In Christianity, Orthodox Christians venerate several main types of shrines depicting the image of the Most Holy Theotokos, and one of these shrines is the “Tenderness” icon of the Mother of God. It belongs to the main Russian type of icon painting, the so-called Eleusa, in which the Son of God sits in the arms of the Mother and falls on her cheek. Therefore, in the icon “Tenderness” the Mother of God is usually represented in this image, captured in life, with the Child, who looks tenderly, excitedly.
Celebration date:
- 10th of August
- August 1
History of the icon
It is known that the Pskov-Pechersk Icon “Tenderness”, or as it is also called Vladimir (of the same name), is presented in the form of a copy of the famous miraculous icon “Vladimir”, brought from Kiev by Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky in the distant years of the twelfth century. It was in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow that the sanctuary arrived after mid-1395. Subsequently, the Pskov-Pechersk Icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness” miraculously survived the blockade of the city of Pskov by the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Stefan Batory in 1581, and after that in 1812 he played a significant role in the battle with Napoleon Bonaparte. According to history, the Mother of God saved herself from death more than once and, thanks to her people, was healed from serious illnesses. This is what happened when, after long prayers to the “Tenderness” icon, the invisible widow again saw the world around her, and such miracles were not uncommon.
Story
One day in 1994, a resident of the village. Lokot of the Bryansk region Natalya Nikolaevna (spiritual daughter of Father Meletius (Demina), in the “Children’s World” store, noticed a wall calendar with the image of the icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness” - the favorite image of St. Seraphim of Sarov. The calendar was for last year, and, upset , she left the store. But her heart sank because this image looked so lonely in the store, among the crowds of indifferent people, “expired”, which no one purchased. She returned and bought the two remaining calendars. At home she cut out the images and hung it on the wall. Once, during her illness in 1999, Natalya Nikolaevna was reading a book on the cover of which was depicted the image of the Mother of God “Tenderness.” And suddenly she felt a fragrance, very surprised. She had never experienced such an unusually thick aroma of flowers, the feeling of the morning dawn never - the whole room was saturated with it. The fragrance came from the icon from the old calendar. She and her husband decided to put the miraculous image in a frame and, turning it over, saw that the face of the Mother of God appeared on the other side. They called a priest, sang an akathist - the icon streamed myrrh... The stream of myrrh continues to this day, except during the periods of Great Lent. They made her a double-sided chasuble, and on the other side this chasuble follows the design of the image that appeared. Placed in an icon case, the icon streams myrrh inside it, and often the outer side of the glass is covered with streams of myrrh. The front side of the icon, covered with the world for so many years, contrary to the laws of physics, does not soak through the paper. On the other hand, only the emerging image is covered with an oil layer. Because of the robe, we do not see it completely, but in the photographs shown, the face of Christ from the Shroud of Turin appears in the area of the womb of the Virgin Mary. To this day, the icon itself streams myrrh abundantly, and the icons of numerous pilgrims displayed in front of it also stream myrrh. The bread and water placed right there are covered with myrrh. Sometimes those praying are sprinkled with a drizzle of rain. Old icons in this house are being renewed, broken ones are being fused, white metal vestments are being covered with gold before our eyes (although the owner, laughing, noted that no one has done a chemical examination, so far we are only talking about color). Experts presented video recordings of myrrh flow in Lokta. Other amazing events also occur, according to Natalya Nikolaevna, through the prayers of Elder Meletius and the mercy of the Most Holy Theotokos. Archpriest Alexander Mitrushin, rector of the Church of All Who Sorrow of the Joy of the Oryol diocese, noticed that plants also react to the icon. The priest recalled an incident when his parishioner, who received a dried rose that once adorned this image, was forced to stop the car in which he was returning home with his gift: the interior was filled with a strong fragrance, and the windows were covered with dew. There were also cases of miraculous healing of seriously ill people after praying before this image. Thus, after a trip to Lokot, an ultrasound scan of a resident of Bryansk, who was preparing for a serious oncological operation, did not reveal a tumor. The keeper of the icon, Natalya Nikolaevna, being a doctor herself, strongly advised the woman to undergo surgery. At the site of the former tumor, recorded by photographs and tests, a small ulcer was discovered during the operation, and the metastases seemed to be cauterized. The rector of St. Nicholas Church in the village of Lyamtsino, Domodedovo district, Fr. Alexander Trushin told how, having laid out his icon of St. Nicholas, he secretly planned, following the example of Gideon from the Old Testament: “Lord, if this is Your will, then let one icon – mine – remain dry.” And on the screen we saw among the abundantly myrrh-streaming images of the “dry” St. Nicholas. The priest also gave a spiritual understanding of what he saw in Lokto: the nature of all the miracles sent to us by God is in the humility, joy and grace with which they fill our soul. At a round table meeting held on February 2, 2006. within the framework of the XVI International Christmas Readings at Moscow University, in which members of the expert working group took part in describing the miraculous events taking place in the Russian Orthodox Church under the Synodal Theological Commission of the Moscow Patriarchate, Orthodox priests, icon painters, editors of Orthodox publications, the events being studied - the flow of myrrh in village The Elbow of the Bryansk region was unanimously recognized as a miracle.
Lokot Icon “Tenderness” (Seraphim-Diveevskaya)
Unlike the Vladimir shrine, the Seraphim-Diveyevo Icon of the Mother of God has a number of distinctive features that distinguish it from the rest, since it does not belong to the “Eleussky” type. Among its differences is that the icon of “Tenderness” of the Mother of God of Lokot is depicted separately. The hands of the Mother of God are crossed in the chest area, and the face of the saint expresses strong and bright feelings. On the Seraphimo-Diveevskaya icon “Tenderness” the Blessed Virgin Mary is depicted at the happiest moment, when Archangel Gabriel talks about the approaching birth of the Savior. Her gaze is filled with kindness, sanity, calm and love as she eagerly awaits her child.
Initially, the icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness” was made on canvas attached to a cypress board. After all, the All-Russian Emperor Nicholas II granted the shrine a precious salary. In 1991, the image of the saint was presented to Patriarch Alexy II in the Moscow Patriarchal Church, from where from year to year it is transferred to the Epiphany Cathedral, where it is venerated. Over time, copies of the original image began to appear, but they are also famous for their capabilities as much as the original.
Slovo (St. Petersburg). Myrrh-streaming icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness”
The guest of the program is Yuri Ivanovich Shishkov, assistant to the bishop of the Zheleznogorsk diocese of the Kursk Metropolis.
– Miracles have always been considered signs of the Divine presence in the world. In religious and secular literature, in art, in history from ancient times to the present day, stories about miraculous healings, signs, and renovations of icons have been preserved.
There is also a place for miracles in modern life. During Lent, in the Vladimir Cathedral of St. Petersburg there was an image of the Mother of God “Tenderness” from the village of Lokot, Bryansk region. For 20 years, the icon of the Mother of God has been streaming myrrh. Today we will talk with a man who has witnessed this miracle for many years. Our guest is journalist Yuri Ivanovich Shishkov.
The image of the Mother of God “Tenderness” is known in Russia as the favorite cell icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov, which the elder bequeathed to the sisters of the Diveyevo monastery. Where did the icon come from in the Bryansk region and when did it start streaming myrrh? Please tell us about this miracle.
– After the destruction of the Diveyevo Monastery, the nuns saved the icon; it was passed from one custodian to another for a long time, and after the death of the latter it was handed over to Patriarch Alexy II. But for some reason he did not give his blessing to return the icon to Diveevo, he kept it with him, and since then it has been kept in Moscow, in the house Patriarchal Church. And for the Diveyevo Monastery a copy of the icon was made.
The image that we accompany is also a copy, a lithograph of the Diveyevo icon, which was found 20 years ago in the village of Lokot, Bryansk region. This is the former estate of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov, the younger brother of the martyr Tsar Nicholas II, he was also killed, like the entire royal family, and also canonized.
In this village, 20 years ago, a servant of God purchased an expired calendar with the face of the Mother of God from a local store.
She bought it to prevent desecration of the image of the Mother of God (since they wanted to throw away the calendar), brought it home, cut off the number and hung it at home as an icon.
As time passed, the image in her house began to smell fragrant and flow with myrrh. And since then, the myrrh-streaming has continued for 20 years.
When this happened, the local priest was the first to be notified. And, of course, he was very perplexed, because he had never encountered such phenomena in his life.
He said this: “Let's wait until Easter. If the myrrh flow stops on Easter, it means this miracle is not from God.” And on Easter, all the icons in the house were filled with myrrh - there were quite a lot of them.
And it became clear that this was truly a miracle from God.
It was then that the ruling bishop was already informed - at that time it was the Archbishop of Bryansk and Sevsk Melchizedek. For his arrival, they decided to place the image in a frame - well, you won’t show the bishop a lithograph that hangs on the wall, and even glued with stationery tape. And when the image was removed from the wall, they saw that on the reverse side there was an image not made by hands.
Subsequently, miracles and healings began from the icon - and the master of the patriarch in Sofrino made the chasuble for this icon, and he noticed that in addition to the face of the Mother of God on this miraculous image there is also the image of the crucified Christ (as we know him from the image on the Shroud of Turin ).
The bishop arrived, took the icon in his hands, and it became myrrh in his hands. Myrrh flowed through his hands, and he said: “How many times have I been to Mount Athos, I have traveled to Jerusalem more than once, but I have never seen such miracles! Probably in heaven they want to tell us something with this miracle.”
– But people are very wary of supernatural phenomena. How did people authoritative for the Church react to such a miracle?
– Naturally, after this miracle happened, the Patriarchal Commission under the Moscow Patriarchate was informed about it. We arrived and took myrrh for examination. But our Church does not have its own laboratories; these studies were carried out in the laboratories of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB.
The icon was checked by the special services. And the scientists of these services were never able to determine the composition of the world. Although it is known that it is based on oils similar to our earthly sunflower and olive oils. But they couldn’t determine what else was contained there. This icon is the subject of consideration by the Commission for the Study of Miraculous Phenomena at the Christmas readings almost every year.
But our people somehow got used to trusting the opinion of the elders... Father Nikolai (Guryanov): “This icon will be a wonder to all divas in Russia.”
Schema-Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) blessed all-Russian and international religious processions with the participation of this icon, which were organized with the support of the Orthodox newspaper “Rus Sovereign”.
Father Jonah of Odessa, when we were making a procession dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Victory, said: “I have been waiting for this procession for 60 years”...
When we got to Father Vlasiy, the priest said about this icon: “But this icon is a prototype of the Diveyevo Canal. The more countries and peoples you manage to travel around with this icon, the more people it will be able to save.” And the priest explained everything very simply and clearly: “Look what the image of the Mother of God “Tenderness” looked like when he was dressed in a robe...”
The right foot appeared first on the icon. And then, like a mirror image, when the chasuble was also placed on the front side of the icon, the left pile appeared there.
Thus, this is the only icon in the world that was predicted in advance; the only icon in the world that has a miraculous image of the Mother of God, in whose womb is a miraculous image of the crucified Christ, and this icon is the only one in the world that has two feet at once. There is only one foot on the Pochaev Icon.
And the Monk Seraphim said: where the Mother of God passes with her most pure feet, there will be a border that the enemy will not cross. So She now walks in the image of this icon with pure feet, protecting Her people.
And, of course, we rely on the opinion of the authoritative elder Schema-Archimandrite Elijah, confessor of His Holiness the Patriarch, with whose blessing the book about this icon was written.
– Tell us on which days the icon streams myrrh abundantly, and on which days it does not stream myrrh at all. And who collects this ointment?
Novgorod and Smolensk icons
For about 700 years, residents of the city in northwestern Russia revered the Novgorod icon “Tenderness.” The shrine is famous for its miraculous power, which was experienced by those who prayed in front of it. He protected people from destruction, fires and wars, and gave those in need physical and mental healing.
The Icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness” of Smolensk, in turn, became famous for the protection of local residents: during the attack of Polish troops on the townspeople in the early 17th century. It depicts the Virgin Mary with her Son and has gained popularity since 1103.
The meaning of the “Tenderness” icon
As you know, the images of the Mother of God are one of the main ones in Christianity, therefore the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Tenderness” is of great importance for the Orthodox. The face of the Mother of God is distinguished by insight and sensitivity to those who pray to her for a talisman.
The miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness” supports those who pray in times of difficult trials and depressing everyday life that suppress their spirits.
They ask the shrine to help resolve conflicts and reconcile warring parties in order to save the family and the Motherland. In addition, women and girls often turn to the icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness” with petitions for family well-being and a successful marriage, and the birth of a healthy child.
The icon “Tenderness” calls for awakening. Republication
Last summer, exuding the spirit of heavenly grace, their home myrrh-streaming icon “Tenderness” majestically floated across Ukraine, Russia and White Rus', accompanied by numerous crusaders, among whom were Russians Viktor Remizov and Natalya Murashkina.
Those who happened to venerate or walk under it were given great mercy. I realized this only when, by God’s providence, on the eve of the Baptism of the Lord, I was privileged to visit where, abundantly exuding fragrant myrrh and performing miracles incredible by earthly standards, the icon of “Tenderness” calls for awakening.
On the "wings" of grace
At the diocesan Christmas party, I asked for the blessing of Metropolitan Philaret of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, for a trip to the miraculous icon, which resides in a wonderful fragrance in a private house in the urban village of Lokot, Bryansk region. And it happened. Having left Minsk in the morning, by lunchtime we reached the St. Nicholas Mogilev Convent. Having made a stop, we walked into the territory of the monastery and, falling into the generous hands of the 82-year-old abbess Evgenia (Voloshchuk), spent about an hour in a heartfelt conversation. Mother told us about her meeting with the blessed old woman from the village of Koski, Dzerzhinsky district, Minsk region, Valentina Sulkowska. About her prophecies, many of which have already come true.
In a spacious two-story mansion, fragrant with the freshness of aromas unknown on earth, participants in several religious processions Natalya Nikolaevna Murashkina and one of the admirers of the icon, Sergius, who arrived before us, were waiting for us. After a short acquaintance, we climb the wooden stairs to the second floor and find ourselves in a world of mysteries and wonders, breathing purity and beauty. We stand in a daze in front of the “Tenderness” icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, adorned with expensive gifts, before which St. Seraphim of Sarov prayed until his last earthly day. The realization that, despite our sinfulness, the Mother of God allowed us to see her Most Pure Face, pouring out fragrant myrrh, makes me want to cry.
Seeing our reaction, the hostess explains: before the arrival of pilgrims, the icons begin to stream myrrh more intensely. How this happens is unknown. Sometimes myrrh falls straight from the air. It is lowered crosswise onto the prosphora brought.
Six months later, the couple decided to make a frame for the Tenderness icon. Having removed it from the wall, they discovered on the reverse side the miraculous image of the Mother of God “Tenderness”, which also exuded a fragrance. After some time, this wondrous image began to flow abundantly with myrrh.
Faced with an incomprehensible phenomenon, the owners of the house were at a loss: what to do, how to continue to live? For an explanation of what was happening, Natalya and Victor turned to the schema-abbot of the Optina Hermitage, Elijah. He told them: “It is the Mother of God who comes and brings her Saints. This is her grace." Hearing about this icon, the perspicacious elder from the island of Talabsk Nikolai Guryanov exclaimed: “This will be a wonder for all the divas still in Russia!” Bishop Melchizedek, who headed the Bryansk diocese, having served a prayer service in their house, said: “I have been to Mount Athos, to Jerusalem, but I have not seen such a miracle.” With his blessing, the couple added a chapel to their house. This miracle was also witnessed by a special commission that came to Lokot, consisting of P.V. Florensky, A.V. Moskovsky and Archpriest Father Alexander (Trushin).
How does the “Tenderness” icon help?
As mentioned above, the shrine of the Mother of God is very important for believers. Thus, the face of the Virgin Mary helps in difficult life circumstances, in illness, giving strength to those praying. The especially miraculous icon “Tenderness” protects the weaker sex, helping to preserve purity and chastity, and also supports at significant moments in the life of each representative of the female half: marriage, family, conception, childbirth.
We recommend reading:
- How does the Pechersk Icon of the Mother of God help?
- The meaning of the icon “Don’t cry for me, Mati”
Prayers before the icon “Tenderness” Seraphimo-Diveevskaya
If you pray correctly in front of the Tenderness icon, help will definitely come. First of all, it is necessary to give power to words so that they return to the double dimension. They ask in the sanctuary for freedom from suffering and mental pain, ease of childbirth, harmony, but despite the differences in these requests, they need one thing: sincerity, purity of what they want. Therefore, having gained warmth to receive the support of the Most Holy Theotokos, you need to say the following prayer:
Troparion, tone 4
To the Mother of God with tenderness, let us fall, / all, gravel of obsession, / the miraculous icon of Tenderness, kissing / and crying with tears: / Lord, welcome the prayers of the unworthy.
Translation: All those burdened with sins will turn to the Mother of God with sincere repentance, kissing her miraculous icon of tenderness and crying with tears: “Lady, accept the prayer of Your unworthy servants and grant great mercy to those who ask.”
Kontakion, tone 3
Yuzhe, imitating the good fig, / I, damned, do not bear the fruit of tenderness, and I am afraid, / but, looking at the miraculous icon of Your tenderness, Lord, I rejoice, / I am grateful, /// the grace to give spiritual affection and sincerity.
Translation: Imitating the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6-9), I, the accursed one, do not bear the fruit of humility at all and am afraid of being beheaded, but looking at the miraculous icon of your tenderness, Lady, I sigh from the bottom of my heart and cry: “Have mercy, O Merciful One, and I, petrified in my heart, do good and bestow spiritual and sincere humility.”
First prayer
O Most Holy Master, Mother of God, I must! Accept our unworthy prayers, save us from the suggestions of evil people and desperate death, give us repentance to the end, so that our prayers are merciful and joyful, grant me in sad pain. And save us, Lady Theotokos, from all troubles, misfortunes, pain, illness and all evil, and grant us, your sinful workers, who have a reason to become eternal life with all the saints forever in the second coming of the coming of the Son of Christ. Amen.
Second prayer
Accept, O merciful, Most Holy Lady, Lord Theotokos, these honorable gifts that are only given to You, by us Your unworthy deeds have been bestowed: from all generations chosen by You, the most powerful of all heavenly gods... and the earthly Son of God, who knows and accepts His holy Body and His Most Holy Blood; blessed also by the birth of generations, blessed by God, the brightest and most honest Cherubim Seraphim. And now, Most Holy Theotokos, do not cease to pray for us, your unworthy servants, spare us all the advice of the evil one and this whole situation, and remain unharmed for all of us; but to the end, for your prayers not condemned, watch over us, for by your intercession and help we save, I give glory, praise, thanksgiving and admiration to all in the Trinity, the one God and Creator of all. Amen.
Prayer three
Oh, Most Holy Virgin Mother of God, Christ the King and God of our Mother, Treasure of tenderness and Source of Mercy, gifts of the soul giving to the Giver and to sorrowing souls, the Blessed Comforter! We fall to You with love and before Your holy icon we humbly pray: pray, Master, Your beloved Son, Christ our God, to have mercy and save us who are perishing in sin; breathes into our souls our sincere repentance and divine tenderness, sheds cleansing tears during prayers; Favorable life, temporary and eternal salvation, mercifully, O Lady, grant us; the dying world, the holy temple, which [or the holy abode of this very good] safe, serene and abundant fruits of the earth, we have sent down, and at the death of our life Maternyago does not deprive us of your intercession and your help, but the intercession of Your Praise comfortably experience the air and be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven... To her, Good Queen, all the joys of Joy and the whole world of Christian consolation! Help us now, and when your holy help is most important, we demand and save us with your maternal prayers to Christ God, Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Healings sent to the Most Pure Mother of God by the Tenderness Icon
Judging by the story of the monk in the chronicle, in 1337, in the glorious city of Novgorod, a terrible disease was rampant, which devoured a huge number of human lives every day, and no one could find an antidote to this deadly disease. And when they had completely lost hope of salvation, all the Christian people gathered and came to the Trinity Church, where, on their knees and with tears in their eyes, they began turning to the Holy Face of the Most Pure Virgin Mary, reading a prayer for protection from the deadly breath of the pestilence. And after some time, the deadly disease was defeated, and in honor of this divine miracle, people every year make a pilgrimage to the Trinity Church from the St. Sophia Church.
It also happened that the icon could shed tears, one of such events was on July 8, 1337, but then the Divine image not only had tears, but the entire miraculous icon hung in the air, held by some invisible hand. After this, they gathered the clergy, who went on a crusade to the Trinity Church to perform divine services;
In the village of Lokot, which is located in the Bryansk region, there is a miraculous holy relic of the Diveyevo Most Pure Mother of God in the house of Victor and Natalya Remezov. One day, a woman suffering from cancer came to visit them, and soon she was scheduled for a very difficult operation. The girl very carefully and sincerely prayed with all her heart to the Virgin Mary for a cure for her illness, and after praying the woman went to the hospital to prepare for the operation. But after undergoing an ultrasound examination, the surprise of the doctors knew no bounds, because the ultrasound showed that the cancer had disappeared and the sufferer had become absolutely healthy.
In the most difficult and difficult times for themselves and the state as a whole, people submitted petitions through prayers to the heavenly powers. The most revered image among the people has become the Holy Image of the Most Holy Theotokos “Tenderness”, which is famous for such miracles as: With the help of this icon, the Mother of God grants recovery, support and encourages the sufferers, shares with them the joy of healing and eases their suffering, is proud of the unlimited abilities of God’s son.
In 1581, the Holy Image protected the city of Pskov from danger during its siege by the Poles. According to legend, a cannon shell fell into the church, but did not touch the icon, nor did it hit the people who were nearby. Two more decades later, the Holy Image of the Mother of God of Tenderness, during the military conflict of 1812, saved another Russian village - Polotsk. The outcome of that incident was so important that from that moment on, on October 7, a holiday in honor of the icon is celebrated every year.
Starting from the middle of the 16th century, a stream of believers headed to the Pskov temple who came for recovery, good parting words and advice in various matters. Ancient records keep the names of those people who were helped by the Holy Face of the Mother of God “Tenderness”.
The glory of the Heavenly image - the Healer - has firmly entered the lives of people. For those who were blind from birth or who lost their sight by an absurd accident, it returned. Sufferers who could not stand or walk were miraculously healed. For people who were speechless, it appeared. All these cases and many other miracles remained in the memory of people and were passed on from person to person, and the clergy in churches recorded all these cases for subsequent generations - in the name of the glory of God. However, wonderful events do not end in our time. Orthodox believers are completely convinced: The petition submitted to the Holy Image “Tenderness,” read sincerely and from the bottom of the heart, is capable of much. Especially if these are prayers for your relatives and neighbors, for your parents and children, for health and prosperity. Also, the Holy Face is able to change anger to the mercy of those people who are angry with you. With the help of her influence, it is easier to make peace with loved ones and gain peace of mind and harmony. That is why the Holy Image of the Mother of God is not called “Tenderness”.
In addition to the icon located in Pskov, in Russian cathedrals and monasteries there are many different icons of the Mother of God “Tenderness”. 66696666666666666665656 This testifies to the great reverence for this divine image. Also, there were cases when the Mother of God herself appeared weak and sick, either in dreams or clearly and advised how to submit a petition in order to get rid of the disease, and where this image should be located. And indeed the sufferers went to the said place, noticed the image that the Mother of God told them about, turned to her and were immediately healed. A lot of people were cured in this way - by prayer before the Holy images of the Most Holy Theotokos.
