Icon of Artemy Verkolsky: history and meaning, how to pray and what it helps with

Story

The unusual story of the life and posthumous miracles of the youth Artemy made him one of the most revered Orthodox saints.

Earthly path

In 1532, in the northern village of Verkola, located on the banks of the Pinega River, a boy was born into a simple peasant family, who was named Artemy. Being sincere believers, the parents raised their son in an atmosphere of reverence for traditional Christian values and love for the Lord. From the age of five, he preferred the humble reading of prayers and all possible help in the parental household to carefree children's games.

Holy Righteous Artemy Verkolsky

One day, a twelve-year-old boy was working in the field with his father. Suddenly the sky darkened and a strong thunderstorm began. Artemy began to pray fervently, and at that moment lightning struck him. The villagers decided that this was God’s punishment for any sins, and refused to bury the boy on consecrated ground.

His body was left in the forest, covered with branches and birch bark. Thus ended the earthly journey of Artemy Verkolsky.

Finding the relics

32 years after the death of the boy, the clergyman of the local church saw a glow in the place where the restless body lay. Coming closer, the priest saw that it was untouched by decay. The relics of the youth Artemy were transferred to the church, placed in a coffin covered with birch bark boards, which was placed in the outer vestibule. In 1610, the remains of the righteous young man were transferred to the main building of the temple and placed in a special shrine.

Artemy Verkolsky was canonized in 1619 with the blessing of Metropolitan Macarius of Novgorod. 30 years after the start of official veneration, a monastery was built in Verkola, dedicated to the holy righteous youth, in which his relics were kept until 1918.

Interesting: the inhabitants of the monastery hid the relics of Artemy from the Bolsheviks before the closure of the monastery. After its revival in the 90s. The search for the shrine was carried out for some time, but it ended in vain.

Today, in the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, an icon of St. Artemy with a particle of his relics is kept.

Read about the relics of other righteous people:

Relics of Saint Venerable Sergius of Radonezh
Relics of the Holy Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna
Relics of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

Prayers before the icon of Artemy Verkolsky

A short prayer to the holy saint of God:

“Holy servant of God, righteous Artemy, close guardian of the holy Orthodox faith and close protector of the entire northern region of the Russian country! Look mercifully at the fervent prayer of us sinners, and through your compassionate intercession ask the Lord for us.”

Prayer speech to the wonderworker Artemy about healing from illnesses:

“Holy servant of God, Artemy the righteous, close protector of the holy Orthodox faith and the entire northern region of the Russian country! Look mercifully at the fervent prayer of us sinners, and through your compassionate intercession ask the Lord for forgiveness of our sins, advancement in faith and piety, and protection from the wiles of the devil. Pray to the Lord, may He keep Orthodox Christians in health, may He grant peace, silence and unhypocritical obedience to all people, our country, and may He grant us all the benefit of the death of Christians. The Kingdom of Heaven, where all the righteous are with you, always glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen".

Prayerful appeal to the saint for skin diseases:

“Oh, great servant of God, holy righteous Artemy, patron of the holy monastery, admiring your name and all Orthodox Christians, I strongly intercede for us to the Lord, great benefactor of the monks of your monastery living here and of all your miraculous relics flowing with faith and love to the race! Look mercifully at the wretched prayer of us, sinful and obscene slaves, and with your omnipotent intercession ask the Lord for forgiveness of sins, advancement in faith and piety, and protection from the machinations of the adversary who seeks to destroy us. Grant to the brotherhood of your monastery, from the eldest to the last, humility and meekness, all-hearted love and obedience, reverent, holy service and life, and in everything faithful and complacent fulfillment of monastic community, yes, working for the Lord unashamedly and burning in spirit in unceasing prayer for our living benefactors and the departed, let us appear as faithful servants of the Lord, doing good with the talents entrusted to us! Pray to the Lord, that the Orthodox Church of All Russia, like a well-planted garden, may bloom and bear fruit richly with the fruits of faith and piety! Pray to the Lord, that through the intercession and intercession of our Most Blessed Lady Theotokos, we may all live here a peaceful and God-pleasing life, and after a more peaceful death than Christians, we may be honored in the Most Glorious Kingdom with the mercy of the King of heaven and earth, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, glorifying Him now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen".

Prayer to the holy youth Artemy for acne:

“Oh, great servant of God, oh, great miracle worker, holy and righteous Artemy, earthly cherub, heavenly man, interlocutor of angels, heavenly inhabitant! Look down from the heights of heaven with your bright eye, and send down upon us the rays of God's grace. Lamp, kindled by God, with your holy prayers, kindle the darkness of our sins, ask the Father of lights for the light of grace for our souls, a quick helper and intercessor for all the faithful. Everyone, with faith, come prayerfully under the roof of your protection and ask the Lord for your intercession, if we can help you, he gains God’s mercy and is not deprived of the desires of his heart, but asks for grace and receives the Gift for the benefit of the petition. You are, righteous Artemy, a city planted by God, in which there is a healthy flower of prosperity, and many will be healed from the green shaking ailment. Oh, if with your miraculous help many blind people were able to see, the deaf were able to hear, the lame person jumped up and walked, the infirmities were able to use the hands, the madness was awakened, the weakness in the veins was strengthened, the congestion was corrected, and those who had injuries were healed! You also drove away the defilement of demons with your prayer, and resolved other unhealed illnesses. Thus, holy and righteous Artemy, you are always merciful to everyone. For we also pray for God’s inscrutable goodness, may the Lord forgive us our debts, and may He preserve the Russian state in peace and prosperity, in strength and abundance, and may He strengthen the Orthodox faith, may He satisfy church schisms, and may He save all Orthodox Christians. We will honestly celebrate your holy memory from generation to generation, glorifying Christ the Lord, to whom all glory, honor and worship is due, with the Beginning Father and with the Most Holy and Good and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever and to the endless ages of ages. Amen".

You can ask the righteous youth Artemy Verkolsky for health and healing from illnesses not only for yourself, but also for your family and friends. Do not forget to thank the holy saint of God at the end of your prayer speech.

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Miracles and healings

After the miraculous discovery of the relics, many miracles and healings began to occur from them.

A few years after the installation of the relics in the St. Nicholas Church, a fever epidemic broke out in the area. Through prayer at the remains of the righteous man, many sick people received healing, and the epidemic soon ended.
The intervention of the righteous Artemy helped restore the sight of the Kholmogory peasant Hilarion. The holy youth appeared to him and, making the sign of the cross, ordered him to go to the Verkola church to venerate his incorruptible relics. The healed man fulfilled the order and told the Verkol people about the miraculous phenomenon.
Voivode Afanasy Pashkov stopped in Verkola on the way to his destination, but left the village without venerating the holy relics. Soon his son Jeremiah was overcome by a fatal illness. Then the governor vowed to go to the relics of Artemy Verkolsky on a pilgrimage. At the same time, the youth Jeremiah stood up and asked his father when they would set off on the road. Athanasius served the dinner and even erected a small chapel in honor of the Holy Martyr Artemios of Antioch at the site where the holy relics were found.
Through prayer to the Lord and the righteous Artemy Verkolsky, sailors who were caught in a strong storm on the open sea were saved from death on the way to Arkhangelsk.

How does a miraculous image help?

The face of the saint and his relics have amazing power. Before the image of the righteous Artemy, they pray for good health and a cure for various ailments, including those dangerous to human life and health.

The holy image helps in the following cases:

for physical and mental ailments;
in case of dysfunction of the musculoskeletal system;
for severe and deadly pathologies;
for skin diseases;
for eye diseases, including partial or complete loss of vision;
when it is difficult to make a decision;
during cataclysms and frenzies of nature that pose a danger to the human race.

The relics and image of the saint help to heal from various ailments

Iconography

The first icons of Artemy Verkolsky were painted on birch bark boards that covered the coffin with the discovered relics.

Icon of Artemy Verkolsky

There are three main versions in Orthodox icon painting:

On the individual icon there is a half-length image of a young man. He is wearing a white casual shirt. In his left hand he holds an unfolded sheet with the words of the akathist. In his right palm he holds the main symbol of Christianity - the cross. Sometimes, along with the cross, the youth holds an olive branch - a symbol of eternal peace.
Individual icons depicting the righteous youth are interesting due to their varied backgrounds. Some of them contain an image of a temple, symbolizing a monastery. Others depict scenes from the earthly life of the holy youth.
A special place in the iconography of St. Artemy is occupied by hagiographic icons, the marks of which are dedicated to the miraculous phenomena that occurred after the discovery of his holy relics.

Sudden demise

On this July day there were no signs of trouble. It was a fine summer day, father and son were plowing in the field. Artemy walked ahead, leading the horse, his father drove the harrows.

The young man quietly read prayers, enjoying the sunny day. In an instant, an amazing silence covered the earth, the sky turned black from the quickly running dark purple clouds. Suddenly, after a bright column of fire, lightning, strong thunder shook the entire area, blinding and deafening for a moment the people working in the field.

Kosma only heard his son’s words: “Lord, have mercy,” when he fell dead on the freshly plowed ground. In deep despair, the father brought the young man home; the tragic news quickly spread throughout the area. Residents understood the unusual nature of what was happening; some superstitious believers argued that the youth who died without repentance was a secret sinner, and he had no place in the public cemetery.

Death of the Righteous Artemy Verkolsky

It is difficult to imagine the despair of parents who have just lost their beloved son, and who were told by the priest that he refused to perform the funeral service for the person killed by lightning in the church.

Kosma buried his son in a very unusual way. The father carried the body of the boy, wrapped in birch bark, into the forest in his arms. He collected pine needles, building the last bed for his son under a huge pine tree, after reading the prayer he laid the body down, but did not bury it in the ground, but covered it tightly with pine branches.

You should know! According to the laws of the church of that time, he could not put up a cross or leave a memorial inscription. The pine mound and fence became a monument to the righteous Artemy.

Miracle of the appearance of relics

32 years have passed. The deacon of the local church of St. Nicholas the Pleasant in the village of Verkola was enthusiastically picking mushrooms in the forest, when suddenly Father Agafonik’s gaze stopped on a bright pillar of light emanating from the ground.

Crossing himself and praying, the deacon went to the luminous place and froze in surprise - in front of him on a bed of birch bark lay a young man in a white robe. Amazed by what he saw, Father Agathonik fell to his knees in awe. In the incorruptible body the clergyman recognized Artemy, with whom he often spent his free time as a child.

Memorable events associated with the death and burial of the youth instantly surfaced in the deacon’s memory. During the prayer, the clergyman was enveloped in pleasant smells.

Artemy Verkolsky, whose life was short but righteous, after 32 years again reminded his fellow villagers of himself. The peasants simply moved the found body to the church porch, covered it with birch bark and forgot, plunging into the whirlpool of summer worries.

Hagiographic icon of Artemy Verkolsky

It was not by chance that the merciful God revealed the miracle of the incorruptibility of the body of the righteous Artemy. In those years, the Arkhangelsk province was covered by a wave of severe fever. From the high temperature, people, especially children, “burned” before our eyes, and Kallinikos, the peasant who participated in the transfer of the boy’s body, was not spared.

Unable to see his son dying away in a fever, Kallinikos knelt down with fervent prayer to God. Suddenly his mind was illuminated by a vision of the image of Artemy. The peasant grabbed his son and ran with him to the church, where a coffin stood in the far porch. After the prayer, Kallinik tied a piece of birch bark on which the body of the righteous man lay to his son’s pectoral cross, and the fever instantly subsided.

The miraculous healing of the baby became known in the village and throughout the area, the priests served a memorial service near the righteous Artemy, after which the epidemic rapidly subsided, and posthumous miracles occurred more and more often.

Great Martyr Artemios of Antioch

Memorial Day: November 2

Artemy of Antioch was a noble Roman and belonged to the class of senators. A brave warrior, he took part in 312 in one of the battles of Emperor Constantine. During the battle, a cross suddenly appeared in the sky with the inscription: “Hereby win!” Impressed by this divine sign, Artemy converted to the Christian faith.

Having won glory in battles and becoming a military leader, Artemy was appointed governor of Egypt with special powers. It was he who was entrusted by Emperor Constantius, the son of Constantine, to deliver the relics of the holy apostles Andrew the First-Called and Luke from Patras, where they were located, to Constantinople.

When Emperor Julian, nicknamed the Apostate, began to rule, he tried to restore paganism, brutally persecuting adherents of the true faith. In Antioch, by order of Julian, two Christian bishops were tortured for refusing to renounce the Lord. Having learned about this, Artemy came to their defense. He was immediately arrested and, after painful torture, thrown into prison. There he prayed continuously, and Jesus himself appeared to him, who supported his strength and promised that a crown of glory was already prepared for him.

The next day he was again tortured before Julian, demanding his renunciation, but Artemy not only did not renounce, but also predicted quick divine punishment for Julian the Apostate for his persecution of Christians. This prophecy came true a year later, in 363, when Julian was mortally wounded and, as legend says, died with the words: “You have won, Galilean!”

Artemy was executed in 362 with a terrible execution: first, his body was crushed with a heavy stone, after which his head was cut off. Arista, a deaconess from Antioch, brought his body to Constantinople, where the great martyr was buried in the Church of John the Baptist. Later this temple received a second name after the holy great martyr Artemy.

Great Martyr Artemios of Antioch

Memorial Day: November 2