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Celebration of the Feodorovskaya Kostroma Icon of the Mother of God The Feodorovskaya-Kostroma icon of the Mother of God is called Hodegetria. According to legend, it was written by St. ev. Luke, from the beginning of the 12th century it was in a chapel near the city of Kideksha. The Pskov prince, Georgy Vsevolodovich, when establishing this city, at the request of the residents, wanted to transfer the image here. But when, at the end of the prayer singing, they began to take the image, they could not move it. The prince concluded that the Mother of God was pleased to stay here with her icon, and in 1164 he founded a monastery, now known as Gorodets-Feodorovskaya, after Gorodets, a city in the Nizhny Novgorod province, and a church in the name of Theodore Stratilates. In the cathedral church of this monastery, before the destruction of Gorodets in 1238 by the Tatars under Batu, the Feodorovskaya icon was located as an altarpiece. In 1239, August 16, the Kostroma prince Vasily Georgievich Kvashnya was hunting. Near the place where the prince stood with a small retinue, an animal ran: the prince chased after him; I drove into the thicket of the forest and suddenly, right in front of me, I saw an icon of the Mother of God on a pine tree; Amazed by the vision, the prince got off his horse and wanted to take the icon; but she rose into the air. The prince fell to his knees and prayed for a long time before the revealed icon. She went down to her previous place. The prince immediately went to Kostroma and announced the miraculous icon to the archpriest and priests, in the presence of many citizens. The clergy in sacred robes, with icons, crosses, censers and candles, at the direction of the prince, went to the place of the apparition, singing prayer songs. Arriving at the place indicated by the prince, everyone actually saw the icon of the Mother of God on a pine tree. Having performed a prayer service before her, everyone fell to their knees before her. Rising from the ground, the priests approached the icon, took it in their hands without restraint and went to the city. The inhabitants of the city came out to meet the Mother of God and fell before her with tenderness. The icon was brought into the Kostroma cathedral church. The rumor about the appearance and transfer of the icon of the Mother of God to Kostroma spread throughout the outskirts of the city and countless crowds of people flocked from everywhere to worship it. Prince Vasily Georgievich also came to the cathedral for the liturgy; the residents surrounded the prince and told him: “yesterday, before we left for the hunt, we saw this very icon carried around the city by a man in rich military clothing, very similar to St. Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates, as he is depicted on the icon.” “By her intercession and intercession, the Church sings on the day of the appearance of the icon, the Mother of God deigned to send her all-honorable icon with her servant, the holy great martyr Theodore Stratilates, to the city of Kostroma. Today Theodore Stratilates serves you and, in honor of You, carries your icon from place to place.” A miraculous vision of the pious citizens of Kostroma, confirmed by the voice of the Church, as well as the church in which the icon was placed, dedicated to St. Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates was given the opportunity to name the icon of the Mother of God of Theodorov, acquired by the prince. Among the merchants who lived in Kostroma on trade matters were several citizens of Gorodets, which was deserted after the Tatars. Hearing about the appearance of the miraculous icon, they, along with others, hurried to the cathedral and immediately recognized the holy image that had protected their native city for so many years. At the site of the appearance of the icon on the banks of the Zaprudnya River, the prince founded the Zaprudensky Monastery of the Image of the Lord Not Made by Hands, because on this day he found the icon of the Mother of God, and to this day on the 16th day of August there is a procession of the cross from the city to this monastery in memory of the appearance of the icon of the Mother of God to Vasily Georgievich. The icon itself was placed in the Kostroma Cathedral Church. Some time later this church burned down. They did not have time to save the icons from the fire, and the prince, thinking that the icon had perished in the flames, was extremely sad. His pious grief was shared by all the people. The Mother of God heard the voice of sorrow and changed her sadness to joy. On the third day after the fire, tearing through the ashes of the fire, they found the miraculous image, not at all damaged by the fire. Soon, on the site of the burned church, a new one was erected - in the name of the Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates. The miraculous icon is decorated with gold, silver, expensive stones and valuable pearls, placed in an icon case and placed in the newly created church, inside St. altar, behind the throne. Meanwhile, Kostroma was threatened with the same fate that befell other Russian cities - the fate of complete ruin from the Tatars for resistance; but the Mother of God miraculously saved Kostroma. The Tatars approached the city with full confidence in victory. The pious prince, stretching out his hands to the miraculous image of the Mother of God, prayed: “Receive the prayers of your servants, Mother of God, our intercessor and refuge; and to whom shall we resort for sins, except you, Lady! You are our protection and intercession, and now do not leave us to perish until the end, deliver this city and your people and every Christian country from the invasion of foreigners. Remember your servants, and do not despise our tears and sighs, so that we may be comforted by the joy of having our helper in You.” The prince followed the example of his pious ancestor. Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky ordered the miraculous icon of the Mother of God to be raised from the cathedral; He surrounded it in front of the regiments, strengthening them in courage for the upcoming battle, and after this, with hope and humility, he led the army against the Tatars. The priests, carrying the icon of the Mother of God behind the army, sang prayers, may God and the Holy Mother of God not despise their prayers, and may they help the noble prince and his army to win victory over the opposing forces. When the troops converged and the Tatars drew their swords and strained their bows: suddenly, from the miraculous image of the Most Holy Theotokos, divine and radiant rays shone forth, brighter than the sun, and, like scorching fire, rushed to the Tatars’ shelves and burned them. The enemies mixed up, unable to withstand the shine and flame of the rays; fear and trembling took possession of the enemies. They didn't recognize each other. Russian soldiers, encouraged by help from above, quickly attacked the confused Tatars and put them to flight. The victorious army joyfully returned to the city, ahead of them they carried the icon of the Mother of God, who had defeated the enemies with her intercession; the priests sang songs of thanksgiving to her. All the inhabitants of Kostroma came out to meet their Intercessor and after prayers the miraculous icon was again placed in the cathedral. At the place where the miraculous image was located during the battle, at the request of the prince, a cross was erected, and this place began to be called Holy, and the nearby lake has since received the name Holy; subsequently a village was founded on its banks, and it took the name Svyatogo (Holy Vesy) (see March 14). Transfer of the Image of the Lord Not Made by Hands from Edessa to Constantinople Eusebius (270–338), bishop of Palestinian Caesarea, a famous historian of the ancient Christian Church, narrates: “The divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, glorified by everyone for the sake of its miraculous power, attracted to Him with the hope of healing from illnesses and various sufferings countless numbers of even strangers who lived far from Judea. For this reason, King Abgar, who ruled the nations living beyond the Euphrates with great glory, but suffered from a serious illness incurable by human means, as soon as he heard about the name and miracles of Jesus, unanimously testified by everyone, immediately sent a letter to Him, asking him to heal him from his illness. Although the Savior did not then go to the one who called Him, he nevertheless honored him with his own letter, in which he promised to send one of his disciples to him for healing from his illness and together for the salvation of both him and all the people close to him, and not long after that the promise was fulfilled. I will also present written evidence of this, says Eusebius, taken from the archives of Edessa, which was then a royal city. This evidence is also kept in the public papers there, in which both the ancient and those made under Avgar are recorded. Let us listen to the letters themselves, extracted by us from the archive and literally translated from the Syriac language, as follows. “Abgar, the ruler of Edessa, greets Jesus the good Savior, who appeared in the country of Jerusalem. I heard about You and Your healings, that You perform them without any medicines or herbs. They say: You give sight to the blind, walk to the lame, cleanse lepers, cast out unclean spirits, heal those suffering from long-term illnesses and raise the dead. Hearing this about You, I thought one of two things in my mind: either that you are God and do this by coming down from heaven, or: You are the Son of God if you do such things. So I found it necessary to ask You with this letter: visit and heal me from my illness. I also heard that the Jews murmur against You and want to do You harm. Although my city is not very large, it is honorable and there will be enough space for both of us. This is what Abgar wrote when the divine light only illuminated him a little.” Abgar's letter was sent to the Savior with the painter Ananias, who, having handed the letter, began to examine the Savior's face. But since Ananias could not come close to Him because of the multitude of people, he stood on a rock that rose somewhat from the ground; from here he fixed his gaze on Christ, holding in his hand a charter on which he wanted to depict His face. But his efforts were in vain because of the change in the Divine, indescribable and incomprehensible glory and grace of the face of Christ. Meanwhile, the Knower of the Heart saw Ananias’ desire, called him to himself, demanded water, washed himself, took a four-fold cloth, wiped himself with it - and suddenly the likeness of His face was reflected on this lining - His image not made by hands was outlined. The Lord gave the cloth to Ananias, saying: “Go and give this to the one who sent you.” Together with the image, the Lord sent a letter to Abgar, which Eusebius conveys to us in his history. Here is the content of Christ’s letter to Abgar: “Blessed are you, Abgar, for you believed in Me without seeing Me. For it is written about Me, that those who have seen Me will not believe in Me, so that those who have not seen may believe and live. You wrote to Me so that I would come to you: but I must complete here everything for which I was sent, and after completion, ascend to the One who sent Me. When I ascend, I will send to you one of My disciples, who will heal you from your illness and give life to you and others with you.” Abgar with reverence received from Ananias the miraculous image of the Savior and has since been healed of his main illness, which, however, left traces on his face, but Thaddeus, one of the 70 apostles, sent to Edessa by the ap. Thomas, after Christ's ascension into heaven. “This happened in 340. These acts, literally translated from the Syriac language, it seems to me, says Eusebius, are placed here not without benefit for the readers.” Avgar showed deep reverence to the image. Having inscribed on it the words: Christ God, whoever trusts in You will not be ashamed, Abgar ordered to place Him in Edessa above the city gates, in the place of the Hellenic deity who stood there, ordering that those walking through these gates should worship the image. This commandment was observed under him and under his son. But one of his great-grandsons, devoted to idolatry, wanted to remove the image and put the idol on the gate again: however, the Bishop of Edessa, by direct revelation of God, came at night to the gate where the image stood, and used everything that could serve to protect the shrine. Having placed a lit lamp in front of it, he covered it with a stone board, covered it with brick and lime so that the place became level with the rest of the wall and was forgotten where the image was hidden. The legend about the city of Edessa was preserved only among believers, that it would never be conquered by enemies. In 545, during the siege of Edessa by Chosroes I, king of Persia, when the inhabitants of this city were despondent: the Bride in heavenly majesty appeared to the Bishop of Edessa Eulavius ​​in a vision. Showing the place where the image was hidden, she ordered him to take it. According to this instruction, Evlavius ​​opened the icon, found it intact in all its features, the lamp was indestructible, and on the board, in front of the lamp, was another completely accurate image of the first image. The saint and the people, in a feeling of reverent joy, made a religious procession along the city walls, during which the face of Christ the Savior not made by hands was turned towards the Persian camp, and the entire Persian army fled. On April 4, 622, Emperor Heraclius, speaking out in war against the Persians, raised in his arms in front of his soldiers the miraculous image of the Savior and swore an oath to fight the enemies to death, and to live in harmony among themselves. In 630, the Arabs took possession of Edessa and did not interfere with the veneration of the image not made by hands, the fame of which spread throughout the east, so that in the 8th century, following the example of the Church of Edessa, Christians celebrated the image not made by hands in many places. In the 10th century, in 944, the emperors Constantine VΙΙ Porphyrogenitus and his father-in-law Romanus I, Lecapinus, moved by Christian piety, bought the icon from the owners of Edessa, sending them a gift of 200 captured Saracens, 12,000 pieces of silver and promising that Roman troops would never hostilely attack Edessa and its environs. “To receive the divine icon,” says George Kedrin, Emperor Lekapin sent the bishop of Samosata, who was then in Byzantium, to Edessa. There was unrest among the Christians of Edessa and was renewed several times, because they did not want to give up the unvalued shrine, which they kept and saved the city from enemies. But the mayor of Amir - some with conviction, others with force, others with fear of death - forced them to yield. The procession of the icon was accompanied by the glory of miracles. On the 15th day of August, when emperors, according to custom, celebrate the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God in her all-honorable church of Blachernae, early in the morning the servants of the shrine came there and at the mountainous place of this saint. In the church they placed an ark containing an icon and a message. The arriving emperors reverently bowed to the shrine. From here the image was conveyed with great triumph to the church called Pharos. The next day, August 16, after reverent kisses and worship, the priests and younger emperors (the eldest remained at home due to the weakness of his health) raised the icon case while singing psalms, under magnificent lighting, and sailed back to the capital. Having reached the shore, the emperors on foot, the entire senate, the head of the rite and all the clergy with appropriate splendor accompanied the ark, which contained the most holy and venerable deposits. When they came to the golden gates and entered the city, the psalms, singing and spiritual songs increased; the brilliance of the lamps increased immeasurably; Persons from all sides flocked to accompany the sacred procession. During the procession of the blessed icon and the venerable message through the middle of the city, so many tears of joy were shed from the entire capital, so many prayers, thanksgivings and vows were offered to God that no word can describe. After bringing the Wisdom of God to the glorious church, they placed the all-honorable image in front of the royal doors of the altar. From here, after worshiping and honoring the icon by the entire church council, those who carried the sacred burden went to the royal palace and in the chamber raised the divine icon of the Savior to the royal throne, where the most important state affairs are usually carried out, rightly believing that it was absolutely necessary to consecrate the royal see, and through this communicate truth and mercy to those sitting on it. After the usual litany was completed, the divine icon was raised and carried back to the previous church, to Pharos. There she was placed on the right side towards the east, for the glory of the faithful, for the observance of kings, for the safety of the entire kingdom and for the intercession of Christians.” In memory of the transfer of the image, the Church established a holiday on the 16th day of August. In the 13th century, from the Patriarch of Constantinople Herman, the Church accepted a canon for the transfer of an image not made by hands from Edessa to Constantinople. The Church glorifies the image of the Lord not made by hands, as evidence of His true incarnation and icon veneration. “As if your image is visible, for the sake of us who were incarnated and suffered by will, we are inflamed for Your love, even for us there is a great outpouring for the sake of Your mercy.” The Gospel at Matins and at the Liturgy on the day of the transfer of the image not made by hands preaches the good news about the Samaritans, who did not receive the Lord, as if His face was coming to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51-56); and the Apostle speaks of the gracious kingdom of the Son of God, who is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:12–17). Two legends can be told about the subsequent fate of the miraculous image. According to the first: the miraculous image, around the half of the 14th century, was given by John Palaiologos as a gift to the Genoese, who, under the command of the Genoese Doge Leonard Montolto, returned Tenedos and other places to Emperor John from the yoke of the Saracens. According to the will of Montalto, who died in 1384, the image, reverently kept by him, was given to the Basilian monastery of St. Bartholomew and in 1384 was solemnly erected for public worship. In 1654, the monastery with the icon was transferred to the Varnabites. In 1810, commissioners sent from France to Genoa announced that the image shown was not an ancient painting and was of little value. According to another legend, after the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by the Crusaders, the miraculous image was stolen from the Church of Pharos by the Venetian Doge Dandolo and sent by ship to Venice. But the ship sank in the Sea of ​​Marmara and the shrine disappeared into the waves. Greek shipbuilders still reverently point out the place where the ship perished. However, a third legend about an image not made by hands in Georgia also remains. St. Diomede, a native of the city of Tarsus, a Christian by faith, a physician by art, healed not only bodies, but also human souls, for he taught the pagans faith in Christ and led them to baptism. During the reign of Diocletian, he arrived in Nicaea and, according to custom, healed the people, while spreading the glory of the name of Christ. The emperor sent soldiers to take him and present him for trial. The soldiers carried him from Nicaea to Nicomedia; On the way he got off the cart, prayed and died. The soldiers, to prove that they had completed the task entrusted to them, cut off the head and presented it to the emperor, but in the process they themselves lost their sight. The emperor ordered them to take the head and attach it to the body in its place. After this, the soldiers received their sight and believed in Christ, the true God. † On the same day, the memory of St. Joachim Osogovsky The Monk Joachim 137 was one of the four great Bulgarian hermits, who with their exploits aroused hundreds and thousands of Bulgarians to Christian asceticism. The first was St. John of Rylsky; the exploits of St. Joachim took place in the last half of the 11th century. Feeling an irresistible desire to labor in solitude, Joachim prayed to the Lord to show him a solitary place. After praying in the small church of St. Novy Hradec, he sat down on the church porch. The kind and rich boyar of that place entered into a conversation with him, and when Joachim said that he would like to strive in private, but did not know a convenient place, the boyar pointed out to him the most convenient place. “Under the wing of Mount Osogovskaya,” said the boyar, at the river. Skupishche in the area of ​​​​Babin Dol is a deep cave, protected by rocks - this is a place for you - save yourself there in the Lord. The monk thanked God for the opening of a place close to his desires, and asked the boyar to remember his poverty from time to time with his mercy. Having settled in a cave, he labored here for quite a long time in fasting and kneeling prayers, unknown to anyone. Already before his death, according to God’s providence, two trappers attacked him. “You are somehow sad,” the elder told them when they met. “On this mountain,” they answered, we always had a happy catch, but this time we wandered for several days and did not catch anything. "Children! answered the elder, the day is approaching evening; rest with me this night, and tomorrow morning go in that direction and from the top of the mountain go to your home.” The hunters met the happiest catch on the top of the mountain in the morning. One of them came to the elder to thank him for his advice. “God’s blessing is with you,” said the elder. From that time on, contentment appeared in the hunters' house. A short time later, the hunters came to visit the old man, but they had already found him deceased. Grateful, until their death they brought candles to the grave of the saint. His death followed, as he revealed in his afterlife appearance, “before great darkness before eight years” 138. Quite a bit of time passed after that; at imp. Manuel (1148–1179) God was pleased to glorify his servant. The priest of the village of Osmidola of the Ovchepolskaya country, Fyodor, having become a widower, decided to leave the world and, hearing about the place of the exploits of the blessed one. Joachim, went to Osogovskaya Mountain with the determination to labor as a hermit in the same place where Joachim spent his life as an angel. The monk appears to him in a dream and asks: “Where are you going”? Theodore spoke of his desire. The monk protected him with the sign of the cross and, taking out the vessel, wiped his head, face and hands with water. “Go, child! “Rest in peace,” added the monk. Waking up, Theodore washed his face with tears from joy. Having accepted monasticism with the name of Theophan, he built a church on the site of the saint’s exploits, found his coffin and, after the saint’s repeated appearance, opened his relics for general edification. Miracles were performed at the relics. In the Serbian synaxar of the 13th century. under August 16: “Reverend. Our Father Joachim of Osogovsky" 139. According to the Serbian chronicle, the pious king Milutin built a church to the “blessed father Joachim” 140. Bulgarian legend about him ed. Lamansky in the west. acad. VI, pp. 121–189. it is also known to Glasnyak XI, 41. It is verbose; we take what we need from it. In Russian chronicles there is a solar eclipse on March 19, 1113 (Pogodina research IV, 91). If the monk points to this eclipse, then his death followed in 1105. Description music p. 451. In 1586, Abbot Gervasiy came to Moscow to collect alms, “from the great mountain Sogovitsa - the monastery of the desert dweller Joachim." Relations between Russia and the East p. 182, St. Petersburg, 1858. Safarik is remembered. 2, 60. Collection of Lamansky: “in prayer and praise 4 stars, who have shone in recent times, Prokhor of Pshinsky, Jokim of Srandodorsky, Hilarion of Meglena and Gavriy Lesnovsky.” Zan. acad. VI, 122. 123.