Nowadays, we often
call a woman who is expecting a child gravid, from a Latin word which means
heavy. A much more apt way of naming this condition was used in Russia in
ancient times: “not idle”, i.e., she who is busy carrying a baby and preparing
for childbirth, which would be best translated into English as 'expectant’.
An icon showing the
Expectant Mother of God was discovered during the restoration of 14th-century
frescoes in a convent in v. Dirbi, Georgia, in the late 1990s or early 2000s.
This image, like
the Symeon's Prophecy icon, alludes
to the Gospel passage where the Righteous Joseph the Betrothed who had been
entrusted with the task of keeping the chastity of the most pure Virgin,
realized that She was pregnant. [B]efore
they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
The righteous man
was embarrassed and planned to let her go in secret to prevent the Jews from
stoning her to death as a promiscuous woman in accordance with their custom. At
that point, he was assured by an Angel that her conception was chaste and
mysterious. Then Joseph her husband,
being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to
put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel
of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David,
fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is
of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
The icon portrays
the Theotokos with her right hand raised to her head and wiping her tears and
her left hand pointing to Joseph that She
knoweth not a man, i.e. She is a virgin. This icon became widely known and
revered across Georgia in the early 2000s.
People who can't
have children for some reason pray before the icon. Also, pregnant women and
new mothers ask the Mother of God to help them raise their children in piety
and to grant them future wellbeing.
Interestingly
enough, a similar image of the Mother of God known as The Helper in Childbirth was discovered around the same time (in
1993) in the town of Serpukhov, Russia.
It depicts the
Theotokos with her palms on her belly. Baby Jesus is depicted inside her womb.
People pray in front of this image asking for help in pregnancy and childbirth,
too.
Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds
Source: https://pravoslavie.fm/articles/5-interesnyih-obrazov-presvyatoy-bogoroditsyi/
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