The story of the cut off hand
The base
of Icon of the Mother of God of “The Three Hands” is a traditional image of the
Mother of God Hodegetria. Infant Christ is pictured sitting on the right hand,
and the left one is raised and is pointing at the Son. There are several
version, which explains the appearance of the third hand.
When John
got his hand back, he began to pray in front of the icon of the Mother of God
and asked Her to heal his hand, which had served for many years in the name of
God and Christianity and had written many texts defending the Holy Icons. After
his hand was miraculously healed, St. John placed a silver right hand on the
icon in memory of the miracle. John’s vow was really simple: to serve God and
the Holy Theotokos and to glorify Them. The following words of joy were
attributed to him: “Your holy hand healed the cut off one of mine, and it will
destroy all your enemies and all of these who trample the holy images of You
and Your Mother. These who defile the icons will be crushed in Your honor”.
The abbot from Athos
The story
about the healing of Saint John of Damascus was wide-spread in the area of the
Holy Mount Athos, as well as the other and even more ancient stories. There is
a story about an icon-painter from the Serbian monastery - Hilandar. The
icon-painter was working on the icon of the Mother of God and an image of the
third hand kept appearing. He attempted to erase the hand twice. Then he saw
the Mother of God in his sleep, and She ordered him to leave the image as it is
– “for the purpose of wonder-working, but not by human hand”. It is an interesting
fact, that the icon was kept in the Hilandar Monastery since ancient times (and
it is still there), but on this very icon the hand is in the form of a silver
decoration. Many researchers say it dates back to the 14th century and is
considered to have been brought from Serbia. There is no precise information
about it, but this theory accords with tradition. At the same time the variants
of the tradition differ: one version says the icons was tied to the donkey’s
back, which came once to the gates of the Hilandar Monastery from Serbia, where
the Muslims took power. There is also a story about the miracle: when the monks
were arguing about who should become new father superior, the icon moved itself
from the altar to the abbot’s place showing that the Mother of God is the
prioress of the monastery, Herself!
There is
a unique image of the Mother of God in the White church of the village Caran
(1340-1342). Lady Mary is painted in full growth wearing a long blue tunic. She
takes Christ with the right hand and pointing at Him with two left ones. The
late copy of the icon of Hilandar became the main relic of the Troyan Monastery
in Bulgaria. The feature of this icon is that it has not one but three silver
hands covering the painted ones.
The sacred image with an inscription
People in
Russia began to glorify the Icon of the Mother of God of “The Three Hands”
quite late. In the second part of the 17th century, patriarch Nikon strived to
turn Moscow into the center of the orthodoxy and brought many of Greek relics.
Among them was also the icon of the Mother of God of Iveron, which later became
one of the most revered in Russia. The patriarch asked to send several copies
of the Icon of the Mother of God of “The Three Hands” from Hilandar. One was
ordered for Princess Maria Ilyinichna, the second one was brought in 1661 and
was placed in the New Jerusalem Monastery. It is well-known, that the unusual
icon confused people. In the beginning of the 18th century a special
inscription with the story of the icon was placed near the image. It told the
story about the icon-painter and the picture of the third hand, but it told
nothing about St. John of Damascus.
Despite all the contradictions in the legends about the icon and its further story, we can understand the sense of this unusual iconography with the help of its troparion. According to the text, the Mother of God takes the Son with two hands, but the third one symbolizes protection for all praying people. Here is the full troparion:
From
Palestine, the godly-minded Sava / brought us your venerable icon, O holy Bride
of God, / which is known as the icon “Of the Three Hands”; / and now, since the
monks of Hilandar possess it as their boast, / they send up hymns of praise and
thanksgiving, / crying out in exultation: / Rejoice, O full of grace!
Translated by the Catalog of Good Deeds
CONVERSATION