The Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” is a Theotokos image without a single compositional pattern which is encountered in many versions. Many icons of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” are miraculous. The Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” iconography was based on the Roman Catholic images of the Holy Virgin.

The icons of the “Joy of All Who Sorrow” appeared not later than in the 1680s. Russian chronicles tell that in 1683 the royal artist I.A.Bezmin painted an icon “Joy of All Who Sorrow” but say nothing the icon composition. A similar icon was also housed in the St. Alexis Monastery in Arzamas and, according to a 1686 inventory, featured the Mother of God with two angels.

The icon became widespread after an icon of Joy of All Who Sorrow from the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Ordynka Street in Moscow miraculously healed in 1688 a sister of the Patriarch Joachim Euphimia Petrovna Papina from a wound in her side. Right after the veneration, the liturgy and the tale were written for the icon.

This miraculous icon (didn’t survive) was obviously painted in 1685 - the year when the construction of the stone Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Ordynka Street had been completed. Nobody knows today how the icon looked like. However, a 1862 lithography reproduced the icon of “Joy of All Who Sorrow” that the Princess Natalia Alexeevna, sister of Peter the Great, took with her when the court was moving from Moscow to St. Petersburg in 1711 (didn’t survive). According to some accounts, this is the very icon that miraculously healed Euphimia Papina, while other sources maintain that this is the exact copy of the miraculous icon. On this lithography, the icon is reproduced as being framed in a precious oklad, which, in the opinion of N.I.Komashko, precisely repeats the icon composition. It is depicted against a shining glory and is flanked by angels. The Savior is shown blessing with the right hand and holding beads in his left. The Mother of God is also portrayed holding beads with her right hand. Her hand is turned left and inclined slightly downwards. The Mother of God stands on the Moon, with her head surmounted by the crown. Above the Mother of God is the Lord Sabaoth with the half-figures of saints on the margins. This composition is based on a Roman Catholic image of the Mother of God "Madonna del Rosario" (Madonna with beads).

Another icon, painted by Aleksei Kvashnin in 1710, is also a precise replica of the icon from the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Ordynka street (now kept in the Andrei Rublev Museum collections). This icon, just as the icon taken by the Princess Natalia Alexeevna, features a full-length image of the Mother of God with the Child Christ on her left hand against the background of the shining glory in the crown. Her head is also turned left and slightly downwards. On this particular icon, however, the Theotokos is portrayed without beads, Her right hand is shown in a blessing gesture pointed to the Child Christ. The Mother of God is shown standing on the clouds. In the upper part of the icon is an image of the Synthronos (The New Testament Trinity), in the bottom field is a cartouche with the kondak inscribed thereupon. However, what distinguishes the Kvashnin replica from the lithography is three groups of sufferers standing to either side of the Mother of God, abom whom are four full-figures of saints: Sergius of Radonezh, Theodor Sykeon, Gregory the Decapolite and Barlaam of Khutyn. Above the saints were the images of two saints with ripidises, two more angels are comforting the sufferers.

N.I.Komashko suggests that the miraculous icon had the same composition as the one taken by Princess Natalia Alexeevna to St. Petersburg. Alexis Kvashnin is believed to have copied another icon that had been painted for the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Ordynka Street soon after the miraculous healing of Euphimia Papina. The original composition was changed by adding more sufferers and removing beads as a Roman Catholic attribute.

The images of sufferers in Russian art have been known since the 17th century from the icons of the Theotokos Life-Giving Spring which became widespread under Patriarch Nikon. The groups of sufferers are also included in the composition entitled The Icon of Tenderness and Visitation of Sufferers dating back to the 1680s. The icon featured the Mother of God without the Child Christ, her hands spread apart. This is exactly the iconographic version that the iconographer Semyon Kholmogorets reproduced on one of the border scenes illustrating the Akathist on the icons commissioned in the 1680s by Yaroslavl churches. He portrayed the Mother of God holding a staff and a scroll in hands against a white background with flowers symbolizing paradise. Apart from that, at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries the Armory masters created a number of big-size icons also portraying sufferers. On these icons the Mother of God is shown in various iconographic types deriving from Roman Catholic depictions of the Theotokos: the Mother of God enthroned; the Mother of God with the Child Christ seated upon Her crossed hands; several versions of the full-length figure of the Child Christ; the Mother of God ascending to heavens etc. The inclusion of the sufferers into the Joy of All Who Sorrow icon resulted in the copies of some of these large icons and those entitled The Icon of Tenderness and Visitation of Sufferers being also named Joy of All Who Sorrow.

Lacking a single compositional scheme, this iconographic version was very widespread in Russian art in the 18th - 19th centuries. The most frequently encountered types are the icons reproducing the icon from the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Ordynka Street, of which a copy was made in 1710 by Alexei Kvashnin. Many of these icons became famous for their miraculous healings. One of them is the icon “Joy of All Who Sorrow”, with pennies from a chapel near the Glass-making factory in St. Petersburg (now housed in the St. Trinity church, known as “Kulich and Easter”).

The icon is venerated on November 6 (October 24, O.S.).

Mother of God the Joy of All Who Sorrow

Source: http://www.iconrussia.ru/eng/iconography/421/

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Following the pattern of the Old Testament Temple, which had a courtyard, a nave and the holy of holies, an Orthodox church is also divided into three areas: the narthex, the central part of the church and the sanctuary.

The rear of the church (customarily the western side) surrounds the main entrance and is called the narthex. In the ancient church, this section was set aside for the catechumens (those preparing to be baptized) and the penitents (those who were excluded from Communion on account of grave sins). The narthex was usually quite large; sometimes it included a pool for the baptism of adults. At the present time, the narthex is usually rather small. It is here that candles and prosphora are sold. The stairway leading to the narthex and the area at the top of the stairs form the porch.

The central part of the church, the nave, is where the faithful stand to pray. It is separated from the sanctuary by the iconostasis, a partition covered with many icons. In the most ancient churches, this partition was not very high and did not have any icons. Around the end of the eighth century, after the heresy of iconoclasm had been condemned, icons began to be placed on the partition between the nave and the sanctuary, and the partition itself was made higher. Over the centuries there was thus developed an iconostasis consisting of several rows of icons, arranged according to a definite plan.

The iconostasis has three doors in it, leading into the sanctuary. The central doors are called "royal"; through them the Lord Himself, the King of heaven, invisibly passes in the Holy Gifts or Holy Communion. To the right of the royal doors is the southern door, and to the left, the northern. The icons on the royal doors depict the Annunciation to the Mother of God and the four Evangelists, Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The side doors usually have icons of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. To the right of the royal doors there is always an icon of our Saviour, and to the left an icon of the Mother of God. To the right of the icon of the Saviour is the patronal icon of the church, representing the event or the saint to which the church is dedicated.

The lower level of the iconostasis also contains icons of saints who are especially venerated, such as St John the Baptist, St Nicholas the Wonderworker and others. Over the royal doors there is always an icon of the Mystical Supper (the Last Supper), reminding the faithful of the greatest sacrament offered in the church, Holy Communion.

The iconostasis usually has several rows or tiers. The second tier holds icons of the major feast days; the third, the Apostles; and the fourth, the Prophets. The top of the iconostasis is crowned with a cross.

The iconostasis is usually situated on an elevated area called the solea. This area is reserved for those who perform the church services. The middle of this section, in front of the royal doors, is called the ambo.

Here the deacon intones the prayers of the litanies and reads the Gospel, and the faithful come up here to receive Holy Communion. To the sides of the solea are the areas called the kliros, or choirs, where the readers and singers stand. In front of the choirs are placed the banners, consisting of icons affixed to cloth and attached to long poles, so as to resemble flags hung vertically. These banners are carried during church processions, as the standards of the church.

Double Sided Banner with Embroidery

The altar area, or sanctuary, is the holiest part of the church, containing the altar itself and the table of oblation. The altar is a specially consecrated square table, on which the Sacrament of Holy Communion is celebrated. It stands in the middle of the sanctuary and is covered by sacred vestments. On it are found the cross, the book of the Gospels, the antimension, the tabernacle and the pyx.

The tabernacle is the ark or chest in which the reserved Sacrament is kept. The pyx is a small box in which the priest carries Holy Communion to the sick in their homes. The antimension is a silk cloth upon which are depicted the placing of Christ’s Body in the tomb and the instruments of His Passion: the crown of thorns, the spear, the sponge, the column at which He was scourged, the nails, etc.

Tabernacle

The antimension bears an inscription, noting when it was consecrated, by which bishop and for which church. On the reverse of the antimension there is sewn a little bag which contains relics, in keeping with the tradition of the first centuries of Christianity, when the faithful used to celebrate the Holy Communion on the tombs of the martyrs. Without a consecrated antimension the Liturgy may not be celebrated. To protect the antimension it is enfolded in another silken cloth.

Behind the altar stand a cross and a seven-branched candelabrum.

Seven Branched Candelabrum

The Table of Oblation is another table, also covered by sacred vestments. Upon it the proskomedia is performed, the rite of preparing the bread and wine for the celebration of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist or Holy Communion.

This table stands in the northeastern corner of the sanctuary and holds the sacred vessels. First among them are the chalice (cup), into which the church wine is poured, and the diskos, a small round plate on a stand. The diskos usually bears a depiction of the Infant Jesus lying in the manger. It is used to hold the Lamb, a piece of bread, cut out of the center of a little loaf (prosphora), which will be consecrated at the Liturgy, as well as particles of bread cut from other prosphora. Along with the chalice and diskos are found the following items: the asterisk, composed of two bent metal arcs, joined together in the form of a cross, which is placed on the diskos so that the veil will not touch the pieces of bread cut from the prosphora; the lance or spear, a knife which is used to cut out the Lamb and portions of other prosphora; the spoon with which Holy Communion is administered to the faithful; and the sponge used to wipe the chalice.

In addition to the main sanctuary, some churches have other chapels with altars, in which additional liturgies or other less festive services may be celebrated.

The main altar, towards which the faithful direct their gaze, is located on the eastern side of the church. Since Apostolic times it has been customary to pray facing the east, which symbolizes Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who enlightens every man that comes into the world.

The Liturgy which is celebrated in the church has its origin in heaven, not on earth. We are led to this conclusion by the vision of the St John the Apostle, recounted in the book of Revelation (the Apocalypse). The heavenly liturgy which he describes reminds us of our Orthodox Liturgy in many ways. He saw the altar, the candelabrum, the golden censer with the smoke of incense, the chalice, the Lamb Which was slain in the middle of the altar, elders in white robes and crowns of gold standing in front of the Altar, and then a countless number of angels and righteous people, all praising the Creator (Rev. 4-5). The twenty-four elders correspond in number to the twenty-four priestly courses or divisions established by King David for services in the Temple (1 Chron. [1 Paralipom.] 24:1-18).

In the Orthodox church, as in heaven, the Lamb Which was slain [i.e., the host, the cut portion of a prosphora] also lies on the altar. St John’s vision of souls under the heavenly altar, the souls of those that were killed for proclaiming the Word of God, corresponds to the relics of the holy martyrs, on whose tombs Liturgies were performed in ancient times. Thus, when we come to church for the Divine Liturgy, we should be conscious that we are being allowed to take part in a great and mystical sacred service, at which our prayers are joined with the prayers of the angels and saints who surround the throne of the Heavenly King.

Christ in Majesty

Source: http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/readings/temple/arrangement.shtml

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Saint Hilarion the Great was born in 291 in the Palestinian settlement called Tabatha. He was sent to Alexandria to study science. In Alexandria he got acquainted with a group of Christians and was baptized afterwards. When St. Hilarion learned about the pious living of St. Anthony the Great (feast day on January 17), he decided to visit the Saint so that he could teach him how to please God. Shortly he came back to his native settlement. He found out, that his parents had died already. St. Hilarion took a decision to hand out all the property he got from his parents to his living relatives and to the poor. Then he settled down in the desert near the city of Mayuma. Saint Hilarion was fighting against constant impure wishes, torturing his mind and body. However, he managed to cope with them with the help of strict fasting and wholehearted prayer. The devil tried to frighten St. Hilarion and sent different ghosts and visions to disturb him. During prayer the Saint heard children weeping, women mourning and wild beasts roaring. St. Hilarion knew that all that horror was caused by the demons in order to make him leave the desert. That is why he prevailed over his fear with the help of prayer.

Once, a group of robbers fell upon St. Hilarion. The Saint managed to persuade them to forsake their life of crime just with the power of his own word. Soon the Holy Ascetic became well-known all over Palestine. The Lord granted to St. Hilarion the power to cast out evil spirits and demons. That gift of God let the Saint to help many of the afflicted people. The sick came to him for healing, and the Saint cured them for free. As he said by himself, “the grace of God is not for sale”.

By the smell of someone’s clothing, St. Hilarion could find out, which passions afflicted his soul. People came to him and asked for help and guidance to save their souls. With the blessing of St. Hilarion, many monasteries were opened throughout the land of Palestine. The Saint went from one monastery to another and preached an ascetic way of life. Seven years before his death (371-372), St. Hilarion came back to Cyprus, where he settled in a quiet place and lived there until the Lord summoned his soul.

Translated from: http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/913222.html

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