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воскресенье, 5 февраля 2012 г.

VLADIMIR ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

Article from http://www.pravoslavie.ru

VLADIMIR ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. Commemorated May 21/June 3; June 23/July 6; and August 26/September 8
Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. Commemorated May 21/June 3; June 23/July 6; and August 26/September 8
The histories of Moscow and of the icon of Vladimir Mother of God are eternally inseparable. How many times did the Mother of God save the capital city from enemies through the grace of her holy icon? This icon has linked Apostolic times to Byzantium, Kievan Rus’ to Vladimir Rus’, and later to Muscovy, the Third Rome; as it is said, “there will be no Fourth.” The kingdom of Moscow was formed by divine providence and embraced the mystical ties of ancient empires, historical experience and traditions of other Orthodox peoples. The miracle working Vladimir icon became a symbol of unity and succession.
Words cannot describe this icon; any verbal expression would be hollow compared to the gaze of the Theotokos from her image. This look contains everything – life and death; resurrection, eternity, immortality. According to ancient tradition, the Holy Evangelist, Physician, and Iconographer Luke painted three icons of the Theotokos. When the Most Pure One looked at them, she said: “May the grace of the One Who was born of me, and my grace, be with these Holy Icons.” One of these Icons is now known as the Vladimir icon. This depiction of Our Lady was kept in Jerusalem until 450 AD, after which it was taken to Constantinople. In the first half of twelfth century Luke Chrysoberges, Patriarch of Constantinople, sent the icon (together with the other image of Theotokos, known as “Pirogoschaya”) as a gift to Grand Duke Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgoruky, who placed it in the Vyshgorod convent (near Kiev), an area once belonging to Equal-to-the-Apostles, Grand Duchess Olga. In 1155 Vyshgorod became a possession of Prince Andrew, son of Yuri Dolgoruky.
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