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Venerable David of Thessalonica This reverend father from his youth spent his life in abstinence and, leaving his fatherland, Asia Minor, arrived in Thessaly and lived as a hermit near Thessaloniki in a bush under an almond tree, shining with virtues and becoming like the angels, instructing those who came to him on the path of salvation. Having extinguished his passions, he was unharmed by natural fire and performed miracles. And having pleased God, he reposed from this temporary life around the year 540. His relics rested in Thessaloniki, in the church named after him. Celebration of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God The Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God was originally, according to legend, painted by St. Luke and was sent by him along with the Gospel and the book of the Acts of the Apostles to Antioch to the sovereign Theophilus, who then accepted the faith of Christ. After his death, she was transferred to Jerusalem, and from there, in the 5th century after the Nativity of Christ, Eudoxia, the wife of the Greek king Theodosius the Younger, to Constantinople, where a church was erected for her, known as Blachernae. She stayed here for 539 years. From the fury of the iconoclasts, St. the icon was transferred from the Blachernae church to the monastery of Pantocrator and hidden. After the end of the persecution of St. the icon was returned to Blachernae. 76 years before the fall of Constantinople, in the days of Grand Duke Dmitry Ioannovich Donskoy, under Metropolitan Pimen, in 1383, the Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God with the Eternal Child inscribed on her left hand appeared within Novgorod over the waters of Lake Ladoga, in radiant light, the sun-like figure shining, walking through the air above by waters, carried invisibly from place to place by angels, and, flowing to the city of Tikhvin, stopped at the Tikhvinka River. During her procession, she stopped in five places and appeared to the believers, through whose diligence, in all places marked and sanctified by the presence of the miraculous image of the Lady, churches of God were subsequently created. At the same place where the icon completely stopped, a wooden church was built in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God, which was reduced to ashes by repeated fire. But the revealed and miraculous Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, which was in it, always remained unharmed. Finally, through the diligence of Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich, instead of a wooden church, a stone one was created for the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in 1510. In 1560, 177 years after the appearance of the icon, the Tikhvin Monastery was built with the support and diligence of Grand Duke John Vasilyevich. In 1613, when the Swedes, under the leadership of Delagardi, forcibly took possession of Novgorod and its environs, the Tikhvin monastery, under the protection of the Lady, suffered a prolonged heavy attack from enemies, especially after the accession of Mikhail Feodorovich, when the Swedes were upset by his election to the Russian throne and together with the defeat of their detachments both on the Ust River within Novgorod, and in the Tikhvin monastery itself, from where they were expelled. Hearing about his failures and defeats, Delagardie angrily ordered his regiments to move to Tikhvin in order to take revenge on the monastery for the expulsion of the Swedes and to destroy it to the ground. Frightened by the threats of a proud and vengeful enemy, the surrounding residents with their wives and children flocked to the monastery, where they secluded themselves with the monks and soldiers, hoping not for the fortress of the walls, but for the irresistible intercession of the Queen of Heaven. Swedish troops appeared in Tikhvinsky Posad, surrounded the monastery and, with terrible malice, made incessant attacks on the home of the spiritual warriors of Christ. The monks, who had shut themselves up in the monastery, were overwhelmed with fear; others, standing on the monastery walls, fought with enemies; others, having gathered in the church, prayed with tears to God and His Most Pure Mother in front of Her miraculous icon and performed all-night prayers. During this siege, to one pious woman, Mary, who two years before had come to the monastery blind and received sight by faith, when she, with her eyes still wet from tears of prayer, sank into a thin slumber in the middle of the night, the Most Pure Virgin appeared and said: “Announce to everyone in the monastery that they may take My icon and walk around the walls and see mercy God." Mary told about the appearance and command of the Queen of Heaven. The hearts of the besieged were filled with joy and hope; The miraculous image with prayer singing was enclosed along the walls of the monastery fence. At this time, when the Orthodox Christians called on the Mother of God to help them, fear suddenly seized the enemies. They fell into confusion and, persecuted by no one, fled from the monastery. After some time, the enemies again surrounded the monastery with great forces, and for many days they relentlessly attacked the monastery. The Orthodox again began to flow with tears to the miraculous image of the Mother of God and begged Her to have mercy on the suffering. In the monastery there was a novice of the Solovetsky Monastery, Martinian, a pure-hearted and God-fearing man. In a night vision, the Mother of God appeared to him with St. Nicholas, with the Reverends Varlaam of Khutyn and Zosima of Solovetsky, and announced: “near destruction there is this place of many for the sake of sinful impurities, in the image of which this holy place of mine has been defiled.” In horror from the vision, Martinian rose up and with tears told the authorities in the monastery. The foul persons were expelled from the monastery, the church vestibule was cleansed, and with fervent tearful prayers they propitiated God and the Mother of God, so that they would not betray their people into the hands of their enemies. The child-loving Lord, through the intercession of His Most Pure Mother, transformed His righteous anger into mercy. From that time on, the besieged began to strengthen and fight their enemies more successfully. Trusting in the mercy of the Mother of God, the besieged suddenly rushed towards their enemies, and She, with Her help, granted the Orthodox victory and victory over their enemies. Taking revenge for their defeat and shame, the enemies with reinforced troops approached the monastery, surrounded it more closely and began to dig secret ditches under the gates and walls. On September 13, after the new appearance of the Mother of God in a night vision to Martinian and another husband named Gregory and the command to drive away enemies from Her house, the Orthodox defenders of the monastery and fatherland were rewarded with wondrous heavenly help; The Lord struck the enemies with a terrible miracle. They saw that numerous regiments of armed soldiers, with many bright crusader banners, were coming to the monastery from the direction of Moscow, and they were afraid. One hope for underground mines kept the confused enemies from fleeing. The besieged, having heard about the new appearance and command of the Mother of God from Martinian and Gregory, strengthened their hope for heavenly help and, having performed prayer services with tears before the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, they still rushed towards the enemies. They were seized with fear and trembling, they were embarrassed, they hesitated and ran away in shame, surprising themselves in their flight. Enemy prisoners said that last night they saw a large army going to the monastery and leaving the monastery to attack them. This glorious and wondrous victory was miraculously granted to the Orthodox by the Mother of God on the night of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross, September 14, 1614. Less than a year had passed since the Swedish commander, in terrible anger at the Tikhvin monastery, in which so many wasted efforts had been expended and losses had been suffered, sent numerous forces with the order to destroy the monastery to the ground, chop the miraculous icon of the Mother of God into pieces, and scatter the church in which it is located across the field. When this threat from the enemy reached the ears of the defenders of the monastery, they were afraid and even wanted to retire to Moscow with the miraculous icon. But the icon remained in its place, motionless; There was no way they could take her from her place. So, a weak handful of defenders, placing their hope in the all-powerful help of the Mother of God, locked themselves in the monastery and waited for the enemy. The Ambulance to the Faithful and the cheerful Guardian of Her monastery did not allow enemies to reach her. They were amazed by a new miracle: they saw a large armed army rushing against them. Not hoping to resist such a force, the enemies, overwhelmed with great fear, fled in disarray from the monastery. From that time on, the enemies no longer dared to approach the monastery to destroy it. The victory over the enemies was unanimously attributed to the warriors and leaders to the invisible help of Our Lady of Tikhvin. About a year after the miraculous victory, royal ambassadors arrived at the walls of the Tikhvin Monastery to conclude peace with the Swedes. Having removed the copy from the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, they went fifty-five miles to the Syasi River, to the village of Stolbovo, not far from Ladoga, where the Swedish ambassadors arrived, and there in 1617, on February 17, they concluded the peace of Stolbovo, in front of the icon of the Mother of God, which was so wondrously won by the Orthodox, as the main guarantee of peace on the part of the Russians. From there the ambassadors went with the same icon to take Novgorod from the hands of the enemies, which had been in their power for 7 years, where the Queen of Heaven was met with grateful tears, having miraculously delivered from the enemies not only the monastery, but also Veliky Novgorod, with all its borders, and who established the power of the Orthodox Tsar in them. In memory of the miraculous appearance of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God and the overcoming of enemies through the intercession of the Mother of God, the Church established a holiday in honor of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God on the 26th day of June throughout Russia. On this day, the All-Russian Orthodox Church, on behalf of Russia, which reverently received the icon, glorifies its wondrous and luminous appearance, which enlightened with its advent an empty and impassable place, which showed the entire Russian country a solid fence and protection and bestowed an ever-flowing source of healing. Since ancient times, faith and reverence for the holy and miraculous Tikhvin icon has been expressed both by special institutions in its honor in the monastery and by the private zeal of believers. In addition to the holiday celebrated by the Church in honor of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, in ancient times, after the 26th of December, after the celebration of the council in honor of the Mother of God, people traveled from the Tikhvin Monastery “with the image and the festive shrine to Moscow.” This custom continued until 1678. Nowadays a religious procession with the miraculous Tikhvin Icon is held 24 times a year. Since ancient times, the private zeal of believers for the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God is still revealed by the incessant prayers and offerings from believers before the icon. The church in which the miraculous icon is located is never without fans. If it is locked, the pilgrims stand on the porch, from where there is a spacious window through which the face of the Queen of Heaven is visible, and send up prayers. The pilgrims often stay on the porch overnight. Since ancient times, people from all classes, both noble and simple, have flocked to the veneration of the holy icon and brought their feasible contributions in honor of her. Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich, out of special jealousy and zeal for the Most Pure Virgin Mary and Her miraculous icon, ordered the creation of a stone church in Tikhvin from his royal treasures. After its creation and consecration, the Grand Duke, drawn by love for the Most Pure Mother of God, himself arrived in Tikhvin to see Her miraculous icon, kiss it and offer his fervent prayers before it. His noble son, Grand Duke John Vasilyevich, imitating his father, also came to Tikhvin to venerate the miraculous icon and built a monastery with it from the royal bounty. In 1734, Empress Anna Ioannovna donated a rare emerald for the icon, remarkable for its size and carving, with the signature: “Mistress, accept the prayers of Thy servant.” To venerate the Tikhvin icon, the monastery was visited by: in 1747, Empress Elisaveta Petrovna; in 1798, Emperor Pavel Petrovich, who himself moved the icon to its present place from the Nativity Cathedral. Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna, arriving at the monastery with her husband in 1809, added excellent Brazilian topaz and expensive diamonds to the icon; Diamonds and an 80-carat blue sapphire were brought to her from Empress Maria Feodorovna. At the cheapest price, all decorations on the gold and precious chasuble, not counting it, cost about 60,000 rubles. In front of the icon hangs a precious offering from Count Sheremetev in 1803 - a golden lamp worth about 12,000 rubles. Feast in honor of the Sedmiezersk Icon of the Mother of God In 1654, during a pestilence in Kazan, citizens asked to raise the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God from the Semiezersk monastery to the distressed city. The abbot of the Forerunner Monastery was sent for the miraculous icon and, having picked it up reverently, stopped on the way back two miles to Kazan, where the Vvedensky Kizichesky Monastery is now. The people and clergy greeted the Lady with tenderness, and as soon as the icon was taken near the Kremlin walls, the infection apparently began to weaken. The next day, the miraculous icon was surrounded throughout Kazan, and the infection stopped. A week later they wanted to return the miraculous image to the monastery; Residents flocked to the church in large numbers to celebrate the miraculous icon. But when, after the Vigil, they began to raise the image of the Mother of God, a terrible storm suddenly arose; darkness set in, from which it was impossible to see anything and it was impossible to leave the church due to the raging storm. This phenomenon was repeated three times. The mayors and people saw that the Mother of God did not want to leave the city, where the icon remained throughout the year 1655. This year Kazan was freed from ulcers through the intercession of the Mother of God. In 1655, on July 25, the plague again appeared in Kazan with greater force than before; this happened again the following year. With this double appearance of the deadly ulcer, the Sedmiezersk Icon was brought to Kazan and saved the city from destruction. Therefore, under Metropolitan Lawrence of Kazan (since 1658), in memory of the end of the infection, another festival was established in honor of the Sedmiezerskaya Icon of the Mother of God on June 26 with a procession of the cross, during which St. The icon is brought to Kazan every year with great triumph around the time when the infection was most rampant - from June 26, and religious processions are held with it around Kazan. In 1771, through the intercession of the Mother of God icon, the Sedmiezersk citizens of Kazan were honored to get rid of a new pestilence - a plague that spread from Moscow down the Volga and had already penetrated into Kazan. Then the residents of Kazan, together with the mayor, begged Archbishop Veniamin to bring the miraculous icon to the city. Soon after this visit to the Intercessor, the pestilence, without causing significant harm, stopped in Kazan and its environs. Not only Orthodox Christians, but also other non-religious residents of the city of Kazan and the Kazan province show great reverence for the Sedmiezersk Icon.