuilt in 1657, and the bell tower itself was erected ten years later. In 1929, the church was closed, and two years later it was completely destroyed.
In honor of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos, the altar of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Volokolamsk (1535), the Church of St. Nicholas in Kolomna (circa 1530), the Church of St. Nicholas in Pskov (1500) and the St. Nicholas Church in the village were consecrated. Upper Bridge of the Pskov region (1450).
Old Believer churches in honor of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Formerly locally revered, Novgorod Feast of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the 16th century it became all-Russian. He is also highly revered by Old Believers.
In 1720, it was consecrated in honor of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos. The church operated until 1937, and in December 1941 it found itself at the center of the battles for the liberation of Kaluga from occupation, but, thank God, it survived. During Soviet times, the temple was used as a warehouse for textile products. In March 1989, the Kaluga Regional Executive Committee granted the persistent requests of the Old Believer community to provide it with a more spacious prayer building. On March 2, 1995, the church was consecrated by His Eminence Alimpiy, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus'. It was decided to leave the main church in Znamensky, in honor of the Sign from the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Veliky Novgorod. The chapel was consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas.
In the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Church of the Russian Orthodox Church was consecrated in the name of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The Znamensky Church of the Russian Orthodox Church operates. The brick Old Believer prayer house was transferred to the Old Believers community in 1892, after 1905 it was rebuilt. It was closed in 1931. In 1993 it was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church and repaired.
In the Bryansk region there is the Znamensky Church of the Russian Orthodox Church, built in 1870. The Russian-style temple, characteristic of this time, is an emphatically massive domed building with a cross-shaped volumetric composition and a tiered bell tower. The church building has a pentagonal apse and a cylindrical light drum with a large onion-shaped dome. A high three-tier bell tower adjoins the rectangular refectory from the west; above the center of its wide lower tier rise the quadrangle and octagon of the bell.
Consecrated in honor of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos. The wooden church was founded on May 9, 1882 and consecrated in the name of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God on November 1, 1883. In 1887–1889, a spacious stone vestibule with a bell tower was added to the church. At the end of the 1920s, the temple was closed, the wooden part of the temple was dismantled. Until 1961, the church building housed the warehouse of the Neva Artel. In the same year, services began. The building in 1961 was transferred to the Orthodox Old Believer community of the Bespopovtsy Pomeranian Consent. The surviving buildings were repaired and the destroyed church was partially restored, reconsecrated by the community as Znamenskaya. Since 1961, services have resumed in the church.
Another one was consecrated in honor of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos. The church was built in 1906–1907. Old Believer community of the Pomeranian consent.
The oldest image of the Mother of God “The Sign” in Rus' is the Novgorod icon, painted in the second quarter - mid-12th century. But the name “Sign” begins to be associated with it, oddly enough, only at the end of the 15th century, especially clearly from the 16th century, and is finally consolidated in the 17th century. They began to celebrate the feast of the icon on November 27, apparently, even before the miracle it showed to the Novgorodians, which happened on February 25, 1169 (1170). The First Chronicle of Novgorod reports that the Novgorodians defeated the Suzdalians “by the power of the cross and the Holy Mother of God,” that is, no name has yet been associated with the icon. The chronicler simply calls the icon “the Holy Mother of God,” without a specific epithet. The word “sign” was then usually used in the same meaning as in V.I. Dahl: “A sign is a sign, a sign, a sign; brand, tamga, seal; natural phenomenon or miracle for sign, proof; a foreshadowing of something."
The etymology of the word “sign” is directly related to the verb “to know.” Indo-European ĝen - “to know” is identical to ĝen - “to give birth, to be born” and comes from this latter. It is the concepts “to be born” and “to know” that make up the meaning of the word “sign”.
Let us consider the symbolic and theological meanings of the iconography of the image. At the same time, let’s not forget about the conventions of the language of the icon and the difference between the image and the depicted. I.K. Yazykova writes: “At the moment of contemplating the icon, the Holy of Holies, the inner Mary, is revealed to the one praying, in whose bosom the God-Man is conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Let's emphasize this “as if.” With this caveat, one of the meanings of the circle in which Emmanuel is depicted should be understood and perceived as symbol revelations. But anyway revelations- Divine sign. And although the most secret things are revealed to us, nevertheless this is only the first stage of the icon’s conversation with us, when a sign is a “foreshadowing of something.” On the second step, the Mother of God, knowing The Savior even before Christmas, still in the womb, gives birth- on the icon, as if from eternity, he sends - the Infant of God into the world for the salvation of the human race.
The hands of the Mother of God are raised to the sky, they are open to meet the One who is above the entire universe, and at the same time they bless those praying. This is a very ancient prayer gesture: according to Tertullian, the hands of Christians of his time were raised and spread out, “imitating the passion of the Lord.” The raised hands of the Mother of God in prayer also mean intercession for people before God. The inscription on one of the Byzantine seals of the early 13th century reads: “Ostretching out Your hands and offering Your intercession to the entire universe, give me Your protection, O Most Pure One, for what I must do.” Moses also prayed with his hands raised to heaven during the battle between the Israelites and the Amalekites: “And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed, and when he lowered his hands, Amalek prevailed; but Moses' hands grew heavy, and then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. And his hands were raised until the sun went down” (Ex. 17: 11–12). Here the significance of the entire psychophysical side of prayer is clearly confirmed: it is not enough to pronounce words in the heart; the posture of the person praying and his gestures play an important role. Let us also pay attention to the theme of light and grace that accompanies this gesture. The name “Aaron” is translated as “mountain of light”, “Or” - “light”. And the hands of Moses himself were “raised until the sun went down,” that is, the hands, supported by “lights,” stretched out to the Light and received the grace of God. In the same way, during the liturgy, the priest stretches out his hands in front of the throne, exclaiming: “Woe is our hearts.” Therefore, we can talk about the canonicity of this gesture, which has been used in the liturgy since ancient times, about the unique connection through this gesture of the Old and New Testaments.
The same thing is inherent in the iconography of the Mother of God image “The Sign”. And here we see the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the New. The Divine Infant is figuratively conventional, but eternal is born into the world for its salvation. That is why He is often placed in a mandorla, through the circles of which Divine energies seem to emanate into the world (again, the theme of light and grace, reflected even in the color of Emmanuel’s clothes). Mandorla in this case acts as sign movements – movements of the Baby and light. And when, during the siege of Novgorod, an arrow from the Suzdalians hit the icon and the icon turned away from the attackers, the Suzdalians thereby lost light and grace, and the Novgorodians, on the contrary, received this grace for decisive action and victory over the enemy. Let us remember that the Greek ενέργεια is translated as effective force, and the sign, according to V.I. Dahl, there is a sign. But in Greek a sign - σημειον - is a miraculous sign, not an ordinary one. In the Novgorod Festive Menaion (c. second quarter of the 14th century) given word in a relationship miraculous icon used precisely in the meaning of “omen”, “miracle”. Another purpose of the mandorla in this case is to emphasize the Christocentrism of the icon: both with concentric circles around the Infant God - “Light has come into the world” (John 3: 19), and with its high hierarchical status in the system of iconographic symbols. The hands of the Divine Infant stretched out from the medallion in Great Panagia(from the Greek Παναγία - All-Holy) indicate the penetration of eternity into time, and therefore the abolition of time, which is characteristic of the Orthodox worldview.
So, the first meaning of the “Sign” icon is revelation. At the same time, there is another meaning hidden in it: Christians, for their part, find out The birth and coming into the world of the Savior, know Him and we testify of Him as recognized. That is, birth (γέννησις), in fact, occurs in the name of creation (γένεσις), in order to return creation to the Divine plan: so that man becomes a created god by grace. In other words, without division and confusion, the dual unity of “God and me” arises - the unity that S.L. wrote about in his time. Franc. Let us recall that the word “Divinity” in theology indicates a property, a nature, and the word “God” indicates a Person. As a super-temporal or timeless act, the words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled: “Behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Emmanuel, which means: God is with us” (Is. 7: 14; Matt. 1: 23). In the 15th century, this text of Isaiah is given not only on the icons of the prophetic order of the iconostasis, as in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, but also serves as the basis for free literary adaptations, in which the word “sign” is used in relation to prophecy.
The religious experience of prayerful communication with an icon allows you to discover a new state in yourself, filled with Divine energies. The Greek term ένθεος – lit., is suitable for its designation. "filled with divinity." This state is indicated by the words of Christ: “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). We are clothed with Christ, and Christ abides in us. In this case, on a personal level, a real relationship is established between the Prototype and a person through the icon, and on a public level, the icon becomes a national shrine. Thus, the image of the Mother of God “The Sign” became the sacred guardian of Veliky Novgorod. This icon was also considered in Byzantium and Rus' to be the patroness of the Church, which explains the frequent use of its iconography on the seals of monasteries, dioceses and metropolises, in lunettes above the entrance to the temple, in apse conchs. There are grounds for establishing a connection between the image of the Mother of God “The Sign” and the icon of the Annunciation. If in the bosom of Mary “the God-man is conceived by the Holy Spirit,” as I.K. theologically correctly noted. Yazykov, then this is the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy about Emmanuel: the good news has entered the stage of its implementation. Therefore E.S. Smirnova is absolutely right in considering the images on the reverse side of the icon to be images of Joachim and Anna, and not of the Apostle Peter and the martyr Natalia, as V.N. believed. Lazarev with followers. The theme of the Incarnation is central to the “Sign” icon (therefore, this iconography is canonical for the center of the prophetic order of the iconostasis). Both sides of the famous Novgorod image, with increasing content, testify precisely to the Incarnation. Otherwise, the theological connection between the obverse and reverse of this icon is lost, which comes into conflict with the practice of church life. A similar connection was present in the vast majority of external Orthodox images.
A special rite in honor of the Mother of God, called the “Rite of Raising the Panagia,” is directly associated with the “Sign” icon. But we know that Panagia is also called an encolpion - a small image of the Mother of God, worn by the bishop on his chest over his vestments, and a prosphora, from which a particle was removed during the liturgy in memory of the Most Pure One. During the meal, the prosphora was always placed on a special dish - panagiar - with the image of Our Lady of the Sign, often surrounded by prophets. On the Byzantine panagiars of the 12th–13th centuries you can see the inscription: “Christ is Bread. The Virgin gives body to God the Word.” The inscription was applied not only for decoration; its meaning was to mysteriously unite the rank Panagia and the meaning of holy bread - the body of Christ, received by Him from His Mother. So rank Panagia brings us back to the theme of the Incarnation.
The pedigree of the iconography of the “Sign” goes back to the image of Oranta, which in Rus' was also called the “Unbreakable Wall” because “it was considered the intercessor of “all cities, suburbs and villages” in the fight against eternal enemies - the steppe nomads.” Is it correct to believe that Oranta was depicted as an intercessor, starting with the paintings of the catacombs? In them you can see many images similar in iconography: this is how, for example, the souls of the dead were originally depicted, who prayed for Christians who were still living.
Oranta was and is a symbol of the Heavenly Church. She became such fully and consciously from the moment she was identified with the personality of the Mother of God. Already in the catacombs, “under the image of a praying wife, ancient Christians sometimes used to depict none other than the Blessed Virgin Mary,” accompanying the frescoes with the inscriptions “Maria” and “Mara.” However, “in these orants we do not have a portrait, individual type of the Mother of God, but a conventional image of Her, accepted for every sedate Christian woman.” However, in the “Ascension” stamp of the Monza ampoule (the iconography of the stamps dates back to the 4th–6th centuries), we see Oranta, undoubtedly, in the person of the Mother of God, we see Her as the personification of the Apostolic Church.
Since the 9th century, the Most Pure One began to be painted in the apse conch. As noted by I.K. Yazykov, since then “the theme of intercession takes on a broader aspect: the prayer of the Mother of God links together the Kingdom of Heaven, represented in the upper part of the temple, with the “downstream world” - under Her feet. Our Lady of Oranta, as it were, opens up to meet Christ, Who descends through Her to earth, incarnates in human form and sanctifies human flesh with His Divine presence, turning it into a temple - hence Our Lady of Oranta is interpreted as the personification of the Christian temple, as well as the entire New Testament Church.”
In the 14th century, Serbian isographers painted a fresco similar to the Novgorod icon “The Sign”, where the Mother of God, depicted full-length, is dressed not in the usual tunic, but in a chiton with claves. Similar examples can be seen on some frescoes of Oranta in the catacombs. The Mother of God in this case was understood as the Church itself and as a messenger. If earlier the intercession of the Most Pure One implied a movement from the earthly to the heavenly, here it is understood as apostolic and directed from the heavenly to the earthly.
Protographs of the image of the Mother of God “The Sign” have also been known since the 4th century (the catacombs of St. Agnes in Rome) and, judging by the absence of a halo on the Infant of God, they were created before the First Ecumenical Council, that is, before 325. And in the 5th–6th centuries they were already written on icons and in the wall paintings of churches, minted on coins, and reproduced on the seals of the Byzantine emperors, which indicates their Constantinople origin. This iconography became especially widespread from the 11th to 12th centuries and became popular throughout the Orthodox ecumene. However, many art historians consider the time of appearance of this version to be only the middle of the 11th century, citing surviving images of coins (nomisma of Empresses Zoe and Theodora, 1042) and sphragistics (seals of Empress Eudokia Macremvolitissa, wife of Constantine X in 1059–1067. and Roman IV in 1068–1071). Apparently, the confusion here occurs due to an unclear classification of the names of iconographic types, since the tradition of fixing stable names for one or another type of Mother of God icons developed only at the time of the decline of the Byzantine Empire, and possibly later - already in post-Byzantine times.
According to I.K. Linguistically, the iconography of Oranta is an abbreviated and truncated version of the image of the Mother of God “The Sign”. Such an opinion cannot but cause objections. Since Oranta’s version is older than the “Sign”, the first cannot be a “shortened version” of the second: you can only truncate what already exists. Here we are not dealing with a reduction in the iconography of the image, but with its construction. Therefore, the “Sign” scheme is more complex than the Oranta scheme, not only externally, but also internally. “This is the most theologically rich iconographic type,” I.K. herself is convinced. Yazykova.
We have already verified from the example of Cypriot frescoes the undoubted connection between the images of the image “The Sign” and the image of the Mother of God Blachernitissa, which only confirms the understanding of the word “sign” as a miracle, because the events of 910 that took place in the Blachernae Church have been celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church for more than eight hundred years as the feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God. Apparently, it is natural that the icon is called “The Sign” only in Rus' and nowhere else. In other countries it is known under other names, mainly taken from akathists.
In the art of the Byzantine circle, several terms were used for this iconography, which are often used by art historians: “Platitera” (from “Πλαντυτέρα τόν ουρανόν” - “Broadening the heavens”, from the liturgy of Basil the Great), “Episkepsis” (“Επίσκεψις” – “Patroness , Intercessor"), "Megali Panagia" ("Μεγάλη Παναγία" - "Great All-Holy")". Let’s add here “Pantonassa” (“παντο” - “all” + “νάσσα” from “ναίω” - “to live, inhabit; be; inhabit”).
It should be noted that there is a certain iconographic connection between the image of the Mother of God “The Sign” and the icon Our Lady of Nikopea(Victorious). During the restoration of the Blachernae Temple (1030–1031) during the reign of Emperor Romanus III Argir, builders discovered an icon walled up in the wall, which was hidden from the iconoclasts, most likely in the 8th century under Emperor Constantine Copronymus. The found image was described by a witness of the events, John Skylitzes. Its text was understood for quite a long time as a description of an edition identical to that of the Novgorod icon “The Sign”, but modern researchers have made more accurate translation, from which it follows that the Mother of God holds a mandorla with the Child of God in Her hands. This is how Nikopea, known since pre-iconoclastic times, was found. A similar Sinai icon from the 7th century has survived to this day. The role of this excerpt, according to Academician N.P. Kondakova and V.N. Lazarev, echoes the role that the Novgorod shrine – the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” – is called upon to play.
Let us note how accurately our ancestors gave the name to the image! The miracle is inextricably linked with this icon. Especially for Novgorodians. Miraculously they received help from her during the siege of the city by the Suzdalians. In 1356, a fire that broke out in the church subsided after a prayer service in front of this icon. In 1611, the Swedes who tried to rob it were thrown out of the Znamensky Cathedral. Relatively recently, many of those present witnessed a celestial phenomenon: on August 15, 1991, during the transfer of the icon from the museum where it had been kept for a long time to the Novgorod diocese, a rainbow surrounded the golden dome of the St. Sophia Cathedral in a ring, and then began to rise and dissolved in the clear, without a single cloud, sky.
In conclusion, let us recall that the word “miracle” is formed from the verb “sense” - that is, “hear, feel.” God, taking into account human nature, turns to them with the help of signs to save His people. As long as we “feel” the all-presence of God and the universal protection of the Mother of God, we can hope for Her intercession and help in sorrows. And through Her image “The Sign” the luminous grace of God will continue to descend upon us.
Yazykova I.K.. Theology of the icon. P. 189.
Right there. P. 92.
Cm. wall paintings in the temple of Panagia Forbiotissa in Asinu and in the temple of Panagia in Trikomo, which were mentioned above (note 13, 14).
“The name “Blachernitissa” appears both on compositions with Our Lady Oranta without a medallion with Emmanuel, and on compositions with Our Lady Oranta and Emmanuel, that is, on the Novgorod icon. However, the Byzantines themselves applied this name not only to these, but also to other images, for example, to the Mother of God and Child of the “Tenderness” type, which in iconography is most reminiscent of our Tolgskaya. Probably, all the revered images of Blachernae, with their various iconographic types, could be called “Blachernitissa,” including a version of the Novgorod miraculous icon" ( Smirnova E.S.. Novgorod icon “Our Lady of the Sign”. P. 292).
“The Sign of the Mother of God in the Blachernae Church is eschatological. According to prophecies, the Intercession is a sign and miracle of the last times. The meaning of this secret will be revealed when evil wins what seems like a complete and unconditional victory on earth. What kind of revelation this will be, we do not know now,” writes a modern author ( Rogozyansky Andrey. Veil: theological mystery and historical paradox // http://www.rusk.ru/st.php?idar=103738).
Smirnova E.S.. Novgorod icon “Our Lady of the Sign. P. 290.
Cm.: Lazarev V.N.. Russian icon painting // Icons of the XI–XIII centuries. M., 2000. S. 42, 166; and: Kondakov N.P.. Iconography of the Mother of God. Pg., 1915. T. 2. P. 105–123.
