Among the icons most respected by our people, there is one - the Shuisk-Smolensk icon of the Mother of God. Our story will go about her. But first of all, a few words about how the miraculous icons of the Virgin Mary, so revered among us for many centuries, came to Russia.
The history of the first image of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The first icon depicting the Blessed Virgin was painted during her lifetime by the holy evangelist Luke. It was called "Hodegetria", which means "Guide".
The icon was painted in the city of Antioch, and, having traveled a long way through Jerusalem, Constantinople and Smolensk, it came to Moscow. After some time, the shrine returned to Smolensk, and two copies of it remained for Muscovites.
In the traditions of Orthodox icon painting, several canons of writing the image of the Virgin are provided. The one in question was called Smolenskaya. Currently, there are many lists from it. One of them is the Shuisk-Smolensk icon of the Mother of God.
Finding a miraculous image
The Russian land knew many disasters. Among other punishments of God, terrible epidemics took place that claimed thousands of lives. One of them happened in the city of Shuya. A pestilence visited him in 1654 . Residents of the city were completely helpless in front of this scourge, because there was no medical care yet. Every day, dozens of dead were brought to the cemetery, and the priests did not have time to funeral them.
Intercession could be requested only from the Lord God, and his Most Holy Mother. It was for this purpose that it was decided to offer prayers before a new, just written way of it. Fortunately, there was a skilled craftsman - icon painter Gerasim Ikonnikov. As an example, the artist used the icon Hodegetria Smolenskaya. The legend says that during all the days of work, the surviving residents of the city prayed vigilantly and held fast.
The first miracle was revealed as an icon in the workshop of Gerasim. Suddenly, the facial features of the Virgin changed themselves, and she took a different look. After that, when the finished icon was brought into the Resurrection Church, everyone felt an inexplicable aroma. Seeing this a happy omen, the townspeople fell to their knees and began to pray earnestly. And the Shuisk-Smolensk icon of the Mother of God saved the city. The epidemic began to decline, and soon ceased altogether. A year later, grateful residents of the city erected a chapel in memory of this event.
The miracles revealed by the icon
In 1666, a special bishop commission gave the icon miraculous status. This happened after more than a hundred people received healing from her over a year and a half, and all cases were officially registered. Since that time, she got her current name. The date of the holiday was appointed November 15 - the day of deliverance of the city from the pestilence.
In those old years, cities were built mostly of wood. It often happened that fire destroyed entire areas in them. Shuya survived several major fires. Each time, damage was also inflicted on the Resurrection Church, where it was inseparably located, and each time the icon miraculously remained unharmed. In 1848, the Shuisk-Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God again saved the city from an epidemic. This time, Shuya visited cholera.
The fate of the icon in subsequent years
Throughout its history, the miraculous image has seen many crowned persons and members of the reigning house. His glory was so great that, visiting the city, they considered it their duty to visit the Resurrection Church and pray in it. When the difficult years for the church against the Church came, people faithful to Orthodoxy retained the icon. Some of them paid for it with their lives. There is a known case when the parishioners of the temple resisted the authorities who seized church values and encroached on the precious salary of the icon. Some of them were shot, others were sent to prison.
Today, every year on November 15, the day of the celebration of the holy icon, a religious procession takes place in the city, in which Shui residents and pilgrims from other cities take part.