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July 2: Deposition of the Most Holy Theotokostranslated

July 2, 2026 · 1 min read

Today, the Church celebrates the deposition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Blachernais and honors the memory of Saints Juvenalios of Jerusalem and Lambros Neomartyros. The fellow patricians Galvius and Candidus, going to Jerusalem on the holy pilgrimages, met a Jewish woman, who kept with great piety, in a special box, the holy Estheta (dress) of the Virgin Mary. Then the brethren, after worshiping the holy garment, set as their purpose and carried it to the Queen of the Cities.

There, they tried to hide the precious treasure in Blachernes. As soon as the emperor was informed of the transfer of the honor of Esthetos to the Seven-Hilled City, he embraced the sacred garment with great reverence, ordering the construction of a Church, where this precious relic would be placed.

The personal belongings of the Saints stand out as carriers of the grace and blessing of the Holy Spirit, to comfort and support people always with distinction. The Virgin is our constant support and consolation, but also an example of purity, humility and obedience. This consciousness is expressed by the hymn writer, through the garment of the Virgin Mary, as a blessing from God: "Your house, Lady, is holy...

Source: Orthodoxia News Agency · Read the full story →

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Анна Мельник

It is interesting that the article mentions how a Jewish woman with great piety guarded the holy shirt of the Most Holy Mother of God. In our church of St. of Mary Magdalene in Lviv, we also keep our strange icono-painting cast from this icon, and every time I look at it, I remember how even the outwardly disaffected could preserve the holy.

Іван Савченко

You are right, even the non-supporters kept the sacred. We also had an icon of St. in Krasnograd. Paraskeva, which was stolen during the danger, but thanks to the joint prayer of the villagers, was returned to the church. Does Lviv have such a history with your icon painting past?

Сергій Кузьменко

Yes, it is interesting that even a Jewish woman preserved the sacred - as in Poltava, when the peasants preserved the image of the Annunciation during the Soviet repressions. Is it possible to find out how exactly this youngster got to Lviv?