Troparion of the Protection of the Holy Virgin and the feast in honor of which he is performing

Since the time when the pious Prince Andrew Bogolyubsky ruled, and it was in the 12th century, a solid place in the hearts of the inhabitants of Orthodox Russia is a holiday reminiscent of how the worshipers in the Blachernaia Church defended from the enemies the honest omophorion of the Virgin of the Virgin. All the services of this day are filled with hymns, glorifying Our Most Ancient Intercessor - the Queen of Heaven, the Troparion must be performed The Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos and Kontakion written in Her honor.

A miracle revealed on the banks of the Bosphorus

Established this celebration in commemoration of the miraculous rescue of the inhabitants of the Byzantine capital from the invasion of the Saracens in 910. Convinced that they themselves can not cope with the many thousands of hordes of enemies, the townspeople gathered for the all-night vigil at the Vlaherna Church, where the greatest relic - the Robe of the Queen of Heaven was kept. Sacred History tells how prayers were heard in a crowded temple, calling Her help for the besieged city.

According to the legend, among the worshipers were two - the holy holy fool Andrew and his faithful follower blessed Epiphany. Suddenly, for everyone in the middle of the night, the roof of the temple disappeared, and those present were illuminated by daylight. And the holy men saw the Most Pure Virgin Mary, accompanied by incorporeal forces and holy saints of God.

The Queen of Heaven prayed to her Son for the deliverance of the city from the adversaries. When the last words of prayer ceased, She lifted Her honest omophorion and spread it over everyone who asked for Her protection. The next day the regiments of the Saracens lifted the siege of Constantinople and hurriedly retired without attempting to take control of the city.

A holiday established by Andrei Bogolyubsky

The Greek church, having preserved the memory of the miracle, nevertheless did not bring the day when it was accomplished, in the number of its holidays. And only in Holy Russia began to celebrate it along with other church dates. This event is dedicated to the famous Moscow temple, popularly known as St. Basil's Cathedral. The life of St. Andrew the holy fool was translated into the Slavonic language, and also the troparion and kontakion of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos were written. Let's talk about them in more detail.

What is troparion

Troparion is a special form of prayer song, built in such a way that it simultaneously conveys the meaning of the celebrated event and praises either to some saint or event in honor of which the celebration is established. The troparion of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos was likewise compiled in the same way.

The text of the hymn contains a petition to the Mother of God of all "lightly" celebrating Her coming to save them, trusting in Her help, and to cover with a holy cover. This is the essence of the holiday. It's not just a memory of the miracle that happened eleven centuries ago, but also of the hope of finding a new, intercession of the Queen of Heaven in a difficult moment.

Hymn to the glorification of the Holy Virgin

The Troparion of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary is at the same time her Hymn of praise. The text says that the prayers cry out to the Intercessor of Heaven, looking at Her "honest image." With these words come the lines of the text of the most famous Theotokos prayer - "It's Worthy to Eat".

In it, the Mother of God is referred to as the "fairest cherub", which in Slavic means honoring her superior cherubim, that is, the angels belonging to the highest heavenly order. Troparion The Protection of the Holy Virgin, the text of which came to us from the depths of the centuries, is a vivid example of the festive Orthodox hymnography.

Kondak - echo of Byzantine poetry

Anyone who happens to attend church services can testify to the extent to which the festive service in the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary is saturated with bright hymns and prayer texts. Troparion, kontakion, majesty and Akathist are its integral parts. They are all full of the light of Christian love. Kondak is a kind of church hymn, originating from Byzantine verse sermons and dedicated to a certain holiday.

Kondak, dedicated to the Theotokos

At the dawn of Christianity, the early kondaks were composed in the form of multisided poems. Over time, their form has changed, and to this day they have come in the form of Orthodox texts, enclosed in two stanzas, the first of which is called Kontakion, and the second one is Icons. Like the troparion of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the kontakion written for this holiday carries an important semantic load.

His text draws a picture of how on this day in the church the Mother of God invisibly stands, praying to His Eternal Son for the salvation of those who believe in Him. Her words are echoed by the innumerable host of disembodied spirits who worship the foot of the King of Heaven. Thus, both the troparion of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and kontakion carry a common meaning - the hope of protecting the Heavenly people suffering from earthly adversities and deprivations. This follows from their very essence. But on this day in the temple not only troparion and kontakion sound. The covering of the Most Holy Theotokos, the text of the prayers of his divine services and the reading of the akathist, on the whole being the Mother of God anthem, can not be imagined without the most important kind of festive hymns - majesty.

Glorification of Heavenly Powers

Another form of chanting, which has become an indispensable attribute of the Orthodox holiday, is grandeur. This verse, performed during worship, bears the praise and glorification of a holy or sacred event, the memory of which is celebrated. On the day of this feast, all the worshipers, paying tribute to the glory of the Mother of God and her honest Protection, are called to witness the miracle of St. Andrew that was done by Her, who saw Her praying and spread Her omophorion over those gathered in Vlaherna Church eleven centuries ago.