Smolensk icon Mother of God belongs to the iconographic type "Hodegetria". The title can be translated from Greek like a guide.

This is one of the most common images in Byzantine and Russian art.

Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God: compositional features

The composition of the Hodegetria iconography is as follows: the Mother of God and the Infant Christ are depicted almost frontally, their faces facing the praying person do not touch. The head of the Mother of God may be slightly tilted towards the Son, the hand is raised in a prayer gesture at chest level. The Divine Infant sits in the arms of the Mother; He blesses with his right hand, with his left he holds a scroll, less often a book. The Mother of God is most often represented in a half-length image, but there are also full-length and shoulder options, for example, the Kazan icon. The baby can be located both to the right and to the left of the Virgin, more often He is depicted sitting on the left hand of the Blessed Virgin.

Mosaic icon. 1st half of the 13th century National Gallery, Palermo, Italy

Idea for Hodegetria

The defining theological idea of ​​this image is the coming into the world of the Son of God, the incarnation of God for the salvation of mankind. The Fragile Infant is the Heavenly King and the Coming Judge. The gesture of the right hand of the Mother of God can be interpreted not only as a prayer, expressing Her personal prayer to God. With this gesture, the Mother of God, as it were, points the believers to the One to whom their thoughts and prayers should be directed.

N.P. Kondakov, who studied the iconography of the Virgin, believed that the image of Hodegetria was one of the most ancient. It developed in Palestine or Egypt even before the VI century. Since the 6th century, it has been widely distributed throughout the Orthodox East and Byzantium.

Mosaic icon. Byzantium. 13th century Monastery of St. Catherine, Sinai, Egypt

According to Church Tradition, the first such icon of the Virgin and Child was painted by the apostle and evangelist Luke. In the middle of the 5th century, this image, along with other shrines, was brought from the Holy Land to Constantinople by Empress Eudokia, wife of Emperor Theodosius the Younger. Some sources report that the icon was placed in the temple convent Odigon but on Holy Week the icon was transferred from the monastery to the imperial palace. Near the monastery there was a spring that healed the blind. The nuns took care of those who came to the spring. The area was called "place of guides" or "place of leaders", and the monastery became known as Odigon - "Guide", "Guide". According to the name of the monastery, the main shrine - the icon of the Mother of God - became known as Hodegetria. Originally given as a topographical name, it was also endowed with a deep meaning: the Mother of God is the guide of believers, instructing the true even though protecting from the enemy. The icon was one of the most revered shrines of Constantinople, it was considered the palladium of the city. During the attack of enemies, the image was raised to the city walls.

Empress Evdokia. Marble icon with inlay. From the church of Lipsa monastery. 10th century Archaeological Museum, Istanbul

Researchers believe that it was with the icon of the Odigon monastery that a procession was made on Tuesdays throughout Constantinople. During this prayer procession, a miracle regularly occurred, which was described by the Russian pilgrim Stefan of Novgorod, who visited the capital of Byzantium in 1348 or 1349. A heavy large icon was carried across the square by only one person. “That icon is taken out every Tuesday. This spectacle is amazing: then all the people come together, and people come from other cities. This icon is very large, skillfully bound, and the singers walking in front of it sing beautifully, and all the people cry out: “Lord, have mercy!” … It's a marvelous sight: seven or eight people put an icon on the shoulders of one person, and he, by the will of God, walks around as if not burdened by anything,” says Stefan. Numerous miracles and healings took place before the icon.

Mother of God Hodegetria. Byzantium. 1st quarter of the 15th century

According to one version of the legend, the icon painted by the Apostle Luke and brought from the Holy Land ended up in the Blachernae Church, where there was also a healing spring and where other shrines were kept: a robe and part of the belt of the Virgin. It is possible that one of the lists made from the original icon by the apostle was placed in the Blachernae Church. It is known that several lists were made from the original image, which became famous for miracles. In any case, in the Blachernae Church there was a particularly revered icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria.

Blachernae icon. Wax mastic. XIII - XIV centuries. Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

Numerous lists of the miraculous image of the Mother of God Hodegetria were sent to all parts of the empire and beyond. From Byzantium, the iconographic type of Hodegetria comes to Russia, where, according to the place of creation, residence or miraculous acquisition, such icons were named: Toropetskaya, Smolenskaya, Tikhvinskaya, Iverskaya, Sedmiezernaya, Kazanskaya.

Mother of God Hodegetria. Pskov. The end of the XIII - the beginning of the XIV century. GTG, Moscow

History of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria”

The icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, called "Smolensk", arrived in Russia in the middle of the XI century. In 1046, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh blessed his daughter Anna with this icon to marry Prince Vsevolod, son of Yaroslav the Wise. After the death of Vsevolod, his son, Vladimir Monomakh, transferred the icon to Smolensk, where the temple of the Dormition of the Theotokos was founded, in which the shrine was subsequently placed.

According to legend, when the hordes of Batu Khan approached Smolensk in 1239, the city was saved from devastation through the intercession of the Mother of God. A warrior named Mercury, praying in front of the icon, received an instruction from the Mother of God to fight the enemy standing at the walls. The Mongols saw that Mercury was assisted in battle by lightning-fast men and a radiant Wife. Terrified, throwing down their weapons, the enemies fled, pursued by an unknown force. Mercury was martyred in battle and was canonized by the Church as a saint.

Mother of God Hodegetria. Byzantium. Mid 15th century Private collection.

At the end of the 14th or beginning of the 15th century, the icon of Our Lady Hodegetria was brought from Smolensk, captured by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, to Moscow, where, as a particularly revered shrine, it was placed in the Cathedral of the Annunciation, on the right side of the royal gates. There are three versions of the circumstances under which the icon ended up in Moscow. One of options The transfer of the icon is associated with dynastic marriage. Perhaps this icon was given by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt to his daughter Sophia, the wife of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich, when she was in Smolensk in 1398 to meet her father and received from him many icons in Greek writing. According to another version, the last of the Smolensk princes, Yuri Svyatoslavovich, who was expelled in 1404 by Vitovt, arrived in Moscow and brought with him the Hodegetria icon along with other icons. The third version, set out in the Russian Vremyanik, says that a certain Yurga, pan Svilkoldovich, when he left Svidrigail, the Lithuanian prince, to the great Moscow prince Vasily Vasilyevich, plundered Smolensk on the road, along with other things, took the Hodegetria icon and brought it as a gift to the Moscow grand duke.

In 1456 Bishop Misail of Smolensk arrived in Moscow, accompanied by the governor of the city and noble citizens. The Smolensk people asked the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich the Dark to return the icon to Smolensk. The prince, seeing in this step a pledge of the future reunification of Smolensk with Moscow, decided to return the shrine. From the icon they made an exact, "measure in measure" list, which remained in Moscow, in the Annunciation Cathedral. The icon was taken out of the Kremlin in a procession, went to the Maiden's Field, which is at the entrance to the Old Smolensk Road, and after the prayer service, the icon was released to Smolensk. On the icon-list, the scroll in the hand of the Child is depicted in a vertical position. Researchers suggest that this feature was also on the sample - the Smolensk icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, sent from Constantinople.

List of the Smolensk icon Hodegetria. Moscow. 1456 Recorded in the 19th century. Armory, Moscow Kremlin Museums

In 1514, Smolensk was conquered from Lithuania by the troops of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III Ivanovich. In memory of this event, in 1523, the prince founded the Novodevichy Convent not far from the place where the Muscovites said goodbye to the icon. On July 28, 1525, the copy of the icon that had been kept in the Annunciation Cathedral was solemnly transferred from the Kremlin to the monastery church, consecrated in the name of the Smolensk icon of Hodegetria. In 1927, this icon, thanks to its rich gold setting of the time of Boris Godunov and a pearl riza, was transferred to the Armory.

In 1602, in Smolensk, an exact list was written from the miraculous icon, which was placed in the tower of the Smolensk fortress wall, above the Dnieper Gates, under a specially arranged tent. Later, in 1727, a church was built there. In 1666, the ancient Smolensk icon was returned to Moscow for the second time: Archbishop Varsonofy of Smolensk brought it here to restore the painting, which had darkened with time.

In 1812, during the French invasion, the icon was taken from Smolensk by Bishop Iriney (Falkovsky) and delivered to Moscow, where residents could pray before it in the Assumption Cathedral. On the day of the Battle of Borodino, August 26, Muscovites in a procession from Smolensk, Iverskaya and Vladimir icons walked around the White City, Kitay-gorod and the Kremlin walls. Before the occupation of Moscow by the French, the Smolensk icon was sent to Yaroslavl, where it remained until the very end of the Patriotic War, and then returned to Smolensk. The icon, which was located until 1941 in the Assumption Cathedral of Smolensk, was revered as the original, brought from Constantinople. AT During the Great Patriotic War, the ancient icon disappeared without a trace.

The most ancient images of the Mother of God, according to legend, belong to the brush of the Evangelist Luke, who created them during his lifetime. Holy Mother of God. These include the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God. She arrived in Russia as wedding gift Emperor of Byzantium Constantine IX Porphyrogenic to his daughter Anna, who was married to Prince Vsevolod of Chernigov, son of Yaroslav the Wise.

The Smolensk icon is a list from the icon of the Mother of God "Hodegetria Blachernae"

From the history of the icon

The name "Hodegetria", that is, the Guide, is associated with a miracle revealed by the Mother of God herself, who once brought two blind men to the Blachernae Church, where they received their sight by Her will.

The Smolensk Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was also a guide during Anna's journey from Byzantium to Russia. After the death of the spouses, their son, Prince Vladimir Monomakh, transferred the icon to Smolensk, in honor of which it was called "Smolensk".

The history of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God "Hodegetria" is associated with many miraculous deliverances

So, thanks to the fervent prayer of the inhabitants of Smolensk, their city in 1239 was delivered from the Batu invasion. There are cases when prayers in front of the icon protected from terrible epidemics, from attacks by enemies and enemy conquest. For the Orthodox, the Smolensk icon "Hodegetria" has indeed always been a guide, indicating the right path.

The icon enjoyed such reverence that temples were erected in its honor. So, the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God was built in St. Petersburg, Arzamas, Shuya and other cities. The Shuiskaya Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God became especially famous.

In 1665, Shuya was seized by an epidemic of pestilence, and the frightened residents decided that they needed to write a list from the Smolensk icon. The pious icon painter made a sketch, but the next day he discovered that the position of the Infant Jesus had changed: His right leg was placed on the left knee. Deciding that this was his mistake, he corrected the icon, however, the next day the position of the Infant again became the same.

The icon painter considered this God's sign and made no further corrections. When the finished icon was brought to the temple, it shone with an extraordinary light, and after the prayer service the pestilence ended. After that, a real pilgrimage to the icon began, more than a hundred miracles took place, and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich even sent a special commission to Shuya to certify the miraculous power of the Shuya (Smolensk) icon, which was done.

Description of the icon

According to the iconographic type, the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God belongs to one of the oldest renderings characteristic of Byzantine writing.

This is a half-length image of the Virgin with the Infant Jesus. The Blessed Virgin is dressed in scarlet (on modern lists often red) color, which emphasizes Her status as the Queen of Heaven. She holds the Infant Jesus on her left hand, and with her right hand, as it were, she points to Him. The meaning of this gesture lies in the fact that the Guide shows the way to salvation through Jesus Christ.

Jesus is also in a royal robe of golden color, that is, in the form of the Almighty. In His left hand is a scroll symbolizing His teachings, right hand raised with fingers folded in a gesture of blessing. An aura of faith and hope seems to emanate from the icon that the path to salvation really exists, and Hodegetria points it out.

What helps the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God

This icon has shown so many miracles that its meaning does not need explanation - even today it remains for the Orthodox one of the most revered images of the Mother of God, the patroness and protector of the Russian state. That is why they turn to her with prayers for the protection of the Motherland from enemy invasions and wars; on the preservation of the life and health of military personnel, especially in hot spots; about getting rid of epidemics.

The Smolensk Mother of God helps in family affairs: protects the family hearth from envious people and ill-wishers; strengthens steadfastness in faith and helps to resist temptations and delusions; helps to heal from serious illnesses and resolve difficult life situations.

Prayer of the Smolensk Mother of God

O Wonderful and Exceeding all creatures, the Queen of the Theotokos, the Heavenly King Christ our God Mother, the Most Pure Hodegetria Mary! Hear us sinners and unworthy at this hour, praying and falling down to Your Most Pure Image with tears and tenderly saying: lead us from the ditch of passions, the Most Gracious Lady, deliver us from all sorrow and sorrow, protect us from all misfortunes and evil slander, and from the unrighteous and fierce libel of the enemy. May you, O our Blessed Mother, save Thy people from all evil and supply and save with all good deeds; unless you have another Representative in troubles and situations, and warm intercessors for us sinners, not imams. Pray, O Most Holy Lady, Thy Son Christ our God, that He may honor us with the Kingdom of Heaven; For this reason, we always praise Thee, as the Creator of our salvation, and we exalt the holy and magnificent name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the Trinity of the glorified and worshiped God, forever and ever. Amen.

On August 10, the Church celebrates the memory of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God. The Smolensk Gate Icon of the Mother of God, which is now in the Cathedral of the Assumption in the city of Smolensk, is a list from that legendary icon of Hodegetria of Smolensk, which, according to legend, was painted in the first century during the life of the Most Holy Theotokos by the apostle and evangelist Luke. This first Hodegetria, having gone a long way from Constantinople to Smolensk, mysteriously disappeared during the years of Soviet power.

“She’s definitely around here somewhere. We have not found any documents that would confirm that it was sold, given away or destroyed,” says Hieromonk Serafim Amelchenkov, teacher at the Smolensk Theological Academy. He devoted many years to studying the history of the Smolensk Holy Assumption Cathedral and the shrines stored in it.

The majestic Assumption Cathedral stands on Cathedral Hill, towering over the entire city. In 1922, when the seizure of church valuables began, and an anti-religious museum was made in the cathedral, the icon was seen in last time, but not in the center of the temple, but in the choir stalls. Apparently, she was specially placed so high that believers could not pray in front of her. Then the icon disappeared. In 1941, during the German occupation, the cathedral became operational again for a while, but the icon was no longer found. Then they put in its place a list of the middle of the XVI century. The icon-list was not inferior to its predecessor in the number of miracles and in the veneration of the people, but Hodegetria is still waiting for the apostolic letter in Smolensk, they still believe that the time will come, and she will reveal herself from some hiding place, where she has miraculously been preserved all these years as it once was.

Miracles on Tuesdays

Fifth century after the birth of Christ. Pandemonium in the Blachernae Church of Constantinople on Tuesdays. People came from the far corners of the Byzantine or as it was then called the Roman Empire. Miracles are again happening near the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria. It is generally accepted that She herself, even during Her earthly life, blessed this icon, promising that she would always be with the Grace of the Son born of Her. It has already been noticed that the Mother of God is especially merciful to those who ask on Tuesdays. For many sick and unfortunate people, this miraculous icon has become a guidebook, in Greek guidebook means “hodegetria”, and this is how the icon was called. However, it is possible that it is called that because for a long time it was a regimental icon of the Odigon regiment of Constantinople, but in history it is remembered as healing and showing the correct spiritual path to salvation. Tuesday, as the day of miracles, was noted by the Byzantines in their chronicles. Father Seraphim, studying the Byzantine and Russian archives, came to the conclusion that the decree Holy Synod In the 1840s, the establishment of Tuesday as the day for reading the akathist to the Mother of God was not accidental.

During the period of iconoclasm, the icon showed its main miracle - it was preserved from desecration and destruction. Many pious people then tried to hide the icons. For example, they hung them somewhere in the temple at the highest place, or immured them into the wall. Hodegetria was immured in the wall of the Blachernae Church. When the terrible times were over and they opened a niche in the wall where the icon had been kept all this time, they were surprised to find that the icon was not only not damaged, but a lamp was still burning near it.

Imperial blessing

The tribes of Russ attacked Constantinople every now and then. Either alone, or as part of some other, no less barbaric tribes. By the way, the song of the Mother of God "Victorious to the Chosen Governor" was composed in honor of the Hodegetria icon in 866. Patriarch Photius of Constantinople prayed before her, while Emperor Michael III left Asia Minor in a hurry to protect his capital from the Russian troops of Askold. Then the icon was even allowed to float on the sea, and it caused a storm, which frightened the Russians, driving them away from the capital and instilling respect for the Christian faith.

Who would have thought then that it was the Russian people who would turn out to be the guardians of the icon, that the Byzantine princess Anna in 1046 would marry the Chernigov prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich and bring the Hodegetria icon with her to Chernigov as the most expensive thing - a parental blessing. Emperor Constantine, Anna's father, apparently was very worried that he was giving his daughter to a barbarian country so far from home, since he gave her such a blessing on the road, the greatest shrine of Constantinople. Anna, on her deathbed, blessed her son, the future with this icon. Kiev prince Vladimir Monomakh. When the young prince received his first inheritance of Smolensk in his reign, he brought the icon with him and built for it the temple of the Assumption of the Mother of God, in which Hodegetria, with breaks for wars and disorganization, stayed all the time until the Second World War. According to the place of its residence, the icon began to be called the Hodegetria of Smolensk.

frontier city

Smolensk is a border city. Sitting on the high Cathedral Hill of Smolensk, I want to look into the eyes of those madmen who dared to attack this city, spread out on steep mountains. Starting from 1238, Tatars, Lithuanians, Poles, French, Germans visited Smolensk.

In 1238, the young Mercury, a Roman by origin, had a vision of the Mother of God, who told him that he must protect the city of Smolensk from the hordes of Tatars, and Mercury himself would die in the process. Great was Mercury's trust in God. At 25 versts from Smolensk, Mercury took the fight and repulsed the regiments of the Tatars. During the battle, the face of the Mother of God appeared in the sky, at which the Tatars shot in fright. But their arrows were reflected from the face and flew into themselves. But now the battle is over, it seems that everything is behind, and the tired warrior is looking for rest. Mercury fell asleep on the battlefield. At this time, one of the retreating Tatars cut off his head.
Mercury himself is buried under the cathedral, the exact location is not known, and his armor was left for preservation in the cathedral. Now only iron sandals are left of them. The spear was taken by Napoleon, believing that the one who possesses it will never be defeated, and the helmet was stolen from the cathedral in 1954 by Russian people.
At the beginning of the 15th century, the icon was saved from the Lithuanians in Moscow. For fifty years she remained in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Under the Grand Duke Vasily the Dark, the icon was returned, but the Moscow residents left the memory of it - the Novodevichy Convent, built on the site of the last farewell to the icon. A copy of the icon was left in the monastery, and at the same time a feast was established for it on August 10 (according to the new style). The farewell was not the last. Before the invasion of the Poles, in 1609, the icon was again sent on time to Moscow, and then to Yaroslavl. The siege of Smolensk, which lasted twenty months, brought the Assumption Cathedral into a difficult state. The defenders of Smolensk blew up a gunpowder store located in the mountain under the cathedral, causing the vault of the cathedral to collapse. The Poles built a church in the dilapidated cathedral. And only when Smolensk finally joined the Muscovite state, at the behest of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Hodegetria was returned. The Holy Assumption Cathedral then almost did not exist, so neglected was its condition after the Polish occupation. It was decided to build a new cathedral for the icon. Now it is visible from all points of the city.
On the night of August 5-6, 1812, the icon was again taken out of the cathedral. Again evacuation along the already tested route Smolensk-Moscow-Yaroslavl. It was on the night of the storming of Smolensk by the French. The entire journey of the icon was accompanied by prayers. And again, after the expulsion of the enemies, Hodegetria returned home.

The border location of Smolensk led Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich to the idea of ​​building a defensive wall around Smolensk in 1602. Boris Godunov was appointed to supervise the construction. Thanks to this construction, a second Hodegetria appeared in Smolensk, an exact list from the first. The accuracy of the copy was in everything except size.

List

By the day the new Smolensk wall was consecrated, Boris Godunov became tsar. The icon-list, which is now in the Holy Assumption Cathedral, was painted in 1535 for the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin. That icon, which, according to legend, was painted by the Apostle Luke, was 81 cm long and 63 cm wide. The list turned out to be much larger than the original. The location for the list icon has been chosen new wall over the Dnieper or Frolovsky, by the name of the gate church, the gates of the city, so that all people entering Smolensk can see it.

From the new icon, miracles also began to happen. The local nobleman Fyodor Bogdanovich Passik, who was heavily infected with the free-thinking ideas of the 18th century, was healed. During the service in the temple, he allowed himself to speak insultingly about the icon. In the evening of the same day, Fyodor Bogdanovich became very ill. His illness was terrible and indefinite: paralysis, ulcers, rotting wounds, which they tried to treat even with a red-hot iron. For a long time he suffered so, until one day he had a dream in which some old monk predicted death to him if he did not repent. Then in a dream he saw the icon of the Mother of God, which he remembered all the way to the last folds. She was exactly like the Hodegetria of Smolensk, but much larger, from which he understood that he had seen the icon above the gate. Fyodor Bogdanovich hastened to her. In the temple above the gate, he saw an old monk from a dream, who turned out to be the caretaker of this temple. After that, Fyodor Bogdanovich again fell into a sound sleep, so that everyone thought that he had died. But this dream was no longer to death, but to recovery.

The new icon began to be called the Hodegetria Over the Gate. Throughout the Patriotic War of 1812, the Gateway Hodegetria passed along with the Russian army. Then she received national praise. Before the Battle of Borodino, M. I. Kutuzov served a prayer service to the Mother of God in front of this icon. The description of this event is in the novel "War and Peace" by L. N. Tolstoy.

She's somewhere around

At the beginning of the 20th century, two icons were in the Smolensk Holy Assumption Cathedral. The ancient image was very dark due to old age. The board was heavy, and it was impossible to determine the type of wood. Colour outerwear The Mother of God was brown, and the lower one was dark blue. The clothes of the Eternal Child were dark green with gold. On the other side of the icon, the Crucifixion of the Lord was depicted and the inscription “Vasileus estavrofi” was made, which means “The King is crucified.” This is how the icon looked until 1941, before its mysterious disappearance.

Since 1922, the cathedral has been an anti-religious museum. A stuffed goat in episcopal vestments was placed on the High Place, and portraits of the leader were hung on all the walls. The ancient icon was located on the choirs of the twenty-five-meter ceiling of the cathedral. On August 6, 1941, the German occupation of Smolensk began. People themselves opened the Cathedral of the Assumption to start worship. But neither in the choirs, nor within, nowhere was the ancient icon found.

But they found a large icon-list above the gate, a gift from Boris Godunov. She lay in rubbish and rubbish. She was placed for veneration, covered with a temporary brocade robe. The first Lutheran service was held by the Germans, and on August 10, on the feast of the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, the first was performed by the priest Timothy Glebov. Orthodox Liturgy after years desolation. Since then, the Assumption Cathedral has not been closed.

Since no documents confirming the destruction, sale or transfer of the ancient icon somewhere have been found, and there is no mention of this in oral stories, it can be assumed that Hodegetria of Smolensk is located somewhere in Smolensk or its environs. Maybe it was hidden before the occupation locals, as already happened. Maybe she is walled up in some wall of this harsh ancient city, and is waiting for the hour when it will be possible to show us His love in all the splendor of a wonderful providence, as then in the Blachernae church in 842 ...

THE SMOLENSK ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD NAMED "HODEGETRIA"

The miraculous icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, called the Hodegetria of Smolensk, has been known in Russia since ancient times. "Hodegetria", translated from Greek, means "Guide". There are several versions of the origin of this name, but the fact that the Most Holy Theotokos for all Orthodox Christians is a guide to eternal salvation is an undeniable truth.

According to Church tradition, the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, called the Hodegetria, was painted by the holy Evangelist Luke during the earthly life of the Most Holy Theotokos at the request of the ruler of Antioch, Theophilus, for whom he wrote an essay on the earthly life of Christ, known as the Gospel of Luke. When Theophilus died, the image was returned to Jerusalem, and in the 5th century, the blessed Empress Eudoxia, the wife of Arcadius, transferred Hodegetria to Constantinople to the emperor's sister, Queen Pulcheriawho placed the holy icon in Blachernae Church.

The image came to Russia in 1046. The Greek Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh (1042-1054), passing off his daughter Anna to Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich, son of Yaroslav the Wise, blessed her on her journey with this icon. After the death of Prince Vsevolod, the icon passed to his son Vladimir Monomakh, who transferred it at the beginning of the 12th century to Smolensk Cathedral Church in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary . Since that time, the icon has received the name Hodegetria Smolenskaya .

Assumption Cathedral (Smolensk)

History of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God

In 1238 Batu Khan's army approached Smolensk. In that rati was a giant warrior, who, according to legend, alone was worth almost a whole rati. All Smolensk people came out to pray in front of the image of the Smolensk Hodegetria the Guide. The Tatars had already come very close to the city, by today's standards there were no more than 30 kilometers left, when a sexton in the Pechersky Monastery outside the city saw in a vision the Mother of God, who ordered him to bring a warrior named Mercury to Her. Entering the Pechersk Church, Mercury saw with his own eyes the Mother of God, sitting on a golden throne with the Child in her arms and surrounded by angels. The Mother of God said that Mercury must save Her own inheritance from desecration, which once again indicated Her special protection over the Smolensk land. She also told him about his imminent martyrdom, and that she herself would not leave him, but would be with him to the end.

Following the command of the Mother of God, the selfless Orthodox warrior Mercury raised all the townspeople, preparing them for a siege, and he himself penetrated the camp of Batu at night and killed many enemies, including their strongest warrior. Then, in an unequal battle with the invaders, he laid down his head on the battlefield. His remains were buried in the Smolensk Cathedral. Soon, Mercury was ranked as a locally venerated saint (November 24), the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God was also declared locally venerated, and the legend “The Tale of Mercury of Smolensk” was composed about his feat, which dates back to about the 15th - 16th centuries. Moreover, the legend says that after the burial, Mercury appeared to the same sexton and ordered the shield and spear that belonged to him during his lifetime to be hung in his resting place.

Sandals of the Holy Martyr Mercury - one of the shrines of the Smolensk Cathedral

In 1395 Smolensk principality fell under the protectorate of Lithuania. In 1398, in order to avoid bloodshed in Moscow and soften the acute relations between the Polish-Lithuanian rulers and Moscow, the daughter of the Lithuanian prince Vitovt Sophia was married to the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dimitrievich (1398-1425). The Smolensk Hodegetria became her dowry and was now transferred to Moscow and installed in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Kremlin on the right side of the altar.

Annunciation Cathedral (Moscow Kremlin)

In 1456, at the request of the inhabitants of Smolensk, headed by Bishop Misail, the icon was solemnly returned to Smolensk with a procession of the cross. On June 28, according to the old style, at the monastery of Savva the Sanctified on the Maiden's Field in Moscow, with a large gathering of people, the icon was solemnly escorted to the bend of the Moskva River, from where the path to Smolensk began. A prayer service was served. Half a century later, in 1514, Smolensk was returned to Russia (the assault on the city by Russian troops began on July 29 - the day after the celebration of the Smolensk Icon).

In 1524, in memory of this event, Grand Duke Vasily III founded the Mother of God-Smolensky Monastery, which we know more as Novodevichy Convent . The monastery was consecrated and began to operate in 1525. From this period, the all-Russian glorification of the icon began, officially established by the Church.

Novodevichy Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery on Devichye Pole in Moscow

However, the Muscovites were not left without a shrine - two copies of the miraculous icon remained in Moscow. One was placed in the Annunciation Cathedral, and the other - "measure in measure" - in 1524 in the Novodevichy Convent, founded in memory of the return of Smolensk to Russia. In 1602, an exact list was written from the miraculous icon (in 1666, together with the ancient icon new list were taken to Moscow for renovation), which was placed in the tower of the Smolensk fortress wall, above the Dnieper gates, under a specially arranged tent. Later, in 1727, a wooden church, and in 1802 - stone.

The miraculous image of Smolensk again showed its intercession during the Patriotic War of 1812 . On August 5, 1812, when the Russian troops left Smolensk, the icon was taken to Moscow, and on the eve of the Battle of Borodino, this image was carried around the camp to strengthen and encourage the soldiers to a great feat.

Prayer before the Battle of Borodino

On August 26, on the day of the battle in Borodino, three images of the Virgin - the ancient image of the Hodegetria of Smolensk, along with the Iberian and Vladimir icons of the Mother of God, were surrounded in a procession around the capital, and then sent to the sick and wounded soldiers in the Lefortovo Palace, so that they could bow to the shrines, thank before them the Mother of God for intercession and ask for recovery.Before leaving Moscow, the icon was transported to Yaroslavl.

After the victory over the enemy, on November 5, 1812, by order of Kutuzov, the Hodegetria icon, along with the glorified list, was returned to Smolensk to its native Assumption Cathedral.

In 1929, the Assumption Cathedral was closed, but, like many other temples and churches of that period, it was not subject to desecration and ruin. Intelligence, which can be considered reliable, about the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God - the prototype of other, subsequent lists break off in 1941, after the capture of Smolensk by German troops. Then, in early August 1941, the headquarters of the German command received a message that the list of the icon, attributed according to historical data to the brush of the Evangelist Luke, is in its original place, in good condition, the icon is considered miraculous and its location is a place of worship and pilgrimage. Nothing more is known about that icon.

Now, in place of the missing icon, there is a list of the middle of the 16th century, which is not inferior to its predecessor in the number of miracles and in popular veneration, but Hodegetria is still waiting for the apostolic letter in Smolensk, they still believe that the time will come, and she will reveal herself from some a hiding place where it was miraculously preserved all these years, as it once was.

Icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria Smolenskaya Over the Gate, a list from the famous Smolensk Icon. Once it hung over the gates of the Smolensk Kremlin, now it is kept in the cathedral on the site of the Smolensk icon lost in 1941.

Lists with icons

There are many revered lists of the miraculous Smolensk Hodegetria. Many lists from that original, but lost icon have become miraculous (more than 30 in total) - Igretskaya Pesochinskaya, Yugskaya, Sergievskaya in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Kostroma, Kirillo-Belozerskaya, Svyatogorskaya, Solovetskaya and others .. All these images are in different time and to varying degrees revealed their miraculous properties.

Iconography

There is little information left about the iconographic features of the image, since the icon, as is known, was lost in 1941, and therefore no one studied it. It was only known that the icon board was very heavy, the ground was prepared from chalk on glue, as was done in antiquity, and covered with canvas.

The Mother of God holds the Child on her left hand, the Lord’s right hand is raised in a blessing gesture, in His left hand is a “scroll of teaching”. On the reverse side were written the view of Jerusalem, the Crucifixion and the inscription in Greek - "The king is crucified." In 1666, the icon was renovated, and later images of the Most Pure and John the Theologian appeared at the Crucifixion.

The iconographic image of the Smolensk Icon is very similar to the Iver Icon of the Mother of God, but differs in the severity of the arrangement of the figures and the facial expressions of the Virgin and the Infant.

The meaning of the icon

The Holy Icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria is one of the main shrines of the Russian Church (along with Vladimir and Kazan).

Amazing historical material is associated with the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, which marks all the most important events in the history of Russia up to the last century. It can be said that not a single event where the intercession of the One depicted on it was required could do without Her intervention. Hodegetria the Guide indicated and protected our west from the predatory interests of neighboring states, which sought to establish their influence in the Russian state both by military and political means. But even the retreats, which were accompanied by the transfer of the miraculous shrine from its main inheritance - the Assumption Cathedral in Smolensk, were only a strategic necessity, and in no way an agreement with the presence and rule of foreigners and the prevailing Latin faith on our land. Cathedral prayers before her Smolensk, Muscovites brought their wonderful results - sooner or later the enemy was expelled, and Smolenskaya Hodegetria returned home to Smolensk.

Believers have received and continue to receive abundant grace-filled help from her. The Mother of God, through Her holy image, intercedes and strengthens us, guiding us to salvation, and we cry out to Her: "You are faithful people - the All-good Hodegetria, You are the Smolensk Praise and all the Russian lands - affirmation! Rejoice, Hodegetria, salvation of Christians!"

celebration

The celebration of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God takes place three times a year - July 28/August 10 , established in 1525, when the miraculous image was transferred from the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin to the Mother of God-Smolensk (Novodevichy) Monastery, founded by Vasily III in gratitude to the Mother of God for the return of Smolensk to Russia during the Russian-Lithuanian war. The festival was established in memory of the arrival of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God in Russia in 1046.

The second time the celebration takes place November 5/18 in honor of Russia's victory in Patriotic War 1812.

November 24/December 7 we celebrate the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, remembering the victory of the inhabitants of Smolensk over the troops of the Golden Horde through the common prayer of the people in front of Her icon - the Smolensk Hodegetria.

The Smolensk Mother of God helps everyone who turns to her with prayers for healing from incurable diseases, in search of family peace and in other difficult and insoluble situations, as the first intercessor for us before God.

Troparion, tone 4
Now diligently to the Theotokos, we are sinners and humility, and we fall down, calling in repentance from the depths of our souls: Lady, help us, having mercy on us, we are perishing from many sins, do not turn away Your servants of vanity, You and the only hope of the imam.

Kontakion, tone 6
The intercession of Christians is shameless, the intercession to the Creator is immutable, do not despise the voices of sinful prayers, but precede, as if good, to help us, who faithfully call Ty: hasten to prayer and rush to supplication, intercession ever, the Mother of God, who honor thee.

Yin Kontakion, tone 6
Not imams of other help, not imams of other hope, unless You, the Lady: You help us, we hope in You and we boast in You: Your servants, let us not be ashamed.

Prayer
Oh, the Most Wonderful and Exceeding all creatures, the Queen of the Mother of God, the Heavenly King of Christ our God, Mother, the Most Pure Hodegetria Mary! Hear us sinners and unworthy at this hour, praying and falling down to Your Most Pure Image with tears and tenderly saying: lead us from the ditch of passions, O Gracious Lady, deliver us from all sorrow and sorrow, protect us from all misfortunes and evil slander, and from the unrighteous and fierce slander of the enemy. May you, O our Blessed Mother, save Thy people from all evil and supply and save with all good deeds; unless you have another Representative in troubles and situations, and warm intercessors for us sinners, not imams. Pray, O Most Holy Lady, Thy Son Christ our God, that he may honor us with the Kingdom of Heaven; for this sake we always praise Thee, as the Creator of our salvation, and we exalt the holy and magnificent name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the Trinity of the glorified and worshiped God, forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer two
To whom shall I cry, Lady? To whom shall I resort in my sorrow, if not to Thee, Lady Lady Mother of God, Queen of Heaven? Who will receive my weeping and my sighing, if not You, O Immaculate One, the Hope of Christians and the Refuge of sinners? Incline, O Most Pure Lady, your ears to my prayer, Mother of my God, do not despise me, demanding your help, hear my groaning and the cry of my heart, O Lady Mother of God Queen. And give me spiritual joy, strengthen me, impatient, despondent and negligent to Your praise. Reason and teach me how to pray to You, and do not depart from me, Mother of my God, for my murmuring and impatience, but be a cover and intercession in my life and lead me to a quiet haven of blissful peace, and so- number me among Your chosen flock, and there make me worthy to sing and glorify Thee forever. Amen.

Documentary film "Searchers. HODEGETRIA'S TRACE" (2014)

Assumption Cathedral is one of the most impressive buildings in Smolensk. It was here that the famous icon of the Smolensk Mother of God, the ancient Hodegetria, was kept from the day the temple was built. She, according to legend, more than once saved the city and was considered miraculous, disappeared during the Second World War. There are quite a few versions regarding the fate of Hodegetria. Many researchers are inclined to believe that the legendary image still exists, which means it makes sense to look for it!

The Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God is one of the most revered images of the Mother of God throughout Russia. Praying at this miraculous icon, the blind received their sight; following her call, great warriors won great victories; Kutuzov blessed his troops with it during the war of 1812, and the number of revered lists from it is incalculable ...

1. The prototype of the icon: the Evangelist Luke, the blessing of the Virgin and further history

According to legend, the prototype of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, from which all revered lists were made, was written by the Evangelist Luke during the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that is, before 45 AD.

When the Evangelist Luke humbly presented this and two other images to the gaze of the Mother of God, She said: “The grace of Him Who was born from Me and My mercy be with these icons.”
And so it happened. The image, which subsequently received - approximately at the beginning of the XII century - the name of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, became miraculous.

The further fate of the icon was no less interesting: before getting to Smolensk - and in general to Russia - the icon managed to visit Jerusalem and perform its first miracle - about it a little lower - in the Blachernae Church of Constantinople.

In Russia, the icon appeared during the time of the Kiev prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich, who married Anna, the daughter of the Greek emperor Konstantin Monomakh. It was with this icon that Emperor Konstantin blessed his daughter - and with it Anna Konstantinovna blessed her son - Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh.

Detail: in the photo above - the prototype (!) of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, lost after 1941, in the Smolensk Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin. The photograph was taken in 1912 by the pioneer of color photography, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky (1863 - 1944).

2. The first miracle. Hodegetria

The first miracle associated with the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God happened at a time when the image painted by the Evangelist Luke was still kept in the Blachernae Church in Constantinople and, of course, was not called the Smolensk Icon.

According to legend, once the Mother of God appeared to two blind men and ordered them to go and bow to this icon in the Blachernae Church. The blind did not dare to disobey the Blessed Virgin and did everything as they were commanded. On the same day, both blind men received their sight, and since then the miraculous image has been called Hodegetria, which means “Guide” in Greek.

Detail: in the photo above - a modern church on the site of the legendary Blachernae Cathedral, destroyed by fire in 1434.

3. The appearance of the icon in Russia. The first miracle in Smolensk and forced “moves” from the city

So, in Russia, the icon appeared during the time of the Kiev prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich (1030 - 1093, in the miniature above).

It is known that the wedding of Vsevolod Yaroslavich and the daughter of Emperor Constantine Monomakh Anna took place in 1046, which means that the icon appeared in Kyiv at the same time - it was with it that Emperor Constantine blessed his daughter.

Half a century later, in 1097, the son of Vsevolod Yaroslavich and Anna Konstantinovna, Vladimir Monomakh, became Prince of Smolensk, and in 1101, on his orders, the Assumption Cathedral was erected in the city - the icon was placed there. It was from this moment that the image of the brush of the Evangelist Luke began to be called the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God.

In Russia, the voice of the icon first sounded in 1238. According to legend, the image of the Mother of God turned to the Russian warrior Mercury with a command to protect the city from Batu Khan's detachments approaching Smolensk. A brave warrior, under cover of night, made his way to the camp of opponents and killed many enemies, among whom was the strongest warrior of the detachment. Mercury himself could not return from the battle alive and was glorified as a saint.

The icon was kept in the Assumption Cathedral of Smolensk for 300 years, and only at the beginning of the 15th century left its place for the first time - the city was captured by Lithuanian troops, and it was decided to transport the miraculous icon to the Moscow Cathedral of the Annunciation. The icon returned to Smolensk in 1455, and the next time it left the city a century and a half later - in 1609, during the Russian-Polish war.
During the war of 1812, the icon was also transported from Smolensk to Moscow. On the day of the Battle of Borodino, she, along with two other revered icons of the Mother of God - Iveron and Vladimir - were surrounded around the White City and the Kremlin. Also, on the personal order of Kutuzov, the icon of the Smolensk Mother of God was surrounded around all the ranks of the troops.

4. The disappearance of the icon

The prototype of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God disappeared from the Assumption Cathedral immediately after the capture of the city by the Nazi troops. In 1943 the city was liberated, but the icon was never found and its further fate is unknown. Today, in the Assumption Cathedral of Smolensk, a copy of the miraculous icon, made in the 16th century, is kept. Apparently, the author of this work was the artist Postnik Rostovets.

Among the others known lists miraculous image - an icon by Dionysius, written in 1482 (pictured above).

5. Iconographic features of the image

It is likely that the prototype of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God is a list from an earlier Blachernae Icon, also attributed to the brush of the Evangelist Luke and considered the first image in the world of the Hodegetria type - “Showing the Way”, “Guide”.

Icons of this type are characterized by a half-length depiction of the Mother of God holding the Christ-child in one hand and pointing at Him with the other hand. The center of the composition is Christ, and the Blessed Virgin, pointing to Him, bears the main meaning of this image - it speaks of the appearance of the “heavenly king and judge” into the world.

Prayer to the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God:

Oh, the Most Wonderful and Exceeding all creatures, the Queen of the Mother of God, the Heavenly King Christ our God Mother, the Most Holy Hodegetria Mary!

Hear us, sinful and unworthy, at this hour praying to You with sighs and tears before Your most pure image, falling down, and saying tenderly: lead us from the ditch of passions, Good Hodegetria, deliver us from the wind of sorrow and sorrow, protect us from all misfortunes and evil slander and from the unrighteous slander of the enemy.

May you, O our Gracious Mother, not only save Your people from all evil, but also provide and save with all good deeds, unless You have other intercessors in troubles and situations and warm intercessors for us sinners to Your Son, Christ our God, not imams .

Begged him, Mistress, to save us and vouchsafe the Kingdom of Heaven, and by Your salvation we glorify Thee in the future, as if the culprit of our salvation, and exalt the All-Holy and Magnificent name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the Trinity of the glorious and worshiped God, forever and ever . Amen.

Dmitry Merkulov