Over the two thousand years of Christianity's existence, many revered images have accumulated. People pray before them everywhere - from Argentina to Kamchatka, asking God and especially His Mother for help in business, healing from illnesses and saving the soul.
We will tell you about the 10 most miraculous icons of the world, both Orthodox and Catholic. They are arranged in alphabetical order.
10. Our Lady of Czestochowa, Poland
This is one of the oldest and most revered icons in Poland, although its nickname among the people is somewhat ominous. It is called the "Black Madonna" because the colors of the sacred image have darkened greatly with age. According to legend, it was painted by the evangelist Luke.
Over the many years of its existence, the icon has seen a lot and even suffered - in the 15th century, during the Hussite uprising, one of them struck the icon several times with a sword, which are still visible today. It is believed that it was the presence of this icon that helped the monastery defend itself against the superior forces of the Swedes in the 17th century. For forty days, 70 monks and 180 volunteers defended the holy place from a detachment of 4,000 Swedes. After the end of the siege, King Casimir crowned the icon - this is how Catholics "reward" especially revered images that have confirmed their reputation as miraculous.
Since then, the Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God has been considered the patroness and protector of Poland, and pious Poles strive to make a pilgrimage to it at least once in their lives.
9. Pochayiv Icon of the Mother of God, Ukraine
Like many revered shrines of the Belarusian and Ukrainian lands, the Pochayiv icon changed its "religion" several times. Initially, it was "Orthodox", then, after the monastery where it was kept passed into the hands of the Uniates (these are Catholics of the Byzantine rite), it became "Catholic".
But both recognized its status as miraculous, and just half a century after the icon's conversion to Catholicism, it was crowned by the Pope. In total, during its "Catholic" years (from 1721 to 1832), the icon became famous for performing 539 documented miracles.
The most famous miracle attributed to prayers before this icon is the deliverance of the monastery from the Turks, who had already besieged the monastery and intended to plunder it to their heart's content. However, through the prayers of St. Job of Pochaev, the Mother of God herself appeared before them. The frightened Turks began shooting at her, but the arrows, of course, fell down and struck them. The enemy fled in terror.
Today, the Pochaev Icon is still located, as it was many centuries ago, in the main cathedral of the Lavra of the same name in Ukraine.
8. Osenovitsa, icon of the Mother of God from the Rila Monastery, Bulgaria
This icon itself is an extraordinary sight. A very small image of the Virgin Mary, decorated with a silver halo, is in the center of a lattice field. And in each cell are the relics of one of the revered Orthodox saints. Such a mixture of a sacred image with a reliquary is very rare in Orthodoxy.
The Osenovitsa Icon is one of the national shrines of Bulgaria; according to legend, it was given to the monks of the Rila Monastery by the Byzantine Emperor in the distant 12th century. Since then, the people's path to it has not been overgrown by those seeking consolation from the heavenly Intercessor.
And our contemporary, Archimandrite Kliment Rilski, who was the abbot of the monastery for a long time, kept a record of miracles performed before the icon, and officially documented them, with signatures of witnesses. As many centuries ago, the icon is in the main cathedral of the Rila Monastery.
7. Zaraysk icon of St. Nicholas, Russia
Saint Nicholas is one of the most beloved and revered saints by the Orthodox. There are a great many images of him, and we will tell you about the most miraculous of them - "Nikolai Zaraisk".
This image has been revered in Zaraysk since ancient times: Russian tsars, grand dukes, nobles and peasants came to pray to it. An entire cathedral was specially built for "Nikola Zaraysky", where the icon was kept for a long time until it was taken to Moscow "for restoration" in the middle of the last century.
Since then, the miraculous icon has remained in the Andrei Rublev Museum. It managed to return to its hometown only once – during the celebration of the city’s 850th anniversary.
6. The image of Saint Luke of Crimea, Russia
This saint is practically our contemporary. He died only in 1961 and was canonized only 30 years after his death. Luka Voyno-Yasenetsky worked as a doctor and surgeon his entire life, and wrote several books. During his life, he treated people and did not abandon this work after his death.
The best thing, of course, is to make a pilgrimage to his relics, which are in the cathedral in Simferopol, but if you can't go to Crimea, there is another option. One of the miraculous icons of the saint with a particle of his relics is in the Moscow Assumption Church in Putinki.
5. Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, Russia
This is the very icon in whose honor the national holiday of November 4 was introduced. It appeared in the 16th century to the girl Matrona after a gigantic fire that burned down almost half of medieval Kazan to the ground.
And so, in the ashes, a ten-year-old girl found an image of the Virgin Mary, completely undamaged by the fire. Its miraculous discovery could not help but influence people's minds, and the icon began to be considered special. It was with this icon that Patriarch Hermogen blessed the militia of Minin and Pozharsky. It is believed that the Russians owe the defeat of the Polish troops, which were many times larger than the militia, to the intercession of the Virgin Mary.
True, the fate of the icon turned out to be sad. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was stolen from the church, and the thief sold the frame and burned the icon itself. However, many of its copies have been preserved, many of which, in turn, are considered miraculous - for example, Tobolsk and Tambov. There are also copies in the capitals - St. Petersburg and Moscow.
4. Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, Athos, Greece
This is one of the oldest and most revered shrines of the Orthodox world, the first mention of which dates back to the 9th century. During the iconoclast rebellion, the owner of the icon, in order to save it from desecration, prayed, lowered the image onto the sea waves and pushed it away from the shore.
Almost two centuries later, the monks of the Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos saw a pillar of fire in the sea – this is how the sacred image announced its arrival. The abbot of the monastery brought the icon to the church with honor, but it had its own opinion about the place where it would like to be. The next morning, the monks were surprised to find the icon hanging over the monastery gates. This happened several times until, finally, the Mother of God appeared to the abbot in a dream and told the monks not to tempt her anymore by moving the icon without permission.
Over many centuries, the icon has become famous for its miracles, so much so that even Turkish soldiers who loved to plunder the monasteries on Athos did not dare to remove its richly decorated frame. Currently, only men can see one of the most miraculous icons in the world, since women are not allowed to enter Mount Athos.
3. Guadalupe Image of the Virgin Mary, Mexico
This is the most revered icon in Latin America. It is believed that it was not painted by human hand. Another distinctive detail of the image is that the Mother of God is depicted there as dark-skinned, resembling a beautiful young Indian woman.
The origin of this image is linked to a miracle that occurred in the 16th century to a peasant of Spanish-Indian descent. In the middle of winter, the Virgin Mary appeared to him on a hill, and the hill itself was covered with blooming roses. The amazed peasant gathered roses in his cloak, and when he later showed them to the bishop, everyone fell to their knees, seeing the image of the Virgin Mary on the cloak.
The miracle that occurred caused mass conversions of the Aztecs to Christianity. The cloak with the image of the Virgin Mary was displayed for worship for almost five hundred years, but its preservation is astounding. Scientists have not yet come to a single conclusion about how exactly the drawing was applied to the fabric.
Every year, about 14 million people make a pilgrimage to the shrine, which is located in Mexico City.
2. Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, Russia
From distant Mexico, we will move to the capital of Russia – Moscow. It is there, in the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, that one of the most famous icons in the world is located – the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. This is one of the most beautiful images of the Mother of God, painted no later than the 12th century in Byzantium and sent to Rus' as a gift to the Kyiv prince Mstislav.
Since then, she has served as the patroness and protector of the Russian land, saving Moscow from being plundered by Tamerlane. Fortunately, despite its antiquity, the icon is available for worship by believers. A special shrine was created for it according to the latest science, which maintains a safe microclimate for the ancient painting.
1. Budislav Icon of the Mother of God, Belarus
There are many ancient icons in Catholic churches in Belarus that have performed many miracles. Some of them come from the Orthodox tradition, while others, like the Budislav Icon of the Mother of God, were brought from Rome itself.
She stayed on Belarusian soil for a very short time, but after half a century she became famous for numerous miracles, so much so that a book was written about her ("Zodiac on Earth"). It tells of over 40 cases of miraculous healing of people who prayed to the Budislav Icon.
True, Catholics recognized her merits much later than the Orthodox (she was crowned only at the end of the 20th century). The revered image is located in the Church of the Ascension of the Virgin Mary, in the village of Budislav, Minsk region.
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