About the icon of our Lord Jesus Christ

In the work of St. Athanasius the Great “On the Icon of Our Lord Jesus Christ” describes a miracle that occurred from the icon of our Lord Jesus Christ in the city of Berit (now Beirut). The gist of the story is this: a Christian who lived next to a Jewish congregation left an icon of Christ in his former home when he moved to a new house. A Jew subsequently moved into this hut, but at first he did not know about the presence of the icon. When his Jewish guest noticed the image, he informed the Jewish clergy about it. Having gathered, they subjected the icon to desecration: they spat on it, beat it, nailed it to a tree, put a sponge with vinegar to its lips and pierced it with a spear - after which blood and water flowed out of the image. This miracle made a deep impression on eyewitnesses. The Jews decided to test the power of the flowing blood and water: they anointed with them the lame from birth, the blind and the demon-possessed - and they all received healing. As a result, the entire Jewish people of the city believed in Christ, fell before the icon with prayer and turned to the bishop with a request for baptism. The bishop, having learned about all the miracles that had occurred, instructed the converts in the faith, baptized them and consecrated the synagogue as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the publication, the work is presented in Church Slavonic. See also: Word about a miracle that happened in the city Take from the icon of our Lord Jesus Christ, our true God Athanasius the Great, Archbishop of Alexandra, said: a glorious miracle, worthy of memory, was created in the city of Vuuri by the icon of Christ our God. A certain Christian, living in a stable near a Jewish congregation, had an icon on which was written the image of Christ our God according to human nature. In time, buy yourself a house and leave that stable, take your own, leave the icon of the Lord in the stable. Behold, according to God's will, he moved into that stable of the Jews, where there was an icon of the Lord, and brought his own, living there, but not knowing how the icon of the Lord stood there. In time, he invited another Jew, his friend, to dinner. He was having dinner, and the called Jew looked up, and saw the icon of the Lord standing, and said to the one who called him: how are you, you Jew, holding this icon in your church? When that Jew lived, she began to rebel and swear, saying: “I have not known her before.” The called Jew departed and went to the priest, saying: for he is a Jew who has an icon of the Nazarene in his house. And she was filled with anger at her, but then she kept silent until it was already evening. On the morning of the day, many people, bishops and elders, gathered together, and came to the house where the icon of the Lord was, and jumped into the church, found the standing icon, and carried it out, placing it in the middle of their gathering and deciding: just as our fathers reproached him, so we will do to this icon. And they began to spit on the icon and beat it in the image of the face of Christ here and there, and therefore said: we have heard that our fathers nailed it to the tree, so let us do the same to this icon. And he took nails into the image, drove his hand and foot, and lifted up his lip and finger onto the reed, and placed the mouth of the Lord on the image. Therefore, he brought a spear and commanded someone to hit it on the side of the image of the Lord, and as if hit the icon with a spear, blood and water flowed out, and there was great fear on all the Jews who saw the glorious miracle, and the vessel was filled with flowing water and blood. He created the council, saying: “Let us bring the blind and the lame and the demons, let us anoint them with this blood, so that if we see a sign, we all believe in the Crucified One: the fear of this miracle will overcome us.” And he brought a single lame leg from Christmas, as if he had anointed him from the blood, and abiy jumped up and the man was all healthy. Therefore, I brought the blind and the anointing to see, and the numberless demoniacs were cleansed from the anointing by the blood. And it was seen throughout the whole city, and all the miracles flowed towards the unspeakable, their own sickly, weakened, lepers, dry and crying, and all received a kiss. Then all the Jewish people believed in our Lord Jesus Christ, and fell before the image of the icon of the Lord, crying out with tears: Glory to Thee, Christ the Son of God, for such a one has done wonders; Glory to Thee, Christ, whom our fathers crucified. But we believe in you, receive us when we fall, Master! All the Jews of that city, men and wives and children, came to the bishop, begging and receiving baptism from him. She showed the icon of the Lord to the bishop, and confessed all the desecrations on it, and showed the flowing blood and water, and told many miracles from it. The bishop received them and taught them for many days, and baptized them all, with their wives and children, and built their congregation into the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then there was great joy in that city, not only for those who healed the sick, but also for the baptized infidel Jews, who received the holy faith in a miracle for the sake of what was from the icon of our Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason, every Christian, with faith and love, venerates the holy icons. To him be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.