Three Icons of the Mother of God
On Wednesday
August 26, three miracle-working icons of The Mother of God are commemorated.
They are the icon of the Mother of God of the Passion, the icon of the Mother of God
of the Seven Arrows and the icon of the Mother of God of Minsk…
The icon of the Mother of God of
Minsk was originally brought to Kiev by Prince Vladimir. In 1500, during the
invasion of khan Mengli I Giray, one of the Tatar solders stripped away the
jewels and casing of the icon and threw the icon into the Dnieper River. After
some sometime, the icon ended up floating on the Svisloch River and finally
reached the shores surrounded by a miraculous bright light. The icon was then
carried into the church of Nativity of the Holy Theotokos, which was located in
the castles of the local rulers of Minsk.
Before the Revolution of 1917,
this miracle working icon was in the St. John the Theologian –
Bogolyubsk-Seven-Arrow Church, a small country church on the banks of the
Toshin River, not far from the town of Vologda. In 1830 when cholera was
rampant in Vologda the terrified residents ran for help to the Queen of Heaven,
and taking up her Seven-arrows and Seven-city icons, carried them about the
city in a solemn Procession of the Cross. The epidemic visibly abated, and soon
the cholera entirely disappeared. From that time on, the icon was glorified
through many miraculous healings of the sick.
In the first half of the 17th century, a married woman by the name of was Yekaterina suffering from violent lunacy and lived in the village of Palets, which was a Nizhni Novgorod estate of Prince Lykov-Obotensky. One day, having come to her senses, she began to pray to the Mother of God for a cure and vowed that she would take the veil should her prayers be answered. After she was healed, she broke her vow to become a monastic, and continued to live with her husband all over again, giving birth to several children. Subsequently she look to her bed. In the course of her illness, the Mother of God appeared to her three times, reproaching her for disobedience.
During Her last appearance, the Mother of God commanded Yekaterina to visit icon-painter Grigory in the city of Nizhni Novgorod and pray before the Icon of the Mother of God '"Hodegetria" at his place. The woman obeyed was healed. The holy image was then translated to Prince Lykov's village of Palets and installed in the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian. Later on, in 17th Century on Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich's orders the icon was brought to Moscow, Here on August 13 the icon was solemnly met at the Tver Gates, where a church was built for it and in 1654 the Monastery of the Icon of the Mother of God "The Passion" was founded.
During Her last appearance, the Mother of God commanded Yekaterina to visit icon-painter Grigory in the city of Nizhni Novgorod and pray before the Icon of the Mother of God '"Hodegetria" at his place. The woman obeyed was healed. The holy image was then translated to Prince Lykov's village of Palets and installed in the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian. Later on, in 17th Century on Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich's orders the icon was brought to Moscow, Here on August 13 the icon was solemnly met at the Tver Gates, where a church was built for it and in 1654 the Monastery of the Icon of the Mother of God "The Passion" was founded.
About the Icon Casing Workshop
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| Visit the icon casing workshop |
The tradition of decorating sacred images with luxurious casings, comes from ancient time. Long since, Rus has followed the example of Byzantnium where highly revered icons were covered with jewel casings.
However, icon casing should not be considered a decoration. Primarily, icon casing has deep symbolic significance – as an offering of gratitude to the Lord, The Mother of God, the saints for their eternal help and support. For Example, the glow of gold symbolizes Divine grace, white shade of silver represents holiness and spiritual purity, and natural gems personify numerous moral virtues.
Today, icon casing craftsmanship remains an equally important art for the orthodox faithful, just as it was hundreds of years ago.
The icon casing workshop is known for making luxurious casings out of different fabrics. First of all, the craftsman outlines the shape of the image on thin paper. This is the basis or the initial pattern. If we break down the casing layer by layer, we will see the following: paper, unbleached calico, thick cloth, flax. All components are glued together and embellished with velvet.
Then the casing is embroidered with pearls, beads and spun gold. Stitch by stitch, bead by bead… and there are no random components. Casing elements include consignment halos (decoration around the head), riza (part of icon casing, covering images of clothing), frame (covering the edges), and the background (metal framing).
The decorations include decorative plaque (small silver or gold rectangular or figure-shaped form plate with a cut out to attach the icon), stone bezel setting (metal frame around the stone).
One of the main tasks for the sisters and brothers in the workshop is to serve God, preserve ancient traditions and maintain high quality requirements. All the work is done manually, with prayer, and with strict adherence to Orthodox canons.Origins of Orthodox Vestments
A Holy Fulfillment: The Old Testament and the Adornment of the Church
Any discussion
of the theological importance of liturgical vesture within the Church is not
complete without considering the place of the Old Testament Scriptures that
specifically refer to garments used in Levitical worship. The primary
scriptural references to the priestly garments of the old covenant are found in
Exodus 25-36, in which God gives explicit instructions to the Prophet Moses for
the outfitting of the Tabernacle as well as the garments to be worn by the
priests. Indeed, these instructions read like technical notes, with emphasis
given to how things are to be made: "The hem shall be interwoven with the
rest, to prevent ripping" (Ex 28.27); what they are to be made from:
"Gold, silver, and bronze; blue, purple, and scarlet cloth; fine spun linen,
and female goats' hair, ram skins dyed red and skins dyed blue, and
incorruptible wood; oil for the light, and incense for anointing oil and for
composition of incense; sardius stones, and stones for the carved work of the
breastplate and the full-length robe" (Ex 25.3-7); and who is to make
them: "Now Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the Lord
put wisdom and knowledge to know how to do all manner of work for the service
of the holy place, did according to all the Lord commanded" (Ex 36.1).
It is
interesting to note that over one quarter of the book of Exodus is devoted to
these detailed instructions for the outfitting of the Tabernacle and the garments
of the priests of God... The decorations of the tabernacle, ephod, and breastplate
are no mere afterthought; indeed, thirty-eight verses are devoted solely to the
curtains and the garments of the priests and are quite specific in the colors
and symbols that are to be used (gold, blue, purple, and scarlet fabric and
pomegranates and bells, respectively). There is a careful and methodical
approach to these adornments and in this it is demonstrated that the worship of
God must be attended to with order and reverence. Through this meticulous
precision we see God teaching mankind that things used for His glory are to be
"built by God."
On account of
these detailed passages, some authors have argued that Christian vestments have
their origin in Levitical dress, but even the most desultory comparison of the
garments clearly illustrate that this could not be so. But just as the study of
Orthodox Christian theology reveals much about the qualities of beauty within
the Church, so it is through a reading of these chapters in Exodus that yet
another quality of beauty within the Church is revealed: the fulfillment of
types. This fulfillment is found in the progression from the Levitical
understanding of worship, as outlined in the Old Testament, to the Christ
centered understanding of liturgy as found in the New Testament and the
unwritten tradition handed down by the early Church a rapidly coalescing
tradition which led to the standardization of vestments and other adornments of
the Church in the first few centuries following Christ's earthly life.
St. John of
Damascus, writing in response to the iconoclasts who were arguing for a
rejection of images based on Old Testament passages such as "You shall not
make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath" (Ex 20-4), states:
It is not I who am speaking, but the Holy
Spirit who declares plainly through the holy apostle Paul, "God spoke of
old in many various ways to our fathers by the prophets." Note that God
spoke in many and various ways. A skillful doctor does not prescribe the same
for all alike, but each according to his need... In the same way the most
excellent physician of souls prescribed correctly for those who were still
children and susceptible to the sickness of idolatry, holding idols to be gods,
and worshipping them as such, abandoning the worship of God, offering to the
creature the glory due the Creator.
He goes on to
further explain this fulfillment of types by quoting from a sermon of St. John
Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews: How can what comes first be the image
of what is to follow, as Melchizedek is of Christ?
Melchizedek is used as an image in the
Scriptures in the same way as a silhouette is an outline for a portrait.
Because of this, the law is called a shadow, and grace and truth are what is
foreshadowed. Consequently, the law personified by Melchizedek is a silhouette
of Him whose portrait, when it appears, is grace and truth inscribed in the
body. So the Old Testament is a silhouette of things to come in a future age,
while the New Testament is the portrait of those things.
St. John
recognized that just as a tiny seed looks nothing like the blooming,
flourishing plant, so it is necessary to be mindful that Orthodox Christian
worship is not designed to look like Old Testament worship. The fulfillment of
the beauty and liturgy of the Church, like the fulfillment of the salvation of
mankind, comes in no less a person than Christ Himself through His Incarnation,
Crucifixion, and Resurrection.
The
instructions in Exodus lay the groundwork, teaching that adornment of the holy
things of God is integral to our worship of Him. But just as Christ took the
place of rams sacrificed on stone altars, the adornment of our churches took a
new and holy form through Christ's Resurrection, molded by the time and place
in history in which the Resurrection took place and by the subsequent establishment
of a Christian nation in the Byzantine Empire.
We know that
the Fathers of the Church had a deep and thorough knowledge of the Scriptures
(after all, St. John Chrysostom spent two years memorizing the Scriptures in
their entirety) and such an education could not have left them puzzling over
how to outfit the churches of their day. Add to this the unwritten tradition
which they had inherited and it would be completely illogical to suppose that
men so formed by these Scriptures and providentially shaped by a world in which
honor and majesty were the cornerstone of political and social hierarchy would have
been able to construct liturgies to the Creator of All without glory and
beauty. "Bring to the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in His
holy court" (Ps 28.2). They knew that "holiness is proper to Your
house, 0 Lord" (Ps 92.5) and that "they shall speak of the
magnificence of the glory of Your holiness, and they shall describe Your
wonders" (Ps 144.5).
While Exodus
teaches that order and reverence are necessary components to the worship of
God, the Church Fathers knew that any reading of the Old Testament Scriptures
must be undertaken with an understanding that such Scriptures have their
fulfillment in the coming of Christ and the traditions of the Church. Majestic
and holy worship began with the Old Testament Levitical patterns but did not
find its culmination until the Resurrection of Christ and the subsequent
redemption of the world. With Christ's coming everything is raised to a higher
order, so the Church's worship follows the same essential patterns, yet looks
different. As adopted sons of God, we are the inheritors of this holy
fulfillment. As the Psalmist prophesies: They shall be intoxicated with the
fatness of Your house, and You will give them drink from the abundant water of Your
delight. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light shall we see
light. (Ps 35.9-10) In the beauty of the Church's worship we find the
fulfillment of the prophetic words and foreshadowing of all the Old Testament
Scriptures.
From
"The History of Vestments"
By
Subdeacon Zoran Bobic
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/zjbobic/history-of-vestments
«THERE WAS A MOMENT WHEN I SAW A DIFFERENT SENSE IN LIFE»
(Nun Anfisa about the beginnings of the Convent, about
icon painting and the workshops…)
Mother Anfisa, can you tell us how the workshops came
into existence in the Convent?
The Convent was founded in 1999, and it was then that
our sisters started to make vestments. At first, the sewing, icon painting and
ceramic workshops started their work. Later, the mural painting, mosaic,
joinery, icon setting and stone workshop were established. Each of the workshop
was tiny at first and grew on with time. Today we have more than twenty
long-established workshops, each with its own microclimate. Generally, we did
not plan that there would be workshops in the Convent. It was God who decided
in a different way.
The first workshops were established within the
premises of the National Psychiatric Clinic. We asked the head doctor for
permission to use one of the basements in an old shabby building within the
walls of the Clinic. They granted us that permission; we put everything in
order there. This was our first workshop. The room was also packed with
humanitarian aid, which we handed out to the patients. In those times, the ill
people had to stay in the hospital for half a year or even more, so they needed
those clothes. Our first iconostasis was also painted in that basement. This
iconostasis now stands in the church in honour of St Nicholas the Wonderworker.
It was started by Alexander Cress who made the templates for the icons. Father
Sergius, who is now the head of the icon painting studio, and novice Demetrius,
who is the head of the mural painting workshop, were students of the Academy of
Arts at that time. They were rubbing the paints for that iconostasis with great
reverence. They also visited Father Igor Latushko in the Holy Spirit Cathedral
to learn the art of icon painting from him. They learned how to paint icons,
how to gesso the surfaces and prepare paints, they were his apprentices, in
fact.
Then it turned out that Alexander could not finish his
work, and it was time to consecrate the church, so Father Andrew blessed the
brothers to finish the iconostasis on their own. These were their first icons.
Nun Liudmila, Nun Martha and Matushka Larissa helped Father Sergius and Brother
Demetrius.
How did the icon painting studio develop after that?
New people were coming. Father Igor Latushko helped us
a lot: he told us about icon painting and painted icons himself. We started
travelling a lot, seeing and seeking advice from other iconographers… We were
gathering information about the art of icon painting, about various cultural
layers related to church art: Byzantine Greek style and Russian art of icon
painting, of course.
Did you develop a unified style?
Everything that Father Sergius, Matushka Larissa, nuns
Liudmila and Maria, had to work hard to achieve and learn, now goes to the
young artists, the would-be icon painters. The young artists can learn from
their experience straight away. When we look at our first icons, they are so
very different from what we are able to paint now. It is surprising to see the
school develop…
The style develops after years of scrupulous work.
Generally, there are many churches in our Convent, and if you take a look at
them, neither frescoes, nor iconostases ever repeat one another. It is amazing
that the icons are painted according to the canons and at the same time they
show creativity. This is what constitutes the school, a specific direction and
style in icon painting.
Can you tell us about the Convent? How did it start?
There were sisters who wanted to devote themselves to
monastic life. There was God’s blessing through the spiritual father of the
Sisterhood and through some circumstances of their lives. The first sisters
started to live together in the spring of 1998. At first, they had to sleep
right in the workshops. They had to stay in the workshops all night because
Liturgies normally started early in the morning, at half past six, and the
sisters were to take the patients to communion, so it was difficult for most of
them to come to the hospital from downtown by that time. The sisters often
stayed in the hospital wards until very late so it was meaningless to come back
home.
There used to be waste land on the place where the
convent now stands. Later we laid the foundation of the church in honour of St
Nicholas the Wonderworker, bought a small cabin and installed central heating
in it.
How many sisters were there at that time?
At first, there were four sisters. Later there were
twelve of us. The first monastic tonsure was held in August of 1999, and three
sisters were tonsured into Rassaphore at that time. That is how we lived. Later
they built the second floor and that was the accountant’s office. There also
was a small house close to it, where the ceramic workshop with just one oven
was located. The ground floor turned into the joinery workshop. It was
interesting to see that it was the office during the day and the bedroom at
night. The sisters took turns cooking meals.
Weren’t you afraid?
No, I was not. It was just that once I realized that
the meaning of life lies much deeper. Is it worth living when you feed your
vain pride and build your life according to stereotypes? Ought a person to
struggle for the sake of this? What must a person struggle for? The Lord showed
me the beauty of monastic life. Monastic life is deep. Everything apart from
that ceased to mean anything for me. This is my way, perhaps. Each person has
his own way to God. This is a mystery that one keeps inside.
What was next?
We started building St Nicholas Church. When the
basement floor had already been finished, we immediately decided to have it
consecrated. We started celebrating Liturgies there. I remember when the first
Liturgy was celebrated in that church, water dropped onto our heads, everything
was gray, and we were standing on sand mixed with small stones but everybody
was incredibly happy because this was the first Divine Liturgy in the new
church.
Actually, first we started divine services in the
National Psychiatrical Clinic, in their rehabilitation centre. The room where
the Liturgies were celebrated on Thursdays normally served as a room for
hypnosis. Services there continue up to the present day. We dreamed about
building a church for the people who stay in the wards for them to feel a
completely different life. We made gates in a hospital wall to take the
patients to church but unfortunately, we forgot about several problems. The
patients who stayed in the department for drug and alcohol addicts were only
too happy to use this gate to run away from the hospital… We had to close this
gate. Only the patients who are allowed to go out from their departments can do
so. There is a confession on Wednesday evening, and the Liturgy is served on
Thursdays. What we are to do is prepare the patients and take them to the
service. Most departments are isolation type, and the patients who stay there
are not always emotionally stable, so it is their doctor who approves or
disapproves of their going to church. Those who are allowed to go out the
hospital, come to the convent, and it is a great joy for them.
Then Father Andrew blessed the construction of the
monastic dormitory. Later, a church in honor of St Elisabeth was built. There
are photos, and when I look at them I just cannot believe that it was real.
Then we received our first true cells, two or three cells, I do not remember
exactly how many. The dormitory was consecrated in 2002.
Were the icons for St Elisabeth Church painted in the
workshops of the Convent?
All icons located in the churches of our Convent are
painted in our workshops. The Lord has provided it that everything has been
made with our own hands. It
is surprising, of course.
Icon of the Mother of God Of Pochaev
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| Icons from the Workshops of St. Elisabeth Convent |
Today we commemorate the feast of the
Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God. The celebration in honor of the Pochaev Icon
of the Mother of God on July 23 (August 5) was established in memory of the
deliverance of the Dormition Lavra Monastery from a Turkish siege on July
20-23, 1675. On that day the when the Turkish army was preparing to assault the
monastery the Mother of God, surrounded by angels with unsheathed swords
appeared in the sky. The Turks panicked, started to fire arrows in the sky and
seeing the image unscathed, turned to flee.
The story of the icon dates back to
the 13th century when 2 monks settled on the hill where the
Dormition Lavra Monastery is now located. While Praying on the top of the hill
one of the monks saw the Theotokos standing on a stone, encircled by flames. In
a great joy, he called another monk and a herdsman by the name of Ioann Bosoi.
Together they began glorifying God...
Troparion
Those who pray before your holy icon,
O Lady, / Are vouchsafed healing and receive the knowledge of the true faith, /
And they repel the attacks of the Hagarenes. / Therefore entreat remission of
sins / For us who fall down before you. / Enlighten our hearts to thoughts of
piety, / And raise a prayer to your Son to save our souls.
Kontakion
Your icon of Pochaev, O Theotokos, /
Is become a source of healing and the confirmation of the Orthodox Faith. /
Therefore deliver us who have recourse to you / From calamity and temptation. /
Preserve your monastery unharmed. / Confirm Orthodoxy in the surrounding lands,
/ And forgive the sins of those who pray to you; / For you can do as you will.
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Welcome to the official blog of the Catalogue of St.Elisabeth Convent! The blog includes recent ministry updates of the convent, sermons, icons, personal stories and everything related to Orthodox Christianity. Join our Catalog of Good Deeds and become part of the ministry of St.Elisabeth Convent! #CatalogOfGoodDeeds
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