Icon of the Mother of God "Zhirovitskaya". Meaning. What does it help with? Where to hang it. How to pray and what it protects from

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The “Zhirovitskaya” icon of the Mother of God is carved on a small jasper stone, and is a relief image of the Mother of God with the baby Jesus, who hugs Her by the neck and gently rests his cheek on the Mother’s face. This miraculous image is one of the most famous Belarusian shrines. The Zhirovichi Monastery is still located at the site where it was found. The “Zhirovitskaya” icon of the Mother of God helps in what ways and how one prays to the miraculous face - you can find out about this further.

The image of the Virgin Mary today

Story

The icon appeared in 1470 on the territory of Belarus, in a town called Zhirovichi. One day the shepherdesses discovered her in a deep forest in the foliage of a pear tree. The peasants took off the image and took it to their owner. The landowner, of course, decided to hide the icon at home. But the very next day, Prince Soltan discovered that the image had disappeared from the box. Surprisingly, he found himself back on a tree in the wilderness. The prince saw an omen in this event, so he ordered a temple to be built on the very spot where the icon was discovered. And a few years later a misfortune happened. The temple completely burned down, but the face of the Mother of God miraculously remained intact. This incident shocked people. The image was not found after the fire. He appeared to people after some time. Village children were returning from school and found an icon on a stone with a burning candle. A new stone temple was erected on this site, which marked the beginning of the monastery. Probably the first monks were local residents. The first monastic community around the temple appeared in the 16th century. It was later turned into a monastery. By that time, the Soltanov family was already greatly impoverished, but continued to own local lands. Yakov, one of his representatives, even wanted to build another stone temple on the monastery territory. But he did not have time to realize his plans, since in the middle of the century the lands were given to the banker Isaac Mikhalevich for debts. The territories were later able to be purchased by the heirs of Jacob, who converted to Catholicism.

Figure Photo 1. The Zhirovitsk icon is carved on a jasper stone.

After its re-acquisition, the image began to exude miracles, rumors of which have reached our time. The Zhirovitsk icon is venerated every year on May 20.

Hard tests

The power of the Bolsheviks was a test for many people, especially believers.
The Red Army soldiers plundered and closed churches, destroyed everything that was connected with religion. The Trinity-Skanov Monastery did not escape this fate, and with it the miraculous image of the Mother of God. In the 30s of the twentieth century, the new government closed the monastery, organizing a poultry farm in it. The caves, which were once inhabited by hermit monks, were blown up. There are only 600 meters left from the two-kilometer caves. All the furnishings were looted, and the Trubchevskaya Icon of the Mother of God was turned into a stand for museum exhibits in the regional local history museum of A.I. Kuprina. All the precious decoration was removed from the icon. And, of course, no one cared about the safety of the miraculous canvas; they even placed indoor flowers on the holy image. In 1975, they made another inventory in the museum and wrote that the Trubchevskaya Icon of the Mother of God was lost. But 18 years later, thanks to the search for missing museum values, the image of the Virgin Mary, painted in Trubchevsk, was found in the storerooms of the same museum.

Christian shrine

The Zhirovitsk icon is revered in two Christian churches that are present on the territory of Belarus: Catholic and Orthodox. The brotherhood of the monastery fought against Uniatism for many years. The unification of several church movements with the Catholics was an imaginary unity, in which the external side of Orthodox rituals was preserved, Catholic dogmas and the primacy of the Pope were accepted. Uniatism began to operate in 1596. It was imposed on the residents of Belarus and Ukraine. But Russian Orthodoxy never accepted the union. Uniatism had political overtones. Therefore, the heads of some countries forcibly took away Orthodox churches, allowing the Uniates to hold services in them.

The monastery in Zhirovichi in the 17th century, after numerous intrigues, came into the power of the Uniates. The monastery church was empty at that time because people did not want to come to it. During this period, a copy of the Zhirovitsk Icon was found in Rome. The Catholics were enlightened by the Mother of God, after which they began to venerate her image. The list from the Roman fresco was sent to Zhirovichi. This is how two very revered images ended up in the monastery.

Photo 2. The Zhirovitsky image is very revered by all Orthodox people.

After some time, the monks asked the Pope to crown the Zhirovitsky icon. With his blessing, they made a golden crown, which was placed on the icon on the most solemn occasions with a huge number of believers and pilgrims. It became a symbol of the miracles that the icon of grace gave.

The monastery was returned to the Orthodox Church in 1839. And with it the miraculous Orthodox shrine returned. In those distant times, the monastery in Zhirovichi became the first in which Orthodox services were resumed after the dominance of the Uniate movement.

During the First World War, the miraculous Zhirovitsky image was transported to Moscow for the worship of believers. Since the twenties of the last century, the icon has been located within the walls of the Zhirovitsky monastery in the Assumption Cathedral. By the way, Catholics and Uniates still come to venerate the image. It is very important to ask the Mother of God sincerely for help and not to forget about gratitude.

There are currently several healing springs within the monastery walls. People wash themselves with water from them and drink to get rid of diseases. By the way, particles of the stone on which the icon was found after a terrible fire are also considered a shrine.

Prayer to the Zhirovitsk Icon of the Mother of God

“Oh, Most Merciful Lady, Virgin Mary! With my lips I will touch Your shrine, or with these words I will confess Your generosity, which is revealed to people: no one, who flows to You, goes away empty-handed and is not heard. From my youth I have sought Your help and intercession, and I would never again be deprived of Your mercy. See, O Lady, the sorrows of my heart and the ulcers of my soul. And now, kneeling before Your most pure image, I offer my prayers to You. Do not deprive me of the all-powerful passage of Your sacrament on the day of my sorrow, and on the day of my sorrow intercede for me. Do not turn away my tears, O Lady, and fill my heart with joy. Be my refuge and intercession, O Merciful One, and enlighten my mind with the dawnings of Your light. And I pray to You not only for myself, but also for the people who flow to Your intercession. Keep the Church of Your Son in goodness, and protect it from the evil slander of the enemies who rise up against her. Send Thy help to our archpastors in the apostolate, and keep them healthy, long-lived, and rightly ruling the word of the truth of the Lord. As a shepherd, ask God your Son for zeal and vigilance for the souls of the verbal flock entrusted to them, and to send down upon them the spirit of reason and piety, purity and divine truth. Ask the same way, Lady, from the Lord for wisdom and strength from the rulers and city rulers, from the judges truth and impartiality, and from all who flow to You the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love. I also pray to Thee, O Most Merciful One, to cover our country with the blood of Thy goodness, and deliver us from natural disasters, invasions of foreigners and civil unrest, so that all who live in it may live in love and peace, a quiet and serene life They will live, and having inherited the blessings of eternal prayers through Your prayers, they will be able to praise God together with You in heaven forever. Amen".

You cannot use the power of the Zhirovitsky Icon of the Mother of God against someone. Any bad thought or request will return to the one asking. Be pure and open in your speeches to the Mother of God and the Lord God.

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Events of the 20th century

During the First World War, not only Grodno, but also the surrounding territories were engulfed in battles. To preserve the icon, it was temporarily transported to Moscow to the Intercession Cathedral. Later the image ended up in the town of Vidnoye. The icon was kept in Catherine's monastery for several years. She was returned to Zhirovichi in 1922. At that time, an anti-religious campaign was underway in the country. Therefore, the image was transported to its homeland in a jam jar. Only the salary could not be returned. But in the monastery the monks made a new one.

Miracles of the image

Evidence of the miracles of the Zhirovitsk Icon has survived to this day. The image of modest size brought the monastery worldwide fame thanks to miracles. Lithuanian hetman Pavel Sapieha in June 1660 near the village of Polonka dealt a strong blow to Russian soldiers. Everyone said that success was granted after a prayer to the Zhirovitsky icon, which the governor read to the soldiers before the battle. True, no one remembered that in the fall of the same year, the Pskov prince Khovansky gave Sapieha a good beating. It didn’t matter at all, because hundreds of pilgrims came to bow to the miraculous image, not forgetting to replenish the monastery’s treasury.

Photo 3. The image is still in the Zhirovitsky Monastery.

Let us recall just some of the miracles created by prayer to the Zhirovitsk Icon of the Mother of God:

It is known that in the 17th century, a Minsk woman named Raisa became very ill. She was a very religious woman and prayed a lot for recovery. She had a vision of the Mother of God that she would be healed after visiting Zhirovichi. But after arriving at the monastery, the woman died, unable to survive the journey. Having prepared the body for burial, the monks left it in the temple in front of the miraculous image for the whole night. The next morning Raisa woke up healthy. There is documentary evidence of this amazing incident with the signatures of the chancellor, hetman and local ruler. After such a miraculous healing, Raisa decided to become the abbess of the monastery of St. Barbara.
Pieces of the stone on which the image of the Virgin Mary was rediscovered after the fire helped cure a woman who was dying during childbirth. Information has been preserved to this day that the Mother of God helped the dying. People recovered from consumption, heart ailments, wounds and other diseases.
There is evidence that the image helped get rid of physical defects (cleft lip), other incurable ailments and memory loss.

Believers honor the memory of the Zhirovitsk Icon on May 20. This is a big holiday for the Assumption Monastery in Zhirovichi. For this day, pilgrims come from different countries. And the service is conducted with the participation of Metropolitan of Minsk, the head of the Belarusian Church.

On the eve of the holiday, an all-night vigil takes place. On Memorial Day, a Divine Liturgy is held, during which short prayers are sung for the healing icon. The image is taken to the middle of the church. And under the face of the Blessed Virgin, a procession of the cross takes place in the monastery.

Prayers before the image

People turn to the Zhirovitskaya icon with the image of the Mother of God in prayer with a variety of requests. They pray and offer:

requests for healing;
prayers for strengthening faith;
about help in finding the right path;
about getting rid of doubts.

There are many cases in which prayer in front of this icon helped people and again taught them to believe in miracles and enjoy every moment of life.

The fragments of stones taken from the monastery saved the life of a woman and her newborn baby.
Thanks to the fact that relatives prayed for the woman’s health in front of the shrine, she fully recovered from consumption.
One day a boy was healed while singing a funeral chant. All thanks to the fact that the mother fervently read the prayer before the face of the Mother of God.
The icon helped the man get rid of a serious illness, due to which he could not move and lost almost all his physical strength.
One elderly woman was completely cured of rheumatism due to the fact that her joints were anointed with oil that burned in a lamp standing in front of the holy face.
A poor woman's son was diagnosed with a brain cyst. She prayed in front of the shrine and even brought the boy to that same temple several times. After the first visit, his health improved noticeably, and after 5 visits, doctors examined him and found no malignancy.

Zhirovitsky shrines

The inhabitants of Zhirovichi still try to honor the icon and all the relics associated with it. The root of the pear tree is kept in the Assumption Church, in the crown of which the image first appeared to the shepherds. It is located under the altar. From there originates a spring that produces holy water, which believers use for their own purposes.

Photo 4. There are different versions of copies of the original. One of them depicts the moment of the appearance of the image.

In addition, the monastery keeps the stone on which the image was rediscovered. It is located in the Temple of Yavlensky. At one time it became the basis of the altar throne. They say that on the surface of the stone there was even an imprint of the brush of the Mother of God, who appeared to the children many centuries ago. Pilgrims and those people who wish to receive spiritual education still come to the shrines. On the territory of the monastery there is a seminary, which is one of the most famous educational centers of the Orthodox Church.

Place of pilgrimage

Thousands of people began to come to the icon, which quickly became famous among believers for its miracles. One of the earliest known miracles today tells about the resurrection in the 16th century of the maiden Irina, the daughter of a wealthy Voinyanka. The girl was only seventeen years old when she died of illness, never reaching the Zhirovichi Mother of God, for whom she and her parents had their last hope. When the Voinyanka family arrived at the monastery, the girl’s body was already cold... For three days the coffin with the deceased stood in the main Zhirovichi church. A funeral service was performed for the deceased, the moment of farewell came... But suddenly everyone present in the church was seized with trepidation. The deceased suddenly rose from the coffin, hurried to the miraculous icon and, kneeling before it, began to pour out her heart in grateful prayer. And then she told everyone how the Mother of God approached her coffin, touched her legs, arms and head and ordered her to devote the remaining days of her life to God. Soon Irina took monastic vows, and in 1580 she was elevated to the abbess of the Pinsk convent.

What does an icon help with?

It is believed that the Zhirovitsky image helps absolutely all believers from different faiths. Grace extends to every supplicant who prays sincerely and with a pure heart.

The icon helps:

In protection from enemies, anger and evil people.
To strengthen faith.
In healing for severe and incurable diseases.
In getting rid of sins and vices.
On my way.
In reconciliation between children and parents, friends and spouses.
In the fight against injustice.
In the healing of infertility.
In maintaining pregnancy when there is a threat of miscarriage.
In alleviating toxicosis during pregnancy.
During childbirth.
To help with difficult choices.
In the giving of wisdom.
In the salvation of the soul.

In literature and oral testimony

Stand in the monastery temple

The first known written retelling of the legend of the Zhirovitsky Icon is written in 1622 by the Zhirovitsky monk Theodosius in the Old Belarusian language, “History or the story of noble people, worthy of the faith, about the miraculous image of the Most Holy Virgin Mary of Zhirovitsky in the Slonim Povet, completely clever, briefly written and collected with considerable effort and diligence I despise the much sinful Father Fedosy.”

In 1622, the book “History, or stories of people worthy of trust about the miraculous icon of the Most Pure Virgin Mary of Zhirovichi” was published in Vilna. The book was republished in Vilna in 1625, 1628, in Suprasl in 1629, 1653, 1714. In 1639, “The Story of the Miracle-Working Icon of the Zhirovichi Virgin Mary” was published. In 1644, King Vladislav IV and his wife Cecilia Renata spent two days in Zhirovichi. In the same year, a new book about the Zhirovichi icon, A. Dubovich’s “Connection of the Earth’s Planets,” was published. In 1719, a book by priest Ignatius Volodko “The Most Holy Virgin of Zhirovichi” was published in Rome, and in 1729 a book by canon Isidore Nardi “Historical news of a copy of the icon of the Virgin of Zhirovichi” was published. In the second half of the 18th century, several more books about the icon were published. Currently, the bibliography is very extensive.

There are many written and oral testimonies of miracles and healings performed. At the site of the appearance of the icon, as well as next to it, there are springs considered miraculous.

How to pray

To pray to the Zhirovitsk Icon, you need to visit any Orthodox church. Perhaps there will be an icon there. It can also be purchased for home prayers. It doesn’t matter where you pray in church or at home. In front of the icon you need to light an ordinary church candle. After the prayer, they touch the image, then cross themselves twice and kiss the edge of the garment or the hand in the image.

The prayer must be read sincerely and carefully. They turn to the Mother of God, telling in their own words the essence of the problem.

Miracles performed through the Pimenovskaya Icon of the Mother of God

Almost immediately upon arrival on Russian soil, Pimenovskaya Hodegetria became a source of miraculous healings. All of them were associated with myrrh-streaming, a unique phenomenon that results in the release of fragrant oil on the surface of the icon.

The very first case of myrrh-streaming of the Pimenovskaya icon was recorded in 1407 in the above-mentioned “Book of Degree”. A certain Tyutrum, a “glorious merchant,” persuaded the servants of the cathedral to bring this image of the Mother of God to his house and perform a prayer service. During the service, the miracle of myrrh flowing occurred.

Another written source, in which there is a mention of the expiration of the chrism from the Pimenovskaya Mother of God, is stored in the Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts of the Moscow State University Scientific Library. It is called “The Legend” and was compiled in the 18th century by the guard of the Annunciation Church S. Mokhovikov. The compiler colorfully talks about how “the ointment came from her head,” meaning Pimenovskaya Hodegetria.

The fragrant myrrh collected from the icon has been used at all times to anoint sick and suffering pilgrims. According to legend, after anointing and praying before the icon of the Pimenovskaya Mother of God, people were healed of various physical and spiritual ailments. Probably, this special grace exuded was one of the reasons for the transfer of the image to the rebuilt Peace Chamber.

Description of the icon

The image is classified as “Tenderness” type. The composition of the icon resembles the Feodorovskaya Mother of God. But on the Zhirovitsky icon the movements of the figures are more clearly expressed:

The head of the Virgin Mary is tilted towards the baby.
The right hand of the Virgin Mary is pressed to her chest.
Jesus' head is directed towards his mother.
The baby's knees are visible from under the shirt.

The first copies of the icon date back to the 17th century. Some of them are also considered miraculous. The icon depicts tender feelings between Christ and Mary, as an example of God's love for people.

The original image is carved on stone. The icon has very miniature dimensions: 43 by 56 mm. Such a relief image of the Virgin and Child cannot be confused with anything else. The icon has an oval shape. It is carved on a dark cherry stone. The faces are almost invisible in the image. Only the figures are guessed.

Photo 5. The Zhirovitsky image has enormous power, as evidenced by miraculous healings.

The first copies made with paints date back to the beginning of the 17th century. They are very recognizable. They are made in an oval, like the original. There are three main options:

The most common image of the Virgin and Child is enclosed in an oval, which is decorated with grape leaves and tassels. The Mother of God looks with mercy on all people. She is dressed in royal clothes with precious stones. On some icons there is a crown on the head. The Zhirovitsky Monastery is certainly depicted in the distance.
On other icons you can see the moment of acquiring the image. The Virgin and Child are depicted on a tree in white and gold clothing. People are kneeling near a tree.
Another option is a modern stylization of ancient Russian icon painting. The icon resembles the Don Mother of God. The Mother of God is depicted on a golden background.

Features of iconography

The iconographic type of the holy face is “Merciful” or “Tenderness”. The basis is a fragment of semi-precious jasper. The shape of the image is oval with a slight narrowing at the top. The Child Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary are depicted in dark red and green shades. This combination resembles the color of ocher.

Over the years of its existence, the icon has undergone several restorations. The integrity of the image was restored by applying wax. Unfortunately, over time, the inscription glorifying the angels was lost.