Among the many images of the Queen of Heaven, the icon “In sorrows and sorrows of comfort”, the photographs of which are presented in this article, occupies a special place, despite the fact that its original has not survived, and only copies are presented in Orthodox churches. This shrine was a gift brought to the Russian land from ancient Athos, and here glorified by miracles revealed through it.
Appearance of the original holy image
According to the surviving lists, it is not difficult to get an idea of what the icon “In grief and sorrow comfort” looked like. A description of it can also be found in documents that have reached us. It was a small three-leaved fold, in the center of which was placed a half-length image of the Virgin with the Eternal Child in her arms. They were faced by St. John the Baptist and John the Theologian.
Christ, holding a scepter in his left hand, blessed all who accepted his teaching with his right. In the lower part of the icon, as well as on the side wings, the figures of saints were depicted, who glorified the Lord with their exploits. It is this theotokos image that went down in history under the name “Consolation in sorrows and sorrows”.
History icons
Its roots go back to ancient Byzantium. The icon of the Virgin "In sorrows and sorrows of comfort" was first mentioned in documents relating to the XVII century. It is known that it belonged to the Patriarch of Athanasius III of Constantinople, later canonized and canonized . Together with him, she first came to Russia in 1653, from where, after his blessed death, she passed to one of the elders of Athos Vatopedi Monastery.
In ancient times, Patriarch Athanasius III lived on St. Athos, in the Vatopedi Monastery. In 1849, at the place where his cell was located, the St. Andrew’s Monastery, which became known later, was discovered, the first abbot of which, Vissarion, received this icon from the abbot of the monastery as a blessing, since it was the primate of the Byzantine church who lived here in secret.
The first appearance of the icon in holy Russia
In those years, fundraising for the holy monastery, among other brethren, was also carried out by hieromonk Theodorite sent to St. Petersburg for this purpose. In order to support the monk in this difficult but vital work, the icon “In sorrows and sorrows of comfort” was sent to him, because in the monastic life there are plenty of both.
In August 1853, she was sent by sea to Odessa and then delivered by mail to St. Petersburg. Apparently, in the XIX century, the Russian post did not work better than today, because the holy image during the journey received significant damage. He stayed in the city on the Neva for six years, accompanying Hieromonk Theodorite in the fulfillment of his obedience and invoking the blessing of the Queen of Heaven on him. When in 1859 he returned to Athos, the holy image again appeared in the monastery.
Miracles revealed in Kursk province
This time, the “In Sorrows and Sorrows Consolation” icon spent only four years under the Greek sky, and again its path lay in Russia, now in Kursk Province, where Hieromonk Paisiy went for the same purpose as his predecessor Theodorite - to raise funds for the fraternity. It is from here that the fame of the miracles revealed through her by the Queen of Heaven spread to all parts of the country.
Cases of healing that occurred through the prayers offered to the Mother of God before her miraculous image were recorded in special books that were stored for many years to strengthen faith and piety among the people. The first of them dates from 1863. The case is unique in itself, and therefore we should dwell on it in more detail.
Silent student
It appears from the church book of the parish church of the village of Kirmyzh of the Vyatka uyezd that one student of the Vyatka religious school, who came from a very religious family, was stopped at the entrance to the temple by a wanderer who asked him to convey a message to the young man’s father, who had become a hieromonk by that time.
The frivolous man neglected his request. Soon in night vision, he saw three shining men who reproached him for their deeds and promised a quick punishment. The next morning, the student was struck by dumbness. For six years he was silent. By that time, their icon was visited by the icon “Consolation in sorrows and sorrows”. Adhering to it at the end of the prayer service, the young man suddenly felt a certain heat in his tongue and immediately gained the gift of speech.
The abundance of miracles revealed by the icon
This striking case was recorded in the church book and certified by the signatures of numerous witnesses. Since then, miracles have poured plentifully on everyone who, with faith and hope, embarked on the holy image. Turning over the sheets that have turned yellow from time to time, we learn that in the same year, October 20, a similar miracle happened to the wife of a local clerk, Akulina Frolova, who suffered from extreme tongue-tearing since childhood.
A month later, health was granted to the tradesman Savely Ermakov, who had been bedridden for many years with paralysis of his legs, and the very next day the young merchant, Elizaveta Martynova, who was dying of a maternity fever , was saved. All cases described in the book cannot be listed, but how many of them remained unknown to posterity!
The gift of St. Athos to Russian soil
When hieromonk Paisiy came to return to Athos, the miraculous icon left Kaluga land with him. The shrine left so many memories of the healings received through it that hundreds of letters were sent to the Holy Mountain from Russia with a request to return it even for a short time.
In 1876, to the great joy of the Russians, the icon of the Virgin "In sorrows and sorrows of consolation" reappeared on our land, brought to Rostov, and in 1890 the brethren of the St. Andrew’s Monastery decided to send it to St. Petersburg forever, where time was opened Athos courtyard. The future hegumen of the monastery, Jerome Monk Joseph, was entrusted with the priceless gift.
The road to the Neva coast
The entire path of the shrine to the city on the Neva was furnished with extraordinary solemnity. In Odessa, on the occasion of her arrival, a solemn prayer service was served in the cathedral church, during which two demoniacous women were miraculously healed. Further, the path of the icon lay in Rostov-on-Don, where the facts of the sent through it to the suffering of God's grace were also witnessed.
The same was repeated further, first in Novocherkassk, and then in Moscow, until, finally, the holy image arrived at the courtyard of the Athos monastery in St. Petersburg, where he was met with a bell ringing at the confluence of a huge number of pilgrims. Throughout the journey, Hieromonk Joseph carefully recorded in the notebook the cases of healing that the prayer brought to the icon “In sorrows and sorrows of comfort”, without forgetting to certify them with the signatures of witnesses. He recorded more than twenty such episodes.
Unceasing prayer before the icon
The Mother of God icon “In sorrows and sorrows of consolation” acquired special significance during the First World War. There is information that the Metropolitan of Petrograd, Vladimir (Epiphany), in 1915 ordered him to perform vigilant prayers before her to send victory over the enemy to the Russian army. It was accompanied by the reading of an akathist, specially written for this miraculous image, each ikos of which ends with a petition for deliverance from evil and all sorrows, because for this the icon "Consolation in sorrows and sorrows" was granted to people.
The Akathist fully expresses the significance that the miraculous icon had for all who resorted to her help. She was a kind of connecting link between the Intercessor of Heaven and the human race, for her sins wounded by sorrows and troubles. Prayer before her opened up the possibility of direct communication with the Mother of God, praying relentlessly for us before the throne of His Son.
Lists with miraculous icons
About where the original icon is currently located, nothing is known. According to some reports, the monks of Mount Athos took her with them, when in 1929 they were forcibly relocated from Leningrad to the village of Slavyanka, but there is no evidence of this. Her traces are lost in the maelstrom of events of those years. Today, everyone who would like to offer prayers in front of her to the Mother of God can find in the Orthodox churches only lists made from her, also endowed with the power of miracles.
Among them is a copy made in 1863 by order of the famous Russian lawyer and historian K. A. Nevolin, who received prayer before the icon healing from an illness. It was decorated with a robe specially made by the masters of Athos, and was placed in the Vyatka Nativity of Christ Monastery. A year later, with his participation in Vyatka, another miraculous list of icons appeared, made for St. Nicholas Cathedral.
It is known that the Mother Superior of the Transfiguration Monastery in 1882, according to the vow given to her by the Blessed Virgin Mary, built a cathedral in Vyatka in honor of this holy image, in which the icon "Consolation and sorrow" was specially written for him was kept for a long time. The significance of her pious deed goes beyond a purely religious act. In that year, when the sorrow for the innocently murdered emperor-liberator Alexander II had not yet abated in the country, the creation of a copy of the famous icon and the erection of a temple for it greatly contributed to bringing peace and tranquility to civil society.