The Catalog of Good Deeds

To be able to understand icons it is necessary to know how people of the Middle Ages perceived and understood the concept of time. The difference between the concept of time in Western Europe and that in Byzantium was formed in the Renaissance period, when Europe, unlike Byzantium, acquired the new attitudes and outlook towards the world. After temporal seizure of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204 the estrangement between Byzantium and Europe became even more profound and implacable.

Different attitudes towards time caused different attitudes towards the world; to the events in it, and to the role of men in these events. As a result, the meaning and objectives of art in Byzantium and Western Europe altered too. Because of these fundamentally different artistic techniques were developed by the artists of Western Europe and the icon-painters of the Orthodox countries.

The Renaissance revived the notion of history and separated Holy History from lay history. The prominent Italians – Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374), Leonardo Bruni (1374-1444) and Lorenzo Valla (1403-1457) began the study of scientific history.

Lorenzo Balla, the author of the famous work “Elegances of the Latin Language”, made it his aim to revive classical Latin, where philosophy, rhetoric and language are inseparable. Not only did he have to address the heritage of antiquity, but also to explore the reasons for “language corruption” and culture decline during “the time of barbarism”. All this led to a retrospective review of history and historical time.

Time was now related to change, to cause-and-effect relations of events in their historical sequence. The conception of historical succession emerged and, therefore so did the understanding of the depth of time and the awareness of perspective. Discovery of perspective and historical time coincided, in fact, with the emergence of the theories on aerial and linear perspective.

Awareness of events, taking place in space and time, resulted in the fact that European artists stopped depicting events that took place at different times simultaneously in their pictures. For instance, in Giotto’s fresco “Birth of Mary”, we can see the girl in two places at one time: in the midwife’s arms, sitting on the floor by the bed, and near her Mother. Such examples are numerous.

New attitudes to time and new theological thinking, which recognized free will in a man through which God’s design could find realization, engendered a new man – a man of conscious action. A man, who created the history of his own life, and together with other people – the history of their nation (Leonardo Bruni). This new man could say about himself: “…I make use of my time, being constantly engaged in some kind of activity, I would prefer to lose my sleep rather than waste my time.” (Leon Battista Alberti, “On the Family”).

This approach was prominent in the fine arts. Artists began to study the movements of the human body, changes in appearance caused by the mood (anger, joy, laughter, sadness) or ageing processes. Fundamental discoveries were made in this field and the role of muscles and their specialization was found.The understanding of movement as opposed to equilibrium gave rise to new composition methods, for instance removing the center of gravity from the body and showing unfinished gestures in pictures. This technique makes the viewer perceive a prolonged movement in the painting.

A passive man of the Gothic period was replaced by a man of free will. Readiness for action, for movement was revealed through the strained muscles and the expression of face and eyes. Looking at the picture we are waiting for action and because of this the picture is alive; the pulse of time is beating in it.

In the East of Europe, in Byzantium and Ancient Rus, a previous concept of time and history, dating back to the Fathers of the Church (St Augustine etc.) was preserved. Life of a man is a period of time, having the beginning and the end – from the moment of creation of a man by God to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The event that divided history into two parts – the old and the new – was the birth of Jesus Christ, God’s Incarnation.

Before the Creation of the World there was no time either. The concept of time can not be related to God. It is impossible to say that God “was” or “is” or “will be”. In Russian it is translated as “existing”, the One who “always was”, “always is” and “will always be” which is derived from the Hebrew name of God – Jahweh – existing (He Brings Into Existence Whatever Exists).

God created the world and time “began”. It began and will end with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, when “there will be no more time”. Thus, time itself turns out to be “temporal”, transient. It is like a “short period” on the background of eternity where God incarnates his design, creating Adam and knowing from the very beginning the destiny of his descendants.

God’s design already exists in complete fullness, which includes everything. Time, history, life, all the objects, all the people, all the events, and everything has been given its place. Thus, the cause for any event is not defined in our earthly world but already exists in a different world. God is the source of everything that was and will be.

The earthly life of a man is an interval between the Creation of the World and the Second Coming. It is a trial before eternity, when time stops. Eternal life is in store for those who pass this trial.

The saints depicted in the old icons have already been found worthy of eternal life. They are devoid of movement and change in the ordinary sense. The blessing fingers of the right hand are not a message from this world. Slender fingers are lifted without effort. They do not have weight, for there is no heaviness in the other world. The gaze of a saint is the look from eternity. It is not blurred by passions – that is why we can only return it in the moments of spiritual enlightenment. That is why the eyes looking at us from the icons disturb us and make us feel apprehension, fear, and hope.

What the old Russian icons depict, does not imply either spatial nor time localization. The image exists beyond space and time.

Here is the image “The Saviour” by Andrew Rublov (1360/70-about 1430). The eyes turned to us from eternity see everything, understand everything and take in everything and it is precisely for this reason that everything can be found in the Saviour’s eyes, and everybody always, can apply to Him.

Peculiar understanding of time and space in Old Russian icon-painting bore fundamental dogmatic meaning. That is the reason why, in the second half of the 17th century when Russian icon-painting started to be influenced by western painting, it evoked so much protest and indignation. Reasons for this were not the conservatism of icon-painting, but apprehensions of misinterpretation of the very sense and essence of the icon. It is difficult to deny that mages can not be painted as though they were alive in icons. The saints are in another world; in eternity, they do not live earthly lives, characterized by time and change.

Source: http://www.pravmir.com/time-in-icon/

On the 7th of June the Orthodox Church celebrates the Nativity of John the Baptist. Who was the one named as the greatest prophet of the Old Testament and the last righteous person of ancient Israel? Famous Bible expert Andrei Desnitsky is telling us his story.

At the turn of the Testaments

This is what Jesus told about him: “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew, 11:11) Such wonderful words! It appears that all the Old Testament prophets relinquish this man, who seemingly has not made anything special – he just called people for repentance and showed them Jesus… He did not move out people from slavery, as Moses did, neither did he pronounce aureate dictions as Isaiah. So why did he become “the greatest” and in what sense we should understand it?

The Orthodox Church also accepts this meaning and devotes to John the Baptist quite a few feasts and fast days. The Muslims worship him under the name of prophet Yahya; a special role was given to him in theologies of different religious teaching – like the gnostics and manichee. And even the famous celebration of Ivan Kupala (celebrated not only in Russia) is nothing but the Nativity of John the Baptist in the Church calendar. Obviously in that case an ancient pagan tradition got mixed up with the date of Christian feast. Many commonalities, cities, provinces and corporations like Canadian Quebec, Knights of Malta and the whole state of Malta worshiped and worship John the Baptist as their patron saint.

What is more, we read in the Gospel that during his life many people came to him, he had many spiritual pupils, and even religious leaders of Judaism sent their messengers to him to ask who does he think he is. What was the reason of being so popular?

He was the first one whom we met in the New Testament with a detailed story about his Conception and Nativity from Apostle Luke the Evangelist. His parents priest Zachariah and Elisabeth were childless for a long time (like for example parents of the Old Testament prophet Samuel). Zachariah came to know about the upcoming birth of his son from Archangel Gabriel. In fact, in this story we see a lot of details which remind us about the Old Testament, but each of them is taking us to the new Revelation. We can see the union of both Testaments in the meeting of Jesus and John when both of them were still in their Mother’s womb.

Young Mary who also came to know from Archangel Gabriel about her Son’s Nativity rushed to her old relative Elisabeth, who was already on the 6^th month of pregnancy. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb. As St. Luke wrote, “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb” (1:41). Who can think that it was just a coincidence? Elisabeth saw it as joyful greeting. The Evangelist mentioned that it was the work of Holy Spirit.

The main thing in the New Testament was the service of Christ, but St. John was the one who had to prepare people to this service. And it was solved like that even before their birth. That is why John was named as a Forerunner, what means “predecessor”.

The Preacher of the new senses

St. Luke states exact date of the beginning of his preaching: “15^th year of the government of Kaiser Tivery” what means 28 or 29 year AD. John himself lived in the desert, wore coarse clothes made from camel hair and ate locust and wild honey – literally everything what you can find in a desert. This is the strictest example of asceticism you can find in the Bible. An the same time, this is the mark of unlimited trust to God: a person does not care about subsistence knowing that God will provide him with everything he really needs.

Being an ascetic and flaming preacher, he never demands asceticism from others, but only their faith to God. Once the warriors came to him to ask what they should do (that time Palestine was occupied by the Roman Empire, so for the most of the Jewish people those warriors were like collaborators). Probably they expected that he would call them to refuse their collaboration with Rome immediately, and he would tell them to escape in the desert, to fast and to pray for all days long. But St. John told, "Extort no one, nor accuse falsely, and be content with your wages." (Luke 3:14). That is how he justify soldiery for Christians forever.

It is not possible to say that St. John the Baptist was kind to everybody. Spiritual leaders of Judaism who pretended to own the only truth were judged most of all, and as we see many times in the Gospel this idea closed their eyes for the real Truth. According to Apostle Matthew, he told them: "Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” (Matthew 3:7)

However, St. Luke said that those words were addressed to the people who came to him. He intended not to abuse them, but turn them to confession. St. John the Baptist explained the seriousness of the sin and the desire of it, as well as the condition in which a sinner appeared before God. And then he told that the Kingdom of God is coming and preached “the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins”. Of course, that was not the baptism we have today in our Christian Churches. Nobody knew about the Cross still – there was just a ritual of ablution they performed according to the Old Testament law after abomination (for example, after touching a dead body).

John the Baptist added a new sense to that ritual. It became not just a repeating ritual, but a symbol of true change of the whole way of thoughts and actions forever. That is why ablution was not just a rescue of an old fear, but the beginning of a true new life before God. Besides that, St. John taught people that they are responsible to God not by one, but as a whole: they had to share with the poor if they had more than they really needed. That was not something like inventory of property with the following confiscation and dispensation. John the Baptist just showed the people how they should live if they are really looking for Salvation. Nevertheless, everyone has to make his own choice.

The prototype of the crucifix

It is natural that people came to such a special preacher, who had managed to explain the essence of the Old Testament just in several words. He told them that he is not the Messiah they had been waiting for a long time. He refused even to call himself a prophet. Why? In fact, his ministry was quite prophetical, and even Christ said that St. John could be considered Elijah, who had to appear before the coming of Messiah, according to the Jewish belief.

To say “I am a prophet” would mean to pay tribute to himself. It was odd to St. John, for he was a “voice in the desert”, and what the Lord told the people thorough him was the only important thing for him. From the very beginning, he told about the One who would come after him, but was even before him. When Christ came to St. John, we refused to baptize Him at first: who is he to perform the ritual on Messiah? Perhaps, that great humility of St. John became the reason why (for the first time in the entire Gospel!) Christ did nothing by himself in that case, but trusted everything to St. John. And then He called John the greatest person “among the born of women”.

We all know how the life of St. John the Baptist ended. He convicted the king for his illegal marriage to the sister of his own brother. St. John was imprisoned for that. The king respected him a lot and did not dare to harm him. Unfortunately, the insidious intrigue of the queen, her young daughter’s dance at the feast and the king’s hasty promise to fulfill any wish of the dancer made the king order to behead St. John the Baptist, as if it was against his own will. Is this episode not similar to the episode of Christ’s crucifix, ordered reluctantly by Pilate? The world full of evil find a lot of ways and causes to reject the people who convict it.

The feat of humility and sacrifice is the main example given by St. John the Baptist, the son of Zachary, the greatest person of the Old testament and the first one in the New Testament.

Translated from: https://azbyka.ru/days/p-ioann-krestitel-predshestvennik-novoj-zhizni

Among the Church's feasts, there are three in honor of God's saint which in their significance stand out from the others devoted to the saints and are numbered among the great feasts of the Church of Christ. These feasts glorify the economy of God for our salvation.

These three feasts are the Nativity of St. John the Forerunner, his Beheading, and the feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.

The apparition of the holy Archangel Gabriel to the priest Zacharias in the Temple, with the announcement of the birth to him and the righteous Elizabeth, of a son who would prepare the way for the Lord, the Savior of the world, and the subsequent fulfillment of this premise, are the first of the events related by the Evangelists.

The announcement of the holy Archangel Gabriel to Zacharias in the Temple begins the New Testament Gospel. The announcement of the same Archangel Gabriel six months later in Nazareth to the Virgin Mary concerning the birth from Her of the Son of God, Who was to become incarnate, is a continuation of the revelation of the Pre-eternal Counsel concerning the salvation of the human race.

Three months after, the Annunciation, St. John the Forerunner was born "in a city of Judah," and six months after him Christ Himself was born in Bethlehem.

These events are closely bound together. "The glorious conception of the Forerunner proclaimeth beforehand the King Who is to be born of a Virgin" (Exapostilarion, Sept. 23, Feast of the Conception of John the Baptist). The announcement of the Archangel Gabriel in the Temple, announced later to all living nearby by Zacharias, in the magnificent hymn, which he sang after the birth of the child, John and the restoration to him of the gift of speech (Luke 1:67-79), is the forerunner of the angelic hymn: "Glory to God in the highest;" which was sung in Bethlehem by the angels when they announced to the shepherds the Nativity of Christ.

The Nativity of John the Baptist is the first joy sent down by God to the human race, the beginning of its deliverance from the power of the devil, sin and eternal death.

It is true that even before the Forerunner, the Most Holy Virgin Mary was born, and angels announced Her birth to Her parents. However, at that time, only Her parents knew of the exalted lot that was prepared for the Virgin Who was born, and they themselves were not fully aware of what had been announced to them beforehand. Therefore, it was only they, who celebrated at the birth of their Daughter, while the rest of the world only later understood the joy that had been announced (to it), by this birth.

For this reason, the feasts of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos and Her Entrance into the Temple were established in the Church and began to be solemnly celebrated significantly later than the other great feasts, whereas the Nativity of John the Forerunner is one of the most ancient and most venerated of Christian feasts. Sermons on this feast have been preserved from the first centuries.

From the day of the Nativity of John the Forerunner, the preparation of the human race begins for meeting the Son of God on earth. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people . . . And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways (Luke 1:68, 76). These God-inspired words of the priest Zacharias, after he had regained the gift of speech, were made known in all the land of Judea, causing disturbance to all living there, who asked each other in astonishment: What manner of child shall this be? (Luke 1:66).

Involuntarily the thought arose: Is this not the Messiah Himself? Judea was in an especially tense state of expectation of the Savior. Thus, the child John prepared the way for the Lord by his very birth; and even while he was still in the womb of His mother, by his leaping (Luke 1:41) he announced the coming birth of the Child Jesus, as if crying out: "Christ is born, give ye glory. Christ comes from heaven, meet ye Him" (Irmos, Canticle One of the Canon, Feast of the Nativity of Christ).

Being born exactly half a year before Christ, John the Forerunner by the exact time of his birth depicted his mission of preparing the way for the Lord. He was born at the time of the year (June 24) when the day begins to grow shorter after the summer solstice, whereas the Nativity of Christ occurs (December 25) when the day begins to grow longer after the winter solstice. These facts are an embodiment of the words spoken later, by the Forerunner, after the beginning of Christ's preaching: He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30).

"The herald of the Sun, the Forerunner" was John the Baptist, who was like the morning star that announces the rising of the Sun of Righteousness in the East.

Just as the very event of the Nativity of John the Baptist was the antechamber of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, so also the feast of the Nativity of John the Forerunner is also the antechamber of the feast of the Nativity of Christ. "The star of stars, the Forerunner, is born on earth today, from a barren womb, John the beloved of God, and manifests the dawning of Christ, the Orient from on high" (Glory at Lauds, of the Feast, June 24). "The whole creation rejoiceth at thy divine nativity: for thou wast shown forth as an earthly angel, O Forerunner and a heavenly man, proclaiming to us, the God of heaven incarnate" (Cantile Five of the Canon). "O Prophet and Forerunner of the coming of Christ, we who venerate thee with love, are in perplexity how worthily to praise thee; for the barrenness of her who bore thee and the dumbness of thy father are loosed by thy glorious and precious nativity, and the incarnation of the Son of God is preached to the world" (Troparion of the Feast).

Source: http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/35991.htm

On July 6 1480, a highly venerated icon of the Other of God was brought from the ancient city of Vladimir to Moscow. Grand Prince Ivan III himself had ordered to bring the icon when the Horde of Khan Ahmed was approaching from the east.

The chances of a Russian victory were slim and the spiritual father of the Grand Prince, Bishop Vassian called upon the Russian people to pray to the Mother of God. The armies met at the Ugra River but the battle never took place. Ahmed left in the end of October. The Protection of the Mother of God saved Moscow from an invasion. From then on Rus no longer paid a tax to the Horde.

Many of the images of the Mother of God have been copies which were painted by Apostle Luke while the Mother of God was still alive. And while it is believed that no copy has survived until today, the icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir depicts the Theotokos so well and naturally that there is no doubt the this images is truly a copy its ancient counterpart.

The icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir was given to Kiev by the patriarch of Constantinople in 1131 and the for 40 years the icon was kept in the Monastery in Vyshgorod near Kiev. The image did not remain there for long and in 1169 Andrey Bogolyubsky took the icon north with him and placed it in the newly built Dormition Cathedral in the city of Vladimir.

Almost instantly the icon became highly venerated by the people while atheists and pagans would not dare harm or touch the icon. In 1238 when Vladimir was captured by the Tatar–Mongols member of the horde entered the Dormition Cathedral. That took everything valuable from the walls of the church but did not dare to take the icon. As the invaders looked at the image of the Mother of God, they were suddenly engulfed in fear, which forced to leave the church in a hurry.

The invasion of Tamerlaned could have been fatal for Moscow but the mother of God saved the city. As soon as the icon was brought into the city, Tameralme retreated without a fight. According to tradition, the Mother of God appeared to him with saints in his dream, which brought fear into the heart of the conqueror. He decided not to take his chances having to deal with the heavenly army with the Mother of God in charge.

From 1480 to 1918, the icon was located in the Dormition Cathedral in the Kremlin to the left of the central royal doors. It became a true national relic as many saints and Czars prayed in from of the icon and used it to bless the army.

After the Bolsheviks came to power, the holy icon was carried out of the Kremlin. First, the icon was taken for restoration and then was put on display at the National historic museum and in 1930 it was placed in the Tretyakov Gallery. Currently it is kept in a special kiot in the restored church in honor of St. Nickolas the Wonderworker a functioning church on the grounds of the museum.

Translated from: http://foma.ru/vladimirskaya-ikona-bogorodiczyi.html

There are a lot of sacred things in Puhtitsa Convent, but the icon of the Mother of God of Puhtitsa is especially dear to the sisters of the convent and the pilgrims who visit this place.

The story of the icon is the following. In 1894, the sisters of the convent gave to their most beloved father an image, depicting the appearance of the Mother of God on the Mount Puhtitsa near the place, where the Holy Source had appeared. On the bottom of the icon there was an inscription: “To Archpriest Ioann Ilyich Sergiev. The work of the icon-painters of Dormition Convent on the Holy Mountain of the Governorate of Estonia. October 19, 1894.” St. John of Kronstadt kept that image until his very death.

The saint prayed in front of that icon for many years. He bequeathed the image to a pious family from St. Petersburg. Later the icon was given to Nun Virsaviya from Ioannovsky Convent of St. Petersburg. The Mother of God appeared to the nun while she was sleeping, and revealed Her will: the image should be moved back to Puhtitsa Convent. That happened on the Easter in 1946, and soon the icon was brought to the convent, where it was taken by nun Alexia II, the Mother Superior of the convent.

When you look at this icon you recall the words of the saint:

“On the 15th, on the eve of the feast of Dormition of the Mother of God, I was happy to see the Holy Theotokos and listen to Her voice saying, “You are the sweetest children of the Heavenly Father”. I understood how sinful I was. I looked at Her bright face and thought about whether She would reject me or not. That vision lasted for a minute, and then She left me slowly, crossed a small gully and disappeared. I saw the Heavenly Visitor walking. At first, I saw her just like on the icon, but then She came off and walk away. She was just like a bright star in the shining of the Divine Light, just like a coal in the great fire. She was so bright and fiery!”

Puhtitsa Convent, organized by St. John of Kronstadt on the place of the appearance of the Mother of God, was never closed throughout its history. The services were held even during the wartime, despite the fact that the front line lied near and the convent was surrounded by the troops. The locals told a lot of stories about the bombs that were falling in the convent’s direction during the World War II. However, the mysterious power pulled them aside from the convent’s walls. The bombs fell on the ground outside the territory of the convent without exploding. The sisters remember that once in 1946 a man wearing military uniform came to the convent. He was a flyer, who had been ordered to bombard the convent in 1944. He approached the target several times, but he could see nothing: “I remember I was getting closer, but everything was just like in fog, although the weather was fine and the sky was clear. I turned around and tried to approach one more time, but I still could not see anything. I began to bombard the territory according to the calculations, but then I suddenly saw a woman in blue vestment standing among the clouds. “Do not destroy My home”, She said.” When the man entered the church, he saw the icon of Puhtitsa and fell on his knees. He said that it was the very women, who had appeared to him that day. This is how the Mother of God has protected Her convent.

In 1954, Anna Nikolaevskaya, a widow of Fr. Basil Nikolaevsky from the city of Novgorod, came to the convent. Fr. Basil was keeping the relics of the Novgorod saints during the war. Once Matushka Anna saw in a dream the image of the Mother of God which she had never seen before. The Holy Theotokos was painted from the feet up in a blue omophorion and stretching Her holy hands. “What a miraculous icon was that?”, thought the woman and heard the voice saying, “I will help you to find this icon. You look for it on the mountain”. Matushka visited a lot of churches and monasteries trying to find the very icon, but her search was unsuccessful. Then she came to Puhtitsa Convent, where she has never been before. In the convent’s Dormition church the woman found the image she was looking for. Matushka recognized that as the sign of God’s will and stayed in the convent.

On September 3, 1954, Matushka Anna was tonsured as a nun under the name Euphrosyne. She loved very much the icon of the Mother of God of Puhtitsa, and by her efforts several small copies of the image were created. Those copies of the sacred image were given to the pilgrims who came to the convent.

In July 1997 a group of teachers and tutors from the Moscow home for orphans came to the convent. One of them, Valentina Popova, got sick with the flu before their departure. She was lying with high temperature and was very upset that she could not go to Puhtitsa Convent with her colleagues. A woman in blue clothes appeared to her. She took her hands and helped to get up from the bed. Valentina miraculously managed to reach the train by which the group had to go to Puhtitsa. When she came to the convent and saw the icon, she recognized the Woman Who had helped her.

When the first day of the pilgrimage was over, the pilgrims sat near the windows after the evening prayer and relished the beauty of the local area at night. At that moment, they saw the Mother of God was walking around the Refectory church with a candle in Her hands.

On July 8, 1999, a woman called Helen came to Puhtitsa Convent from Tallinn with a group of pilgrims. When she got a book with akathists to the icon of the Mother of God of Puhtitsa during the excursion, she burst in tears and said, “Forty years ago I had a heart surgery. I was fourteen years old then. After the surgery I saw I woman in blue clothes. When I came to Puhtitsa Convent, I realized Whom I had seen that day”.

It is impossible to describe all the miracles performed by the icon of the Mother of God of Puhtitsa. People who were called by the Holy Theotokos come to the convent come there from all over the world. The Mother of God saved many of them from misfortune, while some of them were healed from diseases.

The priceless sacred image of the Mother of God, which was brought back to the convent by God’s Providence, lightens with its grace every person who come to the Puhtitsa mountain.

An article by Nun Ioanna

Translated from: http://www.baltwillinfo.com/mp6-04/mp-04.htm

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