It so happened that the inhabitants of Kursk Pryazhevskaya icon of the Mother of God is one of the most revered shrines. This image of the Virgin Mary, whose history is lost in the mists of time, until the October Revolution of 1917 was in the main cathedral of the Belgorod Nikolaevsky Monastery. In the ensuing period of persecution of the church, the Lord miraculously preserved it from the hands of the atheists and again revealed it to believers at the end of the 20th century. Let us dwell in more detail on this unique relic and find out in what cases and to whom the Pryazhevsky Icon of the Mother of God helps.
The miracle revealed in the village church
The date of writing the Pryazhevsky Icon of the Mother of God is not set; the name of the creator has sunk into oblivion. According to the results of numerous studies carried out in recent years by the art historians of Moscow and Kursk, it was possible to establish only its Byzantine origin and to conclude that it was written no later than the middle of the XIV century.
A legend is associated with its acquisition on Kursk land, according to which, during the reign of Tsar Peter I (the exact date is not mentioned), parishioners of the church of the village of Pryazheva, located near Zhitomir, witnessed a miracle. During the holy liturgy, their wretched village temple suddenly filled with marvelous radiance, and an old image appeared on a lectern by itself. This was the Pryazhevskaya icon of the Mother of God, which received its name in honor of the village in which it was first shown to parishioners. Then a detailed description of this event was recorded in the church book.
Escape from the burning monastery
Later, the icon was transferred to Voronezh, and then the Belgorod Monastery, where it became famous for the healings revealed by the prayers offered to it by the Blessed Virgin Mary. By tradition, copies were made from miraculous icons, which were then sent to all parts of Russia. The Pryazhevsky icon of the Mother of God, located in Kursk, was no exception. However, in this case, not without miracles.
The fact is that the inhabitants of the monastery in which it was located were the monks who left the Voronezh Divnogorsk Desert in 1672 after it was plundered and burned by the Tatars, who still raided in those days. They left their former place of desertification with great haste, without taking any property with them. As a result, everyone was sure that the Pryazhevsky Icon of the Mother of God died in a fire. In 1788, the Belgorod Nikolskaya Deserts was abolished, and its main cathedral received the status of an ordinary parish church.
The Second Acquisition of the Icon
And one day (miraculously, the most amazing stories begin) miracles began to happen in it: the evening services barely ended, when the candles themselves went out, and in the morning they were found again burning. This continued until one of the parishioners, the young Kursk painter Ivan Bely, appeared in a dream, the Queen of Heaven and ordered her to find the icon hidden there behind the church iconostasis.
After informing the rector of the temple about the night vision the next morning, the artist hastened with him to the indicated place and drew into the light the darkened but perfectly preserved Pryazhevsky Icon of the Mother of God, which was previously considered irrevocably lost. When the news of what happened spread around the district, the order from the diocesan administration invited a skilled craftsman to restore the find and make a list (copy) of it.
Restoration icons
It was not necessary to search for a suitable specialist for a long time, since the planned work with great success was carried out by Ivan Bely himself. Having removed extraneous layers, he renewed the entire painting layer, with the exception of the faces of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Her Eternal Infant, since they are perfectly preserved. He also made a copy of the Pryazhevsky Icon of the Mother of God, commissioned by the diocesan leadership.
Healed Painter
There is a curious entry in the church book dating back to that period. It says that at the end of the restoration work, the painter himself miraculously recovered from a certain illness that tormented him for many years and, according to doctors, which was incurable. As it turned out later, he was not the only one who gained health by kneeling before the Pryazhevsky icon of the Mother of God. Prayer, performed to the Heavenly Intercessor, acquired unprecedented power and, uttered with a truly Christian faith, brought forth the desired fruit.
Miracles revealed through the icon and its popular veneration
An example is the history of a merchant of the first guild Prokhor Semenovich Kudryashov, who lived in Voronezh and suffered from rheumatism for many years, recorded in the church book. One night, he was granted a vision in which the Angel of God ordered him to go to Kursk and, finding in one of his temples the miraculous Pryazhevsky icon, kneel before her. Fulfilling exactly the will of the heavenly messenger, the merchant received healing and after that made a rich contribution to the making of a silver robe for the image of his Most Holy Healer.
In the second half of the 19th century, the previously abolished Belgorod Nicholas cloister was restored, and the temple where the icon was located was again included in its architectural complex. This served as an impetus to a significant increase in the number of pilgrims who came from all over Russia, and to an even greater veneration of the image. It is known that after in 1888 the imperial family miraculously escaped death in a railway accident in the Kursk region, this event was marked by numerous religious processions, at the head of which they always carried a famous icon.
Third Shrine Finding
After the Bolsheviks came to power, large-scale anti-religious campaigns began in the country, the result of which was not only the closure, but often the destruction of many monasteries and temples. This disastrous wave and Kursk did not pass. The Nikolaev man’s monastery was one of the first to be closed, and many of its inhabitants became victims of arbitrary arbitrariness. Several monks who managed to escape the arrest fled to Suju, a small town in the Kursk region. They transported the Pryazhevskaya Icon of the Mother of God there, but in the following years her traces were lost. Once again, it was assigned to the number of irretrievably lost shrines, and again miraculously gained.
This happened in 1996, when, in the wake of perestroika, the government’s policy regarding the church changed radically. Monasteries rose from the ruins and temples were restored. It was then that the icon was found in the basement of the Holy Trinity Sudzhinsky Cathedral during work on its restoration. This event has rightfully been called its third acquisition. After the restoration of the Belgorod desert, the icon was returned to it and took its former place under the arches of the main temple.
What do the Pryazhevsky Icon of the Mother of God pray for?
The Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church established the days of the celebration of the "Pryazhevskaya Icon." They became July 12, as well as the tenth Friday after Easter. These days, especially many people flock to the miraculous image. What prayers are raised before her? About all the necessities of life. As with any other virgin icon, words spoken with deep faith and filled with warmth of heart are heard.
That is why the text of the prayer of the Pryazhevsky Icon of the Mother of God does not have any characteristic features. However, based on the records of healings given to pilgrims preserved in church books, it is generally believed that people with leg, spine, and lung diseases can receive the most help. In addition, her assistance to women suffering from infertility was repeatedly noted. It is customary to ask for healing from all these ailments, kneeling before the Pryazhevsky image of the Mother of God.