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One of the most mysterious shrines in history is the Tabyn Icon of the Mother of God. From time immemorial it has been famous for its miraculous power; it was this image of the Mother of God that healed entire settlements where the plague was raging. In the holy image, the Virgin Mary is the embodiment of the greatness of God and mercy; you can see tears on Her face. And in Her arms is the baby Jesus, clinging to the face of the Mother of God.
The Tabyn Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos is a copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, but with a darker face. Old people say about her: “There is an icon similar to the Kazan icon, ancient with a dark face, which is revealed only to people whom the Mother of God herself has chosen.” In many places in Russia you can hear distant memories, and sometimes even legendary tales about this shrine.
The image first appeared in the Ural Mountains, on the site of the Ascension Hermitage. Local residents, passing near the desert, heard the voice of the Queen of Heaven, who ordered to take away the image with Her image.
Another appearance of the shrine occurred when several Bashkir shepherds who found the icon violated it. The wrath of God came upon them and they became blind. And only one of them, having repented of what he had done, prayed to the face of the Mother of God all the time. She showed Her mercy - the shepherd was healed. And he believed so strongly that he followed the holy face everywhere, and lived in health until he was 130 years old.
The best article for you, go to: Saint Niphon of Cyprus: icon, life
History of the Tabynskaya Mother of God
The image is miraculous and first appeared to the monk Ambrose, who was walking near two springs near the village of Tabynskaya. A miraculous voice appeared to this hierodeacon, but he at first mistook it for a temptation. Then the voice was repeated, and Ambrose went to look and saw the Tabyn icon on a stone between a fresh and salt spring.
The monk brought the found icon to the monastery, where it was joyfully placed in the church for veneration. In the morning the image ended up on the monastery gates, the monks took it back, but the next day the situation repeated itself. As a result, it was necessary to build a chapel right there in order to offer prayers to the Tabynskaya icon, about which both the sovereign and representatives of the church later learned.
In this regard, the icon was taken to Kazan and Ufa, where it was revered in every possible way, but in the end the church in Kazan burned down, and the icon returned back to Tabynskaya, where it miraculously appeared at the beginning of the 16th century. Then there was the Bashkir uprising in 1660, when the image disappeared again, and about thirty years later the icon appeared again.
These appearances and disappearances are associated with a stay in the Solovarny village, which was located near the source where the icon was first found. Then this village was destroyed, the icon was lost in 1708 and found again in 1740, this should be emphasized, since the story is connected with miracles.
Then the icon was found by three Bashkir shepherds who belonged to a different faith, they split the icon and after that they immediately went blind. The shepherds began to pray to the icon for healing, and the youngest cried out with special faith, thanks to which he was able to be healed and began to wash the eyes of his companions with water from a salt spring. They, too, eventually regained their sight, and the source became holy.
That young Bashkir shepherd found faith and became an Orthodox ascetic precisely thanks to the icon. He lived to be 130 years old and passed away while walking in a religious procession through the city of Chelyabinsk, there is evidence of this.
From the time of this discovery, the tradition of religious processions with the icon begins. Photographs and written evidence of this have still been preserved. Icon Day is celebrated on the ninth Friday after Easter and is often associated with various miracles given by the Mother of God.
At this time, the icon is considered lost.
During the period of Soviet power, Ataman Dutov transported the icon to China, after the 1950s the trace was completely lost and now one can only guess where this shrine of the Ural region is located. There is information about the movement of the shrine to Australia and San Francisco.
To Tabyn for the feast of the apparition by car
I also happened to visit Tabyn during the main holiday for this monastery. The desires of those who come to the holiday differ in material and life prices. Some people just can’t live without a new car, while others come in the hope of being cured of pain and illness. Stories of people confirm: faith in the fulfillment of desires works. The legs begin to walk, the eyes begin to see, and the new car begins to blink its headlights. Having rolled up a piece of paper with my wish, I also went to the holiday, three adults and one child of 6 years old.
Let's make a fire in Tabyn
Approaching the scene of events, we more and more often met pilgrims along the road - those who can, get there as best they can. Suddenly, people in uniform appeared on the road. They stop. -Where are you going? - On holiday. - Everyone is here for the holiday, turn right if you don’t have a pass. We did not yet know that the pass was needed for the nuns, who also arrived in busloads from different cities.
Nun in thought
We turn right. The fenced area welcomes those who do not have a pilgrim's pass to those who have arrived. After a 10-hour journey, we make a fire and put on some tea. Suddenly a voice comes over the loudspeaker. Prayer began at the local mosque. Conflicting emotions are already playing out inside. Some have a holiday, and some have a regular daily prayer. We drink tea while Muslims sing and gather for an Orthodox holiday. I approach the neighbors and find out if it is possible to get closer to the temple with a car along the road that goes through our clearing past the mosque.
— They won’t present a fine?
“But we don’t know, they say you can go up to the main guy in uniform, he’s sitting at the table by the car, give him 500 rubles, he’ll let him through.”
Parishioner sits against the wall day and night
An endless stream of people to the icon
I'm going to the main thing. He takes me aside and calls someone: “They’ll come up to you now, give them a pass.” - In general, go to the school, Yuri is there, pay him as much as he says and with a car pass to me.
From the clearing where the man in uniform sent us to the scene of action there were 8 kilometers left - whether you want to walk, or if you want to take a minibus. Just imagine how many people gather for the feast of the appearance of the icon of the Tabyn Mother of God in the Gafuriysky district.
In Tabyn by the wall, where everyone makes wishes
Everyone came to the feast of the apparition
After we stood all night at the service, I developed a fever and a sore throat. We collected water from the holy spring and arrived safely at home.
It's good to walk among the mountains of Ufa
Processions with an icon
Recently, the tradition of religious processions with icons has been revived again in the Orenburg diocese. In addition, there is now a continuous procession of the cross, which moves with representatives of the Cossack army to different countries and regions. As part of this project, the icon was raised to the holy Mount Athos in 2013.
The significance of this image is more than significant for all of Orthodoxy. There are few shrines that have shown various miracles so many times.
Above are only the main milestones and a superficial description of the history of the icon, which in fact is much more intricate and fascinating.
In order to be imbued with faith and touch the miracle, it is enough to attend the service where the akathist to the Tabyn Icon of the Mother of God is read, or simply read the prayers before it yourself.
History[edit]
Tabyn Icon in Verkhneuralsk in 1904
Date of appearance[edit]
dates back to the 10th-12th centuries, miraculously revealed in 1579,1597,1692,1740.
Iconographic type[edit]
Hodegetria
Location[edit]
until 1919 Ufa diocese
Date of celebration[edit]
9th Friday after Easter (2 months after Easter)
First appearance
The Tabyn Icon of the Mother of God happened in the 1570s: Hierodeacon of the Ascension Hermitage Ambrose was walking in the evening from haymaking. Passing by a salty spring, I heard a voice: “Take My icon.” Considering these words an obsession, he tried not to pay attention. He had a vision of the Mother of God. On the third day, passing in the same place, he again heard Her voice: “Let the faithful brethren strive, the God-saved monastery, to receive Me into the temple of My Lord.” He looked around and saw an icon of the Mother of God on a large stone in the shadow of a large oak tree. The stone hung over two springs that crossed the Nogai road in this place.
One of them was salty and somewhat whitish in color, and the other, on the left, was completely fresh. The deacon bowed to the icon and ran to the monastery. The brothers brought the icon with honor and singing and placed it in the church. But the next morning the icon was not found. They began to look for her and saw her at the monastery gates. The monks returned the icon to the temple, but in the morning it was again in the same place. Then they decided to build a chapel over the gates, and they began to pray to her there. The governor of the city of Ufa, the Archbishop of Kazan and Tsar Ivan the Terrible were informed about the newly appeared icon.
Soon the Ascension Hermitage was burned and the newly appeared icon was transferred to the Ufa prison and placed in the cathedral church, which in 1579 was consecrated in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and was built at the expense of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The revealed icon did not remain in Ufa for long. After 1593, the Kazan Church burned down from a thunderstorm, and the miraculous icon appeared again in its original place.
Second phenomenon
The Tabyn icon occurred in 1593-97. The story of the disappearance and appearance of the miraculous icon deeply struck contemporaries. According to ancient acts, it is known that in the Tabyn region, near the place of the appearance of the icon, in the period 1593-98, the Ascension Hermitage was revived and a new monastery was built in honor of the “Most Pure Mother of God of the Appearance of the Icon of Kazan” in the nearest fortress of Salt Ware Town. However, in the 1660s, during the first Bashkir uprising, the miraculous icon disappeared for the second time.
Third phenomenon
The Tabyn Icon probably took place in 1692 in the area of the Solovarny town, since church activity intensified significantly. A new church is being built, plans are emerging for the revival of the monastery, and maintenance of the temple is being established. However, in 1708, according to legend, during the destruction of the Solovarny town on the river. In Usolka, near the salty springs, the Tabyn Icon disappeared again. The fourth appearance of the Tabyn Icon probably occurred in 1740-41: three Bashkir shepherds near the salty springs, where the Tabyn Icon had once appeared, noticed that the cows suddenly began to moo and kick. Coming closer, they saw the icon of the Mother of God glowing on the stone. The icon was not given to them, and then they began to chop and stab it, but it remained unharmed for a long time. In the end, blood flowed down the cheek, the icon split, and at that moment the shepherds became blind. It was already late evening and therefore the residents went in search of the herd, and it was then that the appearance of the Tabyn Icon of the Mother of God was discovered. But only when the priest came did the icon succumb to the people.
During the religious procession, they took the icon and placed it in the church of the nearest village, and the transfer of the icon was accompanied by healings. The Bashkir shepherds were also healed, and only one of them, the youngest, was baptized. At night the icon disappeared and in the morning it appeared in the Ascension Church of the Tabyn Fortress. She was taken to Ufa for examination, and from that time they began to hold a religious procession. This day happened on the 9th Friday after Easter and is still celebrated as the day of the appearance of the Tabyn Icon, which was confirmed by numerous signs. The youngest of the Bashkirs, according to legend, lived about 130 years, lived the life of an ascetic and died in 1880 near Chelyabinsk. In 1741, with the help of the vice-governor of the Kazan province Soimonov, Leonty Yakovlevich, a chapel was built in the Tabyn fortress in honor of the Kazan icon.
The tradition of crusades dates back to the period of the Pugachev uprising. Already at the beginning of the 19th century, as the diary of V. I. Dahl testifies, half of the Ufa-Orenburg province was walked around with the icon. The diocesan approval of the procession took place in 1848 with the blessing of Bishop Ioannikis of Ufa (Obraztsov 1835-49) in honor of the deliverance of the city of Sterlitamak from cholera. The expansion of the campaign to the city of Orenburg began during cholera, when most of the population died in Orenburg during the years 1848-53.
On December 12, 1856, in the special relation of the Minister of the Interior to the Governor General, No. 250, the permanent implementation of the crusade was approved by Imperial command. In the 20th century, this was already a grandiose campaign, consisting of two parts a year. The first of them was the longest, covering more than 4,000 miles. It covered the Sterlitamak, Zlatoust and Belebeevsky districts of the Ufa diocese. The entire Orenburg diocese, visiting the neighboring cities of Tobolsk and Kostanay. In January-February, visiting the Buzuluk district of the Samara diocese and only returning to the village of Tabynskoye for Lent. The second part of the hike began on Saturday of Easter week. The Tabyn Icon visited the city of Ufa and the surrounding area, and returned back on Spirits Day. In connection with the religious procession, revered places, springs and even lakes associated with the Tabyn Icon appeared in many villages.
During the Civil War, with the blessing of Ufa Bishop Andrei (Ukhtomsky), the icon was transferred to China, where it disappeared in 1948. A search is currently underway for the missing icon.
Her first temple abroad was in the monastery of Harbin. There the Tabyn Icon became famous for many miracles, so much so that the Chinese prayed to Her, saying: “If you light a candle to Tabyn, everything will be fine, if you don’t light it, everything will be bad.” The miraculous Tabyn Icon remained in China until 1948. Then, at the insistence of the Bolsheviks, the Russians were expelled from China. Then the Tabyn Icon came to Australia. Next, Archimandrite Philaret, the future primate of the Russian Church abroad, transported the Icon to San Francisco. All attempts by Metropolitan Manuel to return the holy Icon were unsuccessful. So we now trust only in the will of the Most Holy Lady.
In Soviet times, the celebration of Ninth Friday was suppressed in every possible way by the authorities.
Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos in front of Her icon, called Tabynskaya
O Most Holy Lady Theotokos, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, constant prayer book and intercessor for us before God. Oh, our Most Blessed Mother, who adopted us all at the cross of Your Son. We thank You, who has asked for countless blessings for us through Your prayer. We thank You, who has bestowed many of Your miraculous icons on our country. We thank You, who sent the wondrous icon of Tabynskaya to the Ural region in a time of sorrow, and who showed us Your great icon on the stone. We pray to You, soften our hardened hearts with the dew of Your prayers. Having shown us Your mercy at the source of water, where our bodily illnesses are healed, grant us streams of sorrowful tears and cleanse with them the mud of our sins. At the source of water, with Your holy icon, you showed your blessing to this place, help us to fulfill the Word of the Lord Your Son and to be the salt of the earth. Having revealed Your dark face to us sinners, darkened by sin, enlighten the darkness of our sins and lead us to a quiet refuge in the eternal abode prepared by the Lord for those who love Him. Amen.
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Temples[edit]
• Ascension Church (Tabynskoye village, Gafuriysky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan).
• Mother of God-Tabynsky Convent
• Temple of the Tabyn Icon of the Mother of God on the Holy Keys in Krasnousolsk
• Temple-chapel of the Tabynskaya Icon of the Mother of God in Orenburg
• Mother of God-Tabynskaya Church in the village of Maloyaz, Salavat district, Bashkortostan
Lists of the legendary icon are kept in churches. Chapel in the village Smirnovsk, near Lake Pustoye, Verkhneuralsky district, Chelyabinsk region. Before the revolution, the Cossacks brought there the miraculous icon of the Tabynskaya Mother of God.
Current location of the original Tabyn Icon
It is unknown where the original Tabyn Icon of the Mother of God is located now. According to one version, the Chinese decided not to give the relic to the Soviet authorities and hid it somewhere near Gulja. According to other sources, the shrine was secretly transported to the United States, and is now kept in San Francisco.
In any case, the search for the original does not stop. Currently, under the Ufa diocese, the search department for the Tabyn Icon is actively working, attracting many volunteer helpers to this activity.
What do they ask the Tabynskaya Mother of God?
- First of all, about health. After all, it is known that the original icon was miraculous. During the raging plague, she healed entire villages and cities (Orenburg, Sterlitamak, Tabynsk). She also drove away cholera and other dangerous diseases. In addition, the Mother of God is asked to be delivered from mental torment.
- About protection from troubles, diseases, misfortunes.
- About peace both in your family, and in the country, and throughout the world.
- Often near the icon they repent of their sins, asking for help to “quit” - both with a sinful life in general, and with a certain bad habit.
- Finally, many come asking for help to get through a difficult period of life.
They pray to the icon like this:
By the way, these words can be read not only in front of the Tabynskaya icon, but also in front of any other consecrated image of the Mother of God.
Where is the original icon located?
It would be logical to assume that everything is there, in the Tabynsky Monastery... But no!
During the Civil War, the white Cossacks, retreating, took this icon with them, fearing that the advancing Reds, known for their anti-God sentiments, would simply destroy it.
Together with the leader of these Cossacks, Ataman Dutov, she ended up in China (they say that the Chinese, even non-Christians, came to worship her because they noticed that she brings good luck).
There, a 25-kilogram icon (and as soon as the exhausted soldiers brought it?) was placed in the Russian Orthodox Church in the city of Ghulja (Xinjiang province). But when the cultural revolution broke out in the country and they began to forget about churches (at best), it was lost...
Where is she now? There are many assumptions on this matter, one more surprising than the other:
- in Australia;
- in the USA, in a private collection;
- still there, in China;
- in Paris…
Perhaps her third appearance is coming, and again on the second week after Pentecost?
