According to a pious tradition, the prototype of the icon of the Mother of God Jerusalem has been painted by the Apostle Saint Luke in Gethsemane fifteen years after the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Emperor Leo the Great made Constantinople to carry the icon to install it in the church dedicated to the Mother of God Source . Later, at the time of Emperor Heraclius, Constantinople was attacked by the Scythians, and the salvation of the city was obtained by the prayers of the Greek people before the icon of the Mother of God of Jerusalem . After this miraculous manifestation of the mercy of the Queen of Heaven the pious emperor ordered that the holy icon was carried into the church Blachernae, where she remained for nearly three hundred years.
the early X th century, the Russian campaign against Constantinople made and carried the icon of the Mother of God of Jerusalem in Cherson. Subsequently, after his baptism in the same city, Prince Vladimir in Kiev won the icon. Later, the inhabitants of Novgorod received the Christian faith, the great prince sent them the icon as a blessing. She lived more than four hundred years in the Cathedral Hagia Sophia.
the middle of the sixteenth century, Novgorod fell into the hands of the tsar Ivan the Terrible, who was transported to Jerusalem icon in Moscow, where she was placed in the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God.
During the French invasion in 1812, the icon was stolen and taken to Paris. Assume it is now at Notre Dame.
Copying Moscow
We keep Moscow in the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, a copy of the icon of Jerusalem which was originally the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God yf ctyz x . On the sides of the copy represented the Holy Apostles Peter, Paul, Luke, Simon, Philip, Matthew, Marc, Jacques, Thomas and Bartholomew, and the holy martyrs Procope, George and Mercury.
The copy of Constantinople
Another copy of the icon Jerusalem was transported from Jerusalem to the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, where she remained for the XII th the XV th century . According to some sources, a church dedicated to this icon in the city existed in the XI and XII th th centuries.
Copying Krivoezerskaïa Poustynia,
in government Kostroma
Krivoezersk The monastery was founded in 1644, at the time of the patriarch Joseph. He made about him in 1709 and the years that followed, was painted when the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Jerusalem . The icon remained in the monastery thereafter.
In the year 1709, many fans of solitude and ascetic feats came to settle in the monastery, among them Cyril Ulanova, iconographer of the Tsar, who was tonsured under the name of Cornelius. Before his arrival, Father Cornelius had the desire make a copy of the miraculous icon of Jerusalem the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God in Moscow. So he began immediately to work. Let's hear the story of the abbot Leonce
"As I lived in Pererva, a village on a bend of the Moskva, in the monastery dedicated to the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God and Saint Nicolas The thought occurred to me to get a pearl of great price, a rich treasure of the monastery Krivoezersky, near-Iourevets Poloski: I wanted to convince a good picture editor to make Moscow a copy of the most glorious and miraculous icon Jerusalem our Intercessor Almighty, the Protector of Christians, the Most Pure Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary. I was pursued by the tenacious desire manhandling my soul, and I went frequently to the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God piously venerate the miraculous icon. I raised toward our All-merciful Protector of Pure and ardent prayers so that she would have mercy on us and that she was willing to give His monastery Krivoezersk the same divine image than the Cathedral Moscow, by the way she and her son chose.
I do not know how it happened, but a year later, probably by the will of God and His Mother, I had totally forgotten that desire, and his thought will cross my mind even more .
In 1709, I was still living at the monastery of Saint-Nicolas Pererva. One day, I heard people telling that some Iourevets Cyril Ulanova, a native of Moscow and pious iconography of Tsar had been tonsured to the monastery Krivoezersky under the name of Cornelius. They said he had painted a icon Jerusalem our All-Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary Cathedral of the monastery dedicated to the Holy and Life. The icon, whose dimensions are slightly smaller than that of Moscow, was said to be very beautiful and quite amazing. Upon hearing this story, I wondered at God's mercy and kindness of the Queen of Heaven. I remembered my desire to see past a painted copy of the icon from Moscow to the Monastery Krivoezersky. In unspeakable joy, I rushed to Moscow to venerate the icon of the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God, and give thanks to the Protector of Christians and our God His Son. God had manifested His benevolence towards the monastery Krivoezersk! Later, I heard that the father had left the Crow Krivoezersk monastery shortly after painting the icon! So everything had happened as if it had been sent to the monastery only to do this work! It was for me another opportunity to glorify God and our Blessed Sovereign.
must say that at that time I did not intend to settle in Desert Krivoezersk. I do not also stroked the hope of seeing the divine icon that had just been painted. I was just saying to myself: "Glory to God and His Mother! By divine providence, a treasure was given to the monastery!
In 1711, it happened that God's will and demand of the monks of the monastery put me to the position of Abbot of Krivoezersk. Shortly after arriving in Moscow, I entered the church to see this divine treasure that I had so desired, this glory and joy of Christians, icon Jerusalem our Sovereign Mother of God. As my soul rejoices to have been worthy to see and worship!
icon was solemnly blessed this year, Aug. 20, shortly after the Dormition, and a special feast was established in his honor. The abbot and his entire community promised God to renew the solemn veneration every year in remembrance of God's gift. We wanted to give thanks and glory to our God in the Trinity and His merciful Mother for the award the monastery of the pearl without price, and the momentum of their incredible kindness.
It is useful here to say a few words about the monk Cornelius. Just tonsured, he quickly began to paint the icon of our Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, in her arms her divine child, the Son and God, our Lord Jesus Christ. As befits the newly tonsured monk, he lived in piety, fear, and temperance, respecting the tradition of the Holy Father who commands to fast for forty days. Through the intercession of the Most Pure Mother of God, God gave him such a compunction that her tears flowed continuously while he painted the soft features and divine Queen of Heaven and His Son, the Most Sweet Jesus. He refrained from talking during work, our Protector, and prayed constantly to have mercy on him, that his work lead him to the monastery with all the joy and salvation. This compunction animated all his prayers, day and night. With the help of God and His Most Pure Mother, he finished the divine icon. The result was so beautiful, so unexpected, that he was surprised and seized with fear. He praised God and His Most Pure Mother for mercy. Before the end the period of forty days after the tonsure, the hieromonks the monastery could pick up the completed icon in his cell and bring merrily to church. Even today, when thinking of the time he painted this icon, her soul is filled with gentleness and joy.
It must therefore believe that this miraculous icon of the Most Holy Mother of God of Jerusalem was painted by a special effect of the providence of God and His All-Holy Mother. "
From 1711, Following a request from area residents who worshiped many, it became customary to bring the icon in the parish churches and among the inhabitants of the offices of thanksgiving. This custom was upheld in 1720 by Bishop Pitirim, Archbishop of Nizhny Novgorod.
The first documented glorification of the holy icon was in 1781. On 22 December of that year, a large fire broke out at the monastery. He soon all buildings, especially the wooden church of Saint Nicolas and its bell tower. Then he reached the stone church dedicated the Holy Trinity and its bell tower, under the helpless eyes of brothers to control the raging elements. It was with horror they watched pieces the church burst into flames and go up in smoke. The fire gained throughout the building, exposing the holy icon to an inevitable destruction. Yet, although the fire had penetrated inside the church remains. The icons were damaged and covered with soot, puffy paints, but the icon Jerusalem was spared, residing as bright, clear and clean before. We could only watch on the wrist of the left hand of the All-Pure the blister from a burn, which subsided with time but still visible, as if to attest that the hand had suffered.
On July 4, 1859, at eleven o'clock, a fire broke out in a resident-Iourevets Poloski, called Alexander Lougovsky because of a careless worker. As a strong wind blowing at that time, the fire spread to the surrounding houses, and fourteen owners lost their homes and property. It seemed inevitable that the fire would win the other houses and three churches close, as the wind fanned the fire and threw off sparks. The roofs of some buildings is beginning to catch fire.
But now the Lord God was willing to show mercy to sinners. It was only this time the cathedral of the city hosted the precious icon of the Mother of God of Jerusalem Monastery Krivoezersk. The inhabitants of Iourevets had indeed claimed the holy and venerable icon for a procession around the city. All resources deployed against the fire proving ineffective, residents petitioned the rector of the Cathedral to please drive icon on the premises. As we took it with all the honors due to him, the wind turned north-east to north-west and the sparks stopped raining on the city. The fire seemed to die down, we brought the icon to the cathedral. However, to everyone's surprise, the wind began to blow from the northwest, the fire flared up, and sparks again threatened the city. The people, measuring the miracle protection and intercession of the Mother of God, made back the holy icon. The tide turned again. This times the icon was kept on the premises until the fire was completely extinguished. The inhabitants of the city, all witnesses of the miracle, insisted that it was published, as a testimony for generations to come.
Intercession of the Mother of God was not limited to fires. It is also necessary during epidemics of cholera, which fell on Krivoezersk and its surroundings in 1848 and 1853. Wherever it was the holy icon, the contagion ceased, or the deadly effects disappeared. It was the same in the case of an epidemic, as the monastery than in villages. There were also cases of cures of patients, including two young girls who participated in processions with the miraculous icon.
The copy of the Russian monastery
St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos
This holy icon is in a Clad in glass, located above the royal doors of the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God. Was wont make it down on occasion with the wide velvet ribbon embroidered on its Troparion which it is suspended, to be offered for veneration. It was painted in 1825 by the monastery Krivoezersky hierodeacon Nikon (Nile in full dress), who sent a gift to the monastery of St. Panteleimon in 1850.
on this icon, the All Holy Virgin holds the Infant God, our Lord Jesus Christ on His right arm, contemplating one who relies on it as on a throne of glory. The Lord blesses His right hand, fingers folded forming the letters IC. His left hand holds a roll. On the banks of the icon are represented St. Joachim and St. Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On the back, one can find an inscription saying that the icon was painted by Hieromonk Nikon's monastery of St. Nil-de-la-Sora, who wanted, as a result of a special incentive of providence, bear witness his zeal for the Russian monastery of Panteleimon Anargyri and great martyr, and the benevolence of God and the All-Holy Mother of God.
When the icon came to the monastery, they sent a letter to Nikon hieromonk asking him to explain, if possible, How was this particular incentive. By letter dated December 12, 1852, Father Nikon says that thirty years ago, when he was still hierodeacon and lived in the desert Krivoezersk he had been impressed by the miracles of the icon of the monastery. He decided to paint an exact copy, except as regards dimensions. During the blessing of the icon, there was a sign, a self-fulfilling prophecy clearly, and subsequently, other manifestations of grace. Later, he left, according to the will of God, move to the monastery Saint-Nil, then almost deserted. The icon never left him. She served as a balm for the soul and the heart in tribulation. The grace of the icon would cure diseases, protect the fire ... He had never intended to part ways, but the providence of God and His All-Holy Mother had other plans. He prayed the fathers of the Monastery of St. Panteleimon to believe, and do not doubt that the icon they had been sent by God and the benevolence of the Queen of Heaven. He also asked that did not require him more details. However, so they do not feel offended, he added at the end of his letter the story of a dream he had had two months before sending the icon: "I seemed to see the Holy Mountain of Athos. I was beginning to climb the slopes, accompanied by a person who was my guide and claimed to have already traveled to Mount Athos. We approached a rocky escarpment, there is no word to say how difficult it was to make the ascent. My companion climbed with ease, and I fear and force only. However, until we reached a place where my guide became invisible. I suspect that this guide was none other than my old St. Nil of Sora. It seemed quite impossible to continue to climb on these rocks. The fear I won. I continued anyway and succeeded on a promontory where there was a church. My soul and my heart filled with joy, reverence and fear: I saw near the entrance of the church an extraordinarily beautiful woman, dressed in clothes as white as snow. His gaze was friendly and affectionate. She said she saw me: 'Fortunately, you have come quickly! " She then gave me a spoon on a white liquid like milk, ineffably sweet taste. " Take this, you need it, you're tired, "This Woman God then uttered the words untold and told me to send my holy icon at Russian monastery on Mount Athos. After sending the icon, all that the Sovereign had promised was fulfilled, the hermitage of the Monastery of St. Nil-de-la-Sora was declared independent, the church dedicated to Saint John the Forerunner on where had lived Saint Nile was finally consecrated after ten years of waiting, my desire to receive the full dress and remain near the said church in the cell of St. Nilus was filled, and many other things. " The letter ends with these words: "Glory, grandeur and honor to the Ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of God! "
At vigils of feasts of the Mother of God, we descend the holy icon with honor and celebrated a Akathist before her at the end of which the abbot and all the brothers worship, bow to the ground and ask to the Mother of God his help and intercession before her Son and our God.
Celebrating the holy icon October 12th.
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