О чудотворной иконе Пресвятой Богородицы Лидской, или Римской

The Holy Supreme Apostle Peter and the Holy Apostle John the Theologian, before they went, like the other Apostles, to different ends of the earth with the preaching of the Gospel, they first preached Christ in the surrounding cities closest to Jerusalem. And when they were in the city of Lydda 4169, which was later called Diospolis, and converted many there to Christ, they founded a church there in the name of the Most Pure Virgin Mary. Circumstances were favorable for the construction of the church. At that time, peace and tranquility came for the Church of Christ, since soon after the murder of the First Martyr Stephen, the persecution of Christians ceased in Judea. This was facilitated by the fact that the Roman Emperor Tiberius 4170, who had heard a lot about Christ our Lord, ordered that Christians not be persecuted. The book of the Acts of the Apostles speaks about this quiet time for the Christian Church: “the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria were at peace, being edified and walking in the fear of the Lord” (Acts 9:31). Having created a church in Lydda, the Apostles Peter and John went to Jerusalem and begged the Most Pure Virgin Mary to come to Lydda to see the church created in Her name, bless it and sanctify it with their coming, so that prayers in it to the God Born of the Most Pure One would reach His throne. To such a request from the apostles, the Most Pure One said: “Return to Lydda with joy: I will be there with you.” Arriving again in Lydda, they saw in the church on one of the stone pillars establishing the building, not a handwritten, but drawn by God’s will, image of the Most Pure One, representing a beautiful image of Her face and all the honest clothes that she usually wore. Seeing this, the Apostles bowed to this miraculous and unwritten image and gave thanks to the Word God incarnate from the Ever-Virgin. Then the Most Holy Theotokos came to Lydda; Having seen Her image, as well as the multitude of Her admirers, by faith in Christ Jesus, She rejoiced in spirit and gave grace and the power of miracles to Her image. After that, many years passed, Julian the Apostate 4171 ascended the throne of the Roman Caesars, who instigated cruel persecution against the Church of Christ. Knowing about the existence in Lydda of a miraculous image of the Most Pure One, he sent his relative there, also named Julian, with the command to erase that image. And then a wonderful miracle happened. As the masons tried to erase the image with stonemason tools, the colors and strokes penetrated deep into the stone pillar, and the image remained unharmed, despite all the efforts of the masons. Having worked for a long time and achieved nothing, they moved away, not being able to blot out the sacred image. The rumor about such a wondrous miracle spread to all ends of the universe - and from that time on, many believers began to flock to Lydda to worship the miraculous image of the Most Pure One. After many more years, Blessed Herman, who was later Patriarch of Constantinople 4172, went to Palestine to venerate the shrines there. Having visited Jerusalem and worshiped here at the Holy Sepulcher and other holy places, he then arrived in Lydda. Here, having venerated the miraculous image of the Most Holy Theotokos, he instructed one icon painter to make an exact list of the icon on the board. When he completed what was entrusted to him, Herman accepted this list from him and, taking the icon with him to Constantinople, he always had it with him as a priceless treasure, and prayed daily in front of this icon. Then, during the reign of Artemy, named Anastasius 4173, he, by the will of God, was elected patriarch of the reigning city. But Leo the Isaurian 4174, who ascended the royal throne after Anastasius and declared himself a zealous iconoclast, launched a persecution against the Orthodox and dishonorably expelled His Holiness Patriarch Herman from the patriarchal throne. Expelled from the church and his patriarchal home, Saint Herman took with him two holy icons, one of Christ the Savior, and the other of the same icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which the icon painter copied for him from a self-painted icon in Lydda. Then, before boarding the ship and sailing into exile, he wrote to the Pope, Most Holy Gregory 4175, a message in which he announced his innocent exile and the persecution of the Orthodox by the iconoclastic king. Having written this message, he made a hole in the strong board of the icon of the Savior and put the message there sealed, indicating the time and hour of writing it. Then, having secured the hole, he kissed the icon itself with tears and said twice: - Mentor! Mentor! Save yourself and us! Having said this, he lowered the icon into the sea, and it, sailing by sea, reached ancient Rome in one day. That same night, the Holy Pope received a notification from God about the imminent coming of the image of the Savior to Rome. Therefore, the next day, as soon as the sun rose, the pope, taking his clergy with him, got into a boat and, with candles and censers, sailed along the Tiber River into the sea to meet the icon of the Lord Jesus. When they reached the mouth of the river where it flows into the sea, they saw an icon as if walking on the waters; filled with awe and spiritual joy, they bowed to her. At the same time, Pope Gregory, turning to the honest image, said: - If You, Master, have come to us, unworthy, then we pray to You: just as You walked gloriously on the waters, so ascend into our arms, for we, fearing our unworthiness, do not dare to touch You. As soon as he said this, the icon immediately rose up and, flying through the air, like a bird, descended into the hands of the saint. He, kissing her with tears and duly honoring her, accompanied by the clergy, carried her to Rome with psalmody and walked with her through the city so that everyone could see that Divine icon. Then he placed it in the great church of the Holy Supreme Apostle Peter. Here he took out the patriarchal message from the icon, completely untouched by the water, and after reading it, he learned about everything that had been done in Constantinople by the evil iconoclast king. The holy pope also saw from the message that the icon sailed to them by sea from Constantinople within just one day and, having glorified God, told about it to everyone present; then everyone began to magnify the incomprehensible power of God. Grieving over the dominance of the iconoclastic heresy throughout the east and the expulsion of His Holiness Herman, the pope wrote a bold letter to the wicked king, denouncing his wickedness. The icon remained in Rome and from it many miracles poured out here and healing was given to the sick and sick. Meanwhile, His Holiness Herman, seeing that the iconoclasts began to subject the icons to dishonor and desecration, cutting them into pieces, throwing them into fire and throwing them into sewage, and on the other hand, feeling the approach of death, wrote from the place of his exile a second letter to the High Hierarch of Rome, and in this letter informed him of all the iniquities being committed in the East. Then he cut a hole in the board of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos painted in Lydda and put his message into it, noting on it the time and hour of writing. Having kissed the icon, the saint said with bitter tears: “Go, Lady, fleeing not from Herod to Egypt 4176, but from the bestial iconoclasts to Rome: there the Orthodox will preserve Your image and will not give it into the hands of the wicked for desecration. So, let Your honorable icon float across this large expanse of sea, carried by Your help and grace: for You carried in Your arms the Creator of heaven, earth and sea. Let us rest in the villages of the righteous, in the bosom of Abraham.” With these words, His Holiness Herman lovingly kissed the icon and lowered it into the sea. And the icon swam faster than an eagle's flight, and in one day reached Rome. That same night, the High Hierarch of Rome received a notification from God about the coming to Rome of the icon of the Queen of Heaven. Therefore, rising from sleep, he and the entire clergy set off to meet her, as they had previously set out to meet the icon of the Savior, sailing the Tiber River with candles and censers. When they reached the mouth of the Tiber River, they saw the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos floating towards them not flat, but straight, as if in a standing position, in accordance with the image written on it. The pope stretched out his hands to her, and the icon itself rose into the air and fell into his hands. With great joy, the Holy Pope received the icon and, having kissed it, returned to Rome, marveling at the wondrous miracles of God. Then he opened the hole made by Patriarch Herman and, having read the message found there, realized that only the day before the icon was lowered into the sea and thus sailed to them in one day. Having grieved for His Holiness Herman, this great lamp of the Orthodox Church, who was dying out in exile, the pope with the venerable icon of the Most Holy Theotokos made a solemn procession throughout the city, as well as with the icon of the Savior, and then brought it into the church of St. He placed the Apostle Peter here in the altar. Since then, various miracles have flowed from this icon in Rome and healings have been given to the sick. After that, several more years passed, during which iconoclastic kings and patriarchs raged in Constantinople. But then they all died with dishonor - and the blessed Emperor Michael 4177 ascended the Byzantine throne, during whose childhood the state was first ruled by his pious mother, Queen Theodora 4178. Under them, the iconoclastic heresy was completely eradicated and the triumph of Orthodoxy began. At this time, the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, taken by His Holiness Patriarch Herman to the place of imprisonment, and then sailed from there to Rome and placed there in the altar of the Church of St. Apostle Peter, began to move and waver in front of everyone who was in the church, although none of those present moved her. This was repeated several times, sometimes during the evening service, sometimes during the morning, and sometimes during the liturgy. The inhabitants of Rome were all horrified and marveled a lot at such a strange miracle. The High Hierarch of Rome was then His Holiness Pope Sergius 4179 - and then one day, when he, together, in the concelebration of numerous clergy, was performing a divine service in the Church of the Apostle Peter, the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos suddenly again came into strong movement and vibration. Seeing this, everyone present was horrified and began to cry out loudly and intensely: “Lord have mercy!” Thus, calling upon themselves the mercy of God, they achieved that the vibrations of the icon stopped. But then the icon, starting to move again, rose from the place in which it was located and ascended into the air. Then everyone in the church crowded into the altar with exclamations and began to stretch out their hands to the icon to receive it, fearing that it would fall to the ground and break - but they could not achieve what they wanted, since the icon was flying through the air very high. Slowly, as if passing through the church, she moved towards the exit of the church, carried by invisible Angelic hands. His Holiness the Pope, with all the clergy and people, followed the icon in fear and trembling, contemplating the wondrous miracle. Having reached the Tiber, the icon descended onto its waters and floated downstream to the sea. All the people and the pope walked along the shore and, looking at the departure of the icon, saw it off, shedding tears. At the same time, His Holiness Pope Sergius exclaimed: “Alas for us, our Queen and Lady, alas for us! Where are you going from us, Divine Kivote? Just as Your holy icon once came to us across the waters, so now it is moving away from us along the same path. This wondrous departure of Yours plunges us into fear and trembling: we are afraid that the same persecution from iconoclasts or other lawless people will befall us as was in Constantinople and because of which Your holy icon sailed from there. How long, O Most Pure One, will the storms and heretical unrest that disturb the Church of Christ cease?” The pope said this and much more as he accompanied the miraculous icon with the people until it disappeared from them, caught by the fast sea current. After this, the Holy Pope ordered that the miracle that had occurred be recorded in the chronicle, so that for all subsequent births the memory of it would remain. Meanwhile, the holy icon, sailing by sea, reached Constantinople and landed at its harbor near the royal chambers. The faithful men who happened to be there took her and took her to the pious Queen Theodora. Having accepted the holy icon and learning that it had been found on the sea pier, Theodora said that it was probably one of those icons that the iconoclasts, tying to stones, threw into the sea: now the ropes with which it was tied were untied or decayed, and now the icon floated to the surface. Others thought so along with the queen. Soon after, from the blessed Tsar Michael and from His Holiness Patriarch Methodius, deliberate ambassadors from persons of clergy and secular rank were sent to Rome with letters to the pope, in which he was invited to Constantinople for a council to consider and condemn the iconoclastic heresy. Having reached Rome and presented letters to the pope, the envoys brought the High Hierarch of Rome and all Orthodox Christians into great joy, for they saw that the reign of the iconoclastic heresy had ended. Then they themselves were consoled, having learned here about the great miracles that took place from the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God: how in the days of His Holiness Pope Gregory - first one, then the other - sailed by sea to Rome, sent by His Holiness Patriarch Herman, and how recently the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, having itself risen from the place where it was established, again sailed from Rome. Having written down all these wonderful events, they celebrated the day of the departure of the icon of the Most Pure Mother of God from Rome and then, arriving in Constantinople, they told the king, queen and patriarch Methodius about everything they had heard. They then remembered the icon found on the sea pier and thought: “Did this icon sail to us from Rome?” Soon special envoys from the pope arrived in Constantinople with instructions to be representatives of the Roman bishop at the council. They were shown an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, found on the seashore, and they immediately recognized in it the same miraculous image that had recently sailed from them. Having told all the people about this, they brought everyone into great joy and amazement. After that, they looked at the records about the day of the icon’s departure from Rome and saw from them that the icon sailed to Constantinople in one day. Then the patriarch with all the clergy, in the presence of the tsar and the synclite, took the miraculous icon and, accompanied by the people, solemnly transferred it to Chalcopratia 4180, where they placed it in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, rejoicing over the miraculous gift sent down from God. From that time on, this miraculous icon of the Mother of God was called Roman, since it sailed to Constantinople from Rome. Troparion of the Mother of God in honor of Her Tikhvin Icon, voice Today, like the bright sun, the all-honorable icon of Your Lady has risen for us in the air, enlightening the world with rays of mercy, even the great Russia, like some Divine gift, having reverently received from above, glorifies You, the Mother of God of all, the Lady, and joyfully magnifies Christ our God who was born from You. Pray to him, O Lady Queen Theotokos, that he may preserve all Christian cities and countries unharmed from all the slander of the enemy, and save by faith those who worship his Divine, and Your most pure image, the Virgin without art. Let us come to the Virgin Mother of God, Queen, thanking Christ God, and to that miraculous icon, let us look tenderly, and cry out to her: O Lady Mary, having visited this country with the miraculous appearance of your venerable image, save our faithful emperor in peace and good times, and all Christians, heirs showing heavenly life. We truly call to you: Rejoice, Virgin, salvation of the world. A city in Palestine, in the north. – app. from Jerusalem, on the road to Jaffa. Emperor Tiberius reigned from 14 to 37 AD. Julian the Apostate occupied the throne from 361 to 363. St. Germanus occupied the patriarchal throne in Constantinople from 715 to 730. Of course, Emperor Anastasius II, who reigned from 713 to 715. Leo III the Isaurian reigned from 716 to 741. St. Gregory occupied the papal throne in Rome from 715 to 731. Of course, Herod, called the Great, was the king of Judea in the year of the birth of Christ; fleeing from his plans to kill the newborn King of the Jews, the Mother of God, along with her Son Jesus and her betrothed Joseph, fled to Egypt. Emperor Michael III ascended the throne in 842, but began to rule the State independently from 855; reigned until 867 Theodora, the wife of Emperor Theophilus (824–842), ruled the state during the childhood of her son Michael, from 842 to 855. Of course, Pope Sergius II (from 844 to 847). Chalkoprateia is a locality in Constantinople. You might be interested in: