Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God (photo). What should we pray for?

Known to many Russians Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God is almost the most important icon in the Russian ecclesiastical heritage. It was written almost a thousand years ago, many events in Russia are associated with it, and many miracles are attributed to its miraculous power. About its importance for the Russian people is evidenced by the many lists (copies) from the original image, and the fact that people are eager for this icon with prayer even today. On the history of the origin of the icon, its significance for Christians - this article.

The history of the appearance of the icon

According to legend, in 1157 the great Suzdal prince Andrey Yuryevich Dolgoruky kept his way from Vyshgorod to Suzdal, along with the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God. On June 18, 10 miles to Vladimir, the cart stopped abruptly and, despite the efforts of the horses, they did not manage to move it. The retinue of the prince broke a marquee in this place. During the prayer, the Most Holy Mother of God appeared to the prince and ordered him to arrange on this place the church of the Bogolyubsky icon of the Mother of God, named in honor of her Christmas, and the Vladimir icon to be transferred to Vladimir.

The prince, inspired by this event, ordered the court icon painters to write the image of the Virgin on a board of cypress in the form in which she appeared to him during prayer. So the Bogolyubsky icon of the Mother of God appeared, the photo of which is presented below. On this icon the Theotokos is written in height, with raised hands in prayer and with a face facing the Son. In her right hand is a scroll with a prayer written on it to the Lord. Above the image of the Virgin Mary are icons that accompanied the Grand Duke in his journey - Jesus Christ, Vladimir Icon, Archangels Michael and Gabriel and John the Baptist.

Celebration of the Bogolyubsk Icon

At first Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God found its place in Bogolyubovo, in a church built by the prince at the request of the Virgin, together with the Vladimir icon. It is believed that while next to the icon of Vladimir, Bogolyubskaya took over from her miraculous power, becoming no less revered.

The calendar of Orthodox holidays mentions more than 260 revered icons of the Virgin, possessing miraculous power, and in general there are more than 860 different names of it. For many icons, their days of celebration are set, for them their prayers, akathists and troparia are written. Each of the icons of the Blessed Virgin has its own effect: one heals, another protects, the third helps in family affairs.

Has a day of worship and Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God. Celebration takes place on June 18, Art. Style and June 1 - in a new way. On this day other images of the Bogolyubsk icon are also worshiped: Moscow, Zimarovskaya, Uglichskaya, Kozlovskaya, Yuryevskaya, Elatomskaya, Tula, Tarusa, Usmanskaya Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God, photos of which are presented in this article.

Location of the icon

As it was mentioned above, at first this icon was in the church of the Nativity of the Theotokos, built by the holy Prince Dolgoruky. Later around this temple was built Bogolyubsky Monastery, in which the icon was until its closing at the beginning of the twentieth century. However, after the monastery was closed, it was kept in the church of Joachim and Anna of the city of Vladimir. Since 1946 the image could be seen in the museum of local lore of Vladimir. In 1992 he was transferred to the Knyaginin Assumption Monastery, and in 2009 was sent for renovation (restoration) in the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God, where it is still.

Types of iconography

Iconography in the ecclesiastical sense refers to the adopted system of rules and schemes in the depiction of certain images or events.

In the depiction of the Virgin there are several well-known iconographic types:

• Oranta (the image of the Virgin Mary with her hands raised with outwardly palms and with the baby on her hands - symbolizes intercession prayer).
• Eleusa (the image of the Virgin with the baby on her hands, pressed her cheek to the cheek of the Mother - symbolizes God's supreme love for people).
• Hodegetria (the image of the Virgin on the throne with the baby in her arms holding the scroll, with her right hand in her direction, symbolizes the worship of the baby).
• Panahranata (the image of the Virgin Mary on the throne with the baby on her hands with her right hand in her direction - symbolizes the greatness of the Virgin)
• Agiosoritissa (the image of the Blessed Virgin without a baby in a prayer posture - symbolizes prayer for humanity).

Iconography of the image

Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God refers to the last iconographic type - Agiosoritissa, but it has several differences from the traditional depictions of the Virgin. In particular, it contains elements of the type Odigitria and Oranta. On the bundle, which is in the hands of the Mother of God, a prayer is written, addressed to the Lord in defense of the human race. It is known that the text written on this sheet changed every time during the restoration of the icon.

Bogolyubskaya Mother of God is very similar to the images of the Virgin, laid out in mosaics in the church of Santa Maria, located in the city of Palermo. Similar similarities can be traced to the image captured in the fresco of Mirozhsky Monastery in Pskov, as well as the face of the Virgin Mary in the compositions "The Last Judgment" and "The Sentence". Given these facts, historians concluded that the first author of this icon was a Byzantine icon painter who arrived at the court of Prince Dolgoruky and returned to his homeland afterwards.

Known icon lists

The word "list" here has the value of a copy written off from the original.
The high veneration of the icon is evidenced by the fact that during the last millennium the Russian people created dozens of copies of it, having adopted its miraculous power. The most famous in this series are the Moscow, Uglich and Zimarov icons of the Mother of God (Bogolyubskaya). The significance of these icons for the Russian people is great: before them they prayed during internecine strife, the invasion of foreigners, the deadly epidemics.

Moscow

The Moscow icon depicts the Mother of God with a scroll in her hand, praying to the Son, and before her, kneeling, stand the saints. This list became famous for the fact that it saved Muscovites from the terrible epidemic of plague in 1771. Since the beginning of the 20th century the Bogolyubsky icon of the Mother of God in Moscow is in the church of Peter and Paul.

Zimarovskaya

Zimar's icon represents the Blessed Virgin without a baby, full-length, facing the Son, blessing her from heaven. The icon is famous for its ability to heal people from serious diseases - pestilence, cholera. Until 1925 the icon was kept in the village of Zimarovo Ryazan region, but after 1925 it was lost, and since then its whereabouts are unknown.

Uglich

It was written in the beginning of the 17th century, and 200 years later the icon was transferred to a new base. The icon is famous for the miraculous healing of Uglich residents from pestilence in the middle of the 17th century. Today, the icon is in the town of Uglich, in the church of St. Dmitry.

What are they praying for before the Bogolyubsky icon?

The Theotokos always stands before supplicants as an intermediary between him and the Lord. The prayer of the Bogolyubsky Icon of the Mother of God often contains petitions for the salvation of man from disease and natural disasters, national strife and slander against the people, from fires in forests and fields, from hunger and poverty, from deadly epidemics, from floods, frosts and droughts, from attacks Aggressors from other states and from destructive domestic strife. In addition, travelers ask for the icon of prosperity on the road, and mothers ask for the health of their children in a foreign country.

The Preservation of the Icon in Our Days

The last restoration carried out revealed the original image of the Bogolyubsky icon, made in unusually colorful colors. Thus, the clothing of the Virgin Mary is depicted in the form of a green-gray chiton and a brick maforium. The eyes of the Mother of God are blue and her cheeks are unusually bright. However, in this form the icon became known recently. Until now, this original image of this work has been hidden by numerous layers of paint and paraffin, imposed by previous restorers.

The fact that the great Russian icon is in a state of destruction was written back in 1915 by the famous Byzantinist N.P. Kondakov. Thanks to his words, the trial disclosure of the icon was carried out in 1918. However, in 1946, the restoration specialist F.A.Modorov carried out a "strengthening" of the paint with a paraffin layer in the wrongly selected technology, which had a dramatic negative effect on the state of the relic. So, in 1956, the icon was transferred to a museum where specialists issued a conclusion that the hot wax casting had significantly worsened the connection of the paint to the ground. As a result, it was decided to remove the paraffin layer from the image. For 20 years, museum restorers cleaned the surface of the icon from paraffin, but the depressing state of gesso and paint had by that time become irreversible.

The state of the icon worsened even more after it was stored in the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir, with a violation of the temperature and humidity regime caused by the negligence of the staff. In 2009, the icon was transferred to the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum, where the state of the icon was recognized as catastrophic.

Today the Bogolyubsky icon of the Mother of God is kept in a specially equipped room of the museum and the restorers do not promise to present it for exhibition in the foreseeable future.

Temples of Russia named after Bogolyubsky icon

In Russia, three cathedrals were built: the Cathedral of the Bogolyubsky Icon of the Mother of God in Bogolyubovo Suzdal district, Michurinsk Michurinsky district and in Tver - in the Vysokopetrovsky monastery.

In addition to the cathedrals, 12 chapels of the Bogolyubsk icon were built in the country - for example, in Dobrynino (Sobinsky district), in Pavlovsk (Yuryev-Pavlovsky district), in Shustino (Kolchuginsky district), in Boldino (Petushinsky district), in Ivanovo and in Tarusa, in with. Teterinskoye (Nerekhtsky district), in Krasnoyarsk and other Russian villages and cities. In Moscow, the chapel of the Bogolyubsky Icon of the Mother of God is located in the Kalitnikovskoye cemetery, in Davydkovo and on the Barbaric tower.

In addition to the cathedrals, 69 churches were erected in Russia in honor of the icon.

Temples of Moscow, showing the Bogolyubsk icon

In Moscow, the Moscow Bogolyubsk icon of the Mother of God is worshiped, located above the gates of China-city. These gates are located near the church of Peter and Paul at the Yauzsky gate in Kulishki, at Petropavlovskiy lane 4, building 6.
The Moscow icon was written in one year with the original - in 1157. In days of celebration, the icon is removed for three days from the gate and makes prayer services with it.