The Orthodox tradition differs from other Christian denominations in its developed and very deep iconography. Not the last role, and perhaps even the first, the image of Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, plays in it. This is due both to the popular veneration of this woman, and to the theological attention to her church doctrine.
Our Lady of Iconography
The first images of the Mother of God are known from around the third or fourth century. It’s hard to say exactly, as various scholars dispute the dating of the most ancient of the known images of Mary. However, in the official doctrine its status was recorded no earlier than the fifth century. More precisely - in 431 in the city of Ephesus. There, at a meeting of Christian bishops, she was formally assigned the title of the Virgin. Since then, her iconography began to develop rapidly.
It is important to understand that the icon of Mary, the mother of Christ, does not just portray a holy woman. She represents precisely the spiritual component of the person who has become the mother of God, as Christians believe in this. Therefore, in the Orthodox tradition, it is always seen in the light of Jesus, the divine messiah.
There are many different images of the Mother of God. Previously, for every city and every monastery, and often simply for a significant church, it was considered good form to have your own unique icon, marked either with miraculous healings or other graces of the Almighty, for example, myrrh-streaming. That is why today there is no day on the calendar that would not be dedicated to at least one icon of Mary. And most often, several such images are revered a day.
Fifteen hundred years of tradition development have developed several basic so-called canonical types of images of the Virgin. One of them is called "Eleusa", to which this article is devoted.
Mother of God "Eleusa"
This word can be translated from Greek as "merciful, compassionate, merciful." But in Russia the term “tenderness” is most often used. It is not a wrong translation, it simply emphasizes other aspects of the spiritual relationship between people and the one whom believers call the Queen of Heaven.
A distinctive feature of this type is the position of the baby in the hands of Mary. Virgin Mary “Tenderness” touches the cheek of Christ with her cheek. Thus, the icon embodies the idea of unlimited love between God, who has assumed human nature, and people who have ascended to the divine level (which is embodied by the figure of the Mother of God).
In the Greek tradition, this iconographic type is also called glycophilus, which literally means "sweetly loving." In any case, “tenderness” is a graphic representation of the idea of love, which was revealed in the cross sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This is the manifestation of God's mercy. And in popular piety, far from the theological intentions of church painting, the meaning of tenderness began to be associated with the tender relationship of the baby and Mary, which is absent in other types of iconography, where Christ is presented as a king endowed with power and power, sitting on Mary’s arms as on a throne. A striking example of the Eleus is the image of the Our Lady of Vladimir.
But besides the general designation of the iconographic type, “tenderness” is also the name of a specific image. Oddly enough, this icon (as well as its varieties) refers to another type of image called Agiosoritissa. Therefore, it is worth saying a few words separately.
Virgin of Agiosoritissa
The name of this type comes from the chapel of the Holy Crayfish (Agia Soros) in Constantinople. Mary, according to this tradition, is depicted without Christ in a three-quarter turn. Her hands are folded in a prayer gesture. The gaze can either be raised up or down. Among the icons of this type, there is one especially revered image, called "tenderness." It is difficult to overestimate its significance for the Orthodox, since it is firmly connected with the great shrine - the Diveevsky monastery and its founder, the Monk Seraphim of Sarov. And such a name of him is probably associated with a special emotional impression that he makes on the person contemplating him. The fact is that this image of “tenderness” is an example of painting in Western writing, that is, unlike the Orthodox canonical iconography, it emphasizes purely human features in the person of Mary, a mother, a suffering woman, a prayer for the intercessor, etc.
Seraphim-Diveevo image of Our Lady
The icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness” from Diveevo is famous for being a secret image of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov - an extremely venerated Russian saint in the Orthodox Church . According to church legends, Mary personally appeared to him in a visible form several times. During prayer in front of this icon, he died.
The value of the Diveevo image
Due to the great popular love for Seraphim of Sarov and the cult around him, the Diveyevo icon “Tenderness” is a huge historical and cultural value, not to mention its church significance. Today this image is kept in the patriarchal residence in Moscow and once a year, on the feast of the Praise of the Mother of God, is exhibited for general worship. The Icon of the Mother of God “Affection” in its printing copies diverges in huge print runs. In the church world, this is a kind of spiritual trend of the last two decades. She also has many handwritten lists, revered in various parts of not only Russia but also abroad.