History of the image of the Mother of God
All three images of the Most Pure Mother were sent by the Evangelist Luke himself to Egypt, to pious people who believed in Christ and adopted the image of monastic life from the Evangelist Mark. The “Merciful” (Kykkos) icon stayed there for almost a thousand years and only in 980 was transported to Constantinople. The image was placed in the royal palace and remained there until the reign of Emperor Alexei Komnenos, and then was transported to the island. Cyprus.
Two of the three icons of the Evangelist Luke are called “Merciful”. To differentiate, one of them is called “Milostika-Kykkos” after the name of the mountain on the island of Cyprus where this image is located.
One day, the ruler of Cyprus, whose name was Manuel, went hunting, but got lost in the mountains. Because of this, he became very angry, and when he met the desert monk Isaiah, he beat him. For this, the ruler received punishment - he became very ill. And the hermit Isaiah received a wonderful sign, in which it was revealed to him that through his labors the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which was painted by the Apostle Luke himself, would be in Cyprus.
Image of the Queen of Heaven “Merciful” (Kykkos)
The ascetic very diligently fulfilled God's will and began to build a temple so that the image of the Most Pure One could be placed in it. When the repentant Manuel came to him, the elder ordered him to go to the emperor in Constantinople and pick up the wonderful image. The ruler of Cyprus did not dare to immediately talk to the emperor about the icon, but when the royal daughter fell ill, he conveyed the monk’s words to the ruler of the empire. The emperor made a promise to send the icon to the island, after which the imperial daughter immediately felt better.
The icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was sent with honors to Cyprus. Upon arrival, the image was placed in the temple already prepared for her. Over time, a monastery was built nearby with funds donated by Manuel. Because of this, the monastery began to be called imperial.
In 1365, when the Cypriot lands were under Catholic rule, there was a fire that destroyed everything: both church utensils and the imperial charter. But the icon remained unharmed. Since 1570, the lands came under the rule of the Turks. The monastery was restored, and the image of the Most Pure One was placed in its original place. Chronicles have been preserved in the Kykkos monastery, which indicate numerous cases of healing that happened to people thanks to the miraculous icon.
Svyatogorsk legend
In the capital of Athos - the city of Kareya, founded in 335 by Emperor Constantine the Great, in the altar of the Protat Cathedral, on a high place, today there is a miraculous icon called “It is Worthy to Eat”, or “The Merciful” (“Άξιόν έστιν”).
The history of this icon, as is clear from its name, is connected with the appearance of the church hymn “It is Worthy to Eat.” This is what the Svyatogorsk legend tells about this amazing incident.
At the end of the 10th century, an old hermit and a novice lived on the Holy Mountain not far from the Kareysky Monastery. Spending all their time in prayer and fasting, they left their cell only in exceptional cases. By the way, this cell with a small church in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary has survived to this day. And then one day, on Sunday, June 11, 982, the elder priest went to the All-Night Vigil at the Kareya Church, and ordered his disciple to perform this service at home. Night was already falling when the novice suddenly heard a knock on the door. Surprised, he opened it and saw an unfamiliar monk on the threshold, who asked for shelter. The novice let the stranger in, and soon the time for the All-Night Vigil service came...
Finishing the reading of the canon, they both stood in front of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, called “Merciful,” and began to sing the ancient majestic song of Saint Cosmas, Bishop of Maium, creator of the canons: “The most honorable Cherub and the most glorious Seraphim...”, when suddenly the stranger interrupted the singing.
“But we don’t call the Mother of God that way,” he said, “we sing first: “It is worthy that You are truly blessed, the Mother of God, the Ever-Blessed and Most Immaculate and Mother of our God,” and only then: “The most honorable Cherub and the most glorious Seraphim.”
And - lo and behold! - as if responding to this wondrous doxology and welcoming it, the icon of the Mother of God suddenly shone with an extraordinary heavenly light...
Stunned by everything he saw and heard, the novice innocently asked:
“But we have never heard such a song... And not only we, but even our ancestors... I ask you, write it down for me so that I can magnify and glorify the Mother of God in the same way.”
When it turned out that there was neither ink nor paper in the cell, the stranger said:
“I will write this song for your memory on this stone.” Sing this way yourself, and teach all Christians to glorify the Most Holy Theotokos this way.
Having inscribed the words of the song on the stone, which became soft as wax under his hand, the guest gave it to the novice and, calling himself Gabriel, at that very moment became invisible...
The old man returned and found the novice singing an unfamiliar wonderful song. And when I learned about the mysterious stranger and saw a stone slab with the words of the chant clearly imprinted, I immediately realized that Archangel Gabriel himself had visited their cell. They took the stone slab to the pret (chief of the Holy Mountain) and told in detail about everything that had happened.
Since then, the angelic song “It is worthy to eat” began to sound (it still sounds today!) at the Divine Liturgy and other church services. The icon, in front of which the Archangel Gabriel sang it and received a new name - “It is Worthy to Eat”, was solemnly transferred to the Protate Cathedral in Kareia, and the slab - to Constantinople.
Days of celebration
The celebration of this image of the Queen of Heaven takes place twice a year:
- November 12/25;
- January 26/8, the day of the Council of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
You can pray in front of this icon on any day of the year. But the date of the celebration of the image must be marked with deep prayer. Temples erected in honor of the image of the Most Pure “Merciful” celebrate their patronal feast day on these days.
The image of “Merciful” (Kykkos) belongs to the type of Eleusa
Where is the miraculous image located?
The icon that Luke painted is still kept in Cyprus, in the monastery on Mount Kykkos. The monastery was repeatedly attacked by enemies, but their attempts to destroy the monastery were in vain.
Lists of the image are located in different countries of the world, including in Russia, where a copy ended up in the 17th century. The most famous icon located in Rus' can be called a list kept in Moscow, in the Orthodox Conception Monastery. The image is the main shrine of the monastery. The first records about it date back to the 18th century. The icon was placed in the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, during the oppression of Orthodoxy, when Soviet power destroyed churches and monasteries, this monastery was initially closed, and later destroyed. But the image of the Mother of God has been preserved. For a long time it was kept in the Elias Church. The sisters of the destroyed monastery looked after him, prayers were performed in front of the icon. In 1999, the Church of the Conception was restored, and the icon returned there.
The icon is kept in the monastery on Mount Kykkos (Cyprus)
Conception Monastery
Revered list of the “Merciful” icon in the Conception Monastery
Lists icons
Numerous copies of the “It Is Worthy” (“Merciful”) icon are sacredly revered in the Russian land.
A five-domed temple was erected in the Galernaya harbor of St. Petersburg, in which they placed an exact copy of this blessed icon sent from Athos.
In 1858, a copy of the icon was delivered to Orenburg, to a women’s monastery.
And on June 16, 1999, a copy of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “It is Worthy to Eat” from Holy Mount Athos was delivered to the Moscow courtyard of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
The miraculous power and mystery of the icon
After transferring the image to Cyprus, he began to heal believers. The chronicles of the monastery contain evidence of how the image of the Most Holy Theotokos saved the monastery from fire four times. Through prayers before the miraculous icon, the Queen of Heaven granted people healing from illnesses, and women, after a long period of inability to become pregnant, gave birth to children. The Mother of God saved from drought and locust invasion, opened the mouth of the dumb from birth, etc.
This image has not been fully explored. It is unknown when exactly the icon was covered with a veil. It hides the image by half - from the upper left corner to the lower right. The faces of the Queen of Heaven and the Baby are closed. No one can examine them, and no one dares to remove the veil, including patriarchs and archbishops.
Those who dared to look at the face of the Mother of God were punished. Thus, in 1699, Patriarch of Alexandria Gerasim dared to open the icon. After this act, he lost his sight. The Queen of Heaven granted him healing after his repentance and prayers for mercy.
The meaning of the image
The content of the icon resembles the image of the Leaping Child. It depicts an episode that was later called the Presentation of the Lord. When visiting the Jerusalem Temple, at the entrance, Mary with Jesus in her arms met Elder Simeon, one of those seven dozen people who translated Biblical texts.
He, like many other translators, did not at first believe in the virgin birth. And so the Lord promised to show him the born Messiah. Simeon immediately understood who he saw in front of him and wanted to take Jesus in his arms. But the baby did not express a desire to get to the stranger, reaching out to his mother. This is the second explanation of the image.
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What does the Kykkos shrine help with?
Before the miraculous image of the Queen of Heaven “Merciful” (Kykkos) they pray:
- about the onset of pregnancy;
- about the safe birth of healthy children;
- for bleeding and other diseases;
- in times of drought.
The main thing in prayer is repentance and humility, since “God will not despise a contrite and humble heart” (Ps. 50).
Author's advice
There is information that even pagans recognize the icon. But as the Lord Himself said, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven” and “you must be born again” (John ch. 3, vv. 5, 7). This means that the first necessity is Baptism.
You can pray in front of this icon any day of the year.
Prayer before the icon of the Mother of God “Merciful”
O Most Holy and Blessed Mother of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, Merciful Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary! Falling before Your holy and miraculous icon, we humbly pray to You, our Good and Merciful Intercessor: listen to the voice of our sinful prayers, do not despise the sighs from the soul, seeing the sorrows and misfortunes that have befallen us, and like a truly loving Mother, striving to help us helpless, sad, Those who have fallen into many and grave sins and continually anger our Lord and Creator, pray to Him, our Representative, not to destroy us with our iniquities, but to show us His philanthropic mercy. Ask us, O Lady, from His goodness, bodily health and spiritual salvation, a pious and peaceful life, fruitfulness of the earth, goodness of the air, well-timed rains and a blessing from above for all our good deeds and undertakings, and as of old you mercifully looked upon the humble praise of the novice of Athonite. , who sang a song of praise to You before Your Most Pure Icon, and You sent Archangel Gabriel to him to teach him to sing the heavenly song, with which the angels of the mountain glorify You, graciously accept our prayer now fervently offered to You, and bring it to Your Son and God, may He be merciful He will be a sinner for us, and He will add His mercy to all who honor Thee and worship Thy Holy Image with faith. O All-Merciful Queen, All-Blessed Mother of God, stretch out your God-bearing hands to Him, in His image, as if you were carrying a baby, and beg Him to save us all and deliver us from eternal destruction. Show us, O Lady, Your generosity: heal the sick, comfort the sorrowing, help the needy: make us all prosperous to bear the yoke of Christ in patience and humility, grant us a pious end to this earthly life, receive a Christian shameless death, and inherit the Heavenly Kingdom, through Your maternal intercession to To Christ our God, who was born of You, and to Him with His Originless Father and the Most Holy Spirit, befits all glory, honor and worship, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The image of the Queen of Heaven “Merciful” (Kykkos) is located on Fr. Cyprus. This icon was painted by the Evangelist Luke himself. Those who come to her with faith and repentance receive healing and help from the Most Holy Theotokos.
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