The Tsarskoye Selo Icon of the Mother of God "The Sign" was placed in XVIII - mid XX centuries in St. Petersburg on the right side of the small court Tsarskoye Selo Znamenskaya Church.

The icon belongs to the highest examples of icon painting and, by the nature of the painting, should be classified as an ancient Byzantine work. It is surrounded by a gold frame with precious stones. Inscriptions of the years 1831 and 1848 are carved on its edges: these are the years of the deliverance of Tsarskoye Selo from cholera. At the bottom of the icon, on a heart-shaped gold plate, the following words are carved: “Receive salvation from the epidemic, O merciful Lady, Patroness of the city of Tsarskoe Selo, these pearls, like tears of gratitude, watering Your most pure robe, from Your zealous servants and henceforth have mercy on us.”

The original history of the icon is not known. According to the legend existing among the Tsarskoye Selo residents, the Tsarskoye Selo icon used to reside in Moscow. It was brought to Moscow by one of the Eastern Orthodox patriarchs, who previously often visited the capital of the Russian kingdom.

In all likelihood it was St. Athanasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, was then in Moscow longer than others and enjoyed special attention at the royal court. He rested on the way back in Lubny and there he rests incorruptibly, according to the custom of the Eastern churches, in a sitting position.

Then, when the capital was transferred from Moscow to St. Petersburg, along with other shrines, the Znamenskaya Icon was brought to the new capital, considered a family shrine of the Romanovs. Princess Elizaveta Petrovna had a special reverence for this icon and on the night before the coup that brought her to the throne, she prayed fervently before it.

In 1831, cholera spread throughout almost all of Russia, and was also rampant in St. Petersburg. Residents of Tsarskoe Selo gathered to the icon of the Sign, carried it to the middle of the temple, and served a solemn prayer service in front of it. Then the icon was carried around the entire city with singing and prayers, and the entire city with its palaces remained inside the ring described by this procession. Cholera has completely passed Tsarskoe Selo. In memory of this good deed of the Mother of God, the residents asked the Highest permission to transfer the icon from the iconostasis to the inside of the church, as it now stands, and to establish an annual procession of the cross in the same order in which it was performed the first time.

In 1848, cholera again spread throughout Russia, and in this very year the Queen of Heaven unusually decorated her icon with a wondrous robe.

In Tsarskoe Selo lived the pious maiden Maria Davydova, who more than once experienced the help of the miraculous icon “The Sign”. On the night of February 28, Davydova, in a subtle dream, sees the miraculous icon “The Sign” standing in the air in front of her, and she embroiders a magnificent robe onto this image and is already finishing it. Davydova decided to tell her family and friends about her dream, who advised her to make her dream come true. Rumors of the dream reached the Highest Court, and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna took it as a suggestion from above. Arriving in Tsarskoe Selo, she visited the Church of the Sign to venerate the icon, which she examined in detail. Finding the colors in the margins faded and marveling at the preservation and freshness of the faces of the Mother of God and the Eternal Child, she wanted to know if the maiden Davydova could draw up a design for the robe and embroider it.

Davydova was almost unfamiliar with drawing; In addition, being a poor girl, she wondered where she could get the means to carry out the sacred task, and fervently prayed to the Mother of God to instruct her. On the night of June 27, in a dream, Davydova suddenly saw the Mother of God in front of her with the same face and appearance as she is depicted in the icon. She was wearing a beautifully patterned robe, an omophorion on her shoulders and a veil on her head. Having woken up, Davydova immediately wanted to get up to draw a sample of the robe, but again she forgot and fell into sleep. The vision was repeated, only even more vividly and clearly, so that she seemed to be contemplating the Mother of God in reality. Having awakened, she thanked the Lady with tears and drew a pattern for the robe, as she saw it in a vision, and as we see it now. The drawing was presented to the Empress and approved by her.

By Goveniem Davydova prepared for her work and began to work. Offerings of gold and stones began to arrive in abundance, and it was impossible not to clearly see God’s hand touching the hearts of the donors. The influx of offerings was greatly facilitated by the fact that with the strong spread of cholera in St. Petersburg, it passed Tsarskoe Selo, despite the continuous communication of its inhabitants with St. Petersburg.

When it happened that Davydova did not have enough suitable stones for some part of the robe, the necessary jewelry appeared from unexpected donors. In 1849, the magnificently embroidered chasuble, completely studded with stones, was completed, and in 1853 a chromo-lithographic image of the icon was published.

In 1863, a fire broke out in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace and its temple early in the morning. Having burned part of the palace, the fire almost instantly engulfed the domes and crosses of the palace cathedral and penetrated inside it. Then the Tsar and Empress wished to remove the miraculous icon from the Church of the Sign. As soon as the crowned owners came out to meet the icon and kissed it, and began to carry the icon around the burning palace, the fire stopped almost instantly.

The help from the “Sign” icon was extremely varied: there were healings from illness, resolution of infertility, organization of everyday affairs, and salvation of those who perished on land and in the very waves of the sea. That is why those who know the history of this icon well have special faith in it.

Every year on July 5/18 there was a great celebration in Tsarskoe Selo: after the liturgy, the icon of the “Sign” was taken out to the huge parade ground in front of the palace, where a kneeling prayer service was performed, and then it was carried around the entire Tsarskoe Selo.

In the mid-1930s. the icon was removed from the Church of the Sign in the so-called. "GOSSFUND" and disappeared without a trace. Instead, one of the copies of this icon, made at the beginning, was transferred to the church XIX century and was located in the sacristy of the Catherine Cathedral in Tsarskoe Selo. In 1943, this image was transported to Gatchina (in connection with the evacuation of Tsarskoe Selo by the Germans), and later ended up in the Baltic states. Found in Riga, it was returned to the city on the Neva. Since 1946, this particular icon has been in the church of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and Seminary.

In the Church of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy there is the Tsarskoe Selo miraculous icon, especially revered by the Romanov royal family.

The celebration of the icon “The Sign” was established in Novgorod in 1170 on the occasion of the miraculous salvation of the city from ruin during the period of princely civil strife. The miraculous image of the Most Holy Theotokos, carried out, by inspiration from above, on the city wall, showed a miracle and stopped the enemy. Copies of the miraculous Novgorod icon have spread throughout Russia.

Among the most revered is the miraculous Tsarskoye Selo icon “The Sign” (1740). Before the revolution, the image was in the Znamenskaya Church of Tsarskoe Selo. The icon was brought as a gift to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich by Patriarch Athanasius of Constantinople, and from that time on it was especially revered in the royal family of the Romanovs. Peter I blessed his daughter Elizabeth with it as the heir to the throne after Catherine I. Empress Catherine II and the last Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna loved to pray to the “Sign”. Before this icon, brought to the Alexander Palace, a prayer service was served on the eve of the departure of the Family of Emperor Nicholas II from Tsarskoye Selo to Tobolsk.

The icon was very richly decorated, its decorations were valued at up to 50 thousand royal rubles. During the revolutionary times, the jewelry disappeared, but the image itself was preserved. Mothers come running to the Tsarskoye Selo icon to pray for their children.

(1646 - 1676) and was brought to him as a gift by one of the Eastern Orthodox patriarchs, who at that time often visited Moscow and brought here the shrines of the East. It is suggested that it was, in all likelihood, St. Athanasius (Patellarius) of Constantinople, who was more than others in Moscow and enjoyed special attention at the royal court. Patriarch Afanasy arrived in Moscow on April 16 and on April 22 was received by Alexei Mikhailovich. The Patriarch presented him with the shrine he had brought, which, according to legend, was the Icon of the Sign.

It is very possible that the icon was painted and then acquired by the Patriarch on Mount Athos, where, after the fall of Byzantium, the first spark of the revival of church icon painting was lit.

The icon of the Sign of the Mother of God, reverently accepted by the tsar, has since become a family, deeply revered shrine.

The compiled akathist was presented by the rector of the Znamenskaya Church to Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov) of Leningrad with a request to bless it for church and liturgical use, and he, in turn, forwarded the akathist to Moscow to the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius and the Holy Synod attached to him. A member of the Synod, His Grace Philip (Stavitsky), Archbishop of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh, and later Archbishop of Astrakhan, who examined the akathist, found that the akathist was undoubtedly “has substance, makes it possible to sing the glory of the Mother of God regardless of the Novgorod events, in the shadow of Her world-wide miracles, warmed with a warm, reverent feeling and written skillfully, in the correct Church Slavonic language”, and therefore gave him a favorable review. According to this review, by the Synodal resolution of October 16, No. 147, the new akathist to the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos was permitted for church and liturgical use.

The new akathist was greeted differently by pilgrims. While some sincerely welcomed the appearance of a new akathist, which later acquired more and more new supporters, others, on the contrary, showed a visible preference for the old one, with which they became familiar and accustomed. To prevent such disagreement from leading to mutual bickering and unrest, both akathists began to be read in turn.

In August of the year, Tsarskoye Selo was occupied by the troops of Nazi Germany.

That year, the Nazis fled from Tsarskoye Selo, stealing with them the icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos. Soviet troops, pursuing the enemy, found icons of the Sign and the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God from the Znamenskaya Church of Tsarskoye Selo in one of the enemy’s abandoned convoys in Riga. The holy icons were delivered to Leningrad and handed over to the Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod

In the academic church in the name of the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian there is a miraculous image of the Most Holy Theotokos “The Sign” of Tsarskoe Selo, a family shrine of the Romanov dynasty. Its origin is lost in the depths of centuries. In Russia, it appears in the 17th century, when Patriarch Athanasius of Constantinople presented the image to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. After the founding of the new capital, St. Petersburg, Peter I moved the icon to the palace on the Neva.

In 1944, the Nazis fled from Tsarskoye Selo, stealing the icon of the Sign, which was soon discovered in Riga. In the spring of 1948, with the blessing of Metropolitan Gregory (Chukov) of Leningrad and Novgorod, the icon was transferred to the revived Leningrad Theological Academy.

After the persecution of the Church and the war, the Tsarskoye Selo icon of the Sign became truly a good sign, a miracle, evidence of a new revival and flourishing of the illustrious academy. All teachers and students feel through this image the Cover of the Queen of Heaven spread over them. Under Archbishop Constantine, the good tradition of reading the akathist before this miraculous image on Wednesdays, when all the students of the Theological School gather together to prayerfully glorify the Queen of Heaven, was revived.

Pariysky L.N.

About the miraculous icon of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary
in the church of the Leningrad Theological Academy

Speech at the annual act of the Leningrad Theological Academy on December 30, 1955.
Typescript. L.: LDA, 1955. – 20 p.

In our academic church there is an ancient, great shrine - the miraculous image of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos. The history of this shrine is so interesting and instructive that talking about it at our meeting today seems completely natural, understandable and hardly needs any preliminary explanation.

Under the name of the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God, we, in Rus', have long known the iconic half-length image of the Mother of God, with her hands raised to the sky towards the Eternal Infant Jesus, seated in Her bosom. The Infant God blesses the world with His right hand, and in His left He holds a scroll as a symbol, a sign of the saving teaching with which He enlightens the human race.

The very name “Sign” was first adopted at the end of the 12th century by the image of the Most Holy Theotokos, which was then in Veliky Novograd.

The Grand Duke of Suzdal and Vladimir Andrei Bogolyubsky, in alliance with many other appanage Russian princes, decided to pacify the rebellious Novgorod and for this purpose sent it against it in the winter of 1170. a huge, strong military army.

The Novgorodians were gripped by great fear and sought salvation in common, fervent, tearful prayer in their churches, which were open day and night. At the head of those praying was the then Novgorod Archbishop John, who was later canonized (in 1186, his memory is September 7). He had the authority to take the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos from the Church of the Savior on Ilinaya Street and raise It to the city walls. The icon was solemnly brought onto the city wall and turned to face the attackers. One of the fired arrows hit the face of the Mother of God, after which the icon itself turned to the city and tears flowed from Her eyes, which Vladika John collected in his phelonion. At the same time, sudden horror fell on those besieging the city; a terrible, terrible darkness enveloped them and they began to strike each other in confusion. Seeing this, the Novgorodians hastened to open the city gates, rushed at their opponents and won a complete, final victory over them. That was February 25, 1170. In memory of the “Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos, which was in the great Novograd,” then Vladyka John established a holiday, which since then has been celebrated annually on November 27 and has its own special service. The holiday was not set for February 25, so as not to disrupt the service of Cheese Week or Lent, which usually occur at this time, but for November 27, the day of remembrance of St. Martyr Jacob the Persian, in all likelihood, because it was the name day of the then famous Novgorod mayor Yakun (Jacob).

Thus, the icon of the Mother of God, known among us under the name “Sign” and historically associated with Novgorod, was within our country already in the 12th century and was brought here, presumably, like other icons, from the Orthodox East, which illuminated us with the light of faith Christ's.

The iconography of the Mother of God testifies that the image of the Mother of God praying, raising Her hands to the sky in prayer, with the icon of the Child on her chest, dates back to the earliest time, to the middle of the 2nd century, when the veneration of the Mother of God, established in apostolic times, already became actual dogma of Christian teaching. The image of the praying Mother of God, says Professor A.P. Golubtsov - should be considered one of the oldest. He survived the period of catacomb and mosaic painting and moved into Byzantine-Russian painting and icons.

Among the Greeks, the image of the Mother of God, with the image of the Infant God on her chest, received the name Oranta, and “Broadening the Heavens”, and in Russian iconography - the name “Sign”.

What does the Russian name of the icon “The Sign” mean? If it is appropriated to the icon because a “sign” followed from it, i.e. miracle, miraculous help to besieged Novgorod, as it is explained in the chronicles and in the church service on November 27, then such an explanation cannot be considered unconditionally sufficient, completely exhaustive: without explanation we are left with the question of why only this type of Mother of God, this particular composition of Her icon is attributed the name "sign" when numerous "signs", miracles from other icons of the Mother of God are recorded in the chronicles. So, for example, in the liturgical Menaion for the month of July, on the 8th day of the month it is written: “On that day, the remembrance of the sign that appeared from the icon of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos, of Her honorable and glorious Annunciation, in the city of Velitsy Ustyuz.”

Believing thought goes back centuries. She dwells on the statement that in the first centuries of Christianity in the East, the Nativity of Christ was depicted exactly as on the icon of the Sign. In this regard, naturally, the great Old Testament inspired prophecy of Isaiah about the birth of Emmanuel from the Virgin comes to life. “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel, which means: God is with us” (Isaiah 7:14; cf. Matt. 1:23).

And in fact, isn’t the icon of the Mother of God with the Child of God sitting in Her bosom a wondrous sign in this very sense? Isn’t this a sign, a visible sign of an unspeakable universal miracle, the miracle of the appearance in the flesh of the Son of God; a sign of Divine love, on which, as an unshakable foundation, the entire edifice of our holy faith stands and is established?

What is the origin of our icon of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary? Where and how did it come to us?

The Icons of the Sign, located in various places in our Fatherland, turn out to be mostly painted on the model of the Novgorod one, and appear to be copies and copies of it.

This is not our icon. It is enough to look at it and compare it with the Novgorod one to be convinced that our icon cannot in any way be recognized as a simple copy of the latter, an imitation of it. And the very dashing nature of the Mother of God, and the position of Her hands, and the significant size of the icon - everything eliminates the idea of ​​​​any dependence on her from Novgorod.

The first pages of the history of the origin of our icon, unfortunately, remain unclear to this day. It is impossible to say positively where, when and by whom this image was painted.

Tradition says that our shrine appeared in Russia since the time of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1646-1676) and was brought to him as a gift by one of the Eastern Orthodox patriarchs, who at that time often visited Moscow and brought here shrines of the East.

It is suggested that it was, in all likelihood, St. Athanasius Patelarius, Patriarch of Constantinople, was more than others in Moscow and enjoyed special attention at the royal court.

St. Athanasius was born in 1597, he was a philosopher, philologist, poet and eloquent preacher. He loved the ascetic life, visited Athos more than once and, thinking of staying there forever, acquired a small cell in which he lived for more than a year. He twice ascended to the height of the patriarchal throne of Constantinople and twice left the throne, which was constantly fluctuating at that time.

Patriarch Athanasius arrived in Moscow on April 16, 1653. and on April 22 he was received by Alexei Mikhailovich, and spoke to the Tsar through an interpreter with a welcoming speech and presented him with the brought shrine, which, according to legend, was the icon of the Sign. It is very possible that the icon was painted and then acquired by the Patriarch on Athos, where, after the fall of Byzantium, the first spark of the revival of church icon painting was lit.

Reverently accepted by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God became a family shrine that was deeply revered from then on.

Peter the Great, having founded the new capital - St. Petersburg, moved the holy icon there to the palace. Before his death, according to legend, he gave the icon to his daughter Elizaveta Petrovna.

Elizabeth, having received the icon, was imbued with special respect for it. Before her accession to the throne, on November 24, 1741, when Elizabeth’s supporters persuaded her to carry out a palace coup and arrest the ruler Anna Leopoldovna and the young Emperor John VI. Elizabeth prayed for a long time - 2 hours - in front of this icon before she decided to go to the “Moving Hut” of the Preobrazhensky Regiment and start an uprising.

The pious empress attributed the quick successful outcome of the enterprise that brought her the throne not only to the efforts of her supporters, not to random luck, but, above all, to divine help, which was expressed on her part in a whole series of actions.

First of all, the manifesto on the accession to the throne was published on November 27, the day of the celebration of the Icon of the Sign. Then she decorated the icon of the Sign with a frame and ordered the faces of St. to be painted on the sides of the icon. Alexy, the man of God and the Apostle Peter,” whose names were borne by the first owners of the icon: the grandfather and father of Elizabeth, and in the middle - the righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth, in honor of the Angel’s own day.

Elizabeth decided to dedicate the church that began construction in Tsarskoye Selo to the image of the “Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos.”

Before the consecration of the Church of the Sign in Tsarskoe (Detskoe) Selo, the Empress ordered the solemn transfer of St. Petersburg from St. Petersburg, from the palace. icon of the Sign. This transfer took place in mid-May 1747. It lasted three days with stops along the way, which were probably in the Sredne-Rogatsky and Pulkovo palaces and were accompanied by a majestic religious procession of the capital's clergy and a multitude of people.

After bringing the icon to the church, the icon, at the direction of Elizabeth, was placed at the top of the iconostasis, right above the Royal Doors, on top of the image of the Last Supper, and for a long time, more than 80 years (until 1831), remained in this place.

In 1771, in November, solemn prayers were held in front of the icon for the salvation of Detskoe Selo from the plague. The pestilence did not reach the boundaries of Detskoye Selo and soon completely ceased.

In December 1788 Catherine II ordered the construction of a large four-story house next to the palace and very close to the Church of the Sign. Subsequently, it housed the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, opened in 1811. October 19.

Students of the Lyceum, when there was no service in the Palace Church, went to the Church of the Sign, and Lyceum student A.S. Pushkin also went to this church.

On May 12, 1820, a large devastating fire occurred, which completely destroyed the entire interior of the Lyceum and part of the palace. Fanned by a strong wind, the flames also threatened the Znamenskaya Church. The miraculous icon of the Sign of the Mother of God was removed from its place on top of the Royal Doors and taken out of the temple, with its face turned towards the fire.

The prayer of faith did not put him to shame: the wind, carrying the flames to the Church of the Sign, as if obeying an unknown force, instantly changed its direction and began to subside, after which the fire began to weaken, and then the fire soon and completely stopped.

In 1830, A.S. Pushkin wrote a wonderful poem, which in the eyes of some is mysterious, unsolved, but, in our opinion, with its symbolism, has the closest, direct relation to the icon of the Sign and its strong influence on the poet in his school years. years. This poem (imitation of Dante) reads like this:

“At the beginning of my life I remember school;
There were a lot of us, careless children...
Humble, poorly dressed,
But the appearance of a majestic wife
She kept strict supervision over the school.
Surrounded by our crowd,
In a pleasant, sweet voice, it used to be
She talks to the babies.
On her brow I remember the veil,
And eyes as bright as heaven;
But I delved into her conversations a little,
I was embarrassed by the strict beauty
Her brow, calm lips and eyes,
And full of holy words.
Avoiding Her advice and reproaches,
I misinterpreted myself
The clear meaning of truthful conversations,
And often I sneaked away
Into the magnificent darkness of someone else's garden,
Under the arch is artificial porphyry rocks.
……………………………………………….
Other two wonderful creations
They attracted me with magical beauty:
Those were images of two demons,
One - Delphic idol with a young face -
He was angry, full of terrible pride...
The other is effeminate, voluptuous,
A dubious and deceitful ideal,
The magic demon is deceitful but beautiful,
I forgot myself before them...”

Various commentators on the works of A.S. and Pushkin recognize a children's village park in this poem. Commentators focus on idols - images of two demons who carried away the young man, and explain that these were statues of Apollo and Dionysus (Valery Bryusov, Ivanov-Razumnik, D.S. Merezhkovsky, N.K. Piksanov, M., 1924, 113- 114 pp.) But commentators say little about the majestic, mysterious Wife who strictly maintained supervision over the school.

In the 6-volume edition by S.A. Vengerov works by A.S. Pushkin analyzed the second half of the poem, but passed over the first half in silence.

In the academic 24-volume edition, which seems to have commentaries on each work, the question of the mysterious Wife is not resolved.

Prominent Pushkin scholars of our day, when asked who should be understood by the Wife, answer that this poem has not yet been deciphered.

“To whom have not these two demons appeared, both equally beautiful and deceitful?” - asks Morozov P. “In submission to one or another of them is the eternal cause of human downfall, in the fight against them is moral enlightenment, in a rare victory over them is the rise of revival and clear peace of the soul, the highest wisdom.” But who is the “Wife?” A clear, bright, life ideal, explains briefly P. Morozov (Pushkin, Brockhaus, vol. V, St. Petersburg, 1911, X-XI). “Virtue,” Merezhkovsky declares even more briefly.

Such a laconic, abstract interpretation does not seem satisfactory, however. In order to draw and depict the supposed “virtue” so picturesquely, vividly, and in detail, the poet undoubtedly had to have a certain, concrete prototype in front of him. And an ordinary, even virtuous, wife could not serve as such a prototype. It’s all here: She appears majestic in Her humility and wretched clothing; from Ney: “and eyes as bright as heaven,” and “the severe beauty of the brow” with a veil on it, “and words full of sanctity,” - everything, to the last emphasized Slavicism (“eyes,” “chela,” “words”) , speaks of something extraordinarily sublime, exceptional, supermundane.

Doesn’t the contrast of this “Wife” with “idols”, idols, “depictions of demons” testify with its force that the stimulus for the poet in this case was also some kind of image, a special, sacred image of the Wife? This is precisely the image, one might think, of the miraculous image of the Most Holy Theotokos, which was then located next to the lyceum in the Church of the Sign. At that time he stood at a height, on top of the Royal Doors, and therefore involuntarily, immediately attracted the reverent attention of those entering the church. The image, naturally, had to exert its strong, beneficial influence on the sensitive, impressionable young soul of the lyceum student Pushkin, who visited the Znamensky Church, had to speak a lot, strictly, impressively and truthfully to Pushkin’s soul, give it good advice, awaken reproaches in his conscience.. .

In 1831, a terrible epidemic disease - cholera - broke out in St. Petersburg. Nonsense, ignorant rumors were spread among the people. Up to 600 people died per day. There was a riot on Sennaya Square. Crowds of people furiously rushed to the temporary hospitals and destroyed them to the ground.

In Detskoe Selo they remembered the miraculous help of the Queen of Heaven when the Znamenskaya Church was miraculously saved from the fire.

On July 5, 1831, in front of the many pilgrims gathered in the temple, the icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos was lowered down that day. All those present fell on their knees in reverent humility before the shrine that descended to them and tearfully, unanimously prayed during the prayer service served in the church. At the end of the prayer service, the holy icon was carried out of the church in the hands of the priests and, united with many other images, followed in a touchingly majestic procession of the cross. At the end of the prayer service, the same prayer was read with kneeling, which was prayed in their time (i.e. in 1170) before the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God by the inhabitants of besieged Novgorod, led by their ruler John.

This prayer is found in the life of St. John, Archbishop of Novgorod, reads like this:

“Oh, most merciful Lady, Virgin Mary! You are the Hope, and the Hope, and the Intercessor of our city, and the Wall, and the Cover, and the Refuge of all Christians. That is why we, sinners, rely on You. We pray, O Lady, Thy Son and our God, for our city, and do not betray us to our enemy, but hear the weeping and sighing of Thy people, and have mercy; and just as sometimes Your Son showed mercy to the Ninevites for the sake of repentance, so show Your mercy here too, O Lady.”

Cholera has passed Detskoe Selo.

Grateful believers asked permission not to raise the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God to its former place on top of the Royal Doors, but to place it in a special large icon case behind the right choir of the main church, so that they could always light candles in front of it and kiss it with reverent awe and love. Permission was given.

Not limiting themselves to this, the believers of Detskoye Selo also sought permission to perform on July 5, 1831. The religious procession was repeated annually on this date.

In 1863, in Detskoye Selo there was a fire in the Resurrection Church and part of the Catherine Palace. As in previous similar cases, believers sought help from above. The Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign was taken out of the Church of the Sign and surrounded by burning buildings: the fire stopped almost instantly. This was a new marvelous manifestation of the saving miraculous power of St. icons of the Sign of the Mother of God. After this event, the veneration of St. icons became more and more intensified.

In 1891, the side borders were abolished in the Znamenskaya Church. In place of the right side chapel, a miraculous icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos was placed. In place of the left one, in accordance with the miraculous icon, the church elder Serkov A. was built exactly the same size as the Icon of the Sign, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. This icon is of very artistic writing. The icon has small side images of St. Alexy, man of God, and Queen Alexandra, saints; whose names were borne by the elder A. Serkov and his wife.

Since approximately 1922, the custom has been established on Sunday evenings to perform an akathist before the miraculous icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos, a custom that attracts a significant number of worshipers to the shrine. At the same time, it was customary to read an akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos - “Her venerable Sign, hedgehog in the great city of Novograd.”

This akathist, compiled by the author of many other akathists A.F. Kovalevsky (Kharkov landowner), was authorized by the Holy One. Synod for printing in the fall of 1891. (Alexey Popov. Orthodox Russian akathists, given with the blessing of the Holy Synod. Kazan, 1903, 406-407 pp.). This akathist primarily remembers and glorifies the sign or miracle that happened from the icon of the Mother of God in Novgorod in 1170, during the internecine war, when Novgorod was besieged “from the warriors of Suzhdal.”

Meanwhile, our Icon of the Sign, as previously explained, is a completely separate, independent shrine, with its own special history, with its own miracles that glorified it, and absolutely cannot be recognized as a copy of the Novgorod icon or an imitation of this latter.

Reasonable, thoughtful pilgrims, therefore, quite naturally had a desire to hear an akathist that was more appropriate in its content before the holy icon. And such an akathist, thanks to the selfless work of one theologically educated, church-minded, now deceased, highly respected layman (P.P. Mironositsky) appeared. He raises the thoughts of those praying above certain historical memories of the Russian past and in the icon image of the Most Pure Virgin with the Child in Her bosom, known as the Sign of the Mother of God, he inspires to see a symbol of a universal and unspeakable sign, or a miracle, the miracle of the incarnation of the Son of God.

The compiled akathist was presented by the rector of the Znamenskaya Church to Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov) of Leningrad with a request to bless it for church and liturgical use, and he, in turn, forwarded the akathist to Moscow to the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius and the Holy Synod attached to him. The member of the Synod, His Grace Philip (Stavitsky), Archbishop of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh, later Archbishop of Astrakhan, who examined the akathist, found that the akathist undoubtedly “has substance, makes it possible to sing the glory of the Mother of God regardless of the Novgorod events, in the shadow of Her world-wide miracles, will warm with a warm, reverent feeling and was written skillfully, in the correct Church Slavonic language,” and therefore gave a favorable review of it (Archive of the Moscow Patriarchate).

According to this review, by the Synodal resolution of October 16 (3), 1929. for No. 147, the new akathist to the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos was permitted for church and liturgical use.

The new akathist was greeted differently by the pilgrims. While some sincerely welcomed the appearance of a new akathist, which later acquired more and more new supporters, others, on the contrary, showed a visible preference for the old one, with which they became familiar and accustomed. To prevent such disagreement from leading to mutual bickering and unrest, both akathists began to be read alternately.

In August 1941 Detskoe Selo was occupied by the troops of Nazi Germany.

In 1944, the Nazis fled from Detskoe Selo, taking St. Icon of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Soviet troops, pursuing the enemy, discovered St. in one of the enemy’s abandoned convoys in Riga. icons of the Sign and the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God from the Znamenskaya Church of Detskoe Selo.

With the assistance of the Authorized Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of Ministers of the USSR for Leningrad and the Leningrad Region A.I. Kushnarev, the holy icons were delivered to Leningrad and handed over to Metropolitan Gregory of Leningrad and Novgorod. With the blessing of Metropolitan Gregory, all the icons were installed in the church of the Leningrad Theological Academy in the spring of 1948.

With voluntary donations from believers, St. The icon of the Sign was decorated with a halo over the heads of the Mother of God and the Child of God, and icon cases were built for St. icons. In 1952, identical oak icon cases were built for the icons of the Sign and the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.

This is the history of our shrine in a brief chronological overview.

It has been 7 years since our shrine has been in our church. Every day, both morning and evening, the students of our theological school offer fervent, fervent prayers to the Most Pure Virgin and sing sacred chants in Her honor. Every day, both morning and evening, believers bow before this shrine with hope, tears and gratitude. Many great signs, miracles, blessings, and wondrous consolations are given to those who flow to the image of the Mother of God. But as always, such events remain unknown, hidden under a bushel, and only the constant influx of worshipers testifies that their prayers before the icon do not remain in vain.

The inspired word comes true: “Mother’s prayer can do much for the goodness of the Lord...”

We rejoice that we have such a great shrine in our church; today we told the story of this holy icon for the glory of the Mother of God.

Notes

1. A.P. Golubtsov. From readings on church archeology and liturgics. Sergiev Posad, 1918. – P.242-243, 245-246.

2. Patriarch Athanasius composed a hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He had with him the icon of the Mother of God “Consolation in Sorrows and Sorrows,” which he never parted with during his travels. On the way back, Patriarch Athanasius headed home through Little Russia, but was caught up in military events there. On the advice of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, Athanasius, who was ill, stayed at the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, near the city of Luben, Poltava diocese, and here, after a month’s stay, he ended his life on April 5, 1654. According to the customs of the Eastern patriarchs, he was buried in a sitting position. On February 1, 1662, the relics of the saint were found and he was canonized. His memory is celebrated on May 2, together with his ancient great saint, the Archbishop of Alexandria, whose name he bore. On the site of his cell on Mount Athos, a Russian cenobitic St. Andrew's monastery arose, in the name of St. Andrew the First-Called. Icon of the Mother of God “Consolation in Sorrows and Sorrows” from 1890. was in the Annunciation Church at St. Petersburg, the courtyard of the Old Athos St. Andrew's Skete. (See Bulgakov. Handbook).

3. The Transfiguration Cathedral was built on the site of the “Moving Hut”.

4. And a whole series of icons, vestments and sacred objects from the Church of the Sign.

5. In addition to the icons of the Sign and the Kazan Icon, the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, St. Demetrius of Rostov, icon of St. Panteleimon with relics, St. St. George the Victorious with relics (behind the right and left choirs), a large portable wooden cross for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (in the altar on the table), the icon of the Mother of God “Unfading Color” (on the 2nd floor platform opposite the Assembly Hall), the icon of the Sorrowful Mother of God (on the platform at the entrance to the temple), three shrouds: two in use, the third under glass in a frame in the Reading Room, several rich artistic airs, red vestments with gold embroidery).

The iconography of the Mother of God icons, in which the Infant God is depicted directly on the bosom (on the chest) of the Mother of God, represented from the waist up (a version of the “Great Panagia”). The iconography is based on a prophecy about the incarnation of the Savior (“... The Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin will be with child and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel” (Is 7.14)); the name is associated with the miraculous icon of the Mother of God (see section “The Sign” Novgorod Icon of the Mother of God), through which in 1169/70 Vel. The intercession of the Most Holy One was revealed to Novgorod. Mother of God (Festal Menaion - RNL. Soph. No. 369). From the end XV century the name “Sign of the Most Pure One” is found in Novgorod sources in relation to this icon and its repetitions, i.e. it becomes the name of an iconographic type, another name of which is “Our Lady of the Incarnation”.

The image of the Virgin Mary with Christ Emmanuel in a medallion first appeared on the seals of the Emperor. Mauritius (582-602). The same full-length image of the Mother of God is on a fresco from the Bauit monastery (chapel of the monks (XXVIII), VI-VII centuries, Coptic Museum, Cairo), in the monastery of St. Jeremiah in Saqqara (VI century), in Sir. manuscript (Paris. syr. 341. Fol. 118), on a fresco in the lunette of the crypt of the Ostrian catacombs near the tomb of St. Agnes in Rome (late IV-V centuries).

In the post-iconoclastic period, images of the Mother of God praying with raised hands, standing tall or waist-high, were sometimes accompanied by the inscription: “Blachernitissa.” Icons of other iconographic types are also named, the origin of which is associated with the temple at Blachernae, built in K-pol in the 5th century. imp. Pulcheria (for example, the image of the Mother of God and Child of the “Tenderness” type, 12th century, monastery of the Great Martyr Catherine in Sinai). Imp. Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, in his treatise “On the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court” (10th century), mentioned that there were several in Blachernae. miraculous icons of the Mother of God, with which various miracles and customs are associated. From the 8th century There were weekly night services in honor of the icon of the Mother of God, during which on the night from Friday to Saturday there was a miracle with a veil. The description of this miracle says that “Mary carries the Child with both hands of prayer.” What was near the imp is also described. baths, a marble relief image of the Mother of God with raised hands, from which St. flows. water (Const. Porphyr. De cerem. 2. 12). Numerous repetitions of the relief icon with holes in the palms of the 11th-13th centuries have been preserved. Images of the Mother of God with the Child in a medallion in front of the chest are found on the seals of the emperors John Tzimiskes (969-976), Michael VII Ducas (1071-1078), Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118) and later - during the time of the Komnenos, on the silver coin of Constantine IX Monomachos (1042-1055) with the legend Η ΒΛΑΚΕΡΝΙΤΙΣΑ.

An image with a half-figure of the Mother of God is present on the gold seal of Leo VI (886-912). According to the description of St. Photius, Patriarch of K-Poland, it was on the mosaic of the apse of the church of the Nea Moni monastery on the island of Chios (1042-1056). A full-length image of “Blachernitissa” is found on the frescoes of the apse c. Our Lady of Trikomo, Cyprus (early 12th century), apse c. Transfiguration of the Savior on Nereditsa (1199), on the icon of the Mother of God with the prophet. Moses and Patriarch Euthymius (XIII century, monastery of the Martyr Catherine on Sinai), on the icon “Yaroslavl Oranta” (XIII century, Tretyakov Gallery).

Another name for the image of the Mother of God with the Child in front of her breast is “Platitera” (“Broadening the Heavens”). This epithet is associated with the liturgy of St. Basil the Great, in which a verse is sung that the womb of the Mother of God is more spacious than the heavens. Half-figures of Our Lady Platythera are found on seals and coins of the Emperor. Nikephoros Phocas (963-969), in the painting of the apses of the churches of the Nativity of Christ in Bethlehem (1169), the Virgin Mary of Evergetis in the Studenica monastery, Serbia (1208-1209), the Virgin of Leviski in Prizren, Serbia (20s of the 13th century. ), on the mosaic of the outer narthex of the Hora monastery (Kahrie-jami) in K-pol (1316-1321). Marble images of this iconography were widespread, repeating the relief above the phial in the temple at Blachernae (12th-century relief from the Church of Santa Maria Mater Domini in Venice).

Blachernae (associated with Blachernae) images of the Mother of God - Oranta without the Child, but with holes for water in her hands; holding a medallion in front of her chest; Orants with the image of the Child in a medallion are also called the “Great Panagia” (patena from the Xiropotamus Monastery on Athos, “Yaroslavl Oranta”). In Rus', the type of “Blachernitissa” with raised arms and a medallion in front of the chest received names from miraculous icons: Abalakskaya, Kursk-Korennaya, Mirozhskaya, Novgorodskaya, Seraphim-Ponetaevskaya, Tsarskoye Selo, etc.

Lit.: Kondakov. Iconography of the Mother of God. 1915. T. 2. P. 193-196; Smirnova E. S. Novgorod icon “Our Lady of the Sign”: Certain questions of the Mother of God iconography of the 12th century. // DRI: Balkans. Rus. St. Petersburg, 1995. pp. 288-310.

“The Sign” Novgorod Icon of the Mother of God

(celebration November 27), miraculous image of gray. XII century; with its help the protection of Vel is associated. Novgorod in 1169/70 from the troops led. book Andrei Bogolyubsky, who, wanting to punish the Novgorodians who collected illegal tribute from the princely Dvina land, sent his squads to the city.

The icon gained all-Russian fame in the 14th century, when the Legend of the Miracle was written, which was included in the Novgorod and Moscow chronicles (Tikhomirov. 1872; Frolow. 1949). This icon was in the c. Spasa on Ilyina st. behind the throne. On the 3rd night of the siege of the city, Archbishop of Novgorod. John, praying in front of the icon of the Savior, heard a voice coming from the image: “Go to the Church of the Holy Savior on Ilya Street, and take the icon of the Holy Mother of God, and take it to the prison opposite the adversary.” The icon was taken to the city fortifications, “and now there is a monastery of the Holy Mother of God on Tithes.” The arrows fired by the Suzdal residents, “like the rain has multiplied,” hit the icon, which turned its face to the city, and “tears” flowed from the “wounds” received. The attackers were covered in darkness, seized with “awe and horror,” and they began to beat each other. In memory of the miraculous victory, Archbishop. John 27 Nov. a holiday was established. Until the beginning 40s XV century Pachomius the Serb compiled the “Memory of the Sign”, the church “Service for the Sign” and the “Word of Praise for the Sign”. Later the Legend was included in the Life of St. John of Novgorod (SKKDR. Issue 2. Part 2. pp. 347-351). In 1356, the icon was transferred to a stone church specially built for it in 1354. in honor of the Sign of the Most Holy. Mother of God, in the 17th century. A large stone cathedral was erected in honor of the icon. In 1999, the miraculous image, which was kept in the NGOMZ during the Soviet period, was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church and placed in the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Vel. Novgorod - on the salt in front of the iconostasis to the left of the royal doors in a glass icon case.

The icon (size 59x52.7 cm), double-sided, mounted on a pole, is portable. On the front side there is a waist-length depiction of the Mother of God with raised arms, and on Her chest there is a medallion with the image of Christ Emmanuel. On the margins of the icon are life-size figures of Saints George, James of Persia, Peter of Athos and Onuphrius (Macarius of Egypt?). On the reverse side, 2 saints are presented in prayer before the Savior, blessing with both hands, depicted in the segment. In the later recording there were inscriptions on the icon with the names of St. Petra and MC. Natalia. The ancient inscriptions have not survived, but an analysis of the iconography suggests that these are images of the righteous Joachim and Anna. In the 16th century the icon was renewed, perhaps personally by the archbishop. Macarius (later Metropolitan of Moscow). From the original painting of the ancient image, fragments of the blue maforia and dress of the Mother of God, as well as fragments of the medallion surrounding the image of the Infant God, have been preserved on the front side. The images on the reverse side are from the original painting.

One of the earliest copies of the Novgorod icon is an icon from the 12th century. with a martyr on the back (Tretyakov Gallery, Museum-Apartment of P. D. Korin). Numerous lists date back to the 16th century. (State Tretyakov Gallery, TsAK MDA). A half-length image of Oranta with a medallion is found on the seals of the Kyiv metropolitans Nikephoros I (1104-1121) and Michael (1131-1147), the Novgorod bishops (Yanin V.L. Actual seals of Dr. Rus'. M., 1970. Vol. 1). In the XV-XVI centuries. images of the “Sign” were often placed on icons of selected saints.

Lit.: Tikhomirov P.I., priest. The legend of the Novgorod miracle. St. icon of the Sign of the Mother of God. Novgorod, 18722; Villager E. Mother of God. P. 730; Kondakov. Iconography of the Mother of God. 1915. T. 2. P. 193-196; Frolow A. Le “Znamenie” de Novgorod // RES. 1949. Vol. 24. P. 67-81; Vol. 25. P. 45-72; Smirnova E. S., Laurina V. K., Gordienko E. A. Painting Vel. Novgorod, XV century. M., 1982; Smirnova E. S. Novgorod icon “Our Lady of the Sign”: Certain questions of the Mother of God iconography of the 12th century. // DRI: Balkans. Rus. St. Petersburg, 1995. pp. 288-310.

N. V. Kvlividze

“The Sign” Tsarskoye Selo Icon of the Mother of God

(celebration November 27), miraculous image, ancestral icon of the House of Romanov; known in Russia since April. 1653, when it was presented to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich by the K-Polish Patriarch St. Athanasius III Patellarius; it is believed that she was last seen during the abdication of the sovereign.

According to legend, imp. Peter I, who transported the image from Moscow to St. Petersburg, blessed Princess Elizabeth with it, and in 1734 she commissioned the archit specially for this icon. I. Ya. Blank to develop a project for a stone temple in the imp. residence of Tsarskoe Selo, built by him in collaboration with M. G. Zemtsov and consecrated in May 1747. Dr. evidence of reverent veneration of the icon of the emperor. Elizaveta Petrovna has information that on the night before the coup, after which she ascended the throne (November 27, 1741), she prayed fervently in front of the icon.

The Holy Synod and the entire court took part in the celebration of the 3-day transfer of the icon from St. Petersburg to the new church in Tsarskoe Selo; the empress walked all the way and even helped to carry the image. Until 1831, the image was located above the royal doors of the iconostasis, above the image of the Last Supper. She was taken out of the temple only on May 12, 1812, during a fire that engulfed the palace and threatened Znamenskaya Church. In 1831, after Tsarskoye Selo was freed from cholera, which happened after a prayer service was held on July 5 in front of the “Sign” icon placed in the center of the church and a religious procession with it around the city, it was placed in front of the right choir of the Znamenskaya Church. At the same time, at the request of the townspeople, an annual religious procession was established: until 1917, on this day, after mass, the icon was taken to the palace square, where a kneeling prayer service was performed in front of it before the religious procession. In the 18th century Her 1st list was completed, which was also located in Tsarskoe Selo, including during fires and epidemics. Probably in front of this icon the imp. Alexandra Feodorovna prayed during the First World War, when the sovereign went to Headquarters. In 1942, from besieged Leningrad, having heroically crossed the front line, sisters Zoya and Vera Shamonin, daughters of the famous St. Petersburg archpriest, came to the occupiers of the city of Pushkin (formerly Tsarskoe Selo). Vladimir, the spiritual son of rights. John of Kronstadt. They asked to give them the church located in Znamenskaya. image (18th century list) and received it. Without returning to the besieged city, they went to Riga, where the icon remained until the end of the war. In 1946, Metropolitan. Leningrad and Novgorod Grigory (Chukov) transferred it to the church. ap. John the Theologian at SPbDA, where she currently resides. time. In Znamenskaya Ts. there is a list of it from the 20th century.

The icon became famous for many people. miracles: deliverance from cholera, salvation from fires, drowning and other troubles, healings, help in sorrows and everyday adversities. In 1853, a chromolithographic image of the icon was published, and there are known cases of beneficial help from engraving images of it. In the beginning. In the summer of 1916, lithographic images of the icon were consecrated in Znamenskaya Church. and were sent to soldiers in the active army, who wore icons on their chests.

Since 1999, on Wednesdays, an akathist is read before the image. From the same time in St. Petersburg every year from December 10 to 13. General educational readings of the Sign are held, opened after the liturgy and prayer service in front of the icon “The Sign”.

There is no exact information about the time of painting of the icon (approx. 138×107 cm). Traditional iconography of "Z." supplemented at the request of the Emperor. Elizabeth Petrovna shortly after her accession to the throne with images in the margins of St. Peter, righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth, St. Alexy, man of God. On the list of the 18th century. to them by order of the emperor. Maria Alexandrovna were added (1859) images of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and MC. Alexandra in memory of the Emperor. Nicholas I and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna.

Upon the accession of the Emperor. Elizabeth made a chasuble for the icon from red gold (approx. 8.73 kg). In 1849, in gratitude for the deliverance of Tsarskoye Selo from the cholera epidemic that swept Russia in 1848, the icon was covered with an embroidered chasuble, with many diamonds, pearls, turquoise, amethysts, sapphires, emeralds, and opals, the basis of which was gold foil. The chasuble (111 × 89 cm), like a multi-colored mantle with wide sleeves, over which a wide omophorion bordering it descended from the shoulders, adorned the image of the Virgin Mary. The forehead of the Mother of God was decorated with a trim made of precious stones (according to the church inventory of 1860, 32 groups of jewelry were used). The same mantle and omophorion covered the image of the Infant God. Precious vestments were also made for the images of saints in the fields. Most and the best part of the jewelry (on the urn and breast decoration of the Mother of God, on the clothes of the Savior) was donated by Empresses Alexandra Feodorovna and Maria Alexandrovna, Vel. princesses Alexandra Iosifovna, Maria and Olga Nikolaevna. The chasuble was embroidered with her sisters by a pious maiden, a resident of Tsarskoye Selo, Maria Davydova, whose Mother of God appeared in a dream and indicated exactly what and how she should do, and when there were not enough suitable stones, donors unexpectedly appeared. The largest stone on the frame was a heart-shaped topaz (an offering from V.A. Pryanishnikova); the dates of the miraculous deliverance of Tsarskoye Selo from cholera - 1831 and 1848 - were carved on its faces. At the bottom, on a heart-shaped gold plate, skillfully made from small gold items donated by pilgrims (rings, brooches, chains, earrings), the words were engraved: “For salvation from the epidemic, accept, Merciful Lady, Patroness of the city of Tsarskoye Selo, these pearls, like tears of gratitude, watering Your most pure robe, from Your zealous servants, continue to have mercy on us”; Below is the signature: “This robe was embroidered by the maiden Maria Davydova and her sisters as a result of a dream.” From the remaining offerings, the Davydov sisters made a shroud for the icon, sewn on crimson velvet with precious stones, gold, silver, beads and roman. pearls The shroud is embroidered with a radiance, a Gospel, a vessel, 2 tablets, a censer, grape leaves, tassels, and ears of corn. Under hand Davydov at the same time, a “carpet of zeal” was made, covering the floor in the altar and reaching to the middle of the church. The chasuble was lost during the confiscation of church valuables in 1922. The one made in 1853 at the expense of the parishioners of the Znamenskaya Church did not survive either. icon case, as well as made through the efforts of the pious ladies-in-waiting of the imp. yard according to Fig. F. P. Solntsev bronze gilded candlestick, called the maid of honor.

Villager E. Mother of God. pp. 700-705; Sochagin A. Tsarskoe Selo in postcards. XIX - early XX century St. Petersburg, 2002; Dmitrieva N.K. Miracle of Tsarskoye Selo. icon B. M. “The Sign” // Cultural enlightenment. work (Meeting). M., 2005. No. 7. P. 28; No. 8. P. 18; Tsarskoye Selo Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”. St. Petersburg, 2007.

E.P.I.

“The Sign” Tavern Icon of the Mother of God

(celebration November 27), a miraculous image residing in the husband. mon-re in the name of the ap. John the Theologian in the village. Poschupov, Ryazan region. The monastery also contains a handwritten “Tale of the Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, Her honorable and glorious Sign, called “revealed,” which in the city of Ryazan in the chapel at the Church of St. Simeon the Stylite was written according to the story of elderly people and modern events in the month of May 1851 G.". It contains information about the history of the icon and the signs revealed through it.

According to the “Narrative...”, a certain widow lived in Ryazan, obsessed with the disease of drunkenness. When she had spent everything she had, she took the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” from the house and took it to the tavern called “Red”, which was located near the church. St. Simeon the Stylite to exchange the image for wine. The innkeeper began to reproach the woman, saying that the icons with which parents bless their children should be kept with reverence and passed on from generation to generation. Nevertheless, the widow could not overcome the destructive passion, but promised to later buy the image. Taking the icon, the owner of the tavern placed it in the red corner. After several days, the woman, having repaid her debt, put the icon in her house in its original place. The next morning the icon disappeared. That same morning, the innkeeper, who got up to pray, saw the icon in his shrine and decided that in his absence the widow had brought the icon again. However, members of the household did not confirm his assumption. Soon a widow came to the perplexed innkeeper and told about the disappearance of the icon. After the innkeeper’s words: “You see, here She is, the Mother Queen of Heaven! Ask Her yourself how She became here” - the woman fell to her knees in front of the icon: “I see, Lady, that You do not deign to be with me, for the sake of my sin before You, but rather deign to stay here, where I, the accursed one, betrayed You . Nevertheless, in the remaining days of my life, do not completely deprive me of Your protection and mercy!” Through the prayers of the Most Rev. The widow of the Mother of God did not drink wine from that time until the end of her life.

Rumors spread among the townspeople about the miraculous return of the icon to the tavern. Residents of Ryazan and visitors went there to venerate the image, in front of which the innkeeper lit a lamp, and the priest c. St. Simeon the Stylite performed prayer services. Pious people made offerings to maintain the unquenchable fire. Even those who came to the tavern for wine first worshiped the icon of the Mother of God and put money into a mug to buy oil for the lamp. The icon began to be called “The Revealed Tavern”. The image became famous for many people. miracles that alleviated suffering in illness and comforted in sorrow. Soon people found out about her. cities and villages of Russia. Many pilgrims always came to the site of the miraculous image. After the tavern closed in mid. XIX century with the blessing of St. Gabriel (Gorodkova), archbishop. Ryazan and Zaraisky, the icon was publicly transferred to the church in a religious procession. St. Simeon the Stylite, where the all-night vigil was celebrated. In the morning after the liturgy, with prayer singing, she was brought into the chapel near this church, which, according to legend, was cut down on the occasion of the meeting of the Theodotian Icon of the Mother of God (1487) and rebuilt in stone in 1846. The Tavern Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” was placed for veneration in the open doors in the middle of the chapel on a lectern. From that time on, at the request of the parishioners, a celebration in honor of the icon was established according to the temple charter on November 27. and she received the modern one. Name. The day before, the icon was carried in a procession from the chapel to the all-night vigil in the church; in the morning after the liturgy, the image was returned to the chapel. The same procession was established on Monday of Bright Week.

In 1848, cholera struck the central provinces of Russia. In Ryazan, the epidemic was especially severe in June-July. The townspeople carried the icon to their homes with prayer singing, after which, with the exception of the residents of 2 houses, not a single person died. In the same year, after fervent prayer before the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign,” the drought that caused a fire in a pine forest on the left bank of the Oka, about 10 miles from the city, stopped.

12 Oct. In 1882, the chapel where the icon was located burned down from a candle that fell on the icon, but the image was not damaged, “the icon case burned, part of the silver frame melted” (Dobrolyubov. 1884, p. 34). Until the restoration of the chapel, the icon remained in the church. St. Simeon the Stylite.

At the request of pious Ryazan residents, the icon was often brought into homes for prayer services. In front of her, merchants asked for a blessing on the eve of city fairs, newlyweds asked for help and protection in their upcoming family life. Through the zeal of those praying, the icon was decorated with a golden robe with precious stones. Every Tuesday prayers with an akathist were held in the chapel. In the beginning. 20s XX century, when the chapel was closed, the icon was moved to the church. St. Simeon the Stylite. During the campaign to confiscate church valuables “in favor of the starving Volga region,” this “Sign” icon was preserved thanks to the nobleman Dmitry Serebryakov (or Serebryansky), who was a member of the commission. The young man told the members of the commission that he wanted to take the icon home to carefully remove the precious robe from it; when handing it over the next day, he said that the icon had crumbled from disrepair when the frame was removed. For some time the icon was hidden in the Serebryakovs’ house; after their departure from Ryazan, the former keeper of the shrine became the keeper. The family's servant is Alexandra Ivanovna. In con. 50s XX century Alexandra Ivanovna lived with Sofia Vasilievna Zlobina, she was initiated into the secret of the Serebryakovs and kept the icon in her house on the street. Gorky. An unquenchable lamp burned in front of the icon; in the darkened icon board, split into two parts (the crack ran along the face of the Mother of God), it was difficult to recognize one of the main shrines of Ryazan. Zlobina bequeathed this icon to Archimandrite. Abel (Makedonov; in the schema of Seraphim; † Dec. 6, 2006), who transferred it on Sept. 8. 1961 to the Boris and Gleb Cathedral of Ryazan, where he served at that time, and, placing it in the chapel in the name of St. Vasily of Ryazan to the throne, performed an akathist singing before her. The altar girl of the temple, monk, prayed with him. Augusta immediately recognized the shrine. This ex. a novice of the Assumption Olgov Monastery, after the closure of the monastery, served for some time as an altar girl in the church. St. Simeon the Stylite, after the closure of the temple (November 18, 1924), she kept the handwritten “Narration...”. Handing it over to Archim. Abel, she told that she had witnessed the miracle of healing of a blind girl. Every year since 1961, on the days of the celebration in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign,” the shrine was brought to the Boris and Gleb Cathedral for a solemn service. For the restoration of the icon, Archimandrite. Abel intended to invite A.I. Shibaev, who studied the art of painting icons with the blessing of the rights. John of Kronstadt. All R. 60s XX century The icon painter was 90 years old and became blind. Having learned about this, Archimandrite. Abel was ready to abandon the restoration of the icon, but after some time, on the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy. The Mother of God received a letter from Yaroslavl from Shibaev, who reported the miraculous return of vision. On the same day, the icon was sent to him for restoration, and the archimandrite also asked that a copy of it be made. Upon completion of the work, at the request of the residents of Yaroslavl, the icon painter began writing another list and became blind again.

When the husband mon-ry in the name of St. John the Theologian in the village. Poshchupov was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church (1988) and Archimandrite. Abel was appointed his deputy (1989), the icon was transferred to the monastery and it became one of its main shrines. The icon was decorated with a golden embroidered chasuble. Currently During this time, the icon constantly remains on the throne in the Theological Cathedral of the monastery. Every Sunday at the end of the liturgy, she is taken out of the altar and placed on a lectern in the middle of the church, where a water-blessing prayer service is served before her. Since 1994, for 4 years, every Tuesday at the monastery courtyard in Ryazan (Koltsova St., 10) prayer services were held in front of the Tavern Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”. A list of icons was brought for veneration. After the opening of the 2nd monastery courtyard (Nikolo-Yamsky Church) in Ryazan in 1998, the list made by Shibaev remains there. In 2004, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', this icon was included in the list of miraculous icons revered by the Russian Orthodox Church. An akathist, prayer, troparion, kontakion, and magnification were compiled. Under the care of Archimandrite Abel's lists of icons are sent to many. churches of the Ryazan diocese.

10 Dec In 2000, in Ryazan, in the name of the Holy Trinity, the gate temple was consecrated in honor of the Korchemnaya Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”. On Fridays, a prayer service with a canon is held at the Trinity Monastery for those suffering from wine drinking and drug addiction.

Icon, traditional for the image of the “Sign” the iconography is written on a board (38.9×28.9 cm) and represents a half-length image of the Mother of God with her hands raised in prayer; in the medallion Christ Emmanuel holds a scroll.

Source: GARO. F. R-4. Op. 1. D. 1748. St. 171. L. 464. Ryazan executive committee of the councils of the R.K. and Kr. Deputies. Extract from the protocol of the Presidium of Moscow. region Execute Committee No. 20 dated November 18. 1924 about the closure of the center. Simeon the Stylite for the purpose of using it as a grain warehouse; F. R-6. Op. 1. D. 390. L. 53 vol. Decision dated 12.12. 29 on the provision of the building c. Simeon the Stylite under Okrarchiv; F. R-6. Op. 1. D. 492. L. 30 vol. Decision dated August 24, 31 on the transfer of the premises to the center. Simeon Stolpnik for the Soyuztrans garage; D. 547. L. 17-20. Resolution of the Presidium of RyazgorIK dated August 24. 1931 on the transfer of c. Simeon Stolpnik for the Soyuztrans garage; F. R-496. Op. 1. D. 52. St. 2. 1922 L. 10. Deciphered telegram: Particularly revered icons subject to mandatory confiscation; F. R-497. Op. 1. D. 13. 1922 L. 141, 145, 150-155. A brief report on the work carried out to seize the church. valuables in Ryazan; F. 1280. Op. 1. D. 520. Not numbered. June 30, 1883 List of miracles. icons available in the Ryazan diocese, which are worn for prayer services before them in the surrounding parishes (information compiled at the Ryazan Diocese Congress of Deputies in 1883 according to statements by Father Deputies); F. 627. Ryazan spiritual consistory. Op. 171. D. 4. St. 2165. 1912. The case is not numbered. Chapels in Ryazan and Ryazan district; F. 869. Op. 1. D. 1. L. 325-332. List of churches, bell towers, chapels, 1884-1886; D. 325. Not numbered. Description of miracles. images from churches and mon-rays of the Ryazan province.

Lit.: Dobrolyubov I., priest. Historical-stat. description of churches and mon-rays of the Ryazan diocese, currently existing and abolished. Zaraysk, 1884. T. 1. P. 33-35; Description of the church. things, remarkable in their antiquity, located in the churches of the Ryazan diocese // Ryazan diocese. Vestn. 1887. No. 11. P. 263; Ts. Simeonovskaya: (About the miraculous icon “The Sign” of the Mother of God, located in the stone chapel near Ts. Simeon the Stylite) // Ibid. 1892. No. 4. P. 179-182; East. sketch of all the churches and mon-ray of Ryazan in their chronol. sequence from the founding of the city to the present day. time: Simeonovskaya ts. // Ibid. 1906. No. 14. P. 413; Solodovnikov D. Pereyaslavl-Ryazan: The past of Ryazan in ancient monuments. Ryazan, 1922. P. 125-128; Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign-Korchemnaya”: Narration, akathist, prayer // Ryazan miracles. icons. Ryazan, 1996; Saints and righteous lands of Ryazan: X-XX centuries. Ryazan, 2000. P. 200-208; Seraphim (Petersburg), hierome, Pankova T. M. Life of St. Gabriel, Archbishop. Ryazan and Zaraisky. Ryazan, 2001. pp. 23-24; Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign-Korchemnaya”: Narration, akathist, prayer. Ryazan, 2002; Icon of the Most Holy Our Lady of the Sign-Korchemnaya // Ryazan Church. Vestn. 2002. No. 12. P. 47-52; Agramakov N.N. Churches and monasteries in Ryazan: Ist. travel Ryazan, 2004. pp. 28-29; Sinelnikova T. P. Ryazan Church in the name of St. Simeon the Stylite // Ryazan Church. Vestn. 2004. No. 5. P. 66-71; Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign-Korchemnaya”. Ryazan, 2005; St. John the Theological Monastery. M., 2007. P. 270-289; Dmitrieva N. Chudotv. icon B. M. “The Sign-Tavern” // Cultural enlightenment. work (Meeting). 2007. No. 3. P. 18-21; Meletia (Pankova), mon. A shrine entrusted by God // Ryazan: History, culture, Orthodoxy. Ryazan, 2007. pp. 33-34, 436.

Igum. Seraphim (Petersburg), mon. Meletia (Pankova)

“The Sign” icon of the Mother of God from the Chrysostom Monastery in Moscow

(celebrated March 3, November 27), a miraculous image, the main shrine of the monastery, lost after its closure and destruction in 1933. The icon became famous in the winter of 1847/48, when cholera was raging in Moscow. To a merchant living in Zamoskvorechye - a 60-year-old parishioner c. VMC. Catherine on Ordynka, Herodion Vorobyov, during his illness, dreamed that he was in the Chrysostom Monastery, where a monk and a novice were preparing to consecrate something. On the wall there was an image of the “Sign”, which the merchant hastened to venerate. The Divine Infant depicted on it smiled, and the Mother of God, pronouncing the name of the sick man, handed him a crystal vessel to give to the novice. When Herodion woke up, he felt relief. 17 Feb he came to Vespers at the Chrysostom Monastery, where he often prayed in his youth, and discovered an icon hanging above the entrance to the porch of the Trinity Church. At Vorobyov’s request, on March 3, the image was removed from the arch and brought into the temple. Before him, a prayer service was served with the blessing of water and the reading of an akathist to the Mother of God. The icon was placed on a lectern in the chapel of St. Innocent of Irkutsk. Vorobyov donated a silver gilded chasuble with precious stones to her and built an icon case for her. Since 1865, when the monastery church. in the name of St. John Chrysostom became warm, the icon was in the carved iconostasis of this temple, behind the left pillar. In Trinity Church a list was left in a silver-gilded robe (location unknown), made by order of a woman who received healing from the icon.

On the icon “in Greek writing, on a linden board” (approx. 53x44 cm), St. is depicted on the sides of Our Lady of the Sign. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archbishop. John of Novgorod.

During the existence of the monastery, prayer services were served before the icon every day: after the early mass - in the Trinity Church, after the late mass - in the cathedral. On Fridays, during Vespers, an akathist to the Mother of God was read before the icon.

Lit.: Villager E. Mother of God. pp. 174, 741.

E.P.I.

“The Sign” Verkhnetagil Icon of the Mother of God

(celebration November 27), a miraculous image revered in the Urals. According to the prevailing con. XIX century According to legend, the icon was revealed in 1709 in the forest, on the site of which a village arose in 1716. Verkhnetagilsky Plant (now a city in the Sverdlovsk region).

Initially, the icon was located in one of the Ural monasteries, which was destroyed by barge haulers who killed the inhabitants. When the robbers were about to leave the monastery, a voice came from the icon commanding them to take the image with them. They did not dare to disobey and delivered the icon to the village. Nevyansk Plant, where it was located for some time. One of the village residents, Savva Medvedev, was falsely accused of theft. He fervently prayed to God for deliverance from the slander, and the icon “The Sign” appeared to him, from which a voice emanated: “If you promise to take me to your house, you will be delivered from the accusation brought against you in vain.” Savva bought the icon for 3 rubles, moved it to his house and was truly freed from suspicion. Soon he was transferred to live in the village. Verkhnetagil Plant and took the icon with him. In 1753, he transferred it to the Verkhne Tagil Znamenskaya Church. In 1861, the wooden church burned down, but the icon, the end part of which was burned, survived. Until Nov. In 1876, when the stone Znamensky Church was consecrated, it was located in the church set up in the factory office. in the name of the prophet Elijah. Currently for the time being she stays in Znamenskaya Church. at the left choir on a lectern under glass. Decorations are attached to the image - gifts from people who received healing from the icon.

The legend about the Verkhnetagil Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”, telling about its appearance and the miracles that came from it, was preserved in the manuscript of the beginning. XX century The manuscript in the 8th part of the sheet, written in a clear half-letter with one hand on paper without stamps and watermarks, is kept in the altar of the Verkhny Tagil Znamenskaya Church.

Until the end 20s XX century Every year during the summer religious processions with the icon were held at the Nevyansky, Verkh-Neyvinsky, Neyvorudyansky, Byngovsky and Shuralinsky factories. By the Decree of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II dated October 5. In 2001, a church-wide celebration of this icon was established (there is no special service).

The icon, painted on a board (70×53.8×2.5 cm), shows a half-length image of the Mother of God; on Her chest in a medallion there is a picture of Christ Emmanuel blessing with a rolled up scroll in his left hand. To the right of the face of the Mother of God is an image of a cherub, to the left is a seraphim. Until 1922, the icon had a silver gilded chasuble with precious stones, which was confiscated and disappeared.

Numerous lists were made of the miraculous image, among them Nevyansk and Byngovsky are especially revered. Until 1932, the Nevyansk list was in the Nevyansk Transfiguration Cathedral in the icon case behind the left choir, and was dressed in a silver chasuble. After the cathedral was closed, the icon was saved to this day. time stays in Voznesenskaya Church. Nevyansk behind the left choir. The Byngovsky list is in the church in the name of St. Nicholas in the village Byngi, Nevyansky district, Sverdlovsk region. Among other revered images are lists in the Assumption Church in the city of V. Pyshma and in the temple in the name of the Great Martyr. Panteleimon in Yekaterinburg.

Lit.: Spread of Christianity in the Perm province. // ZhMNP. 1857. Feb. Dept. 2. P. 267; Parishes and churches of the Ekaterinburg diocese. Ekaterinburg, 1902; About the actions of the mission and the clergy during the services of the Old Believers on the Merry Mountains // Yekaterinburg EV. 1913. No. 36. Dept. unofficial pp. 862-866; About trips and interviews of dioceses. missionary with the Old Believers // Ibid. No. 47. Dept. unofficial P. 1114; Ural icon: Picturesque, carved and cast icon XVIII - early. XX century Ekaterinburg, 1998; Shcherbinina O. Victorious by invisible force: The legend about the icon of the Sign of the Virgin Mary in V. Tagil // Rodina: Zhurn. 1998. No. 9. P. 104-105; Shrines of the Yekaterinburg diocese. Ekaterinburg, 2000. P. 105-106; Sulotsky A.I. Works: In 3 volumes. Tyumen, 2000. T. 1: About the church. antiquities of Siberia. P. 238; Lavrinov V., prot. Ekaterinburg diocese: Events, people, churches. Ekaterinburg, 2001; Sedin S., priest. The icon from V. Tagil is glorified throughout Russia // Orthodox Church. gas. Ekaterinburg, 2001. No. 33(174). S. 3; aka. Veneration of the icon of St. Our Lady of the Sign of Verkhnetagil // ZhMP. 2004. No. 5. P. 37-39; Mangilev P., prot. Verkhnetagil miraculous icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” // Vestn. Museum "Nevyansk Icon". Ekaterinburg, 2002. Issue. 1. pp. 131-140; aka. Miraculous and revered icons of the Mother of God in the Yekaterinburg diocese // “Rejoice, zealous Intercessor of the Christian race”: Materials of All Russia. Orthodox scientific-theological conf. Ekaterinburg, 2005. pp. 15-32.

Prot. Peter Mangilev

“The Sign” Pavlovskaya

icon of the Mother of God(celebrated November 27), a miraculous icon found in 1696 among the ruins of the Azov fortress after its conquest by Tsar Peter I, who transferred the icon to the fortress cathedral. After the return of Azov to the Turks (1711), the icon was transferred to the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Osered Fortress (later the city of Pavlovsk). The icon, lost after the October Revolution of 1917, was restored on March 17, 2002 according to the description and is located in the Transfiguration Cathedral of Pavlovsk (Voronezh region).

The image was “inscribed with strokes” (Poselyanin. p. 746) on the inside of a sea shell about 23 cm in size. Initially, the icon was inserted into a large wooden icon case depicting in 6 scenes the events of the conquest of the Azov fortress and the discovery of the icon. There was an inscription on it: “This image of the “Sign” of the Mother of Christ, inscribed with honor on pearl barley, when the Tatar city of Azov was taken from the Busurmans, was found on an earthen rampart and overlaid in gold, for it is unworthy to be sacred in an earthly pit, but let it shine in holy temple, which, in Her praise, was transformed from a mosque in honor of the Christian God to the destruction of Mahmet.”

In the 18th century a custom was established to carry the image around the homes of Pavlovsk residents to perform prayers before it. Every year on the 9th Friday of Easter, a religious procession was held with the icon to the Icy Well located 10 km from the city, a prayer service was held there for the Mother of God, after which a memorial service was served for the Emperor. Peter I. With the blessing of Metropolitan. Voronezh and Borisoglebsky Sergius (Fomin), this tradition was revived in 2004.

In the 20s XIX century The icon was placed in a large gilded ray-shaped icon case above the royal doors of the Transfiguration Cathedral of Pavlovsk. At the end of the service, she was lowered on cords for worship.

Lit.: Villager E. Mother of God. P. 746; http://pokrov.gatchina.ru/icon/z.htm [Electr. resource].

The Tsarskoye Selo Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” is a family shrine of the royal Romanov family. In addition to the Most Holy Theotokos, this icon depicts , and - the heavenly patrons of the monarchs Alexei Mikhailovich, Peter I and Elizabeth Petrovna.

According to legend, the icon was presented to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (reigned 1646-1676) by Saint Athanasius Patellarius, Patriarch of Constantinople. After the founding of St. Petersburg, Peter I moved the icon to the new capital. During the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, in 1747, the icon was placed in the Znamensky Church in Tsarskoye Selo, specially built in her honor. Numerous healings were performed from it; through prayer in front of this holy image, Tsarskoe Selo was spared epidemics of the plague (1771) and cholera (1831). This icon also became famous for saving the city from fire (1820, 1863).

After the revolution, the icon continued to be in the temple until the 1930s. In 1929, professor of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy Porfiry Petrovich Mironositsky wrote an akathist to her. In the 1930s, the image was confiscated to the State Fund, after which it disappeared without a trace. Instead, one of the copies of this icon, made at the beginning of the 19th century and kept in the sacristy of the Catherine Cathedral in Tsarskoye Selo, was transferred to the Church of the Sign. Since 1948, he has been in the St. John the Theological Church at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and Seminary.

Interesting facts about the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” (Tsarskoye Selo)

Although the icon is traditionally called “The Sign”, it is not a copy of the famous miraculous Novgorod icon “The Sign”, but is of Greek origin