Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos

Troparion of the Mother of God before the icon of Her Vladimirskaya, voice 4

Today, the most glorious city of Moscow flaunts brightly, / like the dawn of the sun, having perceived, O Lady, / your miraculous icon, / to it now we flow and pray to you, we cry out to the mother: / oh, wonderful Lady Theotokos! / Pray from you to the incarnate Christ our God, / let this city and all the cities and countries of Christianity be delivered / unharmed from all the slander of the enemy / / and save our souls, like Mercy.

Kondak, voice 8

The chosen Voivode is victorious, / as if having got rid of the evil ones / by the coming of Your honest image, the Lady of the Mother of God, / we lightly create the feast of Your meeting and usually call Ty // Rejoice, Bride of the Bride.

P according to the chronicle, the icon of the Virgin, painted by St. Luke, was sent around 1131 to Russia during the reign of Yuri Dolgoruky by Patriarch Luke Christoverg of Constantinople.

In 1155 St. blg. Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky, leaving Kyiv and heading for his ancestral land of Suzdal, secretly took with him the marvelous icon of the Virgin from Vyshgorod, which by that time had become his specific city. This icon later received the name "Vladimirskaya".

According to Church Tradition, the image of the “Vladimir Mother of God” goes back to the work of the apostle and evangelist Luke himself. However, researchers date this icon to a much later time (XII century). For us, it is unconditional that this marvelous image, being written at a later time, goes back to the prototype and is a list from the icon painted by St. and Evangelist Luke.

St. blessings. book. Andrei brought the marvelous image to Vladimir, and after the completion of the construction of the Assumption Cathedral, the icon was placed there. Already in 1161, as the chronicler narrates, the icon was richly decorated with gold, silver, precious stones and pearls. Prince Andrey: "and forged in us more than three hundred hryvnias of gold (about 12 kg), except for silver and precious stone and pearls." The icon has since become known as "Vladimir", and St. Prince Andrei received the nickname "Bogolyubsky".

The celebration in honor of the Vladimir Icon is celebrated by the Church three times a year: on May 21, June 23, and August 26, according to the old style, and the most solemnly celebrated is the memory of the meeting (that is, the meeting) of the Vladimir Icon in Moscow on August 26, 1395 (September 8, n.st. ).

Russia at the end of the XIV century. for almost three hundred years it has been in a state of feudal fragmentation, and of these, the last two centuries have been under the weight of the Mongol-Tatar yoke and under constant attacks from its western neighbors. Constantly ruined by either its own or by others, having lost a large significant part of its lands, becoming an "ulus" (vassal) of the Golden Horde khans, subjected to exorbitant tribute from them, Russia was in a state of deep decline. The revival of statehood began with a spiritual revival, with the Orthodox faith, the marvelous fruits of which appeared in Russia, St. Sergius of Radonezh and his disciples.

Saint Sergius was elevated to the rank of abbot of the monastery he founded (the future Trinity-Sergius Lavra) in 1354, and already in the 1360s an event took place that was extremely important for the future fate of the Russian people: Saint Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, who was then the guardian of a minor Prince Dmitry of Moscow and actually ruling on behalf of the prince, managed to get the Horde khans to recognize the right of Moscow princes to hereditarily own the title of Grand Duke of Vladimir, which actually canceled the “ladder right” of inheritance that existed then and created the foundations for the emergence of a centralized monarchical state. This policy was crowned with the triumph of victory on the Kulikovo field in 1380, when the Russian princes united for the first time in so much time, led by the Moscow prince Dmitry, defeated the Mongol-Tatar troops.

However, the final unification of Russia was then out of the question, and in 1382 Moscow and all its lands were devastated by the hordes of Tokhtamysh. Russian princes again begin to go to bow to the khans and pay tribute.

In 1370, in the territories between India and the Golden Horde, a new powerful Islamic empire of the Timurids emerged with its capital in Samarkand, headed by one of the greatest Asian conquerors, Tamerlane. In a short time, Tamerlane conquered several kingdoms. This ruler was distinguished by a special bloodthirstiness. His empire grew rapidly, and there were serious frictions with neighbors, on whom Tamerlane also tried to extend his influence. Among them was the Golden Horde. The situation became especially aggravated in 1394, when, in response to the provocative actions of Khan Tokhtamysh, Tamerlane went on a campaign against the horde and defeated Tokhtamysh in a general battle on the Terek River on April 15, 1395. Pursuing the retreating forces of Tokhtamysh, Tamerlane passed the entire Golden Horde from south to north and in July appeared within the Russian lands. The Russians watched the developments with trepidation. They had already heard from the Georgian princes about the strength and bloodthirstiness of Tamerlane, who conquered Georgia more than once and even tried to plant Islam in this Orthodox country. Tamerlane was well aware that a large Russian ulus was an important source of income and stability for the Golden Horde. Russian sources report the intention of Tamerlane or Timur Aksak, as he was called in our chronicles, to go to Moscow.

In August 1395, Tamerlane invaded the borders of Russia and burned the city of Yelets, located on the outskirts of the Ryazan principality, killed the Yelets prince and brutally cracked down on the population.

Then Tamerlane stood on the Don and waited, either resting the wars, or making plans for further actions. Moscow Prince Vasily Dmitrievich began to hastily gather forces on the Oka River, but there was practically no hope of resisting the many thousands of victorious hordes of Tamerlane. People were in fear, and for Russia in this situation, Tamerlane's campaign could become fatal, and not only because of the Mongol-Tatars: the Lithuanian state in the west, which had already accepted the Catholic Union, was rapidly absorbing the lands of weakened Russia (as already in 1362 Kyiv was taken by them), Poland and Sweden threatened the Russian borders.

And then Metropolitan Cyprian of Moscow, a wondrous saint and zealous servant of the Church, announces a nationwide fast and, together with the princes, organizes an unprecedented procession from Vladimir to Moscow with the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. Serb by nationality, Bishop Cyprian loved the Russian people very much, believed in them and saw that now the critical moment had come, on which the whole future of this people depended, and nothing could help, except for a miracle, except for the conciliar popular prayer to the Lord and His Most Pure Mothers. On August 15, on the feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos, with all possible solemnity, accompanied by all the Vladimir clergy with chants, crosses and banners, they carried it out of the church and carried it to Moscow in a procession of many thousands. All the inhabitants of the city came out to see off the icon.

The path of the Lady from the banks of the Klyazma lasted ten days. On both sides of the road, kneeling people stood and, holding out their hands to the icon, cried out: “Mother of God, save the Russian land!” A solemn meeting awaited in the white-stone Vladimir Icon: a procession with all the city clergy, the family of the Grand Duke, boyars and ordinary Muscovites went outside the city walls on Kuchkovo Field, met and saw off the miraculous to the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin.

It was August 26, old style. “The whole city went out against the icon to meet it,” the chronicler testifies. Metropolitan, Grand Duke, “husbands and wives, youths and virgins, children and babies, orphans and widows, from young to old, with crosses and icons, with psalms and with spiritual songs, more than speak all with tears, even if you cannot find a person, not weeping with incessant sighs and sobbing.

And the Mother of God heeded the prayer of those who trusted in Her. At the very hour of the meeting of the icon on the banks of the Moskva River, Tamerlane had a dreamy vision in his tent: saints with golden staffs were descending from a high mountain, and above them, in indescribable grandeur, in the radiance of bright rays, the Radiant Wife soared; countless hosts of Angels with fiery swords surrounded Her... Tamerlane woke up, trembling with horror. The Tatar wise men, elders and fortune tellers called by him, explained that the Wife he saw in a dream is the Intercessor of the Orthodox, the Mother of God, and that Her power is irresistible. And then the Iron Lame ordered his hordes to turn back.

Both Tatars and Russians were amazed by this event. The chronicler concluded: “And Tamerlane fled, persecuted by the power of the Blessed Virgin!”

In memory of this event, at the meeting place of the icon in front of Moscow in 1397, the Sretensky Monastery was founded.

Returning from a campaign in Russia, Tamerlane once again passed through the Golden Horde, this time from east to west, leaving bare scorched earth behind him. The troops of Khan Tokhtamysh were finally defeated, and after that the Golden Horde was never able to restore its former power. She was no longer able to prevent the formation of the Muscovite state, and over time, her lands were absorbed by Russia itself. And in this, a believing person can also see the hand of God in history: it is in the power of the Lord to turn any most terrible evil into good.

Many of the most important events in the history of the Russian state over the course of many centuries are associated with the miraculous Vladimir image of the Most Holy Theotokos. And it is in our power, as well as our God-loving ancestors, to appeal to the Mother of God with a simple and fervent prayer, bringing to Her all those our anxieties and sorrows that torment us today.

The city of Moscow and the miraculous image of the Mother of God of Vladimir are inseparably and forever merged. How many times She saved the white stone from enemies! This image connected the apostolic times and Byzantium, Kievan and Vladimir Rus, and then Moscow - the Third Rome, "and there will not be a fourth." This is how the Muscovite State was providentially formed, incorporating a mystical connection with ancient empires, historical experience, and traditions of other Orthodox lands and peoples. The miraculous image of Vladimirskaya has become a symbol of unity and continuity. It is difficult to describe this amazing icon in words, because all of them seem empty in front of the gaze that looks at us. Everything is in this look: life and death, and resurrection, eternity, immortality.

According to ancient legend, the holy evangelist, doctor and artist Luke painted three icons of the Mother of God. Looking at them, the Most Pure One said: “Let the Grace of the One Born of Me and Mine be with the holy icons.” One of these icons is known to us under the name Vladimirskaya.

Until 450, this image of the Lady remained in Jerusalem, and then was transferred to Constantinople. In the first half of the 12th century, the Patriarch of Constantinople Luke Chrysover sent the icon (together with another image of the Theotokos, known as "Pirogochchaya") as a gift to the Grand Duke Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgoruky, who placed the icon in the Vyshgorod nunnery near Kyiv, in the area that once belonged to the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles great Princess Olga. In 1155, Vyshgorod became the inheritance of Prince Andrei, the son of Yuri Dolgoruky.

Deciding to move to his native Suzdal land, Prince Andrei, without the knowledge of his father, took the icon with him. On the way, he constantly served prayers before her. The inhabitants of Vladimir-on-Klyazma met their prince with zeal and joy; from there the prince went further, to the city of Rostov. However, having driven no more than ten versts from Vladimir, the horses stood on the banks of the Klyazma and, despite urgings, did not want to go further. Harnessed fresh, but they did not go. Struck, Prince Andrei fell before the icon and tearfully began to pray. And then the Mother of God appeared to him with a scroll in her hand and ordered to leave Her image in the city of Vladimir, and on the site of this Her appearance to build a monastery in honor of Her Nativity.

The prince placed the icon in Vladimir, and from that time - from 1160 - it received the name Vladimirskaya.

In 1164, this icon accompanied Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky on a campaign against the Volga Bulgars. Before the battle, the prince confessed and took communion; falling down before the image of the Mother of God, he exclaimed: “Everyone trust in Thee, the Lady, she will not perish!” The whole army, following their prince, kissed the miraculous with tears and, crying out for the intercession of the Most Pure, moved into battle. The wicked were defeated.

After the victory on the battlefield, a prayer service was performed before the holy icon. During it, in full view of the entire Russian army, a miracle was revealed: from the image and from the Life-Giving Cross, a wondrous light dawned, illuminating the whole area.

And at the other end of the Christian world, but exactly on the same day and hour, the Byzantine emperor Manuel saw the light from the Cross of the Lord and, supported by this sign, defeated his enemies, the Saracens. Following the intercourse of Prince Andrei with the Emperor of the Second Rome, on August 1, the feast of the Origin (wearing) of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, popularly known as the First Savior, was established.

Many other miracles were revealed from the miraculous image.

In 1395, Tamerlane approached Moscow with hordes of Tatars. The Christian people had only hope for God's help. And then the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich ordered to bring the icon from Vladimir to Moscow. The path of the Lady from the banks of the Klyazma lasted ten days. On both sides of the road, kneeling people stood and, holding out their hands to the icon, cried out: “Mother of God, save the Russian land!” A solemn meeting awaited in the white-stone Vladimir Icon: a procession with all the city clergy, the family of the Grand Duke, boyars and ordinary Muscovites went to the city walls on Kuchkovo Field, met and saw off the miraculous to the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin.

It was August 26th. “The whole city went out against the icon to meet it,” the chronicler testifies. Metropolitan, Grand Duke, “husbands and wives, youths and virgins, children and babies, orphans and widows, from young to old, with crosses and icons, with psalms and with spiritual songs, more than speak all with tears, even if you cannot find a person, not weeping with incessant sighs and sobbing.

And the Mother of God heeded the prayer of those who trusted in Her. At the very hour of meeting the miraculous on the banks of the Moscow River, Tamerlane had a dreamy vision in his tent: saints with golden staffs were descending from a high mountain, and above them, in indescribable grandeur, in the radiance of bright rays, the Radiant Wife soared; countless hosts of Angels with fiery swords surrounded Her... Tamerlane woke up, trembling with horror. The Tatar wise men, elders and fortune tellers called by him, explained that the Wife he saw in a dream is the Intercessor of the Orthodox, the Mother of God, and that Her power is irresistible. And then the Iron Lame ordered his hordes to turn back.

Both Tatars and Russians were amazed by this event. The chronicler concluded: “And Tamerlane fled, persecuted by the power of the Blessed Virgin!”

Grateful Muscovites built Sretensky Monastery on the meeting place of the miraculous on August 26, 1395: “May people not forget the deeds of God.” Thus, after a 242-year stay on the banks of the Klyazma, the icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir moved to Moscow and was placed in the Kremlin Cathedral in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed One. Moscow owes its grace-filled power for deliverance from the raids of Khan Edigei in 1408, the Nogai prince Mazovsha in 1451, his father, Khan Sedi-Akhmet in 1459.

In 1480, the Khan of the Horde Akhmat moved to Moscow and reached the Ugra River in Kaluga. Grand Duke of Moscow John III was waiting on the other side of the river. Suddenly such a strong and unreasonable fear attacked the Tatars that Akhmat did not dare to go to the Russian army and turned back to the steppe. In memory of this event, a religious procession from the Assumption Cathedral to the Sretensky Monastery began to take place in Moscow every year. And the Ugra River has since been known as the Belt of the Virgin.

In 1521, the Kazan Khan Makhmet Giray led the Kazan and Nogai Tatars to Moscow. Metropolitan Varlaam and all the people fervently prayed before the face of Vladimirskaya. Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich barely had time to gather an army to meet the Tatars at a distant frontier, on the Oka River. Restraining their onslaught, he slowly retreated to Moscow.

On the very night of the siege, the nun of the Kremlin's Ascension Monastery saw the saints coming out through the locked doors of the Assumption Cathedral, carrying the miraculous Vladimirskaya in their hands. These were the holy metropolitans of Moscow Peter and Alexy, who lived two centuries earlier. And the nun also saw how, at the Spasskaya Tower, the Monk Varlaam of Khutynsky and Sergius of Radonezh met the procession of the hierarchs - and fell on their faces before the image, praying to the Most Pure One not to leave the Cathedral of the Assumption and the people of Moscow. And then the Intercessor returned through the locked doors.

The nun hastened to tell the townspeople about the vision. Muscovites gathered in the temple and began to pray fervently. And the Tatars again dreamed of "a great army, shining with armor," and they fled from the walls of the city.

So more than once our Fatherland was saved by the prayer of the people before the miraculous image of Vladimir. In memory of these deliverances, the celebration of the Vladimir Icon was established: May 21 - in memory of the salvation of Moscow from the invasion of the Crimean Khan Mahmet Giray in 1521; June 23 - in memory of the salvation of Moscow from the invasion of Khan Akhmat in 1480; August 26 - in memory of the salvation of Moscow from the invasion of Tamerlane in 1395.

A special edition of the Vladimir icon is called the “Tree of the Moscow State”. The first such icon was painted at the end of Ancient Russia, in 1668, by the royal icon painter Simon (Pimen) Ushakov for the Trinity Church in Nikitniki in Kitay-Gorod. It depicts Saints Peter and Alexy, watering a lush tree growing from behind the Kremlin wall; on the branches are medallions with a host of Russian saints, and in the center is an oval image of Vladimirskaya. As in the “Praise of the Mother of God” icon, biblical prophets are written with unfolded scrolls on which the words of an akathist are inscribed, so in this image, the heavenly patrons of Russia glorify and praise the Most Pure, praying for Her intercession for the Russian state.

Troparion, tone 4

Today, the most glorious city of Moscow flaunts brightly, as if we perceived the dawn of the sun, Lady, Your miraculous icon, now we are flowing and praying to You, crying out to her: O Miraculous Lady, the Mother of God, praying from You to the incarnate Christ our God, may deliver this city and all Christian cities and countries are unharmed from all the slander of the enemy, and our souls will be saved, like Mercy.

Prayer

O All-Merciful Lady Theotokos, Heavenly Queen, Omnipotent Intercessor, our shameless Hope! Thanking Thee for all the great blessings, in the generations of the Russian people from You who were, before Your most pure image, we pray to Thee: save this city (or: this whole; or: this holy abode) and your forthcoming servants and all the Russian land from gladness, destruction , land of shaking, flood, fire, sword, invasion of foreigners and internecine warfare. Save and save, Madam, the Great Lord and our father (name of the rivers), His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, and our Lord (name of the rivers), His Grace Bishop (or: Archbishop; or: Metropolitan) (title), and all the Most Reverend Metropolitans , archbishops and Orthodox bishops. Give them good governance of the Russian Church, keep the faithful sheep of Christ indestructible. Remember, Lady, and the entire priestly and monastic rank, warm their hearts with zeal for Bose and, worthy of your title, strengthen each and every one. Save, Lady, and have mercy on all Thy servants and grant us the path of the earthly field to pass 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 misfortune, abstinence in prosperity, love for our neighbors, forgiveness for the enemy, prosperity in good deeds. Deliver us from every temptation and from petrified insensitivity, on the terrible day of judgment, vouchsafe us with Your intercession to stand at the right hand of Your Son, Christ our God, He deserves all glory, honor and worship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.

Quite recently, it seemed, festive services were held in the Prechistensky Cathedral, led by Archbishop Innokenty of Vilna and Lithuania, dedicated to the feast of the Assumption of the Mother of God. Where all believers, together with the clergy, prayed to the Mother of God - the intercessor of the Christian race.

And, today, on September 8, according to the Church calendar, the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is celebrated, the festival was established in memory of the salvation of Moscow from the invasion of Tamerlane in 1395. It was on the Feast of the Assumption that the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God appeared in a dream to Tamerlane and ordered to leave the Russian land.
The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, according to Church Tradition and the faith of our glorious ancestors, was painted by the Evangelist Luke on a board from the table at which the Savior ate with the Most Pure Mother and righteous Joseph.
The Mother of God, seeing this image, said: “From now on, all generations will bless Me. The Grace of the One Born of Me and Mine will be with this icon.”

In 1131, the icon was sent to Russia from Constantinople to Saint Mstislav and was placed in the Maiden Monastery of Vyshgorod, an ancient appanage city of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga.
The son of Yuri Dolgoruky, Saint Andrei Bogolyubsky, brought the icon to Vladimir in 1155 and placed it in the famous Cathedral of the Dormition he had erected. Since that time, the icon has received the name of Vladimirskaya. In 1395 the icon was first brought to Moscow. Thus, with the blessing of the Mother of God, the spiritual bonds of Byzantium and Russia were sealed.

In 1395, the terrible conqueror Khan Tamerlane reached the limits of Ryazan, took the city of Yelets and, heading towards Moscow, approached the banks of the Don. Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich went out with an army to Kolomna and stopped on the banks of the Oka. He prayed to the Hierarchs of Moscow and St. Sergius for the deliverance of the Fatherland and wrote to the Metropolitan of Moscow, St. Cyprian, so that the coming Dormition Fast would be dedicated to fervent prayers for mercy and repentance. Clergy were sent to Vladimir, where the glorified miraculous icon was located. After the liturgy and prayer service on the feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos, the clergy received 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 the very hour when the inhabitants of Moscow met the icon on the Kuchkov field, Tamerlane was dozing in his tent. Suddenly he saw in a dream a great mountain, from the top of which saints with golden rods were walking towards him, and above them in a radiant radiance a majestic Wife appeared. She ordered him to leave the borders of Russia. Waking up in awe, Tamerlane asked about the meaning of the vision. Those who knew answered that the radiant Wife is the Mother of God, the great Protector of Christians. Then Tamerlane ordered the regiments to go back. In memory of the miraculous deliverance of the Russian land from Tamerlane, on the Kuchkov field, where the icon was met by Muscovites, the Sretensky Monastery was built.

So, the intercession of the Mother of God saved Russia from the invasion of Tamerlane, and thereby showed who approaches the Mother of God with piety and prayer, on which Her words are fulfilled: “Rejoice, I will be with you all the days,” once said to the apostles on the third day after His glorious Assumption.
And, as if as a pledge of Her invisible presence, She bestowed on the Orthodox human race many tens, hundreds and thousands of holy, whole-bearing and miraculous icons of Her. Through them, She conveys to everyone who with faith, reverence and love falls to these holy icons, Her Motherly grace, comforts, encourages, heals, helps to carry the cross of life to everyone who seeks heavenly reinforcements on their earthly path.

Troparion, tone 4
Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God
Today, the most glorious city of Moscow flaunts brightly, / as if perceiving the dawn of the sun, Lady, / your miraculous icon, / now we are flowing and praying to it. We cry out to you: / oh, wonderful Lady Mother of God! / Pray from Thee to the incarnate Christ our God, / may deliver this city / and all cities and Christian countries unharmed from all the slander of the enemy, / and save our souls, like Mercy.

Kontakion, tone 8
The chosen Voivode is victorious, as if having got rid of the evil ones by the coming of Your honest image, to the Lady Mother of God, we lightly create the feast of Your meeting and usually call Thee: Rejoice, Bride of the Bride.

“Rejoice, you who loved Orthodox Russia; Rejoice, having affirmed the true faith in her ... Rejoice, our warm Prayer Book; Rejoice, zealous Intercessor! Rejoice, Most Pure One, from the icon of Your mercy exuding us.
From the Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos in honor of Her Vladimirskaya Icon.

On August 26 / September 8, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates a bright holiday, established in honor of the meeting, that is, the meeting, of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos when it was transferred from Vladimir to Moscow. This miraculous image of the Queen of Heaven was painted by the Evangelist Luke on a board from the table at which the Savior ate with the Blessed Mother and righteous Joseph. “From now on, all generations will please Me. May the Grace of the One Born of Me and Mine be with this icon, ”the Mother of God said when she saw this icon.

In gratitude to the Heavenly Intercessor for the miraculous deliverance of Moscow from the hordes of Khan Timur-Tamerlane, the Sretensky Monastery was founded at the meeting place on August 26 / September 8, 1395 of the miraculous icon. Saturday, September 30, thanks to Yulia rijaya_koshka I again went on a tour of the monastery and learned about important milestones in its history and the lives of the holy ascetics of piety.

Our wonderful guide from the pilgrimage service of the Sretensky Monastery - Maria

In the 13th-15th centuries, Russia suffered from the devastating raids of the Tatar-Mongol hordes. The most important role in the beginning of the struggle against the foreign yoke and strengthening the importance of Moscow as the center of the unification of Russian lands was played by the duel between schemamonk Alexander Peresvet and the warrior Khan Mamai Chelubey on the Kulikovo field. Armed with only the schema and ardent faith in Christ, the monk of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra won a great spiritual victory over the Horde hero, sacrificing himself and thereby fulfilling the commandment of Love given by the Savior. “There is no greater love than if a man lays down his life for his friends” [Jn. 15:13]. On September 8 (21), 1380, on the day of the celebration of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the army of the holy noble prince Demetrius Donskoy won a significant victory over the hordes of Khan Mamai, thus laying the foundation for the liberation of the Russian land from the Golden Horde oppressors.

At the Sretensky Monastery

But for about a century since then, Russia has suffered from the raids of the Horde khans. So, 15 years after the victory of Prince Dimitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo field, a new terrible threat hung over Moscow - Khan Tamerlane (Temir-Aksak) reached the limits of Ryazan, took the city of Yelets and, heading towards Moscow, approached the banks of the Don.

At the Sretensky Monastery

Grand Duke Vasily Dimitrievich, the eldest son of Dimitri Donskoy, went out with an army to Kolomna and stopped on the banks of the Oka in anticipation of the enemy. The Grand Duke, Metropolitan Cyprian of Moscow and all the people fervently prayed to the Savior, the Most Holy Mother of God and all the saints of God for mercy and protection from the Gentile. Vasily Dimitrievich asked the Metropolitan to deliver the miraculous image of the Queen of Heaven from Vladimir to Moscow. The procession with the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God lasted ten days, and on August 26, according to the old style, the city clergy, the family of the Grand Duke, the nobility and all honest people from babies to elders in tearful prayer met on the Kuchkov field (the modern territory between Lubyanka Square and the Sretensky Gates) the image Pure. Praying for the help of the Almighty, they led the shrine to the Dormition Cathedral of the Kremlin in a procession.

The Queen of Heaven heeded the prayers addressed to her and interceded for the people crying through her to the Savior. At the very hour when the miraculous icon of the Most Pure was met in Moscow, a vision was shown to Khan Tamerlane in a dream. Hierarchs with golden wands descended from a high mountain, and above them, in the radiance of bright rays and surrounded by Angels, the Radiant Wife hovered. The Horde Khan woke up in fear. He turned to his elders and sages with a request to explain what he saw means, to which he was told that this is the Mother of God and the Intercessor of the Orthodox, whose power is irresistible. Khan Tamerlane was afraid and ordered to deploy his troops. “And Tamerlane fled, persecuted by the power of the Blessed Virgin!”, the chronicle says.

The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God in the cathedral church of the monastery

In 1397, in memory of the intercession and intercession of the Mother of God, the Sretensky Monastery was founded at the meeting place of her miraculous image. And many more times the Queen of Heaven protected the Christ-loving people from various troubles and sorrows. And to this day, the Most Holy Theotokos continues to intercede before Her All-Merciful Son for all those who, with faith and repentance in their hearts, cry out for her help.

Temple in honor of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

The original monastery buildings have not survived to this day. The temple in honor of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, from which our tour began, was built in 1679 by Tsar Feodor Alekseevich. In the temple there is a copy of the miraculous icon of the Vladimir Mother of God. This holy image itself appeared in Russia around 1131, when the Patriarch of Constantinople Luke Chrysover (Chrysoverg) sent the icon as a gift to Grand Duke Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgoruky. Prince Yury Vladimirovich placed the icon in the Vyshgorod Convent near Kyiv.

In 1155, Vyshgorod became the lot of the son of Yuri Dolgoruky - Prince Andrei Yuryevich, nicknamed Bogolyubsky. The young prince, having decided to move to the Rostov-Suzdal lands, without the knowledge of his father took with him a miraculous image from the Vyshgorod monastery. The God-loving prince on the way prayed incessantly before the icon of the Most Pure. Having reached Vladimir, the prince wanted to move on to Suzdal, but then the Queen of Heaven miraculously revealed her will to him. A few versts from Vladimir, the prince's horses got up and, despite many proddings, refused to continue the journey. During the night prayer, the Mother of God appeared to Prince Andrei and said that Her icon should be in the city of Vladimir. So the prince realized that from now on the city of Vladimir would be the capital of his principality. The miraculous icon of the Queen of Heaven was brought to the city, where it was placed in the Dormition Cathedral built for it. Since then, this icon has been called Vladimirskaya. And on the site of a miraculous phenomenon, by order of the prince, the Bogolyubsky Monastery was founded in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.

After the revolution of 1917, the monastery belfry was lost. The oldest bell is now on the bell tower of the new church in honor of the Resurrection of Christ and the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church

After the miraculous rescue of Muscovites in 1395 from the troops of Khan Timur-Tamerlane, he returned the holy image to Vladimir, where he remained for about a hundred more years. The event, which became the reason for the final transfer of the icon to Moscow, went down in history under the name "standing on the Ugra". The troops of Grand Duke Ivan III and Khan Akhmat met on the Ugra River. And again, the Queen of Heaven protected the people fervently praying to her and averted a terrible misfortune from Moscow. The troops of Khan Akhmat fled, and this outcome of the confrontation between the Russian and Horde troops in Kaluga was of the greatest importance - from that moment on, Russia ceased to be a tributary of the Horde. In memory of this event, a religious procession from the Assumption Cathedral to the Sretensky Monastery began to take place in Moscow every year, and the Ugra River has since been known as the Belt of the Virgin. From 1480 to 1918, the miraculous icon of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, and at present the shrine is in Moscow, in the Tretyakov Gallery, and its miraculous list is in the Sretensky Monastery.

In the temple in honor of the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

To the right of the Royal Doors is an old reliquary, in which until 2017 the relics of Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky), Archbishop of Vereya, rested. After the consecration of the new church in honor of the Resurrection of Christ and the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church, the holy relics of the saint were transferred to it. The faithful, fervently honoring the bishop, still with reverence venerate the old shrine in the Church of the Presentation, and, according to their faith and God's Providence, receive every consolation. We heard about the life of St. Hilarion a little later, when we visited the new temple, but for now, Mary drew the attention of the group to an unusual icon in the iconostasis - “The Removal of the Fifth Seal”.

An old shrine in which the holy relics of Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky) rested

Icon "Removal of the Fifth Seal"

The plot of the image was the words from the Revelation of the Apostle John the Theologian (Apocalypse): “And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who were slain for the word of God and for the testimony that they had” (Rev. 6:9). The icon depicts the royal passion-bearers Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra, Tsarevich Alexy, princesses Olga, Tatyana, Maria, Anastasia. Before the church glorification, their names were not inscribed on the icon, but after the glorification of the Royal Passion-Bearers in 2000, the icon was completed.

Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and Saint Philaret (Drozdov), Metropolitan of Moscow

Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of the World of Lycia

The Sretensky Monastery was founded on the site where the church in honor of Mary of Egypt used to be. In memory of this, a chapel was built in the cathedral in her honor. The main shrine is a shrine with a particle of the relics of the holy ascetic. The wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Maria Ilyinichna, whose heavenly patroness was Mary of Egypt, greatly revered "her" saint. The empress petitioned for a particle of the relics of Mary of Egypt to appear in the monastery. However, it was possible to deliver the shrine to the monastery only after the death of the queen. It happened around 1700. After the closure of the monastery and the destruction of the temple in the 30s of the XX century, the ark with the shrine was transferred to the State Historical Museum, where it is still located.

Ark with a particle of the relics of St. Mary of Egypt

Started in the 90s. the revival of the Sretensky monastery resumed the veneration in the monastery of St. Mary of Egypt. Due to the historical value of the ark itself, in which a particle of the relics of Mary of Egypt resides, it was decided not to return the shrine to the monastery from the museum's funds. Nevertheless, in a providential way, the Greek monks learned about this injustice and wished to correct it. On March 25, 2004, an ark with the relics of the saint was delivered to the Moscow Sretensky Monastery from the Greek monastery of St. Nicholas on the island of Andros. Mary of Egypt. The shrine was solemnly received by the clergy, brethren and parishioners of the monastery. On Great Wednesday, April 15, 2009, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia performed the rite of small consecration of the chapel in the name of St. Mary of Egypt in the Cathedral of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. Holy Reverend Mother Mary of Egypt, pray to God for us!

The life of St. Mary is extremely instructive for all of us. Mary was a great sinner. At a young age, she left her father's house and began to lead an extremely dissolute, sinful life. One day, still in the captivity of passion, she went with other people to Jerusalem for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. And in the Holy Land, Mary did not leave her vicious occupation. When the people began to enter the temple to bow to the Life-Giving Cross, God's Power did not allow the woman, along with everyone else, to cross the threshold into the House of God. Several times the Invisible Hand pushed Mary out of the porch of the temple. Finally exhausted, the sinner stepped aside.

And suddenly the grace of God touched the heart of the woman, Mary burst into bitter tears of repentance, realizing all the blackness of her life. She saw the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, before which she began to fervently pray for the mercy of the Almighty and ask to guide her on the path of repentance and correction. When Mary felt that her prayers had been heard, she again dared to try to enter the temple. This time, nothing prevented the woman from coming up and bowing to the Cross of the Lord. Leaving the temple, Mary turned to her Intercessor with gratitude and a request to show her the way, to which she heard a voice: “If you cross the Jordan, you will find blissful peace.” So, taking with her three loaves and partaking of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, Mary withdrew into the wilderness.

For 47 long years, Mary labored in a secluded desert, praying to the Almighty for mercy and humbly enduring many hardships. And then one day the Lord arranged a meeting between Mary and the elder Zosima from the Jordanian monastery of St. John the Baptist. According to ancient custom, the monk went beyond the Jordan to spend the days of the Holy Forty Days in fasting and prayer. In the wilderness, the Lord revealed to him a great ascetic who struck the elder with her holiness and the gift of clairvoyance. One day he saw Mary rise in the air to a cubit from the ground while she was praying. On another occasion, the abba met a righteous woman walking across the Jordan River, as if on dry land.

Parting with Zosima, the Monk Mary asked him to come back to the wilderness in a year to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. The elder returned at the appointed time and fulfilled the pious desire of the reverend. Going into the desert for the third time, the elder hoped to communicate with the saint again and learn from her spiritual work, but God had prepared for him a different obedience. At the meeting place indicated by Mary, Zosima found the saint dead. The elder washed the remains of St. Mary with his tears and began to prepare for their burial. And again, Abba Zosima was shown evidence of the repentant sinner's pleasing to God. When the elder was trying to dig a grave in the dry, unyielding earth, a lion came. However, the predator did not pounce on the monk, but began to lick the legs of the reverend. Then Abba Zosima, having prayed, ordered the lion to dig a hole, which the king of beasts immediately humbly complied with. In the grave dug out by the lion, Zosima buried the saint.

Thus, from a great sinner, the Monk Mary became, with God's help, the greatest saint and left such a vivid example of repentance. (Read the full life of St. Mary of Egypt).

During the story of the life of St. Mary, I recalled a conversation with Hieromonk Alexander from the Feodorovsky Gorodetsky Monastery, which I visited during a pilgrimage trip “To the Glory of the Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky” with the Night Wolves motorcycle club. Father Alexander talked to us about faith, the true path to Christ and the calling of everyone to holiness.

From the chapel of St. Mary of Egypt, the pilgrimage group went to the crypt - a similarity to the first cave Christian churches.

In the crypt of the Sretensky Monastery since 1997 there is an exact copy of the Shroud of Turin. In total, there are five copies of it in the world. The Shroud itself - a large canvas 4.3 meters long and 1.1 meters wide, in which the righteous Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus wrapped the body of the Savior - is kept in the Catholic Cathedral in the Italian city of Turin.

The Holy Gospel says the following about the death of Jesus on the Cross and His burial:

“Jesus, having cried aloud, gave up his spirit.
And the veil in the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
The centurion who was standing opposite Him, seeing that He, having thus called out, gave up his spirit, said: Verily, this Man was the Son of God.
There were also women who looked from afar: among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of James the Lesser and Josiah, and Salome,
who even then, as he was in Galilee, followed him and served him, and many others who came with him to Jerusalem.
And when the evening had already come - because it was Friday, that is, the day before Saturday -
Joseph of Arimathea came, a famous member of the council, who himself was looking forward to the Kingdom of God, dared to go to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.
Pilate was surprised that He had already died, and, calling the centurion, asked him if he had died long ago.
And, having learned from the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
He, having bought a shroud, and having removed Him, wrapped Him in a shroud, and laid Him in a tomb, which was hewn in the rock, and rolled a stone to the door of the tomb.
Mary Magdalene and Mary Josieva watched where they put Him” [Mk. 15:37-47].

Copy of the Shroud of Turin

Together with a copy of the Shroud of Turin, the crypt contains its negative, which clearly shows Jesus Christ in the first moments after His burial. On the Shroud there are traces of blood flowing from the numerous wounds of the Savior: traces of bruises on the head from the thorns of the crown of thorns, traces of nails in the wrists and soles of the feet, traces of whips on the chest, back and legs, a large bloody stain from a wound in the left side . The Sretensky Monastery keeps evidence of miracles performed through prayers before the shrine.

We were incredibly lucky - the group was blessed not only to go on a tour of the cathedral church and the territory of the monastery, but also to visit the seminary and the church in honor of the Resurrection of Christ and the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church, but in order not to overload you with information, I will continue my story in the next post.

Temple in honor of the Resurrection of Christ and the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church

The Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God - without exaggeration, the most revered in Russia. This holiday is celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church three times: on June 3 - in memory of the deliverance from Mahmet Giray in 1521, on July 6 - in memory of the deliverance from Khan Akhmat in 1480, and on September 8 - in memory of how the Mother of God drove away from the walls of Moscow, the army of Tamerlane.

Thunderstorm of the Tatar-Mongols

Many miracles have been seen behind the Vladimir Icon. In 1164, she accompanied Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky on a campaign against the Volga Bulgars. Before the battle, the prince and all his army prayed before the icon, the enemy was defeated, and after the victory, a miracle appeared to the eyes of the soldiers: the whole area was lit up with a wondrous radiance coming from the icon. Exactly on the same day and hour, the Byzantine emperor Manuel, before the battle with the Saracens, saw the same light coming from the Cross of the Lord.

The next great miracle happened nearly a century later. In 1395, Tamerlane was advancing on Moscow. There was little hope for salvation, and then the Moscow prince Vasily Dmitrievich ordered to deliver the icon of the Mother of God from Vladimir to Moscow. Tamerlane pitched his tents on the banks of the Moskva River and was about to take the city under siege. However, at night in a dream he dreamed of the Radiant Wife in radiance, surrounded by angels with fiery swords. The next morning Tamerlane convened a council. The wise men interpreted the vision and explained to the khan that the Wife he saw was the Mother of God, the intercessor of the Orthodox, and it would not work to defeat her. “And Tamerlane fled, persecuted by the power of the Blessed Virgin!” - so the chronicler wrote about the flight of Tamerlane.

Later, the icon more than once saved the Russian people from enemy raids. It is to her grace-filled power that chroniclers attribute victory over enemies: in 1408 - over Khan Edigey, in 1451 - over the Nogais, in 1459 they managed to fight off the troops of Khan Sedi-Ahmet. In 1480, the icon forced the army of the Horde Khan Akhmat to turn back to the steppe (the famous standing on the Ugra River), and in 1521 Moscow was saved from hordes of Kazan and Nogai Tatars under the leadership of Khan Makhmet Giray. Then the princes barely had time to gather an army to repel the attack. Restraining the onslaught of the Tatars, the Russian troops slowly retreated to Moscow, behind the walls of which all the people fervently prayed before the face of the Virgin, asking for intercession. One nun had a vision: she saw Saints Peter and Alexy of Moscow coming out of the closed gates of the Dormition Cathedral with an icon in their hands. The nun told the townspeople about what she had seen, and the people began to pray even more fervently. And again the Mother of God put the Tatar troops to flight, having dreamed of enemies surrounded by shining warriors.

Guardian of the Russian North

As the legends say, this image was written by the Apostle Luke himself on a board from the table at which the Mother of God with the Christ Child and the righteous Joseph dined. When researchers note that the image was painted by an apostle, they mean, first of all, the image itself: its character, style, and artistic features. None of the icons painted by Luke, alas, have survived to our times: all modern images by the authorship of the Apostle Luke are lists or copies from those icons that were once created by him, including the Vladimir icon, which is now stored in the Tretyakovskaya gallery. Art scholars believe that the icon was painted at the end of the 11th century or a little later, at the beginning of the 12th century, in Constantinople.

The icon was sent to Russia in 1131 by Patriarch Luke of Constantinople as a gift to Prince Yuri Dolgoruky of Moscow. The icon was placed in the nunnery of Vyshgorod, near Kyiv, given by Yuri Dolgoruky to his son Andrei Bogolyubsky for appanage rule. A little later, Andrei decided to go to the northern lands of Russia. The young prince was a God-loving man, for which he received the nickname Bogolyubsky, and asked the Mother of God to be his intercessor in the Rostov-Suzdal lands, which the prince promised to give under the authority of the Mother of God. He was looking for an icon that he could take with him on the road. He was told about the icon, which is not averse to going on a journey: according to the testimony of parishioners, this icon left its place three times. Prince Andrei, secretly from his father, took the icon with him. However, on the way from Vladimir to Rostov, when Andrey had driven only about ten versts from the city, the horses suddenly stood up and refused to go further. The young prince turned to the icon with a prayer. The Mother of God appeared to Andrey and ordered to leave the image in Vladimir, and to found a temple on the site of her appearance. From that moment, from 1160, the icon received its current name: Vladimirskaya. Later, the icon continued its journey through the northern lands of Russia and repeatedly helped repulse the Tatars' raids on Moscow. After the Mother of God miraculously delivered Russia from the Horde yoke, the miraculous image of the Mother of God remained in Moscow, in the Assumption Cathedral. Since 1930, the icon has been kept in the Tretyakov Gallery. In 1999, it was transferred to the temple-museum, located on the territory of the Tretyakov Gallery.