The real appearance of the Mother of God in the memory of those who “saw” her

The image of the Mother of God is special for Russia. Of course, in many Christian countries (and throughout Christian culture) the Virgin Mary enjoys great veneration, but it was in Rus' that for many years this image was not only actively cultivated, but also repeatedly allowed believers to find protection and hope. Many people know the Kazan and Vladimir icons of the Virgin Mary, but there are many other wonderful images.

The Mother of God is present not only in the temple, but also on the home altar. As the scriptures say, she is valued above all angelic ranks.

Life of Saint Mary Magdalene

Before meeting Christ, Mary Magdalene was an ordinary woman, a harlot. According to Jewish law, a woman was publicly stoned for lewd acts. Mary escaped the same fate thanks to her meeting with Christ.

This happened when some disciples went to watch the harlot being stoned. Christ also went along with his disciples. As soon as one of the Jews raised his hand to throw a stone at her, Jesus said his famous phrase: “Let him who is not a sinner throw a stone at her.” And no one dared to do it.

Then Christ said to Mary: “Go and sin no more.” After which Mary Magdalene believed in Christian teaching and became the most faithful and devoted disciple of Christ throughout her earthly life.

When Christ was crucified, Mary and her assistant brought myrrh, with which they were going to anoint the body of their teacher. However, they were not allowed to enter the cave with the burial of Christ. Then the women began to pray and ask to be allowed in.

They began to read prayers and angels appeared before them, one of whom was Christ, only in a different guise. So Mary Magdalene and the other Mary became witnesses of the resurrection of Christ and real guardians of the faith.

After the ascension of Christ, Mary began to preach Christian teaching in Italy. During her life and after her death, many miracles began to happen. Therefore, Mary Magdalene is considered one of the most significant saints.

It is worth noting: she is revered both in the Orthodox and Catholic worlds, since during her life the church was united and was not divided into Catholic, Orthodox, or Lutheran.

Prayers

First prayer in front of the icon of the Mother of God All-Tsaritsa

O most pure Mother of God, All-Tsarina! Hear our much-painful sigh before Your miraculous icon, brought from the Athos inheritance to Russia, look upon Your children, those suffering from incurable ailments, who fall to Your holy image with faith! Just as a winged bird covers its chicks, so You, now and ever-living being, have covered us with Your multi-healing omophorion. There, where hope disappears, awaken with undoubted Hope. There, where fierce sorrows prevail, Appear with Patience and Weakness. There, where the darkness of despair has settled in the souls, let the ineffable light of the Divine shine! Comfort the faint-hearted, strengthen the weak, grant softening and enlightenment to hardened hearts. Heal Your sick people, O all-merciful Queen! Bless the minds and hands of those who heal us; may they serve as an instrument of the Almighty Physician Christ our Savior. As if You are alive and present with us, we pray before Your icon, O Lady! Extend Your hand, full of healing and healing, Joy to those who mourn, Consolation to those in sorrow, so that with miraculous help we soon receive, we glorify the Life-Giving and Indivisible Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

Second prayer before the icon of the Mother of God

All-merciful, venerable Mother of God, Pantanassa, All-Queen! I am not worthy, but come under my roof! But as a merciful and gracious Mother of God, say the word, may my soul be healed and my weak body strengthened. You have an invincible power, and all your words will not fail, O All-Tsaritsa! Beg for me! You begged for me. May I glorify Your glorious name always, now and forever. Amen.

How does prayer to Mary Magdalene help?

Saint Mary Magdalene helps in the following cases:

1. For family quarrels, conflicts, mutual quarrels and grievances in the family.
2. If children get sick or unexplained things happen to them.
3. From drug addiction or alcoholism.
4. The icon treats mental illness, including severe mental disorders and strange conditions.
5. Helps with the consequences of abortion and women's diseases.
6. This icon is prayed to in the most severe illnesses, when even official medicine cannot do anything.
7. The icon of Mary Magdalene helps with difficult relationships between parents and children.
8. The icon also helps if one of the family members leads a dissolute lifestyle and harms everyone.
9. With sincere repentance, the icon of Mary Magdalene helps against sexually transmitted diseases.

Floating Virgin Mary in Egypt

This apparition of the Virgin Mary stands apart. The fact is that it was repeated periodically for quite a long time, from April 1968 to August 1969. Representatives of all religions and even atheists saw it. The Virgin Mary was not only seen, but also photographed.

It all happened in Zeitoun, a suburb of Cairo. Muslims working near a Christian church noticed a female figure hovering near the church peak. Her facial features were impossible to see due to the bright light that came from the woman. But when the men suggested that they were seeing the Virgin Mary, she nodded to them, confirming that they were right.

The news of the miracle quickly spread, and soon tens of thousands of believers of all faiths came to the church to see the Virgin Mary. She appeared in different guises: now bowed near the cross, now with a baby in her arms, now grieving for the whole world. At first, the Mother of God appeared two or three times a week, but gradually she pleased believers and tourists less and less, and in August 1969 she was seen in the sky above the temple for the last time.

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The meaning of the icon of Mary Magdalene in Orthodoxy

This saint is revered as one of the most powerful and is revered on a par with the apostles. On the icon, Mary Magdalene is depicted together with a red egg, about which a special legend has developed.

During the sermon, the emperor began to argue about Christian teaching, considering it nonsense. And then Mary said that, at the command of Christ, even an egg can turn red and Christ really is that very truth. And when, after such words, the egg really turned red, the emperor believed in Christ and became a believing Christian.

The icon of Mary Magdalene is depicted in different ways. Almost all depict a girl with flowing hair (a symbol of girlhood) holding an egg, a skull, or a moment where this woman hugs the feet of the Savior when he was crucified on the cross.

Glass from Absam

An equally striking apparition of the Mother of God occurred in January 1797 in the small village of Absam, located on the outskirts of Innsbruck, Austria. Rosina Buecher, an eighteen-year-old girl, was sewing in her parents' house when she felt someone's attentive gaze on her. Rosina looked out the window and saw a woman’s face on the glass.

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The frightened girl decided that she was imagining a face, so she quickly called her mother, who also saw an inexplicable image on the glass. Not knowing whether this was divine providence or the machinations of evil spirits, the women invited neighbors and the local priest. Everyone agreed that the image of the Most Pure Mother of God appeared on the window.

This opinion was further strengthened when glass, given by the Buecher family to the parish church, began to heal worshipers. Thousands of people began to flock to Abzam to bow before the face of the Mother of God, praise her and make requests to her. The amazing glass has survived to this day and is the main attraction of Abzam.

Symbol of Mary Magdalene

The egg that Mary Magdalene holds in the icon indicates evidence of the suffering of Christ and his earthly life. The event when Mary preached Christianity and the egg turned red in her hand was also resurrected in memory.

However, this symbol has several meanings. In this concept, it also means that Mary was the first of the women to witness the suffering and resurrection of Christ, which symbolizes the egg drenched in blood - that is, the earthly life of Christ, drenched in suffering.

This symbol gives hope that the life of every person, no matter how full of suffering, is always under the power of Christ and one should not rely only on earthly things.

The skull on the icon means the suffering of Christ or, according to other versions, the forgiveness of sin for Adam, who did not obey God in paradise.

Shepherdess and Virgin Mary

An ordinary fourteen-year-old shepherdess Bernadette from the town of Lourdes became known throughout France after Our Lady appeared to her eighteen times. The first time this happened was on February 11, 1858, when the girl went to buy firewood. Having fallen behind the other children, she suddenly saw an incredibly beautiful woman appear from a cave near a stream, standing on a golden cloud and calling herself the Mother of God.

At first they did not believe the girl, but then she told her confessor the content of her conversations with the Virgin Mary. The priest realized that the illiterate shepherdess simply could not come up with something like this on her own. People came from all over the area to look at Bernadette, chosen by the Mother of God. Later, the girl became a nun, and in 1933 she was canonized as a Catholic saint.

Feast of Mary Magdalene

This day is celebrated 3 weeks after Easter (at a different time every year) or on August 4th. At this time, it is customary to remember Mary and women and give them gifts.

The feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is also considered the day of Mary Magdalene. It is at this time that Women's Day is celebrated in Orthodoxy. In some churches, chocolates or flowers are distributed to women at this time.

Mexican miracle

In December 1531, in the vicinity of Mexico City, the Virgin Mary unexpectedly appeared to the Indian Juan Diego, who had been baptized by Catholic missionaries several years earlier. Juan was walking to church when he heard an enchanting voice coming from the nearby Tepeyac Hill. The curious Indian climbed the hill and saw a beautiful dark woman shrouded in a shining cloud.

She called herself the Mother of God from Guadeloupe and asked to build a temple on this site where her son would be praised. Juan Diego accurately conveyed the words of the Virgin to the priests, but they did not believe him, considering the appearance of the Blessed Virgin before an ordinary Indian incredible.

Time passed, and the Virgin Mary called Diego again. She asked him to collect flowers from the hillside, wrap them in a cloak and take them to the bishop. The puzzled man understood that it was impossible to find flowers in December, but did not argue. To his surprise, he quickly found fresh roses and, as ordered, took them to the priests.

When the Indian unfolded his cloak in front of the skeptical bishop and priests, everyone was amazed to see the face of the Mother of God appearing on the fabric and believed Juan’s words. A temple appeared on Tepeyac Hill. After this miracle, millions of Indians converted to the Christian faith, and the image of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe is still sacredly revered in Latin America.

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Theotokos, Mother of God, Mother of God, Virgin Mary - in the church tradition of the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who gave birth to Jesus Christ.

The name “Theotokos” is known among all Orthodox Slavs. The constant epithet of the Mother of God among the Orthodox Slavs is Most Holy, Most Pure, sometimes replacing her name.

The folk cult of the Mother of God differs from the church cult in being more down to earth. The Mother of God acts as a protector from troubles, evil spirits, misfortunes and suffering. She is a heavenly intercessor, sympathetic, merciful and sympathetic. Therefore, they often turn to her in prayers, conspiracies, and spells.

The Virgin Mary is considered the patroness of women in labor. And, of course, the Mother of God is the intercessor of children in this and the next world.

With the exception of Jesus Christ, there is not a single saint in Christian iconography who has been so often depicted by artists of all times as the face of the Blessed Virgin. At all times, icon painters tried to convey to the face of the Mother of God all the beauty, tenderness, dignity and grandeur of which their imagination was capable.

The Mother of God in Russian icons is always in sadness, but this sadness can be different: sometimes sorrowful, sometimes bright, but always filled with spiritual clarity, wisdom and great spiritual strength. The Mother of God can solemnly “reveal” the Child to the world, she can gently, press her Son to Herself, or lightly support Him - She is always full of reverence, worships her Divine Child and meekly resigns herself to the inevitability of sacrifice. Lyricism, enlightenment and detachment are the main features characteristic of the depiction of the Virgin Mary on Russian icons.

Only a small part of the iconography dedicated to the Mother of God - the Theotokos - is presented here.
Kazanskaya
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Kazan is the most revered icon in Rus', the image of the intercessor of the entire people. Vladimirskaya - The image of the intercessor mother in all troubles and sorrows.

The desperate have one hope - they pray for well-being and prosperity. Pochaevskaya - they pray for the granting of health and miracles of help in need.

Quick to Hear - they pray for the Lord to hear people’s prayers. Iverskaya - they pray for protection from enemies and ill-wishers.

Unfading color - they pray for the preservation of purity, health and beauty. Recovering the dead - praying for the children, their health and well-being.

Soothe my sorrows - pray for consolation in sad moments of life. Merciful - they pray for the granting of a Divine miracle, healing.

Feodorovskaya - people pray in front of this icon during difficult childbirth. Jerusalem - they pray for family well-being, health, and the conception of children.

Tikhvinskaya - pray for the health of young children. Pochaevskaya - they pray for the granting of health and miracles of help in need.

Kozelshchanskaya - pray for the healing of orthopedic diseases, Troeruchitsa - pray for the healing of diseases of the hands and feet.

Look at humility - they pray for healing from illnesses, for women's health and well-being. Gracious sky - they pray for the granting of God's Grace in everyday life, help in business.

Softening Evil Hearts - pray to soften the hearts of those who come to you with evil thoughts. Tenderness - mothers pray for the successful marriage of their daughters, for happiness and prosperity.

Smolenskaya - they pray for help in finding the right paths in life. Barskaya - pray for good relationships in the family, for children and health.

Zhirovitskaya - they pray for the arrangement of the girl’s destiny, for a happy marriage. Affectionate mother - they pray for children, so that children will be support in life.

Unexpected joy - they pray for the gift of spiritual insight. Three joys - they pray for forgiveness for their sins.

Prayer to all icons of the Mother of God

O Most Holy Virgin, Mother of the Lord Most High, Intercessor and protection of all who resort to You! Look down from Thy holy height upon me, a sinner, falling before Thy most pure image; hear my warm prayer and offer it before your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; beg Him to illuminate my gloomy soul with the light of His Divine grace, to deliver me from all need, sorrow and illness, to grant me a quiet and peaceful life, physical and mental health, to pacify my suffering heart and heal its wounds, to guide me for good deeds, may my mind be cleansed from vain thoughts, and having taught me to fulfill His commandments, may He deliver me from eternal torment and may He not deprive me of His Heavenly Kingdom. O Most Holy Theotokos! You, Joy of all who mourn, hear me who mourns; You, called the Satisfaction of Sorrow, assuage my sorrow; You, Kupino the Burning, save the world and all of us from the harmful fiery arrows of the enemy; You, the Seeker of the Lost, do not allow me to perish in the abyss of my sins. According to Bose, all my hope and hope is in Tyabo. Be an Intercessor for me in temporary life and for eternal life before Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Intercessor. To you, Most Holy Mother of God, Most Blessed Mary, reverently honor you until the end of my days. Amen.

You can pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Virtual Chapel of All Saints

, and also light a candle in front of
the Icon of the Kazan Mother of God

PS. The popular veneration of the Mother of God is associated with the “Mother of God holidays” - Annunciation - April 7, Assumption - August 28, Christmas - September 21, Intercession - October 14, Entry into the Temple - December 4.