All about the Vladimir Mother of God. Icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir

Image Vladimir Mother of God is one of the most ancient and revered in Rus'. The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is considered the patroness of the Russian people and Russia itself. Memory of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon Mother of God celebrated 3 times a year: June 3(May 21, Old Style), July 6(June 23, O.S.) and September 8(August 26, old style).

In the RDC in honor of the Vladimir Icon Holy Mother of God A temple was consecrated in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

In the DOC, a prayer room was consecrated in the name of the Vladimir Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Edinoverie Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary is located in the Moscow region.

Image of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. Miracles

In 1163–1164, at the initiative of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, the Legend “On the Miracles of the Most Holy Theotokos of Volodymyr Icon” was compiled. Its authors and compilers are considered to be the clergy of the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir: priests Lazar, Nestor and Mikula, who came with the prince from Vyshgorod, which he received from his father Yuri Dolgoruky after he occupied Kyiv. The Legend contains 10 miracles that happened according to prayer appeal to the Mother of God in front of Her Vladimir Icon.

First miracle: on the way of Prince Andrei from Vyshgorod to Pereslavl on the Vazuza River, the guide, who was looking for a ford, suddenly stumbled and began to drown, but he was miraculously saved through the prince’s fervent prayer in front of the icon he was transporting.
Second: the wife of priest Mikula, who was expecting a child, saved herself from a mad horse for the sake of praying to the image of Vladimir.
Third: in the Vladimir Assumption Cathedral, a man with a withered hand turned to the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God and began to pray with tears and great faith in miraculous healing. Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky and priest Nestor testified that they saw the Most Pure One herself take the sick man’s hand and hold it until the end of the service, after which he was completely healed.
Fourth: Prince Andrei’s wife carried the child heavily, the birth was very difficult. Then (on the day of the feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary) the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was washed with water and the princess was given this water to drink, after which it was easily resolved by her son Yuri.
Fifth: saving a baby from sorcery thanks to washing with water from the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.
Sixth: healing of a heart patient from Murom with water from the Vladimir Icon.
Seventh: healing from blindness of Abbess Maria from the Slavyatin Monastery near Pereslavl-Khmelnitsky (Ukraine); her brother, Boris Zhidislavich, who was the governor of Prince Andrei, asked the priest Lazar to give him water from the icon, the abbess drank it with prayer, anointed her eyes and received her sight.
Eighth: The woman Efimiya suffered from heart disease for seven years. Having learned, from the stories of the priest Lazarus, about healing properties water from the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, she sent many gold jewelry with him to Vladimir to the icon. Having received holy water, she drank it with prayer and was healed.
Ninth: a certain noblewoman from Tver could not give birth for three days and was already dying; on the advice of the same Lazar, she made a vow to the Holy Mother of God of Vladimir, and then the birth quickly ended with the successful birth of a son. As a token of gratitude, the noblewoman sent many precious jewelry to the Vladimir icon.
Tenth: it happened that the Golden Gate travel tower Vladimir, which is still in the city, fell, and 12 people were trapped under them. Prince Andrei appealed to the Most Pure One in prayer in front of the Vladimir Icon, and all 12 people not only remained alive, but did not even receive any injuries.

The city of Moscow and the miraculous image of the Mother of God of Vladimir are inseparably and forever fused. How many times did She save the white-stone from enemies! This image connected with itself the apostolic times and Byzantium, Kievan and Vladimir Rus', and then Moscow - the Third Rome, “but there will not be a fourth.” So providentially it was formed Moscow State, incorporating a mystical connection with ancient empires, historical experience, traditions of other Orthodox lands and peoples. The miraculous image of Vladimirskaya became a symbol of unity and continuity.

It was written by the Evangelist Luke on a board from the table at which the Savior dined with the Most Pure Mother and the righteous Joseph the Betrothed.

The Mother of God, seeing this image, said: “From now on, all my people will please Me. May the grace of Him who was born of Me and Mine be with this image.”

Until the middle of the 5th century, the icon remained in Jerusalem. Under Theodosius the Younger, it was transferred to Constantinople, from where in 1131 it was sent to Rus' as a gift to Yuri Dolgoruky from the Patriarch of Constantinople Luke Chrysoverkh. The icon was placed in a nunnery in the city of Vyshgorod, not far from Kyiv, where it immediately became famous for its many miracles. In 1155, the son of Yuri Dolgoruky, St. Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, wanting to have a famous shrine, transported the icon to the north, to Vladimir, and placed it in the famous Assumption Cathedral, which he erected. From that time on, the icon received the name Vladimir.

During the campaign of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky against Volga Bulgarians, in 1164, the image of the “Holy Mother of God of Vladimir” helped the Russians defeat the enemy. The icon survived during the terrible fire on April 13, 1185, when it burned down Vladimir Cathedral, and remained unharmed during the destruction of Vladimir by Batu on February 17, 1237.

The further history of the image is entirely connected with the capital city of Moscow, where it was first brought in 1395 during the invasion of Khan Tamerlane. The conqueror with an army invaded the borders of Ryazan, captured and ruined it and headed his way to Moscow, devastating and destroying everything around. While the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich was gathering troops and sending them to Kolomna, in Moscow itself, Metropolitan Cyprian blessed the population for fasting and prayerful repentance. On mutual advice, Vasily Dmitrievich and Cyprian decided to resort to spiritual weapons and transfer the miraculous icon of the Most Pure Mother of God from Vladimir to Moscow.

The icon was brought into the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The chronicle reports that Tamerlane, having stood in one place for two weeks, suddenly became afraid, turned south and left the Moscow borders. A great miracle happened: during a procession with a miraculous icon, heading from Vladimir to Moscow, when countless people knelt on both sides of the road and prayed: “Mother of God, save the Russian land!”, Tamerlane had a vision. appeared before his mind's eye high mountain, from the top of which saints with golden rods descended, and above them the Majestic Woman appeared in a radiant radiance. She ordered him to leave the borders of Russia. Waking up in awe, Tamerlane asked about the meaning of the vision. They answered him that the radiant Woman is the Mother of God, the great Defender of Christians. Then Tamerlane gave the order to the regiments to go back.

In memory of the miraculous deliverance of Rus' from the invasion of Tamerlane, a solemn ceremony was established on the day of the meeting in Moscow of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God on August 26 / September 8 church holiday The meeting of this icon, and at the meeting place itself a temple was erected, around which it was later located Sretensky Monastery.

For the second time, the Mother of God saved Rus' from ruin in 1480 (commemorated on June 23 / July 6), when the army of the Khan of the Golden Horde, Akhmat, approached Moscow.

The meeting of the Tatars with the Russian army took place near the Ugra River (the so-called “standing on the Ugra”): the troops stood on different banks and were waiting for a reason to attack. In the front ranks of the Russian army they held an icon Our Lady of Vladimir, which miraculously put the Horde regiments to flight.

The third celebration of the Vladimir Mother of God (May 21 / June 3), remembers the deliverance of Moscow from the defeat of Makhmet-Girey, Khan of Kazan, who in 1521 reached the borders of Moscow and began to burn its suburbs, but suddenly retreated from the capital without causing harm to it.

Many of the most important events of Russian history took place before the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. church history: election and installation of Saint Jonah - Primate of the Autocephalous Russian Church (1448), Saint Job - first Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' (1589), His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon (1917), and also in all centuries before her, oaths of allegiance to the Motherland were taken, prayers were performed before military campaigns.

Iconography Vladimir Mother of God

The icon of the Vladimir Mother of God belongs to the “Caressing” type, also known under the epithets “Eleusa” (ελεουσα - “Merciful”), “Tenderness”, “Glycophilus” (γλυκυφιλουσα - “Sweet kiss”). This is the most lyrical of all types of iconography of the Virgin Mary, revealing the intimate side of the Virgin Mary’s communication with Her Son. The image of the Mother of God caressing the Child, his deep humanity turned out to be especially close to Russian painting.

The iconographic scheme includes two figures - the Virgin Mary and the Infant Christ, their faces clinging to each other. Mary's head is bowed towards the Son, and He puts his hand around the Mother's neck. Distinctive feature The Vladimir icon differs from other icons of the Tenderness type: the left leg of the Infant Christ is bent in such a way that the sole of the foot, the “heel,” is visible.

This touching composition, in addition to its direct meaning, contains a deep theological idea: the Mother of God caressing the Son appears as a symbol of the soul in close communion with God. In addition, the embrace of Mary and the Son suggests the future sufferings of the Savior on the cross; in the Mother’s caressing of the Child, his future mourning is foreseen.

The work is permeated with completely obvious sacrificial symbolism. From a theological point of view, its content can be reduced to three main themes: “the incarnation, the predestination of the Child to the sacrifice and the unity in love of Mary the Church with Christ the High Priest.” This interpretation of Our Lady of Caress is confirmed by the image on the back of the icon of the throne with the symbols of the Passion. Here in the 15th century. painted an image of the throne (etimasia - “prepared throne”), covered with an altar cover, the Gospel with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, nails, crown of thorns, behind the throne is the Calvary cross, a spear and a cane with a sponge, below is the floor of the altar flooring. The theological interpretation of etymasia is based on Holy Scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers. Etymasia symbolizes Christ's resurrection and His judgment over the living and the dead, and the instruments of His torment are the sacrifice made to atone for the sins of mankind. The juxtaposition of Mary caressing the Child and the turnover with the throne clearly expressed sacrificial symbolism.

Arguments have been put forward in favor of the fact that the icon was double-sided from the very beginning: this is evidenced by the identical shapes of the ark and the husks of both sides. In the Byzantine tradition, there were often images of a cross on the back of Mother of God icons. Starting from the 12th century, the time of the creation of the “Vladimir Mother of God,” in Byzantine murals, the etymasia was often placed in the altar as an altar image, visually revealing the sacrificial meaning of the Eucharist, which takes place here on the throne. This suggests the possible location of the icon in antiquity. For example, in the Vyshgorod monastery church, it could be placed in the altar as a double-sided altar icon. The text of the Legend contains information about the use of the Vladimir icon as an altar icon and as an outside icon that moved in the church.

The luxurious attire of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, which she had according to the news of the chronicles, also does not testify in favor of the possibility of its location in the altar barrier in the 12th century: “And there were more than thirty hryvnias of gold on it, in addition to silver and in addition to expensive stones and pearls, and Having decorated it, put it in your church in Volodymeri.” But many of the external icons were later strengthened precisely in iconostases, like the Vladimir Icon in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow, originally placed to the right of the royal doors: “And having brought in<икону>to the supreme temple of her glorious Assumption, which is the great Cathedral and Apostolic Church of the Russian Metropolis, and put it in an icon case on the right side, where to this day it stands visible and worshiped by all" (See: Degree Book. M., 1775. Part 1 . P. 552).

There is an opinion that the “Vladimir Mother of God” was one of the copies of the icon of the Mother of God “Caressing” from the Blachernae Basilica, that is, a copy of the famous ancient miraculous icon. In the Tale of the Miracles of the Icon of the Vladimir Mother of God, she is likened to the Ark of the Covenant, like the Virgin Mary herself, as well as her Robe, which was kept in the rotode of Agia Soros in Blachernae. The Legend also speaks of healings that are accomplished mainly thanks to the water from the ablutions of the Vladimir Icon: they drink this water, wash the sick with it, and send it to other cities in sealed vessels to heal the sick. This miracle-working of waters from the washing of the Vladimir icon, emphasized in the Legend, could also be rooted in the rituals of the Blachernae sanctuary, the most important part of which was the chapel of the spring dedicated to the Mother of God. Constantine Porphyrogenitus described the custom of washing in a font in front of a marble relief of the Mother of God, from whose hands water flowed.

In addition, this opinion is supported by the fact that under Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky in his Vladimir principality, the cult of the Mother of God, associated with Blachernae shrines, received special development. For example, on the Golden Gate of the city of Vladimir, the prince erected the Church of the Deposition of the Robe of the Mother of God, directly dedicating it to the relics of the Blachernae Temple.

Style

The time of painting of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the 12th century, refers to the so-called Komninian revival (1057-1185). This period in Byzantine art is characterized by the extreme dematerialization of painting, carried out by drawing faces and clothes with numerous lines, whitening slides, sometimes whimsically, ornamentally placed on the image.

In the icon we are considering, the most ancient painting of the 12th century includes the faces of the Mother and the Child, part of the blue cap and maforium border with a gold assist, as well as part of the ocher chiton of the Child with a gold assist with sleeves up to the elbow and the transparent edge of the shirt visible from under it, brush left and part right hand The baby, as well as the remains of the golden background. These few surviving fragments represent a high example of the Constantinople school of painting of the Komnenian period. There is no deliberate graphic quality characteristic of the time; on the contrary, the line in this image is nowhere opposed to volume. The main means of artistic expression is built on “the combination of insensible flows, giving the surface the impression of not being made by hands, with a geometrically pure, visibly built line.” “The personal letter is one of the most perfect examples of “Comnenian floating”, combining multi-layered sequential modeling with the absolute indistinguishability of the stroke. The layers of painting are loose, very transparent; the main thing is in their relationship with each other, in the transmission of the lower ones through the upper ones.<…>A complex and transparent system of tones – greenish sankira, ocher, shadows and highlights – leads to a specific effect of diffused, flickering light.”

Among the Byzantine icons of the Komnenian period, the Vladimir Mother of God is also distinguished by its characteristic the best works this time deep penetration into the area human soul, her hidden secret suffering. The heads of Mother and Son pressed against each other. The Mother of God knows that Her Son is doomed to suffer for the sake of people, and sorrow lurks in Her dark, thoughtful eyes.

The skill with which the painter was able to convey a subtle spiritual state most likely served as the origin of the legend about the painting of the image by the Evangelist Luke. It should be recalled that the painting of the early Christian period - the time when the famous Evangelist-icon painter lived, was flesh and blood of the art of late antiquity, with its sensual, “life-like” nature. But in comparison with icons early period, the image of the Vladimir Mother of God bears the stamp of the highest “spiritual culture”, which could only be the fruit of centuries-old Christian thoughts about the coming of the Lord to earth, the humility of His Most Pure Mother and the path they traversed of self-denial and sacrificial love.

Revered miracle-working lists from icons Vladimir Mother of God

Over the centuries, many copies have been written from the Vladimir Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Some of them became famous for their miracles and received special names depending on their place of origin. This:

Vladimir - Volokolamsk icon (memory of Mr. 3/16), which was the contribution of Malyuta Skuratov to the Joseph-Volokolamsk monastery. Nowadays it is in the collection of the Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art named after Andrei Rublev.

Vladimirskaya - Seligerskaya (memory D. 7/20), brought to Seliger by Nil Stolbensky in the 16th century.

Vladimir - Zaonikievskaya (memory M. 21. / John 3; John 23 / Ill. 6, from the Zaonikievsky monastery) 1588.

Vladimirskaya - Oranskaya (memory M. 21 / John 3) 1634.

Vladimirskaya - Krasnogorskaya (Montenegorskaya) (memory M. 21 / John 3). 1603.

Vladimir - Rostov (memory Av. 15/28) 12th century.

Troparion to the Icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir, tone 4

Today the most glorious city of Moscow is brightly adorned, / as the dawn of the sun has received, O Lady, Your miraculous icon, / to which now we flow and pray to You we cry out to You: / O, most wonderful Lady Theotokos, / pray to You, our incarnate God, / may He deliver the city this and all Christian cities and countries are unharmed from all the slander of the enemy, // and He will save our souls, like the Merciful.

Kontakion, tone 8

To the chosen victorious Voivode, / as those who were delivered from the evil ones by the coming of Your honorable image, / Lady Theotokos, / we brightly celebrate the celebration of Your meeting and usually call You: // Rejoice, Unmarried Bride.

Prayer Icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir

O All-Merciful Lady Theotokos, Heavenly Queen, All-Powerful Intercessor, our shameless Hope! Thanking Thee for all the great blessings that the Russian people have received from Thee throughout the generations, before Thy most pure image we pray to Thee: save this city (or: this whole, or: this holy monastery) and Thy coming servants and the whole Russian land from famine, destruction , land of shaking, flood, fire, sword, invasion of foreigners and internecine warfare. Save and save, Lady, our Great Lord and Father Kirill, His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', and our Lord (name of the rivers), His Eminence Bishop (or: Archbishop, or: Metropolitan) (title), and all the Eminence metropolitans, archbishops and Orthodox bishops. May they govern the Russian Church well, and may the faithful sheep of Christ be preserved indestructibly. Remember, Lady, the entire priestly and monastic order, warm their hearts with zeal for God and strengthen them to walk worthy of their calling. Save, O Lady, and have mercy on all Your servants and grant us the path of the earthly journey without blemish. Confirm us in the faith of Christ and in zeal for More Orthodox Church, put into our hearts the spirit of the fear of God, the spirit of piety, the spirit of humility, give us patience in adversity, abstinence in prosperity, love for our neighbors, forgiveness for our enemies, success in good deeds. Deliver us from every temptation and from petrified insensibility, and on the terrible day of Judgment, grant us through Your intercession to stand at the right hand of Your Son, Christ our God. To Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

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These long and numerous movements of the icon in space are poetically interpreted in the text of the Legend of the Miracles of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, which was first found by V.O. Klyuchevsky in Milyutin’s Chetya-Minea, and published according to the list of the collection of the Synodal Library No. 556 (Klyuchevsky V.O. Tales of the Miracles of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. - St. Petersburg, 1878). In this ancient description they are likened to the path that the sun's luminary takes: “When God created the sun, he did not make it shine in one place, but, going around the entire Universe, it illuminates with its rays, so this image of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary is not in one place... but , going around all countries and the whole world, enlightens...”

Etingof O.E. TO early history icons of the “Vladimir Mother of God” and the traditions of the Blachernae cult of the Mother of God in Rus' in the 11th-13th centuries. // Image of the Mother of God. Essays on Byzantine iconography of the 11th-13th centuries. – M.: “Progress-Tradition”, 2000, p. 139.

Ibid., p. 137. In addition, N.V. Kvilidze unveiled the painting of the deacon of the Trinity Church in Vyazemy of the late 16th century, where on the southern wall the liturgy in the church with an altar is depicted, behind which is the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God (N.V. Kvilidze Newly discovered frescoes of the altar of the Trinity Church in Vyazemy. Report in the Department of Ancient Russian Art in State Institute art history April 1997

Etingof O.E. To the early history of the icon “Our Lady of Vladimir”...

Throughout its history it was recorded at least four times: in the first half of the 13th century, at the beginning of the 15th century, in 1521, during alterations in the Assumption Cathedral Moscow Kremlin, and before the coronation of Nicholas II in 1895-1896 by restorers O. S. Chirikov and M. D. Dikarev. In addition, minor repairs were carried out in 1567 (at the Chudov Monastery by Metropolitan Athanasius), in the 18th and 19th centuries..

Kolpakova G.S. Art of Byzantium. Early and middle periods. – St. Petersburg: Publishing house “Azbuka-Classics”, 2004, p. 407.

The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God (icon of the Theotokos) is considered miraculous and, according to legend, was written by the Evangelist Luke on a board from the table at which the Holy Family ate: the Savior, the Mother of God and the righteous Joseph the Betrothed. The Mother of God, seeing this image, said: “ From now on all generations will bless Me. May the grace of the One born of Me and Mine be with this icon».

The icon was brought to Russia from Byzantium at the beginning of the 12th century as a gift to the holy prince Mstislav (†1132) from the Patriarch of Constantinople Luke Chrysoverkh. The icon was placed in the convent of Vyshgorod (an ancient appanage city of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga), not far from Kyiv. The rumor about her miracles reached the son of Yuri Dolgoruky, Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, who decided to transport the icon to the north.

While passing Vladimir, the horses carrying the miraculous icon stood up and could not move. Replacing the horses with new ones also did not help.

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Vladimir

During fervent prayer, the Queen of Heaven Herself appeared to the prince and commanded that the Vladimir miraculous icon of the Mother of God be left in Vladimir, and in this place be built a temple and a monastery in honor of Her Nativity. To the general joy of the residents of Vladimir, Prince Andrei returned to the city along with the miraculous icon. Since then, the icon of the Mother of God began to be called Vladimir.

In 1395 terrible conqueror Khan Tamerlan(Temir-Aksak) reached the borders of Ryazan, took the city of Yelets and, heading towards Moscow, approached the banks of the Don. Grand Duke Vasily Dimitrievich went with his army to Kolomna and stopped on the banks of the Oka. He prayed to the saints of Moscow and St. Sergius for the deliverance of the Fatherland and wrote to the Metropolitan of Moscow, St. Cyprian, so that the upcoming Dormition Fast would be devoted to fervent prayers for pardon and repentance. The clergy were sent to Vladimir, where the famous miraculous icon was located. After the liturgy and prayer service on the feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the clergy accepted the icon and carried it to Moscow with a procession of the cross. Countless people on both sides of the road, on their knees, prayed: “ Mother of God, save the Russian land!"At that very hour when Moscow residents greeted the icon on Kuchkovo Pole (now Sretenka Street), Tamerlane dozed in his camp tent. Suddenly he saw in a dream a great mountain, from the top of which saints with golden rods were coming towards him, and above them the Majestic Woman appeared in a radiant radiance. She ordered him to leave the borders of Russia. Waking up in awe, Tamerlane asked about the meaning of the vision. They answered him that the radiant Woman is the Mother of God, the great Defender of Christians. Then Tamerlane gave the order to the regiments to go back.

In memory of the miraculous deliverance of the Russian land from Tamerlane, the Sretensky Monastery was built on Kuchkovo Field, where the icon was met, and on August 26 (in the new style - September 8) an all-Russian celebration was established in honor of the meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.

The miraculous deliverance of the Russian land from Tamerlane on Kuchkovo Field (meeting the Vladimir Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

For the second time, the Mother of God saved our country from ruin in 1451, when the army of the Nogai Khan with Tsarevich Mazovsha approached Moscow. The Tatars set fire to the Moscow suburbs, but Moscow was never captured. During the fire, Saint Jonah performed religious processions along the walls of the city. Warriors and militia fought with the enemy until nightfall. The small army of the Grand Duke at this time was too far away to help the besieged. The chronicles say that the next morning there were no enemies near the walls of Moscow. They heard an extraordinary noise, decided that it was the Grand Duke with a huge army and retreated. The prince himself cried in front of the Vladimir Icon after the Tatars left.

The third intercession of the Mother of God for Rus' was in 1480(celebrated on July 6). After the resounding victory on the Kulikovo Field in 1380, the Russian principalities remained under Horde dependence for another century, and only the events of the autumn of 1480 decisively changed the situation. Ivan III refused to pay tribute to the horde, and regiments were sent to Rus' Khan Akhmat. Two armies converged on the Ugra River: the armies stood on different banks - the so-called "standing on the Ugra"– and were waiting for a reason to attack. In the front ranks of the Russian army they held the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir. There were skirmishes, even small battles, but the troops never moved in front of each other. Russian army moved away from the river, giving the Horde regiments the opportunity to begin crossing. But the Horde regiments also retreated. The Russian soldiers stopped, but the Tatar soldiers continued to retreat and suddenly rushed away without looking back.

Standing on the Ugra River on November 11, 1480

“Standing on the Ugra” put an end to the Mongol-Tatar yoke. Russia was finally freed from paying tribute. From this time on, we can talk about the final elimination of any form of political dependence of Moscow on the Horde.

Standing on the Ugra

In 1472, the Horde Khan Akhmat with a large army moved to the Russian borders. But at Tarusa the invaders met a large Russian army. All attempts of the Horde to cross the Oka were repulsed. The Horde army burned the city of Aleksin (in Tula region) and destroyed its population, but the campaign ended in failure. In 1476, Grand Duke Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the Khan of the Golden Horde, and in 1480 he refused to recognize Rus'’s dependence on it.

Khan Akhmat, busy fighting Crimean Khanate, only in 1480 began active operations. He managed to agree with the Polish-Lithuanian king Casimir IV about military assistance. The western borders of the Russian state (Pskov lands) were attacked at the beginning of 1480 Livonian Order. The Livonian chronicler reported that: “... Master Bernd von der Borch was involved in a war with the Russians, took up arms against them and gathered 100 thousand troops from foreign and native soldiers and peasants; with these people he attacked Russia and burned the outskirts of Pskov, without doing anything else».

In January 1480, his brothers Boris Volotsky and Andrei Bolshoi rebelled against Ivan III, dissatisfied with the strengthening of the power of the Grand Duke. Taking advantage of the current situation, Akhmat set out with the main forces in the summer of 1480.

The boyar elite of the Russian state split into two groups: one (“rich and potbellied money lovers”) advised Ivan III flee; the other defended the need to fight the Horde. Perhaps the behavior of Ivan III was influenced by the position of the Muscovites, who demanded decisive action from the Grand Duke.

Grand Duke Ivan III arrived on June 23 at Kolomna, where he stopped awaiting further developments. On the same day, she was brought from Vladimir to Moscow miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God- intercessor and savior of Rus' from the troops of Tamerlane in 1395.

Akhmat's troops moved freely across Lithuanian territory, expecting help from Casimir IV, but they never received it. Crimean Tatars, allies of Ivan III, distracted the Lithuanian troops by attacking Podolia (in the southwest of modern Ukraine).

Akhmat decided, after passing through Lithuanian lands, to invade Russian territory across the Ugra River.

Having learned about these intentions, Ivan III sent troops to the banks of the Ugra River.

8 October 1480 years, the troops met on the banks of the Ugra. Akhmat tried to cross the Ugra, but his attack was successfully repulsed. Specified historical event occurred in the area of a 5-kilometer section of the Ugra River. It was impossible for the Tatar cavalry to cross the border of the Grand Duchy of Moscow here - the Oka was 400 m wide with a depth of 10-14 m. There were no other fords in the area between Kaluga and Tarusa. The Horde's attempts to cross continued for several days, thwarted by Russian artillery fire. On October 12, 1480, the Horde retreated two miles from the river. The Ugrians settled in Luza. Ivan III's troops took up defensive positions on the opposite bank of the river.

The famous began "standing on the Ugra". Skirmishes broke out periodically, but neither side dared to launch a serious attack. In this situation, negotiations began. Demands for tribute were rejected, gifts were not accepted, and negotiations broke down. It is quite possible that Ivan III entered into negotiations in an effort to gain time, since the situation was slowly changing in his favor.

All of Moscow prayed to its Intercessor for the salvation of the Orthodox capital. Metropolitan Gerontius and the prince's confessor, Archbishop Vassian of Rostov, supported the Russian troops with prayer, blessings and advice, trusting in the help of the Mother of God. The Grand Duke received a fiery message from his confessor, in which he called on Ivan III to follow the example of former princes: «… who not only defended the Russian land from the filthy (that is, not Christians), but also subjugated other countries... Just take courage and be strong, my spiritual son, as a good warrior of Christ, according to the great word of our Lord in the Gospel: “You are the good shepherd.” The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."…»

Having learned that Akhmat, in an effort to achieve a numerical advantage, mobilized the Great Horde as much as possible, so that there were no significant reserves of troops left on its territory, Ivan III allocated a small but very combat-ready detachment, under the command of the Zvenigorod governor, Prince Vasily Nozdrevaty, who was supposed to go down the Oka, then along the Volga to its lower reaches and commit devastating sabotage in the possessions of Akhmat. The Crimean prince Nur-Devlet and his nukers (combatants) also took part in this expedition. As a result, Prince Vasily Nozdrovaty and his army defeated and plundered the capital of the Great Horde, Sarai, and other Tatar uluses and returned with great booty.

On October 28, 1480, Prince Ivan III ordered his troops to retreat from the Ugra, wanting to wait for the Tatars to cross, but the enemies decided that the Russians were luring them into an ambush, and they also began to retreat. Akhmat, having learned that a sabotage detachment of Prince Nozdrevaty and the Crimean prince Nur-Devlet was operating in his deep rear, and deciding that the Russians were luring them into an ambush, did not pursue the Russian troops and at the end of October - early November also began to withdraw his troops. And on November 11, Akhmat decided to go back to the Horde.

For those who watched from the sidelines as both armies almost simultaneously turned back without bringing the matter to battle, this event seemed either strange, mystical, or received an overly simple explanation: the opponents were afraid of each other, they were afraid to take the battle.

On January 6, 1481, Akhmat was killed as a result of a surprise attack by the Tyumen Khan Ibak, and in 1502 herself The Horde ceased to exist.

Since then, the river Ugra near Moscow began to be called "belt of the Virgin Mary".

The “Standing” put an end to the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The Moscow state became completely independent. The diplomatic efforts of Ivan III prevented Poland and Lithuania from entering the war. The Pskovites also made their contribution to the salvation of Rus', stopping the German offensive by the fall.

The acquisition of political independence from the Horde, along with the spread of Moscow's influence over the Kazan Khanate (1487), played a role in the subsequent transition of part of the lands under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the rule of Moscow.

The Russian Orthodox Church established a threefold celebration of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. Each of the days of celebration is associated with the deliverance of the Russian people from enslavement by foreigners through prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos:

September 8 according to the new style (August 26th to church calendar) – in memory of the rescue of Moscow from the invasion of Tamerlane in 1395.

July 6(June 23) – in memory of the deliverance of Russia from the Horde king Akhmat in 1480.

June 3(May 21) – in memory of the rescue of Moscow from the Crimean Khan Makhmet-Girey in 1521.

The most solemn celebration takes place September 8(new style), established in honor the meeting of the Vladimir Icon during its transfer from Vladimir to Moscow.

The celebration on June 3 was established in memory of the salvation of Moscow in 1521 from the invasion of the Tatars led by Khan Makhmet-Girey.

Invasion of the Crimean Tatars

The Tatar hordes were approaching Moscow, setting Russian cities and villages to fire and destruction, exterminating their inhabitants. Grand Duke Vasily gathered an army against the Tatars, and Moscow Metropolitan Varlaam, together with the residents of Moscow, fervently prayed for deliverance from death. Into this terrible time One pious blind nun had a vision: Moscow saints were emerging from the Spassky Gate of the Kremlin, leaving the city and taking with them the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God - the main saint of Moscow - as God's punishment for the sins of its inhabitants. The saints were met at the Spassky Gate Venerable Sergius Radonezhsky and Varlaam Khutynsky, tearfully begging them not to leave Moscow. All of them together brought a fiery prayer to the Lord for the forgiveness of those who had sinned and the deliverance of Moscow from its enemies. After this prayer, the saints returned to the Kremlin and brought back the Vladimir holy icon. The Moscow saint had a similar vision, Blessed Basil, to whom it was revealed that through the intercession of the Mother of God and the prayers of the saints, Moscow would be saved. The Tatar Khan had a vision of the Mother of God, surrounded by a formidable army rushing towards their regiments. The Tatars fled in fear, the capital of the Russian state was saved.

In 1480, the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was transferred for permanent storage to Moscow in the Assumption Cathedral. In Vladimir, an exact, so-called “spare” copy of the icon, written by the Monk Andrei Rublev, remained. In 1918, the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin was closed, and the miraculous image was moved to the State Tretyakov Gallery.

Now the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is in the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi (metro station "Tretyakovskaya", M. Tolmachevsky lane, 9).

Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi at the State Tretyakov Gallery

Museum-Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi

Iconography

Iconographically, the Vladimir Icon belongs to the Eleus (Tenderness) type. The Baby pressed his cheek to the Mother's cheek. The icon conveys the tender communication between Mother and Child. Mary foresees the suffering of the Son in His earthly journey.

A distinctive feature of the Vladimir Icon from other icons of the Tenderness type: the left leg of the Infant Christ is bent in such a way that the sole of the foot, the “heel,” is visible.

On the reverse are depicted the Etymasia (Prepared Throne) and the instruments of the passions, dating very roughly to the beginning of the 15th century.

The throne has been prepared. Back of the “Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God”

The throne is prepared th (Greek etimasia) - the theological concept of the throne prepared for the second coming of Jesus Christ, coming to judge the living and the dead. Consists of the following elements:

the church throne, usually dressed in red robes (symbol of Christ’s scarlet robe);
closed Gospel (as a symbol of the book from the Revelation of John the Theologian - Rev. 5:1);
instruments of passions lying on the throne or standing nearby;
a dove (symbol of the Holy Spirit) or a crown crowning the Gospel (not always depicted).

The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is an all-Russian shrine, the main and most revered of all Russian icons. There are also many copies of the Vladimir Icon, a significant number of which are also revered as miraculous.

Before the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Vladimir” they pray for deliverance from the invasion of foreigners, for guidance in Orthodox faith, about preservation from heresies and schisms, about the pacification of warring parties, about the preservation of Russia.

God's law. Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

Queen of Heaven. Our Lady of Vladimir (2010)

About the film:
According to church tradition, the icon of the Mother of God was painted by the Evangelist Luke on the board of a table that was located in the house of Joseph, Mary and Jesus. The icon was transferred from Jerusalem to Constantinople, and then to convent near Kyiv, in Vyshgorod. Having fled from Vyshgorod to the north, Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky brought the icon to Vladimir, after which it was named.

During the invasion of Tamerlane, under Vasily I, the revered icon was transferred to Moscow as a defender of the city. And an example of the intercession of the Mother of God of Vladimir is that Tamerlane’s troops left without any particular reason before reaching Moscow.

Troparion, tone 4
Today the most glorious city of Moscow brightly flaunts, as if we have received the dawn of the sun, the Lady, Your miraculous icon, to which we now flow and pray, we cry out to You: O, most wonderful Lady Theotokos, pray from You to the incarnate Christ our God, that He may deliver this city and all Christian cities and countries are unharmed from all the slander of the enemy, and He will save our souls, like the Merciful.

Kontakion, tone 8
To the chosen victorious Voivode, having been delivered from the evil ones by the coming of Your venerable image, to the Lady Theotokos we brightly celebrate the celebration of Your meeting and usually call You: Rejoice, Unmarried Bride.

The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God depicts the Mother of God. It is one of the most revered relics of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God: legend

According to pious tradition, the image of the Mother of God of Vladimir was written by the Evangelist Luke on a board from the table at which the Savior dined with the Most Pure Mother and the righteous Joseph the Betrothed. The Mother of God, seeing this image, said: “From now on, all my people will please Me. May the grace of Him who was born of Me and Mine be with this image.”

During the campaign of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky against the Volga Bulgarians, in 1164, the image of the “Holy Mother of God of Vladimir” helped the Russians defeat the enemy. The icon survived the terrible fire on April 13, 1185, when the Vladimir Cathedral burned down, and remained unharmed during the destruction of Vladimir by Batu on February 17, 1237.

The icon was brought into the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The chronicle reports that Tamerlane, having stood in one place for two weeks, suddenly became afraid, turned south and left the Moscow borders. A great miracle happened: during a procession with a miraculous icon, heading from Vladimir to Moscow, when countless people knelt on both sides of the road and prayed: “Mother of God, save the Russian land!”, Tamerlane had a vision. A high mountain appeared before his mental gaze, from the top of which saints with golden staffs were descending, and above them the Majestic Woman appeared in a radiant radiance. She ordered him to leave the borders of Russia. Waking up in awe, Tamerlane asked about the meaning of the vision. They answered him that the radiant Woman is the Mother of God, the great Defender of Christians. Then Tamerlane gave the order to the regiments to go back.

In memory of the miraculous deliverance of Rus' from the invasion of Tamerlane, on the day of the meeting in Moscow of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God on August 26 / September 8, the solemn church holiday of the Presentation of this icon was established, and at the meeting place itself a temple was erected, around which the Sretensky Monastery was later located.

For the second time, the Mother of God saved Rus' from ruin in 1480 (commemorated on June 23 / July 6), when the army of the Khan of the Golden Horde, Akhmat, approached Moscow.

The meeting of the Tatars with the Russian army took place near the Ugra River (the so-called “standing on the Ugra”): the troops stood on different banks and were waiting for a reason to attack. In the front ranks of the Russian army they held the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God, which miraculously put the Horde regiments to flight.

The third celebration of the Vladimir Mother of God (May 21 / June 3) remembers the deliverance of Moscow from the defeat of Makhmet-Girey, Khan of Kazan, who in 1521 reached the borders of Moscow and began to burn its suburbs, but suddenly retreated from the capital without causing harm to it.

Before the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, many of the most important events in Russian church history took place: the election and installation of St. Jonah - Primate of the Autocephalous Russian Church (1448), St. Job - the first Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' (1589), His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon (1917 .), and also in all centuries, oaths of allegiance to the Motherland were taken before her, prayers were performed before military campaigns.

Iconography of the Vladimir Mother of God

The iconographic scheme includes two figures - the Virgin Mary and the Infant Christ, their faces clinging to each other. Mary's head is bowed towards the Son, and He puts his hand around the Mother's neck. A distinctive feature of the Vladimir Icon from other icons of the “Tenderness” type: the left leg of the Infant Christ is bent in such a way that the sole of the foot, the “heel,” is visible.

The work is permeated with completely obvious sacrificial symbolism. From a theological point of view, its content can be reduced to three main themes: “the incarnation, the predestination of the Child to the sacrifice and the unity in love of Mary the Church with Christ the High Priest.” This interpretation of Our Lady of Caress is confirmed by the image on the back of the icon of the throne with the symbols of the Passion. Here in the 15th century. they painted an image of the throne (etimasia - “prepared throne”), covered with an altar cloth, the Gospel with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, nails, a crown of thorns, behind the throne there is a Calvary cross, a spear and a cane with a sponge, below is the floor of the altar flooring. The theological interpretation of etymasia is based on Holy Scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers. Etymasia symbolizes Christ's resurrection and His judgment over the living and the dead, and the instruments of His torment are the sacrifice made to atone for the sins of mankind. The juxtaposition of Mary caressing the Child and the turnover with the throne clearly expressed sacrificial symbolism.

Arguments have been put forward in favor of the fact that the icon was double-sided from the very beginning: this is evidenced by the identical shapes of the ark and the husks of both sides. In the Byzantine tradition, there were often images of a cross on the back of Mother of God icons. Starting from the 12th century, the time of the creation of the “Vladimir Mother of God,” in Byzantine murals, the etymasia was often placed in the altar as an altar image, visually revealing the sacrificial meaning of the Eucharist, which takes place here on the throne. This suggests the possible location of the icon in antiquity. For example, in the Vyshgorod monastery church it could be placed in the altar as a double-sided altar icon. The text of the Legend contains information about the use of the Vladimir icon as an altar icon and as an outside icon that moved in the church.

The luxurious attire of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, which she had according to the news of the chronicles, also does not testify in favor of the possibility of its location in the altar barrier in the 12th century: “And there were more than thirty hryvnias of gold on it, in addition to silver and in addition to expensive stones and pearls, and Having decorated it, put it in your church in Volodymeri.” But many of the external icons were later strengthened precisely in iconostases, like the Vladimir Icon in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow, originally placed to the right of the royal doors: “And having brought in<икону>to the supreme temple of her glorious Dormition, which is the great Cathedral and Apostolic Church Russian Metropolis, and placed it in an icon case on the right side of the land, where to this day it stands visible and worshiped by all” (See: Book Degree. M., 1775. Part 1. P. 552).

There is an opinion that the “Vladimir Mother of God” was one of the copies of the icon of the Mother of God “Caressing” from the Blachernae Basilica, that is, a copy of the famous ancient miraculous icon. In the Legend of the Miracles of the Icon of the Vladimir Mother of God, she is likened to the Ark of the Covenant, like the Virgin Mary herself, as well as her Robe, which was kept in the rotunda of Agia Soros in Blachernae. The Legend also speaks of healings that are accomplished mainly thanks to the water from the ablutions of the Vladimir Icon: they drink this water, wash the sick with it, and send it to other cities in sealed vessels to heal the sick. This miracle-working of waters from the washing of the Vladimir icon, emphasized in the Legend, could also be rooted in the rituals of the Blachernae sanctuary, the most important part of which was the chapel of the spring dedicated to the Mother of God. Constantine Porphyrogenitus described the custom of washing in a font in front of a marble relief of the Mother of God, from whose hands water flowed.

Style of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

In the icon we are considering, the most ancient painting of the 12th century includes the faces of the Mother and the Child, part of the blue cap and maforium border with a gold assist, as well as part of the ocher chiton of the Child with a gold assist with sleeves to the elbow and the transparent edge of the shirt visible from under it, a brush the left and part of the right hand of the Child, as well as the remains of the golden background. These few surviving fragments represent a high example of the Constantinople school of painting of the Komnenian period. There is no deliberate graphic quality characteristic of the time; on the contrary, the line in this image is nowhere opposed to volume. The main means of artistic expression is built on “the combination of insensible flows, giving the surface the impression of not being made by hands, with a geometrically pure, visibly built line.” “The personal letter is one of the most perfect examples of “Comnenian floating”, combining multi-layered sequential modeling with the absolute indistinguishability of the stroke. The layers of painting are loose, very transparent; the main thing is in their relationship with each other, in the transmission of the lower ones through the upper ones.<…>A complex and transparent system of tones – greenish sankira, ocher, shadows and highlights – leads to a specific effect of diffused, flickering light.”

Among the Byzantine icons of the Komnenian period, the Vladimir Mother of God also distinguishes the deep penetration into the area of the human soul, its hidden secret sufferings, characteristic of the best works of this time. The heads of Mother and Son pressed against each other. The Mother of God knows that Her Son is doomed to suffer for the sake of people, and sorrow lurks in Her dark, thoughtful eyes.

The skill with which the painter was able to convey a subtle spiritual state most likely served as the origin of the legend about the painting of the image by the Evangelist Luke. It should be recalled that the painting of the early Christian period, the time when the famous evangelist icon painter lived, was flesh and blood of the art of late antiquity, with its sensual, “life-like” nature. But, in comparison with the icons of the early period, the image of the Vladimir Mother of God bears the stamp of the highest “spiritual culture”, which could only be the fruit of centuries-old Christian thoughts about the coming of the Lord to earth, the humility of His Most Pure Mother and the path they traversed of self-denial and sacrificial love.

Revered miraculous lists with icons of the Vladimir Mother of God

Vladimir - Volokolamsk icon (memory of Mr. 3/16), which was the contribution of Malyuta Skuratov to the Joseph-Volokolamsk monastery. Nowadays it is in the collection of the Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art named after Andrei Rublev.
Vladimirskaya - Seligerskaya (memory D. 7/20), brought to Seliger by Nil Stolbensky in the 16th century.
Vladimir - Zaonikievskaya (memory M. 21. / John 3; John 23 / Ill. 6, from the Zaonikievsky monastery), 1588.
Vladimirskaya - Oranskaya (memory M. 21 / John 3), 1634.
Vladimirskaya - Krasnogorskaya (Montenegorskaya) (memory M. 21 / John 3). 1603
Vladimir - Rostov (memory Av. 15/28), XII century.

Troparion to the Icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir, tone 4

Kontakion to the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, tone 8

To the chosen victorious Governor, / as those who were delivered from the evil ones by the coming of Your honorable image, / Lady Theotokos, / we brightly celebrate the celebration of Your meeting and usually call You: // Rejoice, Unmarried Bride.

Prayer to the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

O All-Merciful Lady Theotokos, Heavenly Queen, All-Powerful Intercessor, our shameless Hope! Thanking Thee for all the great blessings that the Russian people have received from Thee throughout the generations, before Thy most pure image we pray to Thee: save this city (or: this whole, or: this holy monastery) and Thy coming servants and the whole Russian land from famine, destruction , land of shaking, flood, fire, sword, invasion of foreigners and internecine warfare. Save and save, Lady, our Great Lord and Father Kirill, His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', and our Lord (name of the rivers), His Eminence Bishop (or: Archbishop, or: Metropolitan) (title), and all the Eminence metropolitans, archbishops and Orthodox bishops. May they govern the Russian Church well, and may the faithful sheep of Christ be preserved indestructibly. Remember, Lady, the entire priestly and monastic order, warm their hearts with zeal for God and strengthen them to walk worthy of their calling. Save, O Lady, and have mercy on all Your servants and grant us the path of the earthly journey without blemish. Confirm us in the faith of Christ and in zeal for the Orthodox Church, put into our hearts the spirit of the fear of God, the spirit of piety, the spirit of humility, give us patience in adversity, abstinence in prosperity, love for our neighbors, forgiveness for our enemies, success in good deeds. Deliver us from every temptation and from petrified insensibility, and on the terrible day of Judgment, grant us through Your intercession to stand at the right hand of Your Son, Christ our God. To Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

______________________________________________________________________

These long and numerous movements of the icon in space are poetically interpreted in the text of the Legend of the Miracles of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, which was first found by V.O. Klyuchevsky in Milyutin’s Chetya-Minea, and published according to the list of the collection of the Synodal Library No. 556 (Klyuchevsky V.O. Tales of the Miracles of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. - St. Petersburg, 1878). In this ancient description, they are likened to the path that the sun's luminary takes: “When God created the sun, he did not make it shine in one place, but, going around the entire Universe, illuminates with its rays, so this image of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary is not on one place... but, going around all countries and the whole world, it enlightens..."

Etingof O.E. On the early history of the icon “Our Lady of Vladimir” and the tradition of the Blachernae cult of the Mother of God in Rus' in the 11th-13th centuries. // Image of the Mother of God. Essays on Byzantine iconography of the 11th-13th centuries. – M.: “Progress-Tradition”, 2000, p. 139.

Ibid., p. 137. In addition, N.V. Kvilidze unveiled the painting of the deacon of the Trinity Church in Vyazemy at the end of the 16th century, where on the southern wall there is a liturgy in a church with an altar, behind which is an icon of Our Lady of Vladimir (N.V. Kvilidze. Newly discovered frescoes of the altar of the Trinity Church in Vyazemy. Report in the Department of Ancient Russian Art at the State Institute of Art Studies. April 1997).

Etingof O.E. To the early history of the icon “Our Lady of Vladimir”...

Throughout its history it was recorded at least four times: in the first half of the 13th century, at the beginning of the 15th century, in 1521, during alterations in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin and before the coronation of Nicholas II in 1895-1896 by restorers O. S. Chirikov and M. D. Dikarev. In addition, minor repairs were carried out in 1567 (at the Chudov Monastery by Metropolitan Athanasius), in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Kolpakova G.S. Art of Byzantium. Early and middle periods. – St. Petersburg: Publishing house “Azbuka-Classics”, 2004, p. 407.

Ibid., p. 407-408.

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Among Russian believers, the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is considered the most beloved and revered. Its significance for Rus' is enormous. She saved the country from enemy attacks more than once, thanks to her the Russians avoided enslavement.

History of the icon

Church tradition says that the Holy Face was painted by the Apostle and Evangelist Luke after the Ascension of the Lord into Heaven on an ordinary board from the table at which Mary, Joseph and Jesus ate. Until 450, the image rested on Jerusalem soil, and then was transferred to Constantinople. In the 12th century, the icon was brought as a gift by Patriarch Luka Chrysoverkh to Grand Duke Yuri Dolgoruky.

Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

In the monastic monastery of the city of Vyshgorod, Lik became famous for many miraculous events. But in 1155, Andrei Bogolyubsky, the son of Yuri Dolgoruky, transported the icon to Vladimir. For this occasion, the shrine began to be called Vladimir. The image was decorated with gold and silver, pearls and precious stones.

In 1164, during the military campaign of Prince Andrei against the Bulgarians, the Mother of God helped the Russians defeat the enemy. Her Face was preserved even in the strongest fire that raged in the cathedral. It remained safe and sound during the destruction of the city by Batu in 1237.

In 1395, the icon began to be kept in Moscow so that it would survive the invasion of Tamerlane. He invaded Ryazan lands, ruining them, and soon set off for Moscow, destroying and ruining everything that came along his route. Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich gathered troops, at the same time Metropolitan Cyprian was blessed for the post and service. The Moscow prince and metropolitan decided to use spiritual powers, so the image of the Most Pure Virgin was transferred from Vladimir to Moscow. The icon was kept in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. A miracle happened and Tamerlane left the Moscow borders. As it turned out, during Procession of the Cross with the Vladimir Mother of God to Moscow, pilgrims and people standing on both sides of the road along the procession route prayed to the Mother of God to grant peace to the Russian Land.

In turn, Tamerlane had a vision: he saw a huge mountain, with saints descending from its top, holding golden rods in their hands. The radiant Virgin rose above the saints, commanding him to leave the Russian borders. Later he realized that the Wife is the Mother of God, a Christian protector and intercessor. He understood everything and ordered his army to go back. In memory of this event, a church celebration of the icon was established.

In 1480, the Mother of God saved Russia from the invasion of the troops of the Khan of the Golden Horde, Akhmat. Russian troops met the Tatars near the Ugra River. The fighters positioned themselves on both sides of the river and waited for the attack to begin. Russian soldiers held the Vladimir Icon in their hands and the Queen of Heaven put the Horde horde to flight. In honor of the miraculous event, a second celebration of the image was established.

In 1521, the Kazan Khan Makhmet-Girey moved to Moscow. The area through which the Tatars passed was a terrible sight: ruins could be seen on the sites of cities and villages, the property of the inhabitants was plundered, the elderly and children were mercilessly beaten, and then killed or sold into slavery. The attack was unexpected and people were very afraid that Moscow would also be ruined. Meanwhile, the khan reached the borders of Moscow and began to burn the city. But suddenly a miracle happened and the enemy troops began to retreat from the capital. And again the Mother of God helped. On this occasion, the Church established a third celebration.

Icon of the Vladimir Mother of God

Before the face of Vladimir they performed important events Russia:

election of patriarchs;
taking an oath of allegiance to the Fatherland;
prayers before military campaigns.

And at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War people day and night begged the Queen of Heaven for the intercession of Christ. Even Stalin himself at night, furtively from prying eyes, came to the temple and prayed to the Mother of God for help, and then gave the order to load the Holy Face into a plane and personally flew with it around the capital.

Iconography of the image

The icon depicts the tender “communication” of the Mother of God with the Son - the human side of family relationships. The Virgin and Child are in close contact, Jesus puts his arm around Mary's neck.

A special feature of the Vladimir Icon is the image of the Baby’s heel.

The icon has two sides, the second depicts the throne and symbols of the passion. This idea is not accidental and means the upcoming sacrifice of Christ and the mourning of the Son by the Mother.

This is interesting! No ancient icons like the Vladimir icon have survived to this day. Over many centuries, the image was restored several times, several layers of paint were applied to it. But what is surprising is that the faces of Christ and the Virgin Mary still remain in original form.

During the entire existence of the image, none of the icon painters decided to tint or correct them.

What does Vladimirsky Lik help with?

The main thing is sincere faith in the power and mercy of the Queen of Heaven, which She reveals to humanity through the iconographic image. The Most Pure Virgin helps:

prayer before the icon affirms the Orthodox spirit and gives it perseverance;
delivers the prayer book from heretical attacks;
protects Rus' from enemies, instilling courage and bravery in the hearts of warriors;
protects against military conflicts, external threats and internal unrest;
promotes reconciliation with the enemy;
provides guidance before making a difficult decision;
eliminates uncertainty and doubts;
gives peace and tranquility;
protects marriage and family from discord;
grants spouses love, unity, understanding and respect;
heals diseases;
grants spiritual and physical insight;
helps in difficult childbirth;
protects mothers and their children in a special way;
heals infertility and ailments of the female genital organs.

The image of the Vladimir Mother of God is the greatest fruit of reflection on the life of Christ on earth, the great humility of His Most Pure Mother, the earthly path they traversed and sacrificial love.

Important! The miraculous Face is kept in the Moscow Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. His memory is celebrated annually on June 3, July 6 and September 8.

Video about the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God