What is the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God about? Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, called “Hodegetria”

The Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God is known as one of the early Christian shrines, painted during the life of the Mother of God. Authorship is attributed to the Evangelist Luke. This is the legend. The icon was originally located in Jerusalem, from where it came to Constantinople, where Christianity was born.

The origin of the name of the icon is curious - the first miracle that the Mother of God showed to people is associated with it. This was in 842. According to legend, the Mother of God appeared to two blind people and ordered them to come and venerate the icon of the Mother of God, which was located in the Blachernae Church. The blind men followed the instructions and regained their sight. And the icon was called “Hodegetria” (“Guide”)

At the beginning of the 12th century, the Christian shrine, by the will of fate, ended up with Vladimir Monomakh, who in 1101 donated it to the Smolensk Cathedral Church in honor of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. Then “Hodegetria” became a guiding star for the common people of the ancient land, its defenders.

Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God. Fresco. Dionysius, 1482
(Image from the site vladimirskaya-ikona.prihod.ru)

What kind of wars have not shaken the land of Smolensk! During the atrocities of the horde of Batu Khan, in 1238, the Mother of God showed the first miracle to the inhabitants of the land of Smolensk, when the Tatars attacked the Smolensk land. The army of Khan Batu stopped in camp 25 versts from the city, in the village of Dolgomostye. The residents gathered in the cathedral and turned with prayer to the Heavenly Intercessor. And the church sexton had a vision - to find the warrior Mercury, whom the Mother of God had chosen to save the ancient city.

Mercury had to go to the enemy’s camp and kill the foreign hero. Then the Mother of God said to the warrior: “I am sending you to protect My house. The Horde ruler with all his army and giants wants to secretly attack My city this night and devastate it; but I prayed to My Son and My God for My house, that He might not hand it over to its enemies. Go towards the enemy secretly from the people, the saint and the prince, who do not know about the attack, and by the power of Christ God you will defeat the giant. I myself will be with you, helping you. But along with victory, a martyr’s crown awaits you there, which you will receive from Christ.”

Without fear, Mercury went towards the enemy, led by Hodegetria, whose majestic face appeared over the battlefield, terrifying the enemy. The selfless warrior Mercury killed many Tatars, but he himself accepted death - the sleeping winner’s head was cut off. According to legend, a courageous warrior was buried within the walls of the ancient Smolensk Cathedral. The glorious warrior was canonized and received the name Mercury of Smolensk.

In the 14th century, Smolensk came under the rule of the Lithuanian princes, and the holy image of the Mother of God was transported to Moscow. A century later, he returned to Smolensk after the liberation of the city, at the request of the Smolensk people. In Moscow, there are copies of the golden-domed icon, one in the Annunciation Cathedral, the other in the Novodevichy Convent, which was founded in memory of the return of Smolensk to Russia. Then determine the day of celebration of the miraculous image - July 28 (August 10, new style) 1525. The day of liberation of the Russian city from foreign rule. On this day, solemn hymns to Mother the Intercessor are heard, and a procession of the cross takes place around the temple on Cathedral Hill, from where the entire city is clearly visible.

Later, an exact copy was reproduced from the Hodegetria, which captured the full power of the ancient icon.

Historians testify that it was this list that went with the Russian troops when they left Smolensk to the French in 1812. The image of the Mother of God protected Russian troops from the enemy. It is known that on the eve of the Battle of Borodino, the Smolensk “Hodegetria” was carried around the camp in order to strengthen the fortitude of Russian soldiers. And on the eve of the Battle of Borodino, the icon of the Smolensk “Hodegetria”, together with the Iveron and Vladimir icons of the Mother of God, was carried around the Kremlin walls in Moscow. The Mother of God, through her images, granted victory to the Russian troops.

After the victory of our troops over the French, the Smolensk “Hodegetria” and its later copy returned to the Assumption Cathedral. And for a long time both icons did not leave Smolensk, bestowing grace on its inhabitants.

It is known that by the beginning of the last century there were two icons of the Mother of God in the Holy Assumption Cathedral. The ancient image was very dark; the type of wood of the icon could not be determined due to its age. The reverse side of the icon depicts the crucifixion of the Lord and the inscription “Basileus estavrofi” - “The king is crucified.”

This was the icon before its mysterious disappearance, on the eve of the occupation of the city by the Germans on August 6, 1941. After the liberation of Smolensk in 1943, Smolensk residents entered the cathedral for the first time for worship and did not find the icon of the Heavenly Intercessor, which was always located in the 25-meter choir. Since then, there have been no mentions or stories about the ancient icon, only assumptions: perhaps local residents hid it somewhere on the territory of the temple before the occupation. And the time will come - the ancient icon of the Smolensk Mother of God will show another miracle. Christians hope for her miraculous return!

After a thorough search in 1943, parishioners found in the cathedral, in a pile of garbage, a large Gate Icon-list of the Smolensk Mother of God “Hodegetria”, dating from the 16th century. The author of the list is believed to be the icon painter Postnik Rostovets.

Since then, the list has not left Smolensk. Today it is located on the site of the ancient miraculous icon, in the main altar. The Assumption Cathedral is famous for the fact that it has two altars consecrated: in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary and in the name of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria”.

Icon of the Smolensk Mother of God “Hodegetria”. XIX century
(Image from livejournal.com)

Another copy of the Smolensk icon, dating from the 15th century, is located in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. A list from the end of the 16th century is preserved in the Smolensk Cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent. A later copy of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God is placed above the burial of Mikhail Kutuzov in the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

In Smolensk, Orthodox Christians climb a high cast-iron staircase to the main shrine of the Assumption Cathedral to venerate the miraculous healing image. It is known for certain that in the 18th century a psalm-reader with crooked hands was healed. The Mother of God appeared to him in a dream, and the sick man was healed, as the doctors testified.

Among Orthodox Christians, the icon of the Mother of God of Smolensk “Hodegetria” is revered as a symbol of peace and health. The Mother of God was asked to protect from wars and epidemics. This icon is especially revered by family people - the Mother of God bestows love and strengthening of the family.

Travelers and wanderers pray to the Mother of God that the bright image of the Mother of God will protect them in foreign lands.

The Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God belongs to the Hodegetria iconographic type. The name can be translated from Greek as “Guide”.

This is one of the most common images in Byzantine and Russian art.

Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God: compositional features

The composition of the Hodegetria iconography is as follows: the Mother of God and the Infant Christ are depicted almost frontally, their faces facing the praying person do not touch. The head of the Mother of God may be slightly inclined towards the Son, the hand raised in a prayer gesture at chest level. The Divine Infant sits in the arms of the Mother; He blesses with his right hand, holds a scroll with his left, and less often, a book. The Mother of God is most often represented in a half-length image, but there are also full-length and shoulder-length versions, for example, the Kazan Icon. The Baby can be located either to the right or to the left of the Virgin Mary; more often He is depicted sitting on the left hand of the Blessed Virgin.

Mosaic icon. 1st half of the 13th century National Gallery, Palermo, Italy

The idea of the image of Hodegetria

The defining theological idea of this image is the coming into the world of the Son of God, the incarnation of God for the sake of the salvation of mankind. The Fragile Baby is the Heavenly King and the Coming Judge. The gesture of the Mother of God’s right hand can be interpreted not only as a prayer, expressing Her personal prayer to God. With this gesture, the Mother of God seems to point believers to the One to whom their thoughts and prayers should be directed.

N.P. Kondakov, who studied the iconography of the Mother of God, believed that the image of Hodegetria is one of the most ancient. It developed in Palestine or Egypt before the 6th century. Starting from the 6th century, it spread widely throughout the Orthodox East and Byzantium.

Mosaic icon. Byzantium. XIII century Monastery of St. Catherine, Sinai, Egypt

According to Church Tradition, the first such icon of the Virgin and Child was painted by the Apostle and Evangelist Luke. In the middle of the 5th century, this image, along with other shrines, was brought from the Holy Land to Constantinople by Empress Eudokia, wife of Emperor Theodosius the Younger. Some sources report that the icon was placed in the church of the Odigon convent, but during Holy Week the icon was transferred from the monastery to the imperial palace. Near the monastery there was a spring that healed the blind. The nuns took care of those who came to the source. The area was called “place of guides” or “place of leaders”, and the monastery began to be called Odigon - “Guide”, “Guide”. Based on the name of the monastery, the main shrine - the icon of the Mother of God - began to be called Hodegetria. Initially given as a topographical name, it was also endowed with a deep meaning: the Mother of God is a guide to believers, instructing them in the true, even if protecting them from the enemy. The icon was one of the most revered shrines of Constantinople and was considered the palladium of the city. During enemy attacks, the image was raised to the city walls.

Empress Evdokia. Marble icon with inlay. From the church of Lipsa Monastery. X century Archaeological Museum, Istanbul

Researchers believe that it was with the icon of the Odigon monastery that a procession of the cross took place throughout Constantinople on Tuesdays. During this prayer procession, a miracle regularly occurred, which was described by the Russian pilgrim Stefan Novgorod, who visited the capital of Byzantium in 1348 or 1349. The heavy, large icon was carried across the square by only one person. “That icon is taken out every Tuesday. This is an amazing sight: then all the people come together, and they come from other cities. This icon is very large, skillfully bound, and the singers walking in front of it sing beautifully, and all the people cry with tears: “Lord, have mercy!” ... A wondrous sight: seven or eight people will place the icon on the shoulders of one person, and he, by the will of God, walks as if unburdened by anything,” reports Stefan. Numerous miracles and healings took place in front of the icon.

Our Lady Hodegetria. Byzantium. 1st quarter of the 15th century

According to one version of the legend, the icon written by the Apostle Luke and brought from the Holy Land ended up in the Blachernae Church, where there was also a healing spring and where other shrines were kept: a robe and part of the belt of the Virgin Mary. Perhaps one of the copies made from the original icon by the apostle was placed in the Blachernae church. It is known that several copies were made from the original image, which became famous for miracles. In any case, in the Blachernae Church there was a particularly revered icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria.

Blachernae icon. Wax mastic. XIII – XIV centuries Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

Numerous copies of the miraculous image of the Mother of God Hodegetria were sent to all parts of the empire and beyond. From Byzantium, the iconographic type of Hodegetria came to Rus', where, based on the place of creation, stay or miraculous discovery, similar icons received names: Toropetskaya, Smolenskaya, Tikhvinskaya, Iverskaya, Sedmiezernaya, Kazanskaya.

Our Lady Hodegetria. Pskov. The end of the XIII - the beginning of the XIV century. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

History of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria”

The icon of Our Lady Hodegetria, called “Smolensk”, arrived in Rus' in the middle of the 11th century. In 1046, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh blessed his daughter Anna with this icon for her marriage to Prince Vsevolod, the son of Yaroslav the Wise. After the death of Vsevolod, his son, Vladimir Monomakh, moved the icon to Smolensk, where the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was founded, in which the shrine was subsequently placed.

According to legend, when the hordes of Khan Batu approached Smolensk in 1239, the city was saved from ruin through the intercession of the Mother of God. A warrior named Mercury, praying in front of the icon, received instructions from the Mother of God to fight the enemy standing near the walls. The Mongols saw that Mercury was helped in battle by lightning-fast men and a radiant Wife. Seized with horror, throwing down their weapons, the enemies fled, driven by an unknown force. Mercury suffered a martyr's death in battle and was canonized by the Church.

Our Lady Hodegetria. Byzantium. Mid-15th century Private collection.

At the end of the 14th or beginning of the 15th century, the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria was brought from Smolensk, captured by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, to Moscow, where, as a particularly revered shrine, it was placed in the Annunciation Cathedral, on the right side of the royal gates. There are three versions of the circumstances under which the icon ended up in Moscow. One of the possible options for moving the icon is associated with a dynastic marriage. Perhaps the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas gave this icon to his daughter Sophia, the wife of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich, when she was in Smolensk in 1398 to meet with her father and received from him many icons in Greek writing. According to another version, the last of the Smolensk princes, Yuri Svyatoslavovich, expelled in 1404 by Vitovt, arrived in Moscow and brought with him the icon of Hodegetria along with other icons. The third version, set out in the Russian Vremennik, says that a certain Yurga, Pan Svilkoldovich, when he left Svidrigail, the Lithuanian prince, for the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Vasilyevich, plundered Smolensk on the way, took the icon of Hodegetria along with other things and brought it as a gift to the Moscow to the Grand Duke.

In 1456, Bishop Misail of Smolensk arrived in Moscow, accompanied by the governor of the city and noble citizens. The people of Smolensk asked the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich the Dark to return the icon to Smolensk. The prince, seeing in this step a guarantee of the future reunification of Smolensk with Moscow, decided to return the shrine. An accurate, “measure in measure” list was made of the icon, which remained in Moscow, in the Annunciation Cathedral. In a religious procession, the icon was taken out of the Kremlin, walked to the Maiden Field, which is at the entrance to the Old Smolensk Road, and after the prayer service, the icon was released to Smolensk. On the list icon, the scroll in the Child’s hand is depicted in a vertical position. Researchers suggest that this feature was also on the sample - the Smolensk icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, sent from Constantinople.

List of the Smolensk Icon of Hodegetria. Moscow. 1456 Recorded in the 19th century. Armory Chamber, Moscow Kremlin museums

In 1514, Smolensk was recaptured from Lithuania by the troops of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III Ivanovich. In memory of this event, in 1523, the prince founded the Novodevichy Convent not far from the place where Muscovites said goodbye to the icon. On July 28, 1525, the copy of the icon that was kept in the Annunciation Cathedral was solemnly transferred from the Kremlin to the monastery church, consecrated in the name of the Smolensk Icon of Hodegetria. In 1927, this icon, thanks to its rich gold frame from the time of Boris Godunov and the pearl robe, was transferred to the Armory Chamber.

In 1602, in Smolensk, an exact copy was written from the miraculous icon, which was placed in the tower of the Smolensk fortress wall, above the Dnieper Gate, under a specially constructed tent. Later, in 1727, a church was built there. In 1666, the ancient Smolensk icon was in Moscow for the second time: it was brought here by Archbishop Barsanuphius of Smolensk to renew the painting, which had darkened over time.

In 1812, during the French invasion, the icon was taken from Smolensk by Bishop Irenei (Falkovsky) and taken to Moscow, where residents could pray before it in the Assumption Cathedral. On the day of the Battle of Borodino, August 26, Muscovites walked around the White City, Kitay-Gorod and the Kremlin walls in a religious procession with Smolensk, Iveron and Vladimir icons. Before the occupation of Moscow by the French, the Smolensk icon was sent to Yaroslavl, where it remained until the very end of World War II, and then returned to Smolensk. The icon, which was located in the Assumption Cathedral of Smolensk until 1941, was revered as the original one, brought from Constantinople. IN During the Great Patriotic War, the ancient icon disappeared without a trace.

In the Orthodox icon-painting tradition, the image of the Mother of God is one of the central ones; it is also the subject of concentration during prayer, symbolically reflects the Orthodox faith, and consoles believers. It is useful to understand the types of icons and distinguish between their symbolism. Of interest is the iconographic image called Hodegetria - what it is, what are the features of the image itself and its name.

Canonical images of the Mother of God

There is a fairly strict canon that determines how the Virgin Mary is depicted.

Generally accepted classification:

Eleusa - Mary with the Infant God, they press their cheeks;
Hodegetria is a common type of image of the Mother of God with the baby Jesus;
Akathist - various events or symbols from akathists;
Oranta is a baby only in the form of a medallion, and the Virgin herself is with raised hands in a pose of prayer.

Note! The description and classification under consideration are characteristic only of the Orthodox tradition.

In Catholicism, icons in the usual Orthodox sense practically do not exist, although there are some that are revered in every denomination. Catholics do not have such a strict canon, and icon painters there are often simple artists (in Orthodoxy, icon painting is done by trained specialists who are close to the Orthodox faith and tradition). In other denominations (Protestants, Lutherans) icons are often not used at all.

Each of these types may have unique subclasses, for example, Eleusa may be Vladimir, where Christ is depicted with a slightly inverted foot, or may be a subtype of the Leaping Child (Pelagonitissa), where Christ is depicted as a joyful baby.

Description of the icon

Each of these types has a specific meaning, which is indicated by the translation of the name. The name Hodegetria is translated as “guide” or “showing the way.” This type of icon has characteristic details that make it easy to distinguish the image from other possible options.

The main features of Hodegetria:

Christ sits on the hand of the Virgin Mary (can sit on different hands);
everyone's faces are serious, they do not press their cheeks to each other;
With her free hand, the Mother of God points to Christ;
The Savior performs a blessing gesture with one hand (straight index and middle fingers, the rest are connected in a pinch, this is how priests still baptize and bless, the adult Christ is depicted with this blessing), the second hand holds a scroll or book - a symbol of the New Testament;
images can be waist-length or shoulder-length.

According to the canonical version, this particular type of image is the earliest; its author is the Evangelist Luke, who painted the holy face of the Most Pure Virgin herself, who blessed the painted images in a special way. According to legend, a number of images were created, but not only in the form of Hodegetria, there was also Eleusa. Moreover, Luke wrote his Eleusa on the board of Mary and Joseph’s dining table.

Meaning

It is quite important for a believer to find out how Hodegetria is deciphered. In Orthodoxy it is not easy a drawing of the face of the Virgin Mary, an image of a holy person or an event in gospel history, its content always contains something more.

It’s not for nothing that the images are called the painted Gospel. After all, if you know what certain symbols mean, you can read a story about the basic tenets of faith.

Let's consider the main semantic motifs that are depicted:

Christ is the central figure, his attributes are identical to the image of the Pantocrator (Pantocrator), who represents Christ as the supreme king and judge, the Lord - the ruler of the world, the composition is created so that the Savior is in the middle of the image, in the center of the viewer’s attention;
The Mother of God points to the baby - her palm is turned to the Savior, the Virgin Mary, as it were, tells the viewer where to look, but this is not only about an external gaze, a spiritual gaze is also implied, the Most Pure Virgin calls on everyone to turn to the Savior, indicating that this is both a path and an opportunity gain salvation and enter the Kingdom of Heaven;
blessing and scroll in hands - the Divine Infant blesses every believer and all of humanity as a whole, to whom he has opened the path to Salvation, God is the path leading to paradise, in the baby’s second hand there is a scroll, which indicates the significance of the Gospel, the written books of the New Testament represent the main a guideline for ascent along the righteous path.

Hodegetria is an image of Christ as the Heavenly Judge and Heavenly King, who appears in this world, giving people the righteous path and the opportunity to follow it. God is here the main object of worship and appears in all his Glory.

Note! The best way to understand the meaning of the central figure of Christ is to compare Hodegetria with Eleusa,

In the image of Eleus, the Mother of God and the Infant of God press their cheeks, creating a symbiosis, one of the symbolic readings is the yearning of the soul for the Lord, tender love between the Lord and man. In turn, Hodegetria is an icon that indicates the way to achieve this love, the path that must be taken to reach the Lord. This path is Christ; the believer should turn his soul, mind, and all his deeds to him.

Variety of options

Even Wikipedia does not list all types of icon painting. It is worth noting the special veneration of Hodegetria, thanks to which many variations and subclasses appeared.

Often, icon painters took this type as a basis and added some characteristic detail; we will briefly describe some of these options below.

The most famous icons of Our Lady Hodegetria:

Blachernae - is miraculous, its creation is attributed to the Apostle Luke, the image looks in relief, since a special mixture was used for writing - wax mastic, and this composition was made not only from traditional ingredients, but also with the addition of holy relics;
Voroninskaya;
Smolenskaya - is considered a kind of repetition of the canonical type of Blachernae, from which it is practically no different, is revered in Orthodoxy, and is believed to mean a lot for the preservation of the western borders of Rus';
Kazan - one of the most revered types in Russian Orthodoxy, a feature is the shoulder-length image, due to which the viewer sees only the right hand of Christ in the blessing gesture;
Tikhvin - miraculous, also, according to legend, written by Luke himself;
Georgian - almost full compliance with the classical canon, but one of Christ’s feet is turned towards the viewer, an identical technique is used on the Vladimir icon;
Pimenovskaya;
Three-handed - distinguished by the image of an additional hand, since this image indicates a miracle performed for John of Damascus, whose hand was cut off, and after a prayer addressed to the Mother of God, the Lord mercifully returned his healthy hand;
Iverskaya - is miraculous, located on the territory of the Athos temple; according to legend, this image itself landed on the shores of the Athos monastery and showed many miracles before the monks decided where to place it;
Passionate - on it the baby clasped the hand of the Mother of God with both hands (a diagram similar to the Help of Sinners), two angels hold in their hands the instruments of the Passion of Christ: a cross, a sponge and a spear. The Savior knows that these are symbols pointing to His feat on the cross and further suffering. He turned his head away from the angels and looked to the side;
Helper of Sinners - the name is taken from the inscription, which is still preserved on the surface, and reads: “I am the Helper of Sinners to My Son...”, a distinctive feature is the position of the hands of Christ, who covers with both hands the hand of the Virgin Mary pointing to Him;

Czestochowa - miraculous, according to legend, also written by Luke, revered by both Catholics and Orthodox Christians, the second name is “Black Madonna”, this name appeared in connection with the faded and darkened surface, is the most revered shrine in Poland;
Korsunskaya-Toropetskaya;
Veliky Ustyug is a classic image, but on both sides there are figures of saints: Nicholas the Pleasant, Metropolitan Alexy of Moscow, Bishop Leonty of Rostov, and another Moscow Metropolitan Peter.

Some of these subtypes created their own separate tradition of depicting the Virgin Mary. For example, Kazanskaya was originally just a slightly scaled copy of Vlahernskaya, that is, they took the original image, but wrote only to the shoulders, and not to the waist, as on the original. The special veneration and fame of the Kazan icon led not only to the creation of many lists, but also to the identification of a special type, which is now called the Kazan icon.

It is characterized by:

shoulder image;
the second hand of Christ under the clothes;
the hands of the Virgin Mary are not visible.

There are similar examples with other subtypes. Thus, the Three-Handed Woman can be written with three palms of the Virgin Mary or depicted with a separate hand, which is written at the bottom side. This reminder of an incredible miracle is considered especially miraculous, capable of helping believers in difficult times.

Useful video

Conclusion

One way or another, all types of icons of the Mother of God Hodegetria are united by a single meaning - Christ is the way, the truth and the life. Hence the name - Guide, because the Mother of God gave this world a messiah who showed the path to salvation. On the icon, everyone sees which way one should move to purify one’s own soul and gain the Kingdom of Heaven: by fulfilling Christ’s commandments.

In contact with

The miraculous icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, called the Hodegetria of Smolensk, has been known in Rus' since ancient times. "Hodegetria" translated from Greek means "Guide". There are several versions of the origin of this name, but the fact that the Most Holy Theotokos is a guide to eternal salvation for all Orthodox Christians is an undeniable truth.

According to Church tradition, the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, called “Hodegetria,” was painted by the holy evangelist Luke during the earthly life of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the request of the ruler of Antioch, Theophilus, for whom he wrote an essay about the earthly life of Christ, known as the Gospel of Luke. When Theophilos died, the image was returned to Jerusalem, and in the 5th century, the blessed Empress Eudokia, wife of Arkady, transferred Hodegetria to Constantinople to the emperor’s sister Queen Pulcheria, who placed the holy icon in the Blachernae Church.

The image came to Rus' in 1046 . The Greek Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh (1042-1054), marrying his daughter Anna to Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich, son of Yaroslav the Wise, blessed her on her journey with this icon. After the death of Prince Vsevolod, the icon passed to his son Vladimir Monomakh, who transferred it at the beginning of the 12th century toSmolensk Cathedral Church in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. From that time on, the icon received the nameHodegetria of Smolensk.

Assumption Cathedral (Smolensk)

History of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God

In 1238, the army of Khan Batu approached Smolensk. In that army there was a giant warrior who, according to legend, alone was worth almost an entire army. All Smolensk residents came out to pray in front of the image of the Smolensk Hodegetria Guide. The Tatars had already come almost close to the city, no more than 30 kilometers away by today’s standards, when a certain sexton in the Pechersky Monastery outside the city saw in a vision the Mother of God, who ordered him to bring a warrior named Mercury to Her. Entering the Pechersk Church, Mercury saw with his own eyes the Mother of God sitting on a golden throne with the Child in her arms and surrounded by angels. The Mother of God said that Mercury must save Her own destiny from desecration, which once again indicated Her special protection over the Smolensk land. She also told him about his imminent martyrdom, and that She Herself would not leave him, but would be with him to the end.

Following the command of the Mother of God, the selfless Orthodox warrior Mercury raised all the townspeople, preparing them for the siege, and at night he entered Batu’s camp and killed many enemies, including their strongest warrior. Then, in an unequal battle with the invaders, he laid down his head on the battlefield. His remains were buried in the Smolensk Cathedral. Soon, Mercury was canonized as a locally revered saint (November 24), the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God was also declared locally revered, and the legend “The Tale of Mercury of Smolensk,” which dates back approximately to the 15th - 16th centuries, was written about his feat. Moreover, the legend says that after the burial, Mercury appeared to the same sexton and ordered the shield and spear that belonged to him during his life to be hung at his resting place.

Sandals of the Holy Martyr Mercury - one of the shrines of the Smolensk Cathedral

In 1395, the Principality of Smolensk came under the protectorate of Lithuania. In 1398, in order to avoid bloodshed in Moscow and soften the bitter relations between the Polish-Lithuanian rulers and Moscow, the daughter of the Lithuanian prince Vytautas Sophia was married to the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dimitrievich (1398-1425). The Smolensk Hodegetria became her dowry and was now transferred to Moscow and installed in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Kremlin on the right side of the altar.

Annunciation Cathedral (Moscow Kremlin)

In 1456, at the request of the residents of Smolensk, led by Bishop Misail, the icon was solemnly returned to Smolensk with a religious procession. On June 28, according to the old style, at the Monastery of St. Savva the Consecrated on the Maiden Field in Moscow, with a large crowd of people, the icon was solemnly escorted to the bend of the Moscow River, from where the path to Smolensk began. A prayer service was served. Half a century later, in 1514, Smolensk was returned to Rus' (the assault on the city by Russian troops began on July 29, the day after the celebration of the Smolensk Icon).

In 1524, in memory of this event, Grand Duke Vasily III founded the Mother of God of Smolensk Monastery, which we know better as Novodevichy Convent. The monastery was consecrated and began operating in 1525. From this period, the all-Russian glorification of the icon began, officially established by the Church.

Novodevichy Mother of God-Smolensky Monastery on the Maiden Field in Moscow

However, Muscovites were not left without a shrine - two copies of the miraculous icon remained in Moscow. One was erected in the Annunciation Cathedral, and the other - “measure in moderation” - in 1524 in the Novodevichy Convent, founded in memory of the return of Smolensk to Russia. In 1602, an exact copy was written from the miraculous icon (in 1666, together with the ancient icon, a new copy was taken to Moscow for renewal), which was placed in the tower of the Smolensk fortress wall, above the Dnieper Gate, under a specially constructed tent. Later, in 1727, a wooden church was built there, and in 1802 - a stone one.

The Smolensk miraculous image again showed its intercession during the Patriotic War of 1812. On August 5, 1812, when Russian troops abandoned Smolensk, the icon was taken to Moscow, and on the eve of the Battle of Borodino this image was carried around the camp to strengthen and encourage the soldiers for a great feat.

Prayer service before the Battle of Borodino

On August 26, the day of the battle in Borodino, three images of the Mother of God - the ancient image of the Smolensk Hodegetria, together with the Iveron and Vladimir icons of the Mother of God, were carried around the capital in a procession of the cross, and then sent to the sick and wounded soldiers in the Lefortovo Palace, so that they could venerate the shrines and thank before them the Mother of God for intercession and ask for recovery. Before leaving Moscow, the icon was transported to Yaroslavl.

After the victory over the enemy, on November 5, 1812, by order of Kutuzov, the Hodegetria icon, along with the illustrious list, was returned to Smolensk to its native Assumption Cathedral.

In 1929, the Assumption Cathedral was closed, but was not subject to desecration and destruction, like many other temples and churches during that period. Information that can be considered reliable about the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God- prototype of other, subsequent lists ends in 1941, after the capture of Smolensk by German troops. Then, at the beginning of August 1941, the headquarters of the German command received a message that the list of the icon, attributed according to historical information to the brush of the Evangelist Luke, is in the same place, in good condition, the icon is considered miraculous and its location is a place of worship and pilgrimage. Nothing more is known about that icon.

Now in the place of the missing icon there is a list from the middle of the 16th century, which is not inferior to its predecessor in the number of miracles and in popular veneration, but Hodegetria of the apostolic letter is still awaited in Smolensk, they still believe that the time will come and she will reveal herself from some a hiding place, where it was miraculously preserved all these years, as it once was.

Icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria of Smolensk Gateway, copy from the famous Smolensk Icon. Once it hung above the gates of the Smolensk Kremlin; now it is kept in the cathedral on the site of the Smolensk icon lost in 1941.

Lists with icons

There are many revered copies of the miraculous Smolensk Hodegetria. Many copies of that original but lost icon became miraculous (more than 30 in total) - Igretskaya Pesochinskaya, Yugskaya, Sergievskaya in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Kostroma, Kirillo-Belozerskaya, Svyatogorsk, Solovetskaya, etc.. All these images at different times and demonstrated their miraculous properties to varying degrees.

Iconography

There is little information left about the iconographic features of the image, since the icon, as is known, was lost in 1941, and therefore no one studied it. It was only known that the icon board was very heavy, the ground was made of chalk with glue, as was done in ancient times, and covered with canvas.

The Mother of God holds the Child in her left hand, the Lord’s right hand is raised in a blessing gesture, and in His left hand is the “scroll of teaching.” On the reverse side were written a view of Jerusalem, the Crucifixion and an inscription in Greek - “The King is crucified.” In 1666, the icon was renewed, and later images of the Most Pure Mother and John the Evangelist appeared at the Crucifixion.

The iconographic image of the Smolensk Icon is very similar to the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, but differs in the severity of the arrangement of the figures and the expression of the faces of the Mother of God and the Infant.

Meaning of the icon

The Holy Icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria is one of the main shrines of the Russian Church (along with Vladimir and Kazan).

Amazing historical material is associated with the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, which, through the paths of her wanderings across Western Russian lands, marks all the most important events in the history of Russia up to the last century. It can be said that not a single event where the intercession of the One depicted on it was required was accomplished without Her intervention. Hodegetria the Guide pointed out and defended our West from the aggressive interests of neighboring states, which sought to establish their influence in the Russian state by both military and political means. But even the retreats, which were accompanied by the transfer of the miraculous shrine from its main inheritance - the Assumption Cathedral in Smolensk, were only a strategic necessity, and in no way an agreement with the presence and rule of foreigners and the prevailing Latin faith on our land. The cathedral prayers of Smolensk and Muscovites before her brought their wonderful fruits - sooner or later the enemy was expelled, and the Smolensk Hodegetria returned home to Smolensk.

Believers have received and are receiving abundant gracious help from her. The Mother of God, through Her holy image, intercedes and strengthens us, guiding us to salvation, and we cry out to Her: “You are the All-Blessed Hodegetria to the faithful people, You are the Smolensk Praise and all the Russian lands are the affirmation! Rejoice, Hodegetria, salvation for Christians!”

Celebration

The celebration of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God takes place three times a year - July 28/August 10, established in 1525, when the miraculous image was transferred from the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin to the Mother of God-Smolensk (Novodevichy) Monastery, founded by Vasily III in gratitude to the Mother of God for the return of Smolensk to Rus' during the Russian-Lithuanian War. The festival was established in memory of the arrival of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God to Rus' in 1046.

The second time the celebration takes place on November 5/18 in honor of the victory of Russia in the Patriotic War of 1812.

November 24/December 7 We celebrate the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, remembering the victory of the inhabitants of Smolensk over the troops of the Golden Horde through the common prayer of the people before Her icon - the Smolensk Hodegetria.

The Smolensk Mother of God helps everyone who turns to her with prayers for healing from incurable diseases, in search of family peace and in other difficult and insoluble situations, as the first intercessor for us before God.

Troparion, tone 4

Let us now diligently approach the Mother of God, sinners and humility, and let us fall down in repentance calling from the depths of our souls: Lady, help us, having had mercy on us, struggling, we are perishing from many sins, do not turn away your slaves, for you are the only hope of the imams.

Kontakion, tone 6
The intercession of Christians is not shameful, the intercession to the Creator is immutable, do not despise the voices of sinful prayers, but advance as good help to us who faithfully call Thee: hasten to prayer and strive to entreat, interceding ever since, the Mother of God, who honor Thee.

In Kontakion, tone 6
There are no other imams of help, no other imams of hope, except You, the Lady: Help us, we hope in You and we boast in You: We are Your servants, let us not be ashamed.

Prayer
O Most Wonderful and Above All Creatures Queen Theotokos, Heavenly King Christ our God Mother, Most Pure Hodegetria Mary! Hear us sinners and unworthy at this hour, praying and falling before Your Most Pure Image with tears and tenderly saying: lead us from the pit of passions, O Most Blessed Lady, deliver us from all sorrow and sorrow, protect us from all adversity and evil slander, and from the unrighteous and cruel slander of the enemy. You may, O Our Blessed Mother, save Your people from all evil and provide and save You with every good deed; Do You need other Representatives in troubles and circumstances, and warm Intercessors for us sinners, not imams? Pray, O Most Holy Lady, to Thy Son Christ our God, that He may make us worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven; For this reason, we always glorify Thee, as the Author of our salvation, and extol the holy and magnificent name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, glorified and worshiped God in the Trinity, forever and ever. Amen.

Second prayer
To whom shall I cry, Lady? To whom shall I resort in my sorrow, if not to You, Lady Lady Theotokos, Queen of Heaven? Who will accept my cry and my sighing, if not You, O Most Immaculate One, the Hope of Christians and the Refuge for sinners? Bend, O Most Pure Lady, Thy ear to my prayer, Mother of my God, do not despise me, requiring Thy help, hear my groaning and inspire the cry of my heart, O Lady Theotokos Queen. And give me spiritual joy, strengthen me, who is impatient, sad and careless towards Your praise. Enlighten and teach me how You should pray, and do not leave me, the Mother of my God, for my grumbling and impatience, but be my protection and intercession in my life and lead me to the quiet haven of blessed peace, and count me among Your chosen flock and there deign me to sing and glorify You forever. Amen.

The Virgin Mother is the boundary between created and uncreated nature, and Her, as the container of the incontainable, will be known by those who know God, and after God, those who sing of God will sing Her. She is the foundation of those before Her, and the eternal Intercessor.

St. Gregory Palamas

The Novodevichy Convent is one of the most beautiful monasteries in Moscow. It is beautiful in any weather, at any time of the year. From childhood and throughout my life I remember the unusually lush thickets of the monastery lilac (for some reason now almost all of it has been cut down). It is difficult to get used to this beauty, and every time you enter under the dark arches of the gate church, you involuntarily freeze and admire.

Inside the monastery walls, in a small wooden house, lived a real ascetic in the world - Pyotr Dmitrievich Baranovsky, the great architect-restorer of the twentieth century, who saved almost a thousand churches and ended his life here, in the main Moscow monastery of the Most Pure One - hence the street from which the road begins to the monastery, called Prechistenka. Peace to your ashes, servant of God Peter!...

From the window of his room littered with books, folders with measurements and drawings, Baranovsky, while he could still see - in his old age he was completely blind - admired one of the most majestic churches in Moscow - the 16th century Cathedral in the name of Our Lady Hodegetria "called Smolenskaya", which kept a miraculous list with one of the greatest shrines of Rus' - the Smolensk Mother of God.

As long as there is faith in Rus', the Most Pure One preserves this destiny. The northern borders of our country were protected by the image of the Sign of Novgorod, the eastern borders by the Kazan Icon, and the western borders by the Smolensk Icon.

The prototype of the Smolensk Mother of God is very ancient and, according to legend, was written by the Apostle Luke himself for the Antioch ruler Theophilus. After the death of Theophilus, this image of Hodegetria the Guide returned to Jerusalem; in the 5th century, the blessed queen Pulcheria transferred it to Second Rome, to the Blachernae temple. From there the future Smolensk icon came to Rus'. Under what exact circumstances is not known for certain, but it happened no later than the middle of the 11th century. According to legend, the icon became a parental blessing for the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who was married to the Chernigov prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich.

After the death of Prince Vsevolod, Hodegetria found a new guardian in the person of his son, the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir II Monomakh - commander, writer (his “Teachings” are still studied in the course of ancient Russian literature) and temple builder. In 1095, he transferred the miraculous from Chernigov (his first inheritance) to Smolensk, and in 1101 he founded the cathedral church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary here. Ten years later, Hodegetria was installed in this cathedral and from that time began to be called Smolensk - after the name of the city, the guardian of which this miraculous one remained for almost nine centuries.

In the 13th century, the hordes of Batu fell upon Rus', rapidly moving westward. Crying and praying, the Smolensk people fell to the intercession of their Guardian. And a miracle happened: the Most Pure One, through the image of Hodegetria of Smolensk, granted the city miraculous salvation. The Tatars were already standing several miles from Smolensk when a pious warrior named Mercury heard a voice coming from the holy icon: “I am sending you to protect My house. The ruler of the Horde secretly wants to attack My city this night with his army, but I prayed to My Son and My God for My house, so that he would not give it up to the work of the enemy. I myself will be with you, helping my servant.” Obeying the Most Pure One, Mercury raised up the townspeople, and he himself rushed into the enemy camp, where he died in an unequal battle. He was buried in the cathedral church of Smolensk and soon canonized. In memory of Mercury, on the day of his death, a special thanksgiving service was performed before the miraculous image of Hodegetria.

When in 1395 the Principality of Smolensk lost its independence, becoming dependent on Lithuania. But just three years later, the daughter of the Lithuanian prince Vitovt was married to the Moscow prince Vasily Dmitrievich (son of the holy noble prince Dimitri Donskoy), and Hodegetria became her dowry. In 1398, the newly found shrine was installed in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Kremlin on the right side of the royal gates. Muscovites reverently worshiped it for half a century, until in 1456 representatives of the Smolensk people arrived in the reigning city and demanded that the shrine be returned to them. Grand Duke Vasily the Dark (1415-1462), after consulting with bishops and boyars, ordered to “release” the miraculous to Smolensk, leaving her exact list in Moscow. On July 28, in the presence of almost all Muscovites, the icon was solemnly carried through the Devichye Pole to the ford at the steep bend of the Moscow River, beyond which the road to Smolensk began. Here a prayer service was served to the Guide, after which the prototype of the miraculous woman went to Smolensk, and the mourners took the list from Smolensk to the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

In 1514, Smolensk was returned to the Russian state (the assault on the city by Russian troops began on July 29 - the day after the celebration of the Smolensk Icon); in 1524, in memory of this event, Grand Duke Vasily III founded the Novodevichy Convent on the very spot where Muscovites saw off the miraculous work in 1456.

In 1609, Smolensk was besieged by the Polish army, and after twenty months of siege, in 1611, the city fell to a superior enemy. The miraculous Smolensk icon was again sent to Moscow, and when the Poles captured the white stone one, it was sent to Yaroslavl, where it remained until the expulsion of the Poles and the return of Smolensk to the Russian state in 1654, during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. On September 26, 1655, the miraculous icon of Hodegetria returned to Smolensk.

The intercession of the Most Pure One for Her beloved destiny was again revealed a century and a half later, during the Patriotic War of 1812. Once again, Her miraculous image was taken out, first to Moscow - on August 26, on the day of the Battle of Borodino, the Smolensk, Iverskaya and Vladimir icons were carried in a procession around Moscow, and on August 31, the Iverskaya and Smolenskaya icons visited the wounded in the battle who were lying in the Lefortovo hospital. And when the Russian troops abandoned the Mother See, the Smolensk Icon was transported to Yaroslavl. However, through the intercession of the Most Pure One, this stay of Her miraculous image on the Volga banks turned out to be short-lived: already on December 24, 1812, Hodegetria returned to the Assumption Cathedral in Smolensk.

The Moscow Novodevichy Convent also had to endure a lot. They sent here unwanted queens and princesses - Evdokia Lopukhina, Sophia; Napoleonic “twelve tongues” robbed and plundered it and even tried, before fleeing from Moscow, to blow up the monastery (it was saved by brave nuns who extinguished the already lit wicks). In 1922, Novodevichy was completely closed, dispersing its nuns. For opposing the predatory “seizure of church valuables”, Abbess Vera was sent to the camp; and in 1938, the last confessor of the monastery, Archpriest Sergius Lebedev, died a martyr’s death at the Butovo training ground, where the ashes of tens of thousands of those executed rest. Back in 1925, there were 2,811 tombstones in the cemetery inside the monastery walls; now there are no more than a hundred of them left (including the graves of the historian Sergei Solovyov and his son Vladimir, the great Russian philosopher). The “Museum of the Emancipation of Women” was set up in the desecrated monastery, and in 1934 its buildings were transferred to the State Historical Museum.

Divine services in the Novodevichy Monastery resumed in 1945, when the refectory Assumption Church was re-consecrated here, and since then prayer has been heard here again before one of the lists of the Hodegetria. The revival of the monastery itself began in 1994, when the nuns returned to Novodevichy, led by Abbess Seraphima (Chernaya), the granddaughter of the martyr Saint Seraphim (Chichagov), who died in 1999; Her successor was Abbess Serafima (Isaeva).

...The last reliable news about the miraculous first image dates back to 1941. Closed in 1929, the Assumption Cathedral of Smolensk was not destroyed: its shrines and utensils remained intact until the start of the Great Patriotic War. On August 1, 1941, the German troops that entered the city notified their High Command that “a very ancient icon, attributed by legend to the Evangelist Luke, later rewritten, ... is in its original place and is not damaged. She... was recognized as miraculous and was a place of pilgrimage for believers.” But when Smolensk was liberated by Soviet troops two years later, the icon was no longer there. One can only hope that sooner or later her fate will begin to become clearer - just as it is happening with another miraculous woman who disappeared in that war, Tikhvin.

Until its disappearance, the prototype of Smolenskaya was never subjected to detailed scientific study. According to old descriptions, the board on which the icon was written was unusually heavy, primed with chalk and glue and covered with canvas; The Most Pure One is depicted at half height, waist-deep, supporting the Child with her left hand. The Savior blesses those praying with His right hand, and holds a scroll with His hand. The outer garments of the Virgin Mary are dark brown, the lower ones are dark blue; The Baby's clothes are dark green and gold. On the reverse side of the prototype was written the Crucifixion with the Greek inscription “The King is Crucified” and a view of Jerusalem. When painting was renewed in Moscow in 1666, figures of the Mother of God and John the Evangelist, which were not there before, were added to this Crucifixion. Features of the Smolensk Icon are the frontal position of the Child; a very slight turn of the Mother of God towards His Child; Her head is slightly bowed; characteristic hand position.

The celebration of the Smolensk Icon takes place on July 28 according to the Christian calendar. Once upon a time, on this day, a procession of the cross from the Kremlin, along Prechistenka and Devichye Pole to the Novodevichy Convent took place in the Mother See. By the beginning of the twentieth century, there were more than three dozen miraculous and especially revered lists of Smolensk, churches dedicated to this image stood in many cities, towns and monasteries of the Russian land, in Moscow alone there were four Smolensk churches, in St. Petersburg - five. And today, throughout all Smolensk churches in Russia, the troparion to the Most Holy Theotokos sounds before Her icon, called “Hodegetria”:

Troparion, tone 4

Kontakion, tone 6

The intercession of Christians is not shameful, the intercession to the Creator is immutable, do not despise the voices of sinful prayers, but advance as good help to us who faithfully call Thee: hasten to prayer and strive to entreat, interceding ever since, the Mother of God, who honor Thee.