Troparion of the Mother of God before the icon of Her Vladimirskaya, tone 4
Today, the most glorious city of Moscow flaunts brightly, / like the dawn of the sun, having perceived, O Lady, / your miraculous icon, / to it now we flow and pray to you, we cry out to the mother: / oh, wonderful Lady Theotokos! / Pray from you to the incarnate Christ our God, / let this city and all the cities and countries of Christianity be delivered / unharmed from all the slander of the enemy / / and save our souls, like Mercy.
Kondak, voice 8
The chosen Voivode is victorious, / as if getting rid of the evil ones / by the coming of Your honest image, the Lady of the Mother of God, / we lightly create the feast of Your meeting and usually call Ty // Rejoice, Bride Unbrideed.
P according to the chronicle, the icon of the Virgin, painted by St. Luke, was sent around 1131 to Russia during the reign of Yuri Dolgoruky by Patriarch Luke Christoverg of Constantinople.
In 1155 St. blg. Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky, leaving Kyiv and heading for his ancestral land of Suzdal, secretly took with him the marvelous icon of the Virgin from Vyshgorod, which by that time had become his specific city. This icon later received the name "Vladimirskaya".
According to Church Tradition, the image of the “Vladimir Mother of God” goes back to the work of the apostle and evangelist Luke himself. However, researchers date this icon to a much later time (XII century). For us, it is unconditional that this marvelous image, being written at a later time, goes back to the prototype and is a list from the icon painted by St. and Evangelist Luke.
St. blessings. book. Andrei brought the marvelous image to Vladimir, and after the completion of the construction of the Assumption Cathedral, the icon was placed there. Already in 1161, as the chronicler narrates, the icon was richly decorated with gold, silver, precious stones and pearls. Prince Andrey: "and forged in us more than three hundred hryvnias of gold (about 12 kg), except for silver and precious stone and pearls." The icon has since become known as "Vladimir", and St. Prince Andrei received the nickname "Bogolyubsky".
The celebration in honor of the Vladimir Icon is celebrated by the Church three times a year: on May 21, June 23, and August 26, according to the old style, and the most solemnly celebrated is the memory of the meeting (that is, the meeting) of the Vladimir Icon in Moscow on August 26, 1395 (September 8, n.st. ).
Russia at the end of the XIV century. for almost three hundred years it has been in a state of feudal fragmentation, and of these, the last two centuries have been under the weight of the Mongol-Tatar yoke and under constant attacks from its western neighbors. Constantly ruined by either its own or by others, having lost a large significant part of its lands, becoming an "ulus" (vassal) of the Golden Horde khans, subjected to exorbitant tribute from them, Russia was in a state of deep decline. The revival of statehood began with a spiritual revival, with the Orthodox faith, the marvelous fruits of which appeared in Russia, St. Sergius of Radonezh and his disciples.
Saint Sergius was elevated to the rank of abbot of the monastery he founded (the future Trinity-Sergius Lavra) in 1354, and already in the 1360s an event took place that was extremely important for the future fate of the Russian people: Saint Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, who was then the guardian of a minor Prince Dmitry of Moscow and actually ruling on behalf of the prince, managed to get the Horde khans to recognize the right of Moscow princes to hereditarily own the title of Grand Duke of Vladimir, which actually canceled the “ladder right” of inheritance that existed then and created the foundations for the emergence of a centralized monarchical state. This policy was crowned with the triumph of victory on the Kulikovo field in 1380, when the Russian princes united for the first time in so much time, led by the Moscow prince Dmitry, defeated the Mongol-Tatar troops.
However, the final unification of Russia was then out of the question, and in 1382 Moscow and all its lands were devastated by the hordes of Tokhtamysh. Russian princes again begin to go to bow to the khans and pay tribute.
In 1370, in the territories between India and the Golden Horde, a new powerful Islamic empire of the Timurids emerged with its capital in Samarkand, headed by one of the greatest Asian conquerors, Tamerlane. In a short time, Tamerlane conquered several kingdoms. This ruler was distinguished by a special bloodthirstiness. His empire grew rapidly, and there were serious frictions with neighbors, on whom Tamerlane also tried to extend his influence. Among them was the Golden Horde. The situation became especially aggravated in 1394, when, in response to the provocative actions of Khan Tokhtamysh, Tamerlane went on a campaign against the horde and defeated Tokhtamysh in a general battle on the Terek River on April 15, 1395. Pursuing the retreating forces of Tokhtamysh, Tamerlane passed the entire Golden Horde from south to north and in July appeared within the Russian lands. The Russians watched the developments with trepidation. They had already heard from the Georgian princes about the strength and bloodthirstiness of Tamerlane, who conquered Georgia more than once and even tried to plant Islam in this Orthodox country. Tamerlane was well aware that a large Russian ulus was an important source of income and stability for the Golden Horde. Russian sources report the intention of Tamerlane or Timur Aksak, as he was called in our chronicles, to go to Moscow.
In August 1395, Tamerlane invaded the borders of Russia and burned the city of Yelets, located on the outskirts of the Ryazan principality, killed the Yelets prince and brutally cracked down on the population.
Then Tamerlane stood on the Don and waited, either resting the wars, or making plans for further actions. Moscow Prince Vasily Dmitrievich began to hastily gather forces on the Oka River, but there was practically no hope of resisting the many thousands of victorious hordes of Tamerlane. People were in fear, and for Russia in this situation, Tamerlane's campaign could become fatal, and not only because of the Mongol-Tatars: the Lithuanian state in the west, which had already accepted the Catholic Union, was rapidly absorbing the lands of weakened Russia (as already in 1362 Kyiv was taken by them), Poland and Sweden threatened the Russian borders.
And then Metropolitan Cyprian of Moscow, a wondrous saint and zealous servant of the Church, announces a nationwide fast and, together with the princes, organizes an unprecedented procession from Vladimir to Moscow with the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. Serb by nationality, Bishop Cyprian loved the Russian people very much, believed in them and saw that now the critical moment had come, on which the whole future of this people depended, and nothing could help, except for a miracle, except for the conciliar popular prayer to the Lord and His Most Pure Mothers. On August 15, on the feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos, with all possible solemnity, accompanied by all the Vladimir clergy with chants, crosses and banners, they carried it out of the church and carried it to Moscow in a procession of many thousands. All the inhabitants of the city came out to see off the icon.
The path of the Lady from the banks of the Klyazma lasted ten days. On both sides of the road, kneeling people stood and, holding out their hands to the icon, cried out: “Mother of God, save the Russian land!” A solemn meeting awaited in the white-stone Vladimir Icon: a procession with all the city clergy, the family of the Grand Duke, boyars and ordinary Muscovites went outside the city walls on Kuchkovo Field, met and saw off the miraculous to the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin.
It was August 26, old style. “The whole city went out against the icon to meet it,” the chronicler testifies. Metropolitan, Grand Duke, “husbands and wives, youths and virgins, children and babies, orphans and widows, from young to old, with crosses and icons, with psalms and with spiritual songs, more than speak all with tears, even if you cannot find a person, not weeping with incessant sighs and sobbing.
And the Mother of God heeded the prayer of those who trusted in Her. At the very hour of the meeting of the icon on the banks of the Moskva River, Tamerlane had a dreamy vision in his tent: saints with golden staffs were descending from a high mountain, and above them, in indescribable grandeur, in the radiance of bright rays, the Radiant Wife soared; countless hosts of Angels with fiery swords surrounded Her... Tamerlane woke up, trembling with horror. The Tatar wise men, elders and fortune tellers called by him, explained that the Wife he saw in a dream is the Intercessor of the Orthodox, the Mother of God, and that Her power is irresistible. And then the Iron Lame ordered his hordes to turn back.
Both Tatars and Russians were amazed by this event. The chronicler concluded: “And Tamerlane fled, persecuted by the power of the Blessed Virgin!”
In memory of this event, at the meeting place of the icon in front of Moscow in 1397, the Sretensky Monastery was founded.
Returning from a campaign in Russia, Tamerlane once again passed through the Golden Horde, this time from east to west, leaving bare scorched earth behind him. The troops of Khan Tokhtamysh were finally defeated, and after that the Golden Horde was never able to restore its former power. She was no longer able to prevent the formation of the Muscovite state, and over time, her lands were absorbed by Russia itself. And in this, a believing person can also see the hand of God in history: it is in the power of the Lord to turn any most terrible evil into good.
Many of the most important events in the history of the Russian state over the course of many centuries are associated with the miraculous Vladimir image of the Most Holy Theotokos. And it is in our power, as well as our God-loving ancestors, to appeal to the Mother of God with a simple and fervent prayer, bringing to Her all those of our anxieties and sorrows that torment us today.
Quite recently, it seemed, festive services were held in the Prechistensky Cathedral, led by Archbishop Innokenty of Vilna and Lithuania, dedicated to the feast of the Assumption of the Mother of God. Where all believers, together with the clergy, prayed to the Mother of God - the intercessor of the Christian race.
And, today, on September 8, according to the Church calendar, the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is celebrated, the festival was established in memory of the salvation of Moscow from the invasion of Tamerlane in 1395. It was on the Feast of the Assumption that the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God appeared in a dream to Tamerlane and ordered to leave the Russian land.
The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, according to Church Tradition and the faith of our glorious ancestors, was painted by the Evangelist Luke on a board from the table at which the Savior ate with the Most Pure Mother and righteous Joseph.
The Mother of God, seeing this image, said: “From now on, all generations will bless Me. The Grace of the One Born of Me and Mine will be with this icon.”
In 1131, the icon was sent to Russia from Constantinople to Saint Mstislav and was placed in the Maiden Monastery of Vyshgorod, an ancient appanage city of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga.
The son of Yuri Dolgoruky, Saint Andrei Bogolyubsky, brought the icon to Vladimir in 1155 and placed it in the famous Cathedral of the Dormition he had erected. Since that time, the icon has received the name of Vladimirskaya. In 1395 the icon was first brought to Moscow. Thus, with the blessing of the Mother of God, the spiritual bonds of Byzantium and Russia were sealed.
In 1395, the terrible conqueror Khan Tamerlane reached the limits of Ryazan, took the city of Yelets and, heading towards Moscow, approached the banks of the Don. Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich went out with an army to Kolomna and stopped on the banks of the Oka. He prayed to the Hierarchs of Moscow and St. Sergius for the deliverance of the Fatherland and wrote to the Metropolitan of Moscow, St. Cyprian, so that the coming Dormition Fast would be dedicated to fervent prayers for mercy and repentance. Clergy were sent to Vladimir, where the glorified miraculous icon was located. After the liturgy and prayer service on the feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos, the clergy received the icon and carried it to Moscow with a procession of the cross. Countless people on both sides of the road, on their knees, prayed: "Mother of God, save the Russian land!" At the very hour when the inhabitants of Moscow met the icon on the Kuchkov field, Tamerlane was dozing in his tent. Suddenly he saw in a dream a great mountain, from the top of which saints with golden rods were walking towards him, and above them in a radiant radiance a majestic Wife appeared. She ordered him to leave the borders of Russia. Waking up in awe, Tamerlane asked about the meaning of the vision. Those who knew answered that the radiant Wife is the Mother of God, the great Protector of Christians. Then Tamerlane ordered the regiments to go back. In memory of the miraculous deliverance of the Russian land from Tamerlane, on the Kuchkov field, where the icon was met by Muscovites, the Sretensky Monastery was built.
So, the intercession of the Mother of God saved Russia from the invasion of Tamerlane, and thereby showed who approaches the Mother of God with piety and prayer, on which Her words are fulfilled: “Rejoice, I will be with you all the days,” once said to the apostles on the third day after His glorious Assumption.
And, as if as a pledge of Her invisible presence, She bestowed on the Orthodox human race many tens, hundreds and thousands of holy, whole-bearing and miraculous icons of Her. Through them, She conveys to everyone who with faith, reverence and love clings to these holy icons, Her Motherly mercy, consoles, encourages, heals, helps to carry the cross of life to everyone who seeks heavenly reinforcements on their earthly path.
Troparion, tone 4
Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God
Today, the most glorious city of Moscow flaunts brightly, / as if perceiving the dawn of the sun, Lady, / your miraculous icon, / now we are flowing and praying to it. We cry out to you: / oh, wonderful Lady Mother of God! / Pray from Thee to the incarnate Christ our God, / may deliver this city / and all cities and Christian countries unharmed from all the slander of the enemy, / and save our souls, like Mercy.
Kontakion, tone 8
The chosen Voivode is victorious, as if having got rid of the evil ones by the coming of Your honest image, to the Lady Mother of God, we lightly create the feast of Your meeting and usually call Thee: Rejoice, Bride of the Bride.
Since the people of Russia were baptized, the Mother of God has been considered the patroness of our country. And this is not unfounded, since our compatriots received miraculous help from the icons of the Most Holy Theotokos in the most difficult situations, when not only the freedom of an entire nation, but also the lives of a mass of people were put at stake. One of these revered images is the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. On September 8, the Church decided to celebrate the holiday dedicated to it.
General information
If you believe the ancient church tradition, the icon of the Virgin Mary, honored at the beginning of the autumn of each year, has a long history. According to this version, the author of the holy image is the Evangelist Luke. He painted the face of the Mother of God on an ordinary wooden board - part of the table at which the Mother of God, Jesus and righteous Joseph ate food. Seeing her own image on the board, the Virgin Mary blessed the latter, saying these words: “From now on, all generations will bless Me. The Grace of the One Born of Me and Mine will be with this icon.”
For a long time this icon stayed in the main city of Israel - Jerusalem. After I found myself in Constantinople - the Byzantine capital. In the 12th century, the Patriarch of Constantinople presented the holy image to the holy Prince Mstislav, who sat on the throne of Kiev. So the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God ended up in Russia. She was placed in the Maiden Convent, which was located in Vyshgorod.
Two decades passed before the miraculous icon found itself in Vladimir. By the way, this event happened thanks to the holy Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky. The image of the Mother of God took a place of honor in the Assumption Cathedral of the city. Hence the name of the holy image of the Virgin Mary: it literally has a topographical character.
Scholars do not believe church tradition regarding the true age of the miraculous icon. As a result of research, the holy image was dated to the 12th century AD. It turns out that the Vladimir icon belongs to the period of the Komnenos' revival in Byzantine art, in particular, painting. This is indicated by the coincidence of some of the drawn elements present on the image of the Mother of God with those used by the artists of this pictorial era. From the point of view of art, the icon of the Virgin Mary we are considering can be safely called a model of the Byzantine school of painting. The one who wrote it was a master of his craft, since he managed to convey the feelings and emotions of the Most Pure One so accurately that it is impossible to remain indifferent, looking at the holy canvas and the woman depicted on it.
However, in favor of church tradition, some facts also come forward, however, they are very controversial. For example, there is information that the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was in the city of Jerusalem until the middle of the 5th century AD. How is it not a proof of the truth of the opinion of the church on the issue of the present age of an Orthodox relic?
history of the holiday
The Feast of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, which falls on September 8, points to a specific date - 1395. The word "sretenie" means "meeting". Indeed, in that year in Moscow there was a meeting of the holy image of the Virgin Mary by Muscovites. Later, on the site of the meeting, the Sretensky Monastery was erected. This monastery gave its name to Sretenka Street.
Under what circumstances did the holy image of the Most Pure appear in the capital, and, moreover, why was it met by a multitude of people? History provides an explanation. In the year 1395 already mentioned above, Khan Tamerlane approached Moscow with hordes of his warriors. His goal was to capture the capital city. The Christian people realized that the enemies were stronger, at least in quantitative terms, therefore they relied solely on the help of heaven. The Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich took the initiative in this regard. He ordered to bring to Moscow the holy image of the Mother of God, which had already been kept in Vladimir by that time. The path of the miraculous icon of the Intercessor was very long - it was 10 days. On both sides of the road that the Empress crossed, there were a lot of people. Everyone held out their hands to the icon, crying: “Mother of God, save the Russian land!” In Moscow, the holy image of the Virgin Mary was awaited by a magnificent reception. On this occasion, a solemn religious procession was organized, which was attended by representatives of the city clergy, boyars, the Grand Duke with his family and, of course, ordinary citizens. The meeting of the icon took place on the city walls overlooking Kuchkovo Field, after which the people escorted the holy image to the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin.
The event described above took place on August 26, 1395. The Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was accompanied by great weeping of those present, incessant prayers and lamentations. All this, undoubtedly, came from the heart, because, firstly, the Russian people at that time were distinguished by high fear of God, and secondly, the fear of the invasion of Tamerlane's hordes was too strong. And it is not surprising that the Mother of God heeded the sincere requests for help and intercession coming from such a huge number of people.
At the time of the meeting of the miraculous icon on the banks of the Moscow River, the khan and his soldiers had a subtle vision in which the enemies of Russia saw saints descend from a high mountain, in their hands were golden staffs, and a woman hovered above them, surrounded by the radiance of bright rays of light and host of Angels with fiery swords. Interestingly, this vision appeared not only to the Tatars, but also to the Russian people. Both those and others were incredibly surprised, and the latter also came to indescribable horror. As a result, Tamerlane with his tent fled without looking back.
At the end of these events, the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God remained in Moscow forever. She was placed in the Kremlin Cathedral in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Later, more than once, the Virgin Mary defended the capital city from enemies. So, in 1408, she saved the capital through her holy image from the raids of Khan Edigey, in 1451 - from the attack of Mazovsha, the Nogai prince, in 1459 - from the encroachments on the Russian land of Khan Sedi-Akhmet. In 1480, a popular prayer in front of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God forced Khan Akhmet to change his intention to try to conquer Moscow, and in 1521 the same thing happened to the Kazan Khan Makhmet Giray. Paying tribute to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the Church established three whole holidays honoring the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God: in addition to the date of September 8 (August 26, O.S.), which commemorates the salvation of the capital city from Khan Tamerlane in 1395, Orthodox Christians also celebrate the holiday of 21 May - the defense of Moscow from the invasion of the Crimean Khan Makhmet Giray in 1521 and June 23 - the memory of the salvation of Moscow from the invasion of Khan Akhmat in 1480.
), there was an invasion of the Russian land by the Agarian king (Mongolian conqueror) Tamerlane; this Tamerlane, having risen from the east with a great army, conquered many countries and, finally, approached the borders of the Russian country. Approaching the borders of the Ryazan region, Tamerlane took the city of Yelets, captured the prince of Yelets and killed many Christians; for he was a hater and a formidable persecutor of Christians. Tamerlane boasted of devastating the entire Russian land and eradicating the Christian faith; this desolator directed his way to the city of Moscow, intending to destroy it.
When the Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich heard about this, he gathered his soldiers and headed for the city of Kolomna. Departing from here, he stopped on the banks of the Oka River and took up arms here against the enemy; Tamerlane stood in one place for fifteen days. When the Grand Duke (and all Christian soldiers) learned about the great power of the impious tsar, who came to Russia with a large army, and also heard about his evil intention, then together with the soldiers he raised his hands to heaven and prayed with tears to the Lord and to the Most Pure Mother God, asking for deliverance from that godless Hagarite: the Grand Duke called for help the saints of God, the holy hierarchs Peter and Alexy, St. Sergius and other Russian miracle workers.
At the same time, the Grand Duke asked his spiritual father, His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian, to proclaim a fast to the people with prayer; The Grand Duke also asked the Metropolitan to take the miraculous icon of the Mother of God from the city of Vladimir and bring this icon to Moscow to protect the Russian patron city. Saint Cyprian had previously thought of bringing to Moscow the aforementioned honest icon of the Mother of God; when he received a command from the prince, then with zeal he thanked God for putting the same thought into the heart of the great prince; His Holiness Metropolitan took his unanimity with the Grand Duke as a sign of God's favor and permission that the miraculous icon of the Mother of God be brought to Moscow.
Shortly after this, the metropolitan sent deliberate men of the spiritual rank to Vladimir in order to take the honest icon of the Mother of God there; having gathered all the spiritual rank and the multitude of the people, the most holy Metropolitan brought a conciliar prayer for victory over the enemies and commanded everyone to fast with prayer, but he himself did not leave the church, performing services day and night and praying with tears for the Grand Duke, for his soldiers and for all Orthodox Christians.
When the honest icon, taken in the city of Vladimir, was approaching the city of Moscow, on the fifteenth day of the month of August, on the feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Metropolitan came out to meet her with other spiritual rites and with a multitude of people. Seeing that holy icon, everyone fell to the ground and bowed to her as the Most Pure Mother of God, who had come to them, and accepted her with great joy; looking at this icon, everyone shed tears with tenderness and prayed to the Mother of God for deliverance from the invasion of the Agarians.
The common fervent prayer was not in vain: on the same day on which the honest icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was brought to Moscow, the impious king of Agaria Tamerlane was horrified, frightened by a terrible vision in a dream, and ran back with all his army, although no one pursued.
The vision he had was this: he saw before him a high mountain, from the top of which saints were walking towards him, carrying golden rods in their hands and threatening him; above these saints, Tamerlane saw an extraordinary light in the air; he also saw a certain Queen, standing among those saints in inexpressible glory, clothed in a crimson robe and shining with lightning rays brighter than the sun. Around this Queen there were countless armed warriors who served Her and, as it were, prepared for war. The hands of the Queen were outstretched to the sky - She seemed to be praying. It seemed to Tamerlane that this Queen threatened him, commanding him to move away from the borders of the Russian land and, as it were, ordering her army to rush to him.
From this terrible vision, Tamerlane was horrified; Rising from his bed, he cried out in fear:
Woe to me, for I have seen a terrible sight!
And the unfortunate man trembled, shaking and groaning, and was, as it were, in a frenzy.
After some time, Tamerlane came to his senses, called his princes and commanders and told them everything he had seen, shaking with fear.
They, having listened to the story of Tamerlane and seeing that he was shaking with fear, were also horrified and, perplexed, asked each other:
– What will happen now?
Some also said:
- The seen Queen is the Mother of the Christian God, the Lord Jesus Christ; undoubtedly, She intends to protect Christians, for She is their Helper and Intercessor.
Tamerlan said:
- If Christians have such a Helper, then we have armed ourselves against them in vain; we labor in vain; for if she sends only one of those who come to her, then she will overcome us all, so that we will not find a place where we can run away.
Thus, that wicked king with all his army of Hagar returned back, having fled in shame, for it seemed to the Hagar that many regiments of soldiers from the land of Russia were pursuing them; coming from this into fear and trembling, the Hagarites crushed each other, threw down their weapons and left their booty, as well as everything taken prisoner.
Thus, the Orthodox Christians were granted victory over enemies without a fight and defeat without shedding blood, through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This invasion of Tamerlane together with the Agarians and his miraculous expulsion from the borders of the Russian land took place in 6903 from the creation of the world (); since that time, in the reigning city of Moscow, a feast was established in honor of the meeting of the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, called Vladimir (), in an unforgettable and grateful memory of the miraculous deliverance from the Hagarites, granted by the intercession of the Mother of God. May honor, glory and worship always be sent from us to the Mother of God, together with Christ God who was born from Her, now and forever. Amen.
Troparion, tone 4:
Today, the most glorious city of Moscow flaunts brightly, as if we perceived the dawn of the sun, mistress, Your miraculous icon, to which we now flow and pray to You, we cry out to you: O miraculous Lady Theotokos, pray from You to the incarnate Christ our God, may he deliver this city, and all cities and the Christian countries are unharmed from all the slander of the enemy, and our souls will be saved, as if merciful.
Kontakion, tone 8:
To the victorious governor of the chosen one, as if having got rid of the evil ones by the coming of Your honest image, the Lady of the Mother of God, we lightly create the feast of Your meeting, and usually we call you: Rejoice, O Bride of the Bride.
1) Vasily (II) Dmitrievich reigned from 1389 to 1425.
2) Cyprian ruled the Moscow metropolis from 1380 to 1385; then a second time from 1390 to 1406.
3) In 1395 from R. X.
4) 85 years after the event described, the second celebration of the Vladimir Icon was established on June 23, in gratitude for getting rid of the invasion of the Horde Khan Akhmat in 1480. “No, not weapons, not human wisdom, but the Lord Himself has now saved Russia.” In 1521, the Mongols again moved to Russia under the leadership of Makhmet Giray. By the intercession of the Mother of God, this time Moscow was saved from enemies. This event is commemorated by St. Church on May 21st. In 1812, during the invasion of the French, the miraculous Icon of Vladimir, together with the icons of Iver and Smolensk, was taken to Mur on September 1 by His Grace Archbishop Augustine and, after the liberation of Moscow from enemies, was returned again to the capital on October 20. The miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is now in the Moscow Assumption Cathedral (a more detailed account of this icon can be read in the book Glory to the Mother of God published by the Moscow Synodal Printing House, M. 1907, pp. 380–385).
The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is celebrated three times a year. One of the most magnificent venerations is dedicated to the meeting of the image in Moscow. The history of saving the capital from the raid of the Tatar-Mongol is connected with this holiday.
The Vladimir icon is one of the most revered Orthodox shrines. As soon as she appeared in our area, she immediately began to work miracles. The Mother of God herself controlled the fate of her image, more than once appearing in a dream to commanders, princes, and simply pious Christians.
The word "candlemas" means "appearance", "bringing into the temple". Most often it is used in relation to Jesus Christ. The Presentation of the Lord is called the bringing by the Virgin Mary of her son to the church for baptism. When they talk about the meeting of an icon, they mean its appearance in a particular temple, city.
Brief history of the shrine
According to legend, the icon with which the list of Vladimirskaya was made was drawn by Luke himself. Instead of canvas, he used the top of the table at which Jesus, Joseph and the Mother of God dined. Seeing the image, the Virgin Mary blessed it, saying that it would protect all Christians and bestow grace. Approximately 500 years later, the shrine ended up in Constantinople. Further, opinions about her fate differ. Some say that a list was made and sent as a gift to Yuri Dolgoruky. Others claim that the original icon has been transferred. Having studied the style, having subjected the canvas to a number of analyzes, scientists tend to the first option. The Vladimir icon was painted around the 12th century and is a vivid example of Byzantine painting of those times.
Yuri's son, Andrei Bogolyubsky, took the shrine and went with it to Moscow to organize a state there independent of Kyiv. On the way, he stopped at Vladimir. The unexplainable happened on the outskirts of the city. The horses refused to go. The change of harness did not work. Then the prince began to pray, and the Virgin Mary appeared to him. She ordered not to take the icon from the city, to build a temple there. And so it was done.
miraculous rescues
Three times through the Vladimir icon, the Mother of God showed her will to the cities. The number of miraculous healings is innumerable.
1395: Khan Tamerlane with his army went to Moscow. On the way, he destroyed Russian cities, killed almost everyone, regardless of gender, age, religion. The number of the horde at times exceeded the Russian squad. The combat experience, the cruelty of the Khan's warriors had practically no analogues. There was no chance to stand against such a force. All that remained was to pray, hoping for a miracle.
The Prince of Moscow sent to Vladimir for a miraculous icon. The clergy organized a religious procession. On the way out of the city, people stood on both sides. At the sight of the icon, they fell on their faces, fixed their eyes on it and prayed to the Virgin Mary for only one thing: to save Russia. On August 26, the shrine ended up in Moscow - the meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God took place.
On the same day, the khan had vision in a dream. A huge mountain, from which saints with golden wands descend. The Mother of God hovers above them, protected by countless angels. Waking up, Tamerlane gathered his priests. According to the description, they immediately understood that this was the Mother of God, the intercessor of Russia. With one voice, the elders advised the khan to leave the Russian lands as soon as possible. This he did. In gratitude for the liberation, the Sretensky Monastery and the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary were built, where the icon was installed.
Historians have found their explanation for the retreat of Tamerlane. The official scientific version: the khan was not going to capture Russia at all, he came here by chance - in pursuit of one of the commanders of the Golden Horde. He wanted to destroy the entire top of the empire. Such an explanation bears little resemblance to the truth: why would a person suffering from megalomania, who wants to capture the whole world, suddenly leave a significant part of it intact, especially if the forces, the number of troops make it easy to enslave the state?
1480: Ahmet, Khan of the Golden Horde, gathered an army to capture Moscow. Having reached the Ugra River, on the other side of it, the commander saw the squad of John the Third, the then Moscow prince. Chronicles say: fear suddenly attacked the Tatars, they began to scatter. Khan could not cope with this, was forced to retreat. It is difficult to explain this phenomenon, given that the Golden Horde army significantly outnumbered the Russian one, was not inferior to it in courage, experience, and equipment. It was the Virgin Mary who again interceded for the city, granting him pardon for sins. In honor of this, every year on June 23, a religious procession from the Cathedral of the Assumption to the Sretensky Monastery is held in the capital.
Less than half a century later, the Golden Hordes again decided to attack Russia. The khan was replaced, together with him they forgot about the fear experienced then. 1521. An army of 100 thousand people gathered Mehmet Giray. Vasily the Third, then ruling the capital, did not expect an attack, he himself did not prepare campaigns. Therefore, most of the military personnel were scattered around the country - they rested at home with their families. In total, no more than 50 thousand people managed to oppose the khan. The forces were not equal, only a miracle could save the city from destruction. And so it happened: the Virgin Mary appeared to the invader in a dream. He was afraid of this sign and retreated.
The further fate of the shrine
Another miracle happened during the fire of 1547. The Moscow Kremlin was on fire. The strongest men tried to endure the miraculous image, but to no avail - it seemed to have grown into the ground. At this time, the Virgin Mary appeared above the temple. He protected the cathedral - the fire did not touch him.
After miraculous rescues, the Vladimir Icon became one of the most significant in Russia. Princes and kings prayed before her, took an oath of allegiance to the monarchs and the power of high state officials, they took her on campaigns so that every soldier could ask the Virgin Mary for their needs. When electing metropolitans of Moscow, lots were placed on this shrine. It was believed that through her, the Mother of God herself would choose the most worthy.
For a long time the icon was in the Assumption Cathedral. In September 1999, she was transferred to the church of St. Nicholas, working at the Tretyakov Gallery. It is kept here to this day.
The Vladimir icon is kept today with the help of modern technologies. It is protected by bulletproof glass. Special devices strictly maintain the set temperature and air humidity, which are optimally suited for the preservation of the materials from which the shrine was created.
The Vladimir icon has passed through the history of Russia, often being a participant in it itself. No one doubts the miraculousness of this image.