Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” Kursk Root. “The Sign” Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God

Gallery of icons.

During the invasion of Russia by Khan Batu, the city of Kursk was so devastated that it was overgrown with forest, in which residents of the neighboring town of Rylsk often hunted. One day, on September 8, 1295, a hunter saw an icon facing the ground at the root of a tree. He raised the image, and it turned out that it was the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “The Sign”. At that very moment, in the place where she lay, a source of spring water gushed out of the ground.

When Prince Vasily Shemyaka of Rylsky was informed about the appearance of the icon, he ordered it to be brought to the city. The people greeted the icon with triumph, but the prince himself did not take part in this meeting, for which he was immediately punished with blindness. When, after repentance, he received insight, in gratitude for the healing, he erected a temple in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where, after construction was completed, the miraculous icon was placed. At the same time, a holiday was established on the day of her appearance. The icon from the place of its appearance at the root of the tree began to be called the Root icon.

“The Sign” Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God. Gallery of icons.

But the icon did not stay in the temple for long: it miraculously disappeared and was discovered in the place where it was found by the hunter. Residents of Rylsk repeatedly took it and took it to the city, but each time the icon disappeared from the temple, and it was again found at the site of the apparition at the root of a tree. Then everyone realized that the Mother of God favored the place where Her image appeared, and a chapel was built on this place.

“The Sign” Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God. Gallery of icons.

In 1383, the Tatars who attacked the Kursk region captured the priest serving at the chapel, set the chapel on fire, cut the icon in half, threw one half into the fire and the other to the side. The priest was taken to Crimea, where he spent several years in captivity, carrying out hard work. One day, Moscow ambassadors, driving past the Tatar camp, heard Russian hymns to the Most Holy Theotokos. Having learned about the captured priest, the ambassadors ransomed him from slavery, and he returned to the place near Kursk, where there once stood a chapel with a miraculous icon.

At the site of the burnt chapel, the priest found one half, and after searching, he found the other half off to the side in the grass. With faith, he put the two halves together, and they grew together miraculously. From that time on, the icon remained in its place in the newly built chapel, and miracles did not stop from it all the time. Subsequently, a monastery was built on the site of the chapel - Root Hermitage. It is known that the Monk Seraphim of Sarov was cured in front of this image as a child.

In 1898, attackers tried to destroy the Russian shrine. The explosion from the planted bomb was so strong that the temple collapsed, but the icon remained unharmed. To everyone’s amazement, even the glass on the icon case remained intact. In memory of the miraculous preservation of the icon during the explosion, another day was established for the celebration of the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” - September 8 (September 21 in the new style).

After the revolutionary hard times, the miraculous image ended up outside of Russia. Nowadays it is one of the shrines of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

Days of celebration: March 21 (March 8, old style), 21 (September 8), December 10 (November 27) and the 9th Friday after Easter.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill delivered the miraculous Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” to Kursk on September 23, 2009.

More about the Kursk-Root Icon “The Sign”

The miraculous icon, the most famous copy-list of the Novgorod icon “The Sign”. The history of her veneration probably began in the 16th century. According to legend, in 1597 Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ordered the “Sign” icon, revered in Kursk, to be brought to Moscow. In Moscow, the icon was updated: it was inserted into a frame with images of the prophets, Tsarina Irina Feodorovna decorated it with a precious frame. Soon the icon was returned to Kursk, where the Root Monastery was founded (named in memory of the appearance of the icon, which, according to legend, occurred in the 13th century “at the root of a tree”). The icon was again brought to Moscow by False Dmitry I, and returned to Kursk in 1615 by Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. In 1898, the Socialist Revolutionaries tried to blow up the shrine, but it remained unharmed. In 1918, the miraculous Kursk-Root Icon and its copy in precious frames were stolen, but were soon found abandoned (without frames). In 1920, the icon was taken abroad: after a temporary return to the Crimea, to the army of General Wrangel, it was sent to Yugoslavia, where it remained for 25 years; during the Second World War in 1944 transported to Germany. Since 1951 it has been a shrine of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in the USA.

The surviving Kursk-Root icon “The Sign” is small in size, executed at the end of the 16th century; the images of the prophets on the frame are later. In the 17th-19th centuries, the icon was especially revered as the patroness of the Orthodox army; copies of it were taken on military campaigns. Every year the icon was carried in procession from the Kursk Znamensky Cathedral, where it had been kept since the 17th century, to the Korennaya Hermitage. Numerous copies of the icon (mainly in the southern regions of Russia) were also considered miraculous.

“The Sign” Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God.

From ancient times, information has reached us about the appearance of the miraculous image of the Mother of God. This happened at a time of disaster for the Russian people, when many cities and villages were ravaged, devastated, and depopulated by the invasion of the Mongol-Tatar hordes of Batu. The Kursk region did not escape this sad fate.

...In 1295, on September 8, two hunters hunted in the forest 28 kilometers from Kursk. Suddenly, one of them saw, the chronicler claims, “near the Tuskari River in a semi-mountain, at the root of a large tree, an icon lying prostrate, which he had only lifted from the ground, when a source of water immediately flowed from that place; seeing this, this man placed the one he had honestly acquired “The Sign” icon of the Mother of God in the hollow of that tree, and then he himself announced this glorious miracle to his comrades, who, agreeing among themselves, built a chapel several fathoms higher than the mentioned place and, having placed a miraculous icon in it, returned home in peace.” . This historical event captured in the sculptural composition, which is installed on the right at the entrance to the monastery. Its author is our fellow countryman, famous sculptor, People's Artist of Russia, academician, President of the International Foundation of Slavic Literature and Culture Vyacheslav Klykov.

Pilgrims began to visit the place where the shrine appeared. Rylsk Prince Vasily Shemyaka ordered the icon to be moved to the city of Rylsk. The miraculous image was solemnly greeted by the residents of the city. However, the prince avoided the celebration and was punished for this with blindness. Having repented and received healing, the prince, touched by this miracle, built a church in Rylsk in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where the miraculous icon was placed. However, she miraculously disappeared and returned to the place of her appearance. Residents of Rylsk repeatedly took the icon, but each time it again ended up in the Root Hermitage.

In 1383, the Kursk land was subjected to new plunder by the Tatars. The invaders decided to burn the chapel, but it did not catch fire. Then they grabbed the holy icon, cut it into two parts and threw it into different sides. The pious elder Bogolyub later found these parts of the icon, put them together, and they immediately grew together.

The fame of the miracles of the icon reached Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich. He drew attention to the fate of the city, which the miraculous image reminded of. In 1597, the sovereign ordered the restoration of the city of Kursk in the same place where it was located before Batu’s ruin. And the miraculous icon “with great honor, for the sake of worship” was transferred to Moscow. The king ordered a special cypress board to be made around the icon with images of Old Testament prophets with charters in their hands. A silver frame with gilding was made, it was decorated with pearls and precious stones, and a shroud was also attached to the frame, personally embroidered with gold threads by Tsarina Irina and her daughter, Princess Feodosia.

In such magnificent decoration, the icon was returned back to the Root Hermitage, where the king ordered the construction of a monastery with a church in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Then, during the invasion of the Crimean Tatars, the icon was moved for safety from the Root Hermitage to Kursk, to the Cathedral Church, and a copy of it was left in the Hermitage.

When during the reign of Boris Godunov there was famine due to crop failure, the people of Kursk tearfully prayed before their heavenly intercessor and asked for the fertility of the lands with processions of the cross. And a miracle happened: the Kursk lands were brought for Russia big harvest. The people of Kursk also prayed before the miraculous image during the siege of Kursk by the Poles in 1612. In gratitude for the salvation, the townspeople built a monastery in the name of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Construction of the large stone Znamensky Cathedral in Kursk began in 1816 and lasted 10 years. The temple in the form of a cross was crowned with a spherical dome. From the base to the top of the dome, the height of the cathedral is 48 meters. The interior space of the temple is filled with light, penetrating through the high and wide windows of the dome.

There were difficult years in the history of the Znamensky Cathedral, when great damage was caused to the architecture of the building due to human ignorance. The first time this happened was in the mid-19th century, when unsuccessful reconstructions changed the northern façade of the building and grossly distorted the original architecture.

The building suffered secondary damage in the mid-30s of the last century. The paired bell towers and four corner domes were demolished. During these same years, the cathedral building began to be used as a cinema.

And only in 1992 the temple was again handed over to believers and the renewed Znamensky Monastery. The builders immediately began work: 12 columns and a false dome were dismantled. Finally, the first one entered the temple again Sunbeam– after all, after the reconstruction of the magnificent temple into a cinema, its central part was illuminated only by artificial light. The builders had to remove more than 600 tons of reinforced concrete structures.

Artists from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts worked on the restoration and renovation of the cathedral. Having carefully studied the former cathedral paintings from previous photographs, academic artists, led by academician of painting Alexander Bystrov, sought to give the paintings their former, historical appearance. Parishioners, the regional administration, entrepreneurs, and enterprise managers made significant contributions to the restoration. For all-Russian celebrations in honor of the 250th anniversary of his birth St. Seraphim Sarovsky painting of the cathedral was completed. It has acquired such a magnificent appearance that the Kursk residents who visit it these days look with joy and delight at the majestic decoration of the main cathedral of the Kursk land.

The Znamensky Cathedral has always been not only a symbol, but the living heart of Kursk, responding to all events taking place in human destinies and in the destinies of the Fatherland.

In 1618, on the occasion of the consecration of the first wooden Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in the Korennaya Hermitage, on the ninth Friday after Easter, the icon was first moved from Kursk to Korennaya. This was the beginning of the religious processions. The winter location of the shrine was the Znamensky Cathedral of Kursk, and the summer location was the Root Hermitage. The icon is traditionally transferred to the Znamensky Cathedral on September 12 (25). Majestic and solemn religious processions attracted many thousands of people. There is a legend that when the first pilgrims entered Korennaya, the last ones were still in Kursk. So great was the boundless sea of pilgrims flowing under the shadow of the icon. The picture of the religious procession is conveyed by the famous painting by Ilya Repin “ Procession V Kursk province».

The Kursk shrine more than once became the patroness of the Russian army. Before the Battle of Poltava, Peter I, together with Count Boris Sheremetev, stopped by the Root Hermitage and prayed in front of the miraculous image for the granting of victories. In 1812, the Kursk City Society sent a copy of the miraculous Kursk icon, in front of which the commander fervently prayed, to Mikhail Kutuzov in the army.

In 1892, the Kursk Root Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “The Sign” became famous for its gracious help and deliverance of the Kursk region from the outbreak that broke out at that time. terrible epidemic cholera.

Great miracles from the icon continued to occur. On March 8, 1898, several attackers, wanting to undermine people's faith in the miraculous power of the icon, decided to destroy it by placing an explosive shell with a clock mechanism. At two o'clock in the morning a terrible explosion was heard in the Znamensky Cathedral. Its power was so great that the gilded cast-iron canopy above the icon was torn into pieces, and the heavy marble base was crushed into several parts. All the glass in the cathedral and even in the upper dome was broken. And amid all this destruction, the holy icon remained unharmed. Hoping to destroy it, the attackers only served to further glorify the miraculous image.

After the October Revolution, the icon was stolen from the Znamensky Cathedral in broad daylight on April 12, 1918. The search yielded no results. The shrine was discovered a few days later, at about 10 am. One woman, returning home, passed by a well (according to legend, dug in his youth by the Monk Theodosius of Pechersk himself). Here, on the stump of the well, she saw a package wrapped in a bag. There was an icon in it, but it was already without magnificent vestments, apparently planted by the kidnappers.

In the 20th century, the Kursk Root Icon, having shared the fate of Russia, became a companion of Russian people abroad. At the end of October 1919, the miraculous image left the Kursk region. From the Athos courtyard, the icon was transferred to Constantinople, then to the Greek city of Thessaloniki, then to the ancient capital of Serbia, the city of Nis, and to the suburb of Belgrade - Zemun. Thus began the icon’s way of the cross outside the Fatherland. The icon is currently located in the USA. The shrine visits parishes in the USA and other countries where Russian people live. She is truly considered the Hodegetria of the entire Russian diaspora.

The ancient tradition of holding religious processions behind the holy icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” of the Kursk Root was revived in 1990. Modern religious processions involve a list of icons from the early 20th century - an exact copy of the miraculous image. The holy springs on the territory of the monastery have not dried up either. As before, holy water from life-giving springs The root desert gives strength and strengthens the faith of Orthodox people.

Text source: http://pravda.kursknet.ru

On March 8/21, the Holy Church of Christ celebrates the memory of the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”. Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”(The Sign of the Root-Kursk), the most revered icon in the Russian Church Abroad, which received the name Hodegetria of the Russian Diaspora.

This icon depicts the Most Holy Theotokos sitting and raising Her hands in prayer; on her chest, against the background of a round shield (or sphere) is the blessing Divine Infant - Savior-Emmanuel. This image of the Mother of God is one of Her very first iconographic images.

In the tomb of St. Agnes in Rome there is an image of the Mother of God with her arms outstretched in prayer and with the Child sitting on Her lap. This image dates back to the 4th century.

In addition, the ancient Byzantine image of the Mother of God “Nicopeia”, 6th century, is known, where the Most Holy Theotokos is depicted sitting on a throne and holding in front of her with both hands an oval shield with the image of the Savior Emmanuel.

Icons of the Mother of God, known under the name “The Sign,” appeared in Rus' in the 11th - 12th centuries, and they began to be called that after the miraculous sign from the Novgorod icon, which happened in 1170. This year, the united forces of the Russian appanage princes, led by the son of the Suzdal prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, approached the walls of Veliky Novgorod. The Novgorodians prayed, asking the Lord not to abandon them.

On the third night, Archbishop Elijah of Novgorod heard a wondrous voice commanding him to take the image of the Most Holy Theotokos from the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilinaya Street and take it to the city wall.

Icon of the Mother of God, called “The Sign”

When the icon was being carried, the enemies fired a cloud of arrows into the religious procession, and one of them pierced the iconographic face of the Mother of God. Tears flowed from Her eyes, and the icon turned its face to the city. After such a Divine sign, the enemies were suddenly attacked by inexplicable horror, they began to beat each other, and the Novgorodians, encouraged by the Lord, fearlessly rushed into battle and won.

In memory of the miraculous intercession of the Queen of Heaven, Archbishop Elijah then established a holiday in honor of the Sign of the Mother of God, which the entire Russian Church still celebrates to this day.

Numerous copies of the Icon of the Sign are known throughout Russia. Many of them shone with miracles in local churches and were named after the place where miracles occurred.

Holy Icon of the Kursk Root Mother of God “The Sign” almost annually visits all parishes of the North American and Canadian dioceses.

In the anniversary year of the millennium of the Baptism of Rus', the shrine visited our flock in Australia, as well as parishes in Chile, Argentina and Brazil. Further, in 1993, the icon was in France, in Lesna, where the Council of Bishops took place, after which the icon visited the German diocese. In November 1993, Metropolitan Vitaly visited the Australian diocese with the Miraculous Icon. The icon visited almost all the parishes of this diocese.

Many prayers were offered and tears were shed before the Miraculous Icon of the Mother of God; immeasurable joy, consolation and wonderful help from the Queen of Heaven, pouring out through Her miraculous image.

Russian people abroad found themselves scattered throughout all countries of the world, and in order to preserve the Church Abroad, it was necessary to maintain spiritual and social unity among themselves. The soul and symbol of this unity became our all-abroad shrine, the Hodegetria of the Russian Diaspora - the Kursk Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”.

And in our troubled times, we will pray to the Most Holy Theotokos - may She preserve Her house from enemies visible and invisible; may the Sign of God’s promises be immutable, and may holy Rus' arise in all its spiritual grandeur. The fate of not only Russia, but the whole world depends on this.

The miraculous icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” of Kursk-Root last stayed on Russian soil on September 14, 1920 in Crimea, among the troops fighting against the Bolsheviks. Having left Russia in 1920, the holy icon became the “Hodegetria” (Guide) of the Russian Diaspora, inseparably staying with all the first hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad. Now she resides in one of the temples of the New Root Hermitage near New York (USA). And in the Russian Kursk Znamensky Cathedral there is a copy of the miraculous image.

Kursk icon “The Sign” of the Mother of God. Story

One of the most remarkable and ancient icons of Orthodox Rus' - Kursk Icon “The Sign” of the Mother of God . The history of this icon is very instructive and is filled with so many blessed signs and wonders that it evokes involuntary reverence for the wondrous shrine.

Residents of the city of Rylsk, which survived the pogrom, often went here hunting to catch animals. This is what “The Tale of the appearance of the miraculous icon of the Most Pure Mother of God, its honorable and glorious sign, which is called Kursk, and about the conception of the city of Kursk” tells us about the discovery of the icon:

“In 6803 from the creation of the world, and from the Nativity of Christ in 1295, September 8 (Old Art.), it happened that one pious man came for the sake of his profit to the forest that overgrown the surroundings of Kursk, after its devastation, and according to God’s providence he saw near the Tuskari River in a semi-mountain, at the root of a large tree, an icon lying prostrate, which he had only just lifted from the ground, when a source of water immediately flowed from that place, seeing this, the man placed the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God, which he had honestly found, in the hollow of that tree, and then he himself announced this glorious miracle to his comrades, who, agreeing among themselves, built a chapel several fathoms higher than the mentioned place and, having placed a miraculous Icon in it, returned home in peace.”

So unusual phenomenon The icon, coupled with the miracle, soon became famous in the neighboring city of Rylsk and its environs. From here, pious residents rushed to worship the new shrine in the hope of receiving healing and consolation from it in their sorrows, which over time became more and more glorified by miracles.

Having learned about this, Prince Vasily Shemyaka of Rylsk ordered it to be moved to Rylsk. The icon was solemnly greeted by all the residents who came out of the city to meet the icon. Only one prince of Shemyaka avoided this celebration. For this, on the day the icon arrived in Rylsk, he was punished with blindness. The prince realized his guilt, repented and, having performed fervent prayer before the holy icon, received healing. Touched by this miracle, Shemyaka built a church in Rylsk in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A miraculous icon was placed in this temple, and on the day of its appearance, September 8, its annual celebration was established.

Numerous pilgrims flocked here to worship the shrine, from which miracles abounded. Prayers for the pilgrims were performed by one pious priest nicknamed Bogolyub, who voluntarily, out of special zeal and reverence for the Mother of God, came here and lived here, especially on the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, practicing asceticism.

The pious priest denounced their foolishness and pointed to the icon of the Mother of God located in the chapel. The embittered Tatars grabbed the holy icon, cut it into two parts and threw them in different directions, and burned the chapel. Priest Bogolyub was taken into captivity.

Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign of Kursk-Root

In captivity of the infidels, the pious elder retained his Christian faith: Despite the admonitions of the Tatars to accept their religion, he remained adamant, placing all his hope in the Most Holy Theotokos. And this hope did not deceive him. One day he was tending sheep and delighting himself in severe captivity by singing church prayers and hymns in honor of the Mother of God. The ambassadors of the Moscow Tsar, who were passing to the khan, heard this singing, recognized the old shepherd as a Russian priest and ransomed him from captivity.

Bogolyub returned to his fatherland and settled again in his former place, where there was a chapel with an icon. Here he soon found parts of the miraculous icon split by the Tatars, put them together, and they immediately grew together so tightly that no trace of this damage remained; Only in the place where the icon was split did “like dew” appear. The residents of Rylsk, having learned about this miracle, glorified God and His Most Pure Mother.

Having renovated the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, built by Shemyaka, the residents of Rylsk again tried to move the holy icon here, but the latter again miraculously returned to the place of its appearance. Then a new chapel was built here, in which the “Sign” icon remained for about 200 years, constantly exuding miracles.

Numerous copies of the Icon of the Sign are known throughout Russia. Many of them shone with miracles in local churches and were named after the place where miracles occurred. Such lists of the icon of the Sign include the icons of Dionysius-Glushitskaya, Abalatskaya, Kursk, Seraphim-Ponetaevskaya and others.

In July 1966, Archbishop John of Shanghai (Maximovich) of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (Feast Day: June 19, 2010/July 2, 2010) visited the St. Nicholas parish in Seattle with the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God. On July 2, while praying before this icon in his cell, he died.

The original of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Kursk-Root is located in the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in New York, USA.

Celebration days:

March 8 (March 21)– in memory of the rescue of the icon from the atheist revolutionaries who tried to blow up the icon in the Kursk Cathedral in 1898;
The 9th Friday after Easter is the annual religious procession with the icon from the Kursk Znamensky Monastery to the Root Hermitage.
September 8 (September 21) - in memory of the discovery of the icon in 1295 on the day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
November 27 (December 10) is the feast of the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”.

Our Lady of the Sign

ICON OF THE HOLY VIRGIN “THE SIGN”
Troparion, tone 4

As an insurmountable wall and a source of miracles / which You, Thy servants, / have acquired, / the Most Pure Mother of God, / we overthrow the resistant militias. / In the same way we pray to Thee: / grant peace to Thy city / and great mercy to our souls.

Kontakion, tone 4

The honorable image of Thy sign / Thy people celebrating, O Mother of God, / to whom Thou hast bestowed a wondrous victory against Thy city, / in the same way we cry to Thee by faith: / Rejoice, O Virgin, praise to Christians.

Greatness

It is worthy to eat the blessedness of Thee, / the Virgin Mother of God, / the most honorable Cherub, / and the most glorious without comparison, the Seraphim. Or: Let us offer every spiritual song to the Mother of God.

Foreign greatness

We magnify You, / Most Holy Virgin, / God’s chosen Youth, / and honor Your holy image, / to which You have granted a wondrous victory against the resistance / to Your city.

Foreign greatness

We magnify You, / Most Holy Virgin, / and honor Your honest image, / to which You showed / a glorious sign.

Other greatness, like in Velikiy Novegrad

We magnify You, / Most Holy Virgin, / and honor Your honest image, / which has granted victory over our enemies / to our city.

Prayer

Offering our queen, our hope, the Mother of God. A haven for the orphaned and strange representatives, those who grieve with joy, those who are offended by the patroness; see our misfortune, see our sorrow. Help us as we are weak, feed us as we are strange. Weigh our grievances, resolve them like volitions. For there are no other imams who can help you, no other intercessor, no good comforter, except You, O Mother of God, for you will preserve us and cover us forever and ever. Amen.

Introduction

The icon of the Mother of God, called “The Sign,” depicts the Most Holy Theotokos sitting and raising Her hands in prayer; on her chest, against the background of a round shield (or sphere) is the blessing of the Divine Infant - Savior-Emmanuel. This image of the Mother of God is one of Her very first iconographic images. In the tomb of St. Agnes in Rome there is an image of the Mother of God with her arms outstretched in prayer and with the Child sitting on Her lap. This image dates back to the 4th century. In addition, the ancient Byzantine image of the Mother of God “Nicopea,” 6th century, is known, where the Most Holy Theotokos is depicted sitting on a throne and holding in front of her with both hands an oval shield with the image of the Savior Emmanuel.

Icons of the Mother of God, known under the name “The Sign,” appeared in Rus' in the 11th-12th centuries, and they began to be called that after a miraculous sign from Novgorod icon which happened in 1170.

Another similar icon appeared near the city of Kursk in 1295 and is called Kursk-Korenaya. We will talk about it in detail in the next chapter.

This year, the united forces of the Russian appanage princes, led by the son of the Suzdal prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, approached the walls of Veliky Novgorod. The Novgorodians could only rely on God's help. They prayed day and night, begging the Lord not to leave them. On the third night, Archbishop Elijah of Novgorod heard a wondrous voice commanding him to take the image of the Most Holy Theotokos from the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilinaya Street and take it to the city wall. When the icon was being carried, the enemies fired a cloud of arrows into the religious procession, and one of them pierced the iconographic face of the Mother of God. Tears flowed from Her eyes, and the icon turned its face to the city. After such a Divine sign, the enemies were suddenly attacked by inexplicable horror, they began to beat each other, and the Novgorodians, encouraged by the Lord, fearlessly rushed into battle and won. In memory of the miraculous intercession of the Queen of Heaven, Archbishop Elijah then established a holiday in honor of the Sign of the Mother of God, which the entire Russian Church still celebrates to this day. The Athonite hieromonk Pachomius Logothetes, who was present at the celebration of the icon in Russia, wrote two canons for this holiday. Some Novgorod icons of the Sign, in addition to the Mother of God with the Eternal Child, also depict the miraculous events of 1170. The miraculous icon was in the same Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyinaya Street for 186 years after the appearance of the sign. In 1356, the Church of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built for her in Novgorod, which became the cathedral of the Znamensky Monastery.

1. The miraculous discovery of the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God and its first miracles

- one of the most remarkable and ancient icons of Orthodox Rus'. The history of this icon is very instructive and is filled with so many blessed signs and wonders that it evokes involuntary reverence for the wondrous shrine.

In the 13th century, during the terrible time of the Tatar pogrom, when almost all of Rus' lay in ruins, the Kursk region did not escape the common fate of Russian cities: it all fell into complete desolation, and its main city of Kursk, devastated by the hordes of Batu, turned into a wild, a deserted place overgrown with dense forest and inhabited by wild animals. Residents of the city of Rylsk, which survived the pogrom, often went here hunting to catch animals. One of the hunters once came to the banks of the Tuskari River, not far from the devastated Kursk. While looking out for prey here, he accidentally noticed an icon lying on the ground at the root of a tree, facing down to the ground. The hunter picked it up and saw that its image was similar to the Novgorod Icon of the Sign. At this appearance of the icon, the first miracle from it occurred: as soon as the hunter-trapper lifted the holy icon from the ground, a clear and abundant spring immediately began to flow with force from the place on which it lay. It was September 8, 1295.

The trapper did not dare to leave the icon in its original place after this. He built a small wooden chapel here and placed the newly appeared image of the Mother of God in it. Soon the residents of Rylsk learned about this and began to visit the place of the appearance to worship the new shrine, which over time became more and more glorified by miracles.

Having learned about this, Prince Vasily Shemyaka of Rylsk ordered it to be moved to Rylsk. The icon was solemnly greeted by all the residents who came out of the city to meet the icon. Only Prince Shemyaka avoided this celebration. For this, on the very day the icon arrived in Rylsk, he was punished with blindness. The prince recognized his guilt, repented and, having performed fervent prayer before the holy icon, received healing. Touched by this miracle, Shemyaka built a church in Rylsk in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A miraculous icon was placed in this temple, and on the day of its appearance, September 8th, its annual celebration was established.

But the icon did not stay here for long: miraculously it disappeared from the temple and returned to the place of its appearance, on the banks of the Tuskari River. Residents of Rylsk repeatedly took it from here and placed it in Rylsk, but each time it inexplicably returned to its original place. Then they realized that the Mother of God favored the place where her icon appeared, and they left it here in the chapel. Numerous pilgrims flocked here to worship the shrine, from which miracles abounded. Prayers for the pilgrims were performed by one pious priest nicknamed Bogolyub, who voluntarily, out of special zeal and reverence for the Mother of God, came here and lived here, practicing asceticism.

In 1383, the Kursk region was subjected to new plunder by the Tatars. The Tatars, encountering a chapel on their way, took the priest prisoner, and decided to burn the chapel. But the chapel, despite all efforts, did not catch fire, although they surrounded it with brushwood. The superstitious barbarians attacked Bogolyub, suspecting him of magic, which they used to explain their failure. The pious priest denounced their foolishness and pointed to the icon of the Mother of God located in the chapel. The embittered Tatars grabbed the holy icon, cut it into two parts and threw them in different directions, and burned the chapel. Priest Bogolyub was taken into captivity.

In captivity of the infidels, the pious elder retained his Christian faith: despite the admonitions of the Tatars to accept their religion, he remained adamant, placing all his trust in the Most Holy Mother of God. And this hope did not deceive him. One day he was tending sheep and delighting himself in severe captivity by singing church prayers and hymns in honor of the Mother of God. The ambassadors of the Moscow Tsar, who were passing to the khan, heard this singing, recognized the old shepherd as a Russian priest and ransomed him from captivity. Bogolyub returned to his fatherland and settled again in his former place, where there was a chapel with an icon. Here he soon found parts of the miraculous icon split by the Tatars, put them together, and they immediately grew together so tightly that no trace of this damage remained; Only in the place where the icon was split did “like dew” appear. The residents of Rylsk, having learned about this miracle, glorified God and His Most Pure Mother.

2. Later additions

The city of Kursk, which was desolate after being devastated by Batu's hordes, was restored in 1597 by order of the Moscow Tsar Theodore Ioannovich. The pious Tsar, who had heard many stories about the miracles of the icon, expressed a desire to see it, and it was delivered to Moscow.

The Tsar himself met her with Patriarch Job, with the entire sacred cathedral, nearby boyars and army, and after singing a prayer service before her, he ordered an image of the Lord of Hosts with the Holy Spirit emanating from His depths to be made on the top of the icon, and on the other sides - images of the Old Testament prophets in different clothes, according to the difference in origin and rank, with scrolls in their hands.

The faces of the prophets are turned to the image of the Mother of God, who has Emmanuel in Her bosom. On the right side of the icon is the king and prophet Solomon; in his right hand is a scroll with the saying: “Wisdom has created a house for herself,” and the prophet Daniel follows him down; in his left hand is a scroll with the saying: “I saw a stone mountain.” Behind this is the prophet Jeremiah with a scroll in his left hand, on which is the saying: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord.” Below is the prophet Elijah with a scroll in both hands, on which is the saying: “I am jealous of the Lord.” On the left side at the top is the king and prophet David with a scroll in his left hand, on which is the saying: “Rise, Lord, into Thy rest.” Below is the prophet Moses with a scroll in both hands, on it is the saying: “I saw the bush of fire...” Behind him is the prophet Isaiah with a scroll in his right hand with the saying: “Behold, the virgin will receive with child.” Behind this is the prophet Gideon with a scroll in his left hand, on which is the saying: “It came down like rain on the fleece.” The lower part of the icon depicts the prophet Habakkuk with a scroll in both hands containing the saying: “God will come from the south.”

The image of these particular prophets is directly related to the image of the Most Holy Theotokos, which is called “The Sign.” The icon depicts the conception of the Son of God, Emmanuel, in the womb Holy Virgin Mother of God; and this is the greatest miracle, according to the prophecy of St. Isaiah, was a sign to the royal house of David that it would not cease until the incarnation of the Son of God. But other Old Testament prophets also foretold the same miracle of the incarnation of the Son of God; therefore, images of these prophets with scrolls containing their prophetic sayings are also placed on the icon of the “Sign” of the Most Holy Theotokos as their common consonant testimony of the truth of the miraculous sign given by God through the prophet Isaiah.

The image of the Mother of God, the Lord of Hosts and the prophets, by royal order, were decorated with a silver-gilded frame, pearls and precious stones. Queen Irina Feodorovna decorated the holy icon with a rich robe with pearls, precious stones and a satin shroud embroidered with gold. The icon was then returned, and in the same year, with the close assistance of the tsar, a monastery was founded on the site of the chapel and a church was erected in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The first abbot was the Rylsky priest Georgy, in monasticism Euthymius.

In the same year, another church was built in the name of the “Life-Giving Source” under the mountain, near the river, above the source that was formed when the icon was found. The newly founded monastery began to be called the Root Hermitage in memory of the appearance of the icon at the root of a tree.

3. Continuation of the miracles of the Kursk Root Icon

During the invasion of the Crimean Tatars on the southern borders of Russia, for greater safety, the icon was moved from the Root Hermitage to Kursk, to the cathedral church. In 1611, Pustyn was devastated by the Tatars. Tsar Boris Godunov had great reverence for this icon and, in gratitude for saving Kursk from the famine that raged almost everywhere during his time, made many valuable donations for the decoration of the icon. The reverence of Russian Orthodox people for the icon “The Sign” was so great that even the Pretender, wanting to attract the attention and sympathy of others, paid veneration to this icon; he ordered it to be transferred from Kursk to his camp in Putivl, and then took it with him to Moscow and placed it in the royal mansions, where it remained until 1615.

During the absence of the icon, the gracious help of the Mother of God did not leave Kursk. In 1612, the Polish commander Zholkiewski with a large army besieged Kursk. At the very beginning of the siege, some citizens saw the Mother of God overshadowing the city with two bright monks. Captured Poles said that they also saw a wife with two bright husbands on the walls of the city, who threatened towards the besiegers. During the siege, residents repeatedly made religious processions around the city and made a vow, in the event of liberation from the enemy invasion, to build a monastery in the city in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos and place in it the miraculous icon “The Sign.” The enemies soon lifted the siege and retreated from Kursk with heavy losses. In gratitude to the Heavenly Intercessor, Kursk citizens built a monastery in the name of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos.

In 1615, at the special request of the Kursk residents, Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich ordered the miraculous image to be returned from Moscow to Kursk and placed in the Kursk Cathedral Church. In 1618, with the permission of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, the icon was moved to the cathedral of the Znamensky Monastery, where it remained all the time before the revolution.

4. Healing of the youth Prokhor (venerable Seraphim of Sarov)

In 1618, the church in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was rebuilt and consecrated in the Kursk Root Hermitage, devastated by the Tatars. According to legend, it was in this year that the Kursk miraculous icon was first transferred in a solemn religious procession from the city Kursk monastery to the “hermitage that is on the root.” From that time on, a pious custom was established annually, on Friday of the 9th week after Easter, to temporarily perform such a transfer.

In 1767, on the 9th Friday after Easter, there was a religious procession with the miraculous Kursk Root “Sign” from the Znamensky Monastery to the Root Hermitage. The procession, caught in a heavy downpour, turned into the courtyard of Agafia Fotievna Moshnina, the widow of the construction contractor Isidor Ivanovich Moshnin. The son of Agafia Fotievna, 9-year-old Prokhor (in the future - Venerable Seraphim), was sick at that time and so seriously that they no longer hoped for his recovery. Not long before, the boy saw the Mother of God in a dream, who promised to visit and heal him. When the passage was in their yard, Agafia Fotievna brought the sick Prokhor to the icon of the Sign, after which he began to quickly recover. Thus, the Kursk Icon “The Sign” turned out to be connected with the life of the great Russian wonderworker, who played such a role important role in the future destinies of Russia.

This was the last religious procession before it was banned during the reign of Empress Catherine II. Only under Emperors Paul I and Alexander I did religious processions with the Kursk Root Icon “The Sign” resume and turn into the most majestic and crowded processions in Russia.

5. Help for Russian soldiers

In 1676, the icon of the “Sign” of the Mother of God was transferred to the Don to bless the Don Cossack troops. In 1684, the sovereigns and grand dukes John and Peter Alekseevich sent to the Root Monastery a copy of the miraculous icon of the “Sign” of the Most Holy Theotokos in a silver gilded frame with the command to carry this list to the parishes of Orthodox soldiers. In 1687, Tsars John and Peter Alekseevich ordered that the icon be taken to the “big regiment,” i.e. army going on a campaign against the Crimean Tatars. This “large regiment” reached the Crimea itself and put an end to the Tatar raids on Russian lands. Thus, the Kursk miraculous icon, which appeared to encourage the Russian people on the borders of the Russian land, which lay in ruins after Batu’s invasion, participated in the last victorious campaign of the Russians against the Tatars, which finally eliminated the Tatar danger to Russia.

In 1812, the Kursk city society, placing all its hope in the Most Holy Mother of God, out of its zeal, sent a copy of the miraculous Kursk Icon to Prince Kutuzov in the field army to strengthen the troops, inserting it into a silver gilded frame. Prince Kutuzov, in his letter dated September 20, 1812 addressed to the Kursk mayor, expressed to the Kursk citizens for this gift his gratitude and confidence that the city of Kursk is and will always be safe under the protection of such a protector as the Queen of Heaven.

6. Explosion in the Znamensky Cathedral on March 8, 1898

All-Russian veneration of the Kursk miraculous image attracted the attention of the socialist revolutionaries, these forerunners of Bolshevism. On March 3, 1898, a number of prominent Socialist Revolutionaries, with the participation of Maxim Gorky, wanting to undermine the people's faith in the miraculous power flowing from the Kursk Icon, decided to destroy it. During the all-night service in the Cathedral of the Sign, they quietly placed an explosive shell of terrible power, equipped with a clock mechanism, at the foot of the icon of the Mother of God. It was decided to carry out the explosion during a festive service. The Week of the Worship of the Cross was blasphemously chosen for this purpose. But, miraculously, the bomb mechanism worked very late, when there was no one else in the temple. At two o'clock in the morning there was a terrible explosion, so that all the walls of the monastery shook. The frightened monastery brethren immediately hurried to the cathedral to their shrine. When they entered, a terrible picture of destruction appeared before them. The force of the explosion tore the gilded cast-iron canopy over the icon into pieces; the heavy marble base of several massive steps was moved from its place and broken into several parts; The large massive candlestick that was in front of the icon was thrown far to the side. The iron-bound door located near the icon was completely broken and pushed out, and the wall itself was damaged and cracked. All the glass in the cathedral and even in the upper dome was broken. But amid all this general destruction, the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “The Sign” miraculously remained intact and unharmed. Even the glass on her icon case remained intact. The attackers, hoping to destroy the holy icon, only served to further glorify it. The impression of this miracle, when the rumor about it spread throughout the city, was extraordinary. Everyone rushed to the Znamensky Cathedral to see with their own eyes this sign of the gracious power of the Mother of God and to worship her miraculous image.

And now, in our time, in 1949, when the head of affairs of the Synodal Chancellery, Protopresbyter Fr. George Grabbe (Bishop Gregory) was in Frankfurt with the Miraculous Icon, an old man approached him and, calling him aside, said:

– I was an accomplice in the attempted explosion of this icon. I was a boy and didn’t believe in God. So I wanted to check: if God exists, then he will not allow the destruction of such a great shrine. After the explosion, I fervently believed in God and still bitterly repent of my terrible act.

After this, the old man bowed to the Miraculous Icon with tears and left the temple.

7. The abduction of the Miraculous Icon Kursk Root Mother of God “The Sign” by security officers in 1918

In 1918, a sad, but at the same time very significant event took place in Kursk: in broad daylight, the miraculous icon and its icon-list, both in precious vestments decorated with gems, were stolen from the Cathedral of the Sign. This happened on April 11, Wednesday, the 6th week of Lent.

In the monastery and in many churches, fervent prayers were offered daily to the Most Holy Theotokos for the return of Her miraculous image, and the prayers of the believers were heard. Not far from the monastery there was an old well, dug, according to legend, by the Monk Theodosius of Pechersk himself, and therefore called Theodosius by the people. A canopy in the form of a chapel was once built over it, but this well was in oblivion, had not been cleaned for a long time, and few people used the water from it. On the day of remembrance of St. Theodosius of Pechersk, May 3, one poor woman, a seamstress by profession, was returning hungry from the market, where she tried in vain to find something edible. Passing by the Feodosievsky well, this seamstress noticed an old bag containing something. Hoping to find some food, the hungry woman went to the well and looked into the bag. It contained two wooden icons of the Sign of the Mother of God without vestments.

Just at this time a funeral procession passed by. The priest accompanying the deceased approached the well and immediately guessed that it was a miraculous icon and its copy. He stopped the procession and sent to the monastery to notify about the miraculous find.

The delighted Bishop Theophan ordered all the bells to be rung and, in a procession of the cross, with all the monastic brethren, went to the place where the icon was found. At the same time, he sent Hieromonk Hermogenes in a cab outside the Moscow Gate to bring the icon painter Grigory Adrianovich Shuklin, who had recently painted a copy of the miraculous icon without a robe, so that he could show which of the two icons found was miraculous and which was a copy. Bishop Theophan had never seen an icon without a chasuble, and therefore could not identify it himself.

Shuklin immediately recognized one of the two icons found as miraculous due to its antiquity and the scar that remained on it after being cut by a Tatar in 1385. A spare, rather simple, silver, blue enamel chasuble, covered with blue enamel, was immediately put on the miraculous icon, which remains on it to this day. After this, continuous prayer services began in front of a huge crowd of people.

All day on May 3rd, bells rang in all Kursk churches, as if on Easter. People met and hugged, not knowing how to express their joy. Everyone was in an Easter mood. The miraculous icon remained in unknown absence for about three weeks. Soon after the capture of Kursk, on the orders of General Kutepov, an official investigation into Bolshevik atrocities and atrocities was launched. First of all, they inspected the former building of the noble assembly, where the Cheka was located. And in the Chekist trash heap, two cases embroidered with gold were found - the same ones that were on the miraculous icon and its list on the day of the abduction. “There is nothing secret that will not be revealed”(Luke 8:17). So it turned out that the icons were stolen by security officers.

8. The last days of the Wonderworking Icon’s stay in Russia

After the miraculous discovery of the Miracle-Working Icon, continuous prayers were performed in front of it for several days. In mid-October, General Kutepov made it clear to Bishop Feofan, who ruled the Kursk diocese, that Kursk could be temporarily abandoned by the Volunteer Army, and invited him to go south, promising to provide passage.

Bishop Feofan gathered the clergy and allowed those wishing to take advantage of the general’s offer, especially since the latter assured that Kursk would be left only for a short time. Then Bishop Theophan with the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Jerome (later Archbishop of Detroit), and with the willing clergy, went by train to Belgorod, and the Kursk miraculous icon was blessed with the monks of the Znamensky Monastery and Root Hermitage to be taken to the city of Oboyan, 60 versts to the south from Kursk, where the icon had long been invited. If the front approached Oboyan, they were instructed to leave with the icon for Belgorod. The following monks accompanied the icon: Archimandrite. Barnabas, abbot of the Root Hermitage, hieromonks Aristarchus, Smaragd, German, Hermogenes, Eleazar, Michael, Augustine, Archdeacon Ioannikios and four hierodeacons. The rest of the brethren decided to stay in Kursk.

Before the icons departed, a prayer service with an akathist to the Mother of God was served in the Znamensky Cathedral, for which the remaining brethren and a few pilgrims, about 50 people in total, gathered. Exactly at 9 o'clock in the evening, October 31, 1919, the miraculous icon left the Znamensky Monastery. Due to the harsh winter that set in early, the icon had to be transported in a sleigh. Until the first stop in the village of Medvedka, she was held in the arms of Hieromonk Hermogenes, later the archimandrite.

In the county town of Oboyani, they found shelter in a local monastery. It was on Sunday night. The next day they served a liturgy and prayer service before the icon. On the same day we moved on to avoid falling into the hands of the Reds. All these days a terrible snowstorm raged, and it was very difficult to walk. Only the one holding the icon sat on the sleigh; everyone else had to walk. After a three-day extremely difficult journey, the monks with the Miracle-Working Icon reached Belgorod and placed it, with the blessing of Bishop Theophan, in the monastery where the relics of St. Joasaph rested. The icon stayed there for about two weeks, all the time visiting the houses of Belgorod residents, as if saying goodbye to her native Kursk region. On November 18, in a separate carriage, the icon left the Kursk borders and departed for Taganrog, where it arrived on November 20, on the eve of the Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple.

The icon stayed in Taganrog for three weeks, staying at the Athos courtyard and almost daily visiting the homes of the zealous.

Further short-term stages: Rostov, Ekaterinodar, Novorossiysk. The monks with the icon often had to go hungry and cold. Finally, on March 1, 1920, on the steamer “St. Nicholas,” the Kursk miraculous icon, accompanied by Bishop Theophan and the monks who did not want to part with it, left the shores of Russia and arrived from Novorossiysk through Constantinople from Thessaloniki. On April 2, the icon arrived in the ancient capital of Serbia, the city of Nis, where it was met with great triumph by the Serbian Bishop of Nis, Dosifei, with all his clergy and many people. Bishop Dosifei was a great friend of the Russian people and remained so until his death. He died in the rank of Metropolitan of Zagreb during the 2nd World War.

At the earnest request of General Wrangel, who after the Novorossiysk evacuation with a handful of patriotic soldiers held the last free piece of Russian land - Crimea - the Kursk miraculous icon from Serbia went there to encourage the soldiers. She arrived in Crimea on the steamship “St. George” on September 14, 1920, on the day of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross. At that time, Crimea was already in its death throes, and the black cloud of Bolshevism had finally covered the Russian land. Together with the remnants of the army and with everyone who wanted to leave Crimea and leave the Bolsheviks for a foreign land, on October 29, 1920, on the dreadnought “General Alekseev,” almost exactly a year after leaving Kursk, the miraculous icon again, now for a long time, left Russian land.

9. Twenty-five years in Yugoslavia

After returning from Crimea to Yugoslavia, the Kursk miraculous icon remained for some time in Zemun, and then was transported to the Serbian monastery of Jazak on Fruška Gora, where the Serbian church authorities provided housing for the custodian of the icon, Bishop Theophan. The remaining monks accompanying the icon were distributed among different Serbian parishes. The Serbian Church was then in great need of parish priests, since several hundred of them died during

1st World War.

The miraculous icon “The Sign” was present at all meetings of the 1st Foreign Council with the participation of clergy and laity in Sremski Karlovci in 1921, as well as at all bishops’ councils in the same city, which took place under its holy shadow.

In 1925, the Russian Trinity Church was built in Belgrade. A special splendid canopy was built on the left side of it. In this canopy, with the permission of the Synod of Bishops and with the consent of Bishop Theophan, the Kursk miraculous icon was placed for permanent residence. She repeatedly departed from Belgrade to visit many places where Russian people were scattered throughout Europe.

The Kursk miraculous icon was also present at the Second All-Diaspora Council with the participation of clergy and laity in the same Sremski Karlovci in August 1938. This cathedral was undoubtedly the most major event in the history of the Church Abroad. It was attended by 13 bishops led by Metropolitan Anastassy, 26 representatives of the clergy and 58 representatives of the laity. Delegates came from all over the world, in particular from the Far East, Northern and South America and from all over Europe.

In 1939 and 1940, solemn religious processions with the Miraculous Icon took place from Belgrade to the Serbian monastery in Khopov, where the nuns of the Lesna Monastery were sheltered at that time - an attempt to revive the former religious processions from Kursk to Korennaya Hermitage. The outbreak of war prevented the development of this good initiative.

During the Second World War, the Mother of God, through Her Miraculous Icon, showed many wondrous signs and wonders, to which there are many witnesses.

Belgrade experienced heavy bombing. Entire neighborhoods were destroyed. Many people died under the ruins. And so it was noticed that not only all three Russian churches in Belgrade, but also those houses where St. icon, were not damaged or suffered little damage from the bombs. One witness statement indicates that their entire street was completely destroyed and only those two houses that the icon visited survived. Another witness says that literally right next to their house, where the icon had recently visited, three huge bombs fell and... none of them exploded. Then the Russian people, and often the Serbs behind them, began to diligently invite into their homes the Miracle-Working Icon, carried fearlessly by our priests even during the bombings, and miracles continued to pour out in a continuous stream on the suffering Belgrade residents.

In the Russian Trinity Church, where the Miracle-Working Icon had a permanent residence, divine services were held daily, at which Metropolitan Anastassy was very often present, always participating in the services on holidays. Raids were carried out repeatedly during services, but the service went on as usual, and only a very few pilgrims left the temple, seeking salvation in the bomb shelter. The Metropolitan never left the temple at this time. And the believing Russian people were not ashamed in their trust in the Lady of the world. She preserved their lives and their homes, like the All-Blessed Mother.

10. With Russian exiles in Western Europe

The Bolsheviks occupied the Baltic states, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. Soviet army entered Yugoslavia. Metropolitan Anastassy, as the head of the Russian Church Abroad, could not and did not want to be captured by the atheists and, with a large flock devoted to him, left for Germany. Its guardian, the Kursk miraculous icon of the Mother of God, also left with the Synod. She left Belgrade on September 8, 1944, having stayed in Yugoslavia for almost a quarter of a century.

The first stage in her march to the West was the city of Vienna. There she stayed with the Synod for several months. Vienna at this time was very often subjected to aerial bombardment. And so, by the grace of the Queen of Heaven, the same miracles began to happen in this non-Orthodox city as in Belgrade: those apartments where the icon was invited, and those people who invited it, remained safe and sound, although sometimes they were in the center of bombings.

This is how eyewitnesses describe the Divine Liturgy under a hail of bombs: “...By the beginning of the liturgy, which was served by Metropolitan Anastassy, the church was filled with worshipers. It was a cloudy day. It was snowing. Despite the morning, it was as gray as twilight. But our souls were light and joyful: the Miracle-Working Icon was with us, our beloved High Hierarch was with us.

The eyes of the worshipers gaze into the face of the Lady, darkened by time. There are crowds of people confessing at both choirs. “White” refugees mixed with Russian prisoners in Vienna. I think that almost everyone who came to church that day confessed and received the Holy Mysteries.

I was infinitely happy at my meeting with the Kursk miraculous icon, which had become dear to me, and with the Metropolitan, and considered this a good sign. The worshipers whispered quietly, expressing hope that there would be no bombing on such a blizzard day. Alas, sirens suddenly began to wail, and soon a terrible bombardment began.

The distant roar of explosions (Florisdorf was bombed, working part city of a million) did not interrupt the liturgy. The high priest and priests calmly shouted. The choir sang solemnly. Even the most fearful and weak in spirit did not leave the church. God was with us. The eyes of everyone looked with hope at the icon and at the gentle face of the Bishop.

The bomb explosions were getting closer. The church shook and the glass rattled. All the worshipers had solemnly calm faces. People received St. communion, they came up to venerate the Miraculous Icon and received the blessing of the meek elder Metropolitan. The service ended, and at the same time the all-clear was given. In the hands of those leaving were icons of our Miraculous Intercessor and a prosphora.

Snow was falling in flakes. An ominous black cloud of smoke was spreading across the sky. Houses nearby were burning. The picture was terrible. Everything around was burning because incendiary bombs were thrown. The streets were literally littered with broken glass. Houses were burning right in front of the cathedral, as well as diagonally from it. Several bombs fell behind and next to the cathedral, but not a single piece of glass fell inside the cathedral...”

After some time, the Synod and Metropolitan Anastassy moved to the city of Munich. Having carried out some reorganization of the Synod and established its work, Metropolitan Anastassy, immediately upon receiving a Swiss visa, together with the Miracle-Working Icon, left for Geneva in order to establish contact with all parts of the Russian Church Abroad, since postal communication from Germany with foreign countries did not yet exist. The arrival of Metropolitan Anastassy in Geneva was exclusively important event in the life of the Russian Church Abroad.

From Switzerland, Metropolitan Anastassy immediately telegraphed bishops throughout the Russian diaspora about his arrival in Geneva with the Miraculous Image of the “Sign,” indicating that the Russian Church Abroad should remain independent of Moscow, and asked not to succumb to the agitation of Bolshevik agents, and thereby saved the Church Abroad from possible decomposition. The miraculous icon, upon arrival in Geneva, was transferred by the Metropolitan for temporary storage to the monastic brotherhood of St. Job Pochaevsky, who rented a small two-story house on the outskirts of Geneva, where he set up a house church and a kind of monastery, with daily services. The Brotherhood at this time was preparing to leave for the United States.

Things were very turbulent in Europe at that time. Many feared that the Bolsheviks would be tempted by the temporary defenselessness of the Kursk Root Icon and try to seize it. Therefore, Archimandrite Seraphim begged the Metropolitan to release the icon with the brotherhood in the USA at least for a while, until a certain calm came in Europe.

The Bishop hesitated. On the one hand, he felt sorry to part with the shrine, which had been in the Synod for about 20 years and was, as it were, a symbol of the unity of our Church Abroad; on the other hand, the situation in Europe really inspired great fears, and it was quite natural to send to a safer place such a great Russian shrine. At the same time, it was a pity to deprive the huge mass of Russian believing people, who were in a very difficult situation, especially in Germany, where mass extraditions of Russian refugees to the Bolsheviks began, from church communion with the icon.

Archimandrite Seraphim suggested that the bishop make an exact copy of the icon to console the persecuted Orthodox people, and still take the image itself to a place inaccessible to the Bolsheviks. The Metropolitan blessed the icon painter to begin work.

The icon painter of the brotherhood, Hieromonk Cyprian, now an archimandrite, asceticizing at the Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, took up this holy work with reverence and zeal. They served a prayer service to the Lady and carefully removed the robe from the miraculous image. An old board, heavily damaged by wormholes, was discovered, the front side of which was almost completely black from centuries-old soot, and only the contours of the aureoles and clothes of the Mother of God and the Child were barely visible. Their faces were completely invisible. The edges of the icon, on which there should have been images of the prophets, were also covered with soot.

How to write a list when you can hardly see anything? They reported to the Metropolitan. He arrived at the monastery, looked... Father Cyprian, being not only an experienced icon painter, but also a good restorer, began to ask for a blessing to carefully wash the soot from the icon.

Vladyka Metropolitan objected:

- What are you, what are you! If in Russia no one dared to touch the icon for so many years, how can we dare to do this?

Father Cyprian set to work and made a board of the exact size. We need to start painting the icon. What to write when you can’t see anything? Cover everything with black paint and make a few subtle strokes?

The experienced icon painter literally could not find a place for himself, reflecting on the solution to the task assigned to him. And so, one early morning, when the brethren were still sleeping, he unexpectedly decided and took warm water and carefully, with a clean cloth, tried to wash the upper left corner of the icon. The gilding of King David's aureole appeared. This inspired Father Cyprian, and he, forgetting about everything in the world, about the metropolitan’s prohibition and possible consequences, feverishly and at the same time carefully, part by part, began to wash the icon. Gradually all the prophets appeared, the wonderful work of the skillful isographs of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich. Most have preserved their faces, clothes and even inscriptions on scrolls.

Finally, the most terrible and important thing is the faces of the Queen of Heaven and the Infant God. Apparently, this was the permission of the Most Pure Virgin: Her wonderful face was easily revealed, along with the face of Her Divine Son, as well as the gold of Their clothes. The work was completed, and the updated image shone with a wondrous light of soft ancient colors. The stern face of the Mother of God. Unearthly wisdom is imprinted on the high brow of the Infant God.

Father Cyprian woke up Archimandrite Seraphim and called him to his icon-painting room, citing a very important matter. When the archimandrite saw the icon, he could not believe his eyes. What yesterday was a black old board now burns, shines and glows, caresses, touches and penetrates the heart with a sun-shiny, heavenly, blessed light.

Both gave thanks to the Queen of Heaven. But how to report to the Metropolitan? After all, clear disobedience was committed. Having barely waited for the time when he could go to the Bishop with a report, Father Seraphim hired a taxi for this occasion and went to beg the Bishop to come to the monastery on one important, urgent matter. I didn’t say why - I was afraid.

The Bishop, seeing the highly excited state of Father Seraphim, did not question; I silently got ready and drove off. He was led upstairs to the workshop, where the updated Miracle-Working Icon stood on the fireplace, and with it the senior monastic brethren, as if on guard.

The high priest was amazed at what had happened. For a long time and silently he contemplated the wondrous image. Then he slowly turned around and said tenderly in a barely audible voice:

“Occasionally, disobedience can be useful”...

A prayer service was served to the Mother of God, and Father Cyprian set to work on the list with special zeal. He easily and joyfully reproduced an exact copy of not only the front side, but also the back side of the icon - the aged wood, cracks and wormholes. On the front side he put paints with the same soft fade that was on the icon itself.

When the work was completed, it was very difficult to distinguish the icon itself from its list, especially from some distance. Having waited for the arrival of the metropolitan, who visited the monastery at least twice a week, he was taken to the icon painting room and shown two icons standing next to each other. Father Seraphim jokingly suggested that the bishop choose any of them.

Vladyka Metropolitan approached the icons, looked at them carefully, picked up first one, then the other, looked at their reverse sides, hoping to find out from them which one was genuine. From both front and back, both icons looked exactly the same. Then the high priest put both icons in place and somewhat alarmedly asked to give him the real one.

Of course, the bishop was immediately reassured and they showed him the signs by which the icons could be distinguished. To put a barrier to possible further misunderstandings, Vladyka Metropolitan gave his blessing to split off a small piece from the back of the Miraculous Icon and insert it in a silver frame into the list.

The original, from which it was possible to take a photograph, was immediately clothed in its own chasuble, and for the copy, through the labors of the monks Pimen and Alypius, another silver chasuble was built, similar to the real one, but not so massive.

Bishop Metropolitan began to prepare for his return to Germany, where the situation had stabilized somewhat and where the Synod was located, and the brotherhood was to leave for the USA. The monks tried again to beg the Bishop to let the icon go with them, but the Bishop decisively rejected all the petitions, pointing out that the icon was more needed in Germany in order to spiritually encourage and console tens of thousands of our unfortunate compatriots, who were hunted like animals by security officers from the repatriation commissions. The High Hierarch perspicaciously noted that the time would come when the Miracle-Working Icon would visit America, but for now let this exact list of it be its forerunner.

Meanwhile, the Miracle-Working Icon itself, having been installed in Munich in the Vladimir House Synodal Church, became a true “friend of the orphans, wanderers, intercessor, good comforter of all who resort to it with zeal and faith.” Many miracles happened at this time from the Miraculous Image of the Mother of God.

A mass departure overseas began, and farewell prayers were served daily before the Miracle-Working Icon. With a feeling of separation from what is dearest and brightest, people said goodbye to their beloved icon, taking with them, as its blessing, its small copies consecrated on it.

11. Arrival of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” in America

The transatlantic resettlement of a significant number of Russians, who found themselves within Germany and Austria after World War II, forced us to think about moving the Russian foreign center to North America, where the bulk of Russian exiles departed.

Well-known philanthropists, Prince and Princess Beloselsky-Belozersky, having learned about the proposed relocation of the Synod and the Kursk Miracle-Working Icon to the USA, kindly agreed to place their country estate near the city of Mahopac, 40 miles from New York, at the disposal of the Synod. On this estate, with the blessing of Metropolitan Anastassy, it was decided to establish a stauropegial synodal monastic metochion, which, upon the arrival of the Synod in the USA, could become the temporary residence of the Synod.

The builder and rector of this metochion was appointed Archbishop Seraphim of Chicago and Detroit, originally from Kursk, author of the book about the Kursk Icon “The Sign” - “Hodegetria of the Russian Abroad.” At his suggestion, the new courtyard was given the name “New Root Hermitage,” in memory of the old Root Hermitage destroyed by the Bolsheviks, where the Miracle-Working Icon was found.

On January 23, 1951, at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, at Idlewild Airport, near New York, the “Flying Tiger” plane landed, as if from heaven bringing a blessing from God - the Hodegetria of the Russian Abroad, the Kursk miraculous icon “The Sign” of God Mothers. The holy icon was accompanied by Archimandrite. Averky, later Archbishop of Syracuse-Trinity, who labored under the Miracle-Working Icon for more than ten years.

Metropolitan Anastassy served the first prayer service in front of the Kursk miraculous icon with special solemnity. Concelebrating with him were Bishops Seraphim and Eulogius with the clergy of the New Root Hermitage. On February 8, at 7 o'clock in the evening, the icon was delivered by the high priest himself to the Ascension Cathedral in New York, where it was prepared for a solemn meeting by a multitude of people led by Bishop Nikon. The prayer service with akathist was performed by Metropolitan Anastassy with Bishops Nikon and Seraphim, co-served by 12 clergy, with three deacons. For about an hour, at the end of the prayer service, people applied themselves to the icon. Most of the worshipers belonged to the new emigration, and therefore with particular joy they greeted the shrine that was dear to them, which consoled them for their sorrows in Europe. The icon remained in New York for several days, and then returned to the New Root Hermitage. The following Sunday, the Miracle-Working Icon visited the New Diveevo convent and visited the Tolstoy farm. Further stages of her procession were: Washington, Lakewood, Father Church in New York, Vineland and many other places.

To facilitate constant communication with the First Hierarch for the flock, it was necessary to move the residence of the Synod to New York, and on the first day of Great Lent in 1952, the Synod of Bishops, together with the Miraculous Icon of the Mother of God, moved to this city.

In 1959, by the grace of God and through the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Synod of Bishops settled on 93rd Street, in one of the best areas of New York City.

At a meeting of the Synod, it was decided to name the city church, as it was in Kursk, Znamenskaya, in honor of the Miracle-Working Icon, and to consider the New Root Hermitage the summer residence of the metropolitan and the summer residence of the icon.

12. Miraculous Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”

- a symbol of the unity of the Russian Church Abroad.

In hospitable California

In the 4th month of the Miracle-Working Icon’s stay in America, its travels began around the parishes of the Russian Church Abroad. The first was a trip to California in the post-Easter days of 1951, made by Bishop Metropolitan Anastassy, accompanied by Bishop Seraphim, rector of the New Root Hermitage. Russian Californians, especially in San Francisco, showed exceptional zeal and veneration of the Miraculous Image. This spiritual uplift was manifested during prayer services in the Sorrow Cathedral, where 700-800 pilgrims gathered. The miraculous icon visited the Mother of God Convent, headed by Abbess Ariadna, the Seraphim Church in Monterey, and Russian public organizations; Prayer services were continuously held in houses; in total, more than 200 prayer services were served in private houses. According to the faith of the Orthodox residents of San Francisco, several miracles took place here, such as the healing of Miss E. Clover, who was dying of cancer, immediately after the prayer service in front of the icon. Summer travel in the West with the icon has become a tradition. By 1953, Russian residents of San Francisco set up a Synodal Compound in the suburban area of Burlingame specifically for the visits of Metropolitan Anastasius and the Wonderworking Icon.

Travel to South America

In October-November 1967, Archbishop Nikon, Deputy Chairman of the Synod of Bishops - the newly elected Metropolitan Philaret - visited Brazil and Argentina with the Miraculous Kursk Root Icon “The Sign”. This was the icon's first visit to dioceses in South America. Archbishop of Sao Paulo and Brazil Theodosius was at that time seriously ill, near death, and was in a semi-conscious state. He eagerly awaited the arrival of the Miraculous Icon. Vladyka Nikon asked to warn Vladyka Theodosius that he and St. they will enter the cathedral with the icon, sing the troparion and immediately go to the Archbishop in a procession of the cross, and then, returning to the cathedral, will perform a prayer service in front of the Miraculous Icon. In front of the cathedral, waiting for St. The icons were clergy and many people. When from the cathedral, with the singing of the troparion of the Mother of God with the Miracle-Working Icon, they came to the room under the cathedral, where the residence of Vladyka Theodosius was located, then, to everyone’s surprise, Vladyka Theodosius stood in a cassock at the entrance to his cell. Easily bowing to the ground, he kissed her with tears in his eyes. This served as a spark that created a gracious mood among people, which never left them during the entire time St. was here. icons in all subsequent services held in different churches. A week later, Bishop Nikon tonsured the priest Nikolai Paderin into the monastic rank with the name Nikandra, and the next day in the evening after the all-night vigil in St. At the St. Nicholas Cathedral, Hieromonk Nikandr was named Bishop of Rio de Janeira, Vicar of the Brazilian Diocese, in which Vladyka Archbishop Theodosius also took part, and during these days he became emboldened and recovered. Bishop Nikon served in various churches in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and everywhere the services in the presence of the Miracle-Working Icon were distinguished by high religious uplift.

On Saturday, November 25th, the Miraculous Icon arrived in Argentina. Bishop Afanasy met the great Russian shrine with the clergy and many Russian people. The scouts formed a military formation, and the airport administration kindly provided all the conditions for the solemn meeting of the shrine. When the all-night vigil, liturgy and prayer service were served in the cathedral, the temple and the adjacent street were filled with people.

The icon visited the Russian gymnasium in Buenos Aires. This made a strong and beneficial impression on both students, teachers and administrators, brought healing from illness to one of the teachers and inspired the school for further work.

With the Miraculous Kursk Icon “The Sign” in Europe

On June 13, 1968, Vladyka Archbishop Nikon, with the blessing of the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, Metropolitan Philaret, went by air to Europe to visit our parishes, nursing homes and children's camps with the Miracle-Working Icon at the numerous requests of believers. And wherever the icon of the Queen of Heaven arrives - to England, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain; in majestic temples or small house churches, in monasteries and monasteries, in old people's homes and orphanages and camps - everywhere with delight, with reverent admiration, with hot tears, with prayers and love, the Russian people received their Heavenly Patroness.

July 4/17, on the day of the murder of the royal family, at 8 o’clock in the evening, in the majestic, first in the world church-monument to the murdered Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II and the royal family in Brussels, by order of the Synod of Bishops, in the presence of the Miraculous Kursk Icon “ Sign”, a funeral service was held for the murdered Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II and the royal family and for all those killed and tortured by the godless authorities. 4 bishops served with a host of clergy. Since the founding of the temple, there has never been such a large crowd of people here; the crowd filled the entire church square, where loudspeakers were installed to broadcast the service. And at this great moment, our shrine, the Miracle-Working Icon of the Mother of God, was with those praying. And subsequently, on October 19/November 1, 1981, in the Znamensky Synodal Church in New York, in the presence of the Miraculous Icon of the Sign, the glorification of the new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church was performed.

In distant Australia

Visited the Kursk Root Icon “The Sign” and distant Australia; for the first time with the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, Metropolitan Philaret, and, years later, with Archbishop Nikon.

The Holy Icon of the Mother of God of Kursk Root “The Sign” almost annually visits all parishes of the North American and Canadian dioceses. In the anniversary year of the millennium of the Baptism of Rus', the shrine visited our flock in Australia, as well as parishes in Chile, Argentina and Brazil. Further, in 1993, the icon was in France, in Lesna, where the Council of Bishops took place, after which the icon visited the German diocese. In November 1993, Metropolitan Vitaly visited the Australian diocese with the Miraculous Icon. The icon visited almost all the parishes of this diocese.

Many prayers were offered and tears were shed before the Miraculous Icon of the Mother of God; immeasurable joy, consolation and miraculous help from the Queen of Heaven, pouring out through Her miraculous image.

Based on materials from the newspaper “Kursk Diocesan Gazette” and a brochure by A.G. Shpilev “Znamensky Cathedral”

Troparion (Tone 4)

I ko neobor And I think e well / and ist O chnik chud e s / screed A Vshe T I slave And Yours And, Bogor O ditse Prech And flock / resistance And private militias e niya goodness A eat. / T e mzhe m O lim T I/ m And mouth e honor n A shemu d A rui // and shower A m n A shim in e liyu m And lost.

Kontakion (tone 4)

An honest image of Your Sign is celebrated by Your people to the Mother of God, to whom You bestowed a wondrous victory against Your city. In the same way we cry to You by faith: Rejoice, Virgin, praise to Christians.

Prayer

C Offering our aritsa, our hope, the Mother of God. A haven for the orphaned and strange representatives, those who grieve with joy, those who are offended by the patroness; see our misfortune, see our sorrow. Help us as we are weak, feed us as we are strange. Weigh our grievances, resolve them like volitions. For there are no other imams who can help you, no other intercessor, no good comforter, except You, O Mother of God, for you will preserve us and cover us forever and ever. Amen.

Missionary Leaflet #013c

Editor: Bishop Alexander (Mileant)

Additional details

The great troubles of the Kursk region lasted almost until the end of the 13th century. Let us note that until 1295 there was no chronicle information about the region; it seemed that the Kursk side of Rus' had really perished. But the Kurdish people did not abandon their faith and hope in the Lord our God and His Most Pure Mother. The people of Kursk, faithful to the covenants of Christ, begged him for mercy. On September 8, 1295, in the vicinity of Kursk, on the banks of the Tuskar River, in a forest thicket, the miraculous icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos was revealed. This fact is described as follows: “It happened that one pious man and his comrades came for the sake of their income to the forest, which overgrown the surroundings of the city of Kursk after its destruction, and by God’s providence he saw near the Tuskari River, on a semi-mountain, at the root of a large tree, an icon lying prostrate , which he had only just lifted from the ground, when a source of water immediately flowed from that place; Seeing this, this man placed the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God, which he had honestly found, in the hollow of that tree, and then he himself announced this glorious miracle to his comrades, who agreed among themselves, built a chapel from the forest several fathoms higher than the mentioned place, in a wooded place, cut down in this place, and, having placed a miraculous icon in it, returned home in peace. The image of the Mother of God on the icon with her hands raised in prayer testified to many things. She seemed to suggest to the Orthodox people of Kursk that she would protect them, that she was praying for them before the Lord. In the 13th century, Rylsk had a slightly different fate than Kursk. He managed to escape brutal destruction. But it also became a city that had to pay a huge tribute to the Tatar-Mongols, like all other villages that remained undestroyed. Particular difficulties befell the inhabitants at the end of the 13th century, for in addition to other oppressions, natural ones were added: bad weather, crop failure, hunger. The people believed in their better future and prayed to the Lord God for help. And when pious citizens found the miraculous icon, rumors about it quickly spread throughout the Kursk region. And the Rylsk prince decides to transport her to Rylsk. “Having stopped at the city gates with the holy icon, the priests notified the prince, assuming that he would personally meet it, but the prince... refused the meeting and for this coldness towards the gift of God and lack of faith was struck by blindness.” When he then repented before all the people, he immediately received his sight. This was the first time the miracle of healing was shown with a root icon.

In connection with his miraculous healing, the prince built a church in Rylsk in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where it was decided to install the icon. However, a second miracle occurred - the icon miraculously returned to the chapel on the Tuskari River, where before it healing began to flow abundantly to everyone who came to it with faith. In those same years, there lived Priest Bogolyub, who came from Rylsk to the icon to console the believers. One day, the chapel was attacked by a detachment of Tatars, who destroyed it, and the miraculous icon was cut into two parts by a Tatar saber, and the parts were thrown to different places. They took Bogolyub into captivity. After some time, the priest was ransomed by Moscow ambassadors. Bogolyub’s first action was to return to the desert, where the shrine was destroyed. He was able to find both parts of the icon, put them together, and they miraculously connected, leaving no traces of destruction on the front part. Having learned about the new miracle, the Orthodox citizens of Rylsk again moved the icon to the temple of their city, but it returned to its place again. The Orthodox Rylians did this several times, but in vain! Each time the icon miraculously returned to the chapel built by Bogolyub at the place where it was found. For almost three hundred years, the miraculous icon remained in a chapel on the Tuscari River, attracting pilgrims to itself, granting healing to everyone and uniting them in Orthodoxy. She helped the citizens of the Kursk region gain faith in the impending victory over the enemy and the acquisition of freedom.

After the annexation of Chernigov, Rylsk, Novgorod-Seversky, and Kursk to the Moscow state at the beginning of the 16th century, a new revival of Orthodoxy finally began in the Kursk region. Construction of chapels and churches begins. Slowly. But surely the people of Kursk found their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. What was destroyed in a short time was then created over time and with difficulty. During the difficult period of revival, the icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos played a huge role; its miraculous actions saved many. The fame of her spread throughout Rus'. It is not surprising that popular rumor about her miracles reached the royal throne. Fyodor Ioannovich himself learned about it and, by his will, in 1597 the icon was transferred from the desert to Moscow, where it was decorated with a rich robe and inserted into a wooden frame, on which the faces were ascribed: at the top of the Lord of hosts, and on the sides - the prophets who announced the incarnation of his son of God from the Most Pure Virgin Mary. A shroud was made, sewn on red satin with gold threads, forging and average size pearls It depicted the Calvary cross with a crosshair made of a cane and a spear. Under the cross was embroidered the following inscription: “By the command of the blessed Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Fyodor Ioannovich and the blessed Empress Grand Duchess Irina and their daughters, the blessed Tsesarevna and Grand Duchess Feodosia, this shroud was made for the image of the Most Holy Theotokos of Kursk. Summer 7105.”

By the end of the 16th century, the Kursk region gradually began to revive. The Kursk Fortress was established, and along with its construction, both the settlement and settlements grew. Churches are being built both inside the fortress and on the outskirts. It is quite natural that the icon was returned to Kursk and installed in the Znamensky Monastery. The Christian faith continued to live in the region. By the way, several copies of the icon were made and distributed, which also had a beneficial effect on the revival of Christianity. The icon played a special role during the period of unrest at the beginning of the 17th century. False Dmitry I, having heard about her, took her with him from Kursk (1604). When he took the throne in Moscow, and the icon was installed in the Assumption Cathedral, Patriarch Job of Moscow felt the influence of the miraculous and, having received his sight, realized that he could not crown False Dmitry as king. Many in Rus' began to understand that it was not the real Tsarevich Dmitry who was taking the throne. After the turmoil had calmed down, the icon was again transferred to Kursk (1615). And again the miraculous icon provided its assistance to the Orthodox citizens of Kursk. For four weeks, Polish troops besieged the Kursk fortress, and for all four weeks the townspeople prayed before the miraculous one. And the Poles could not stand it, were unable to capture the fortress, were repulsed and the siege was lifted. When the position of the Russian state strengthened at the beginning of the 17th century, the icon itself strengthened its veneration. Religious processions with her begin, which took place twice a year. On the ninth Friday after Easter, it is solemnly carried out from Kursk to the Korennaya Hermitage, and on September 12 and 13, it is solemnly brought back to Kursk. September 8 is the day of the discovery of St. icons, holiday of all Orthodox. In 1649, by decree of Alexei Mikhailovich, with money allocated from the royal treasury, as well as private donations, the construction of a stone cathedral church in the name of the Kursk Miracle-Working Icon of the Mother of God began in the monastery. In the 18th century, the Root Hermitage was also rebuilt in stone. Since 1618, sporadically, and from 1726 to 1765, the icon of the Sign was transferred from the Znamensky Monastery to the Root Hermitage for one week. Disputes did not subside between the Znamensky Monastery and the Root Monastery as to which of them should own the icon, but since the Root Monastery was under the full jurisdiction of the Znamensky Monastery, the dispute did not lead to anything. And in 1767, the Synod completely prohibited the transfer of the icon. In 1792, the religious procession was resumed thanks to the intercession of the merchants, since thanks to this event the fair flourished from the large crowd. By the decree of the Synod of January 15, 1806, with the consent of Emperor Alexander I, it was prescribed that the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God should be in the Root Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery from 9. Easter weeks through September 12. Currently, the Kursk diocese conducts religious processions regularly. The real heyday of the Kursk Root Fair occurred in 1852-1853, when various goods were sold for 11.3 million rubles. Largest quantity 60,000 pilgrims were celebrated in 1861. At different times, several copies were made of the icon, exhibited in the Znamensky and Root Monasteries during the absence of their original. They took part in the Crimean War of 1689 and the Patriotic War of 1812.

The growth of revolutionary sentiments that swept Russia at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. was also reflected in the Kursk monastery. On March 8 (old style), 1898, the miraculous image stored in the monastery became the object of a daring terrorist act. At 1:15 a.m., a policeman standing on duty near the public places heard a deafening explosion inside the Znamensky Cathedral and saw a bright flash. One of the monks of the Znamensky Monastery recalled these moments this way: “during deep sleep, I heard a terrible hellish roar, from which my bed seemed to sway in the air... A second, another - and they ran along the corridor. Only then did I realize that something terrible had happened. Running out into the corridor, I met the monks and, together with them, hurried to the monastery courtyard. We came across night watchmen who pointed out that something terrible had happened in the large church... They ran to report to the Eminence and the Archimandrite, but they had already gotten up and hurried to the church. The appearance among us of the venerable Lord, ahead of everyone, marching to the temple with firm determination and encouraging us with example and word, gave us the strength to follow him to the church ourselves. As soon as we crossed the church threshold, a terrifying, thick stench hit our faces. They brought in lanterns and began to light candles, but they were extinguished by the mass of thick and acrid smoke. Then they opened all the doors and created a draft in order to at least somewhat clear the air. When the church was illuminated, screams of horror burst from the chests of all those present. The entire vast cathedral was covered with various debris. There was plaster, pieces of wood, nails, pieces of moldings, and scraps of fabric lying everywhere.” As a result of the explosion, the massive northern door was literally pushed out, and the massive candlestick holding 150 candles was bent and distorted. The canopy where the Miraculous Image of the Mother of God was placed collapsed and fell apart into its component parts. Its walls and columns were moved out of place and severely burned, and the canopy in the form of a half-umbrella was pierced in several places by flying fragments. The steps leading to the icon were also damaged: the lower stone one severely damaged the cast-iron grate enclosing the elevation, and the upper wooden one flew through the entire temple and, hitting the opposite wall, located 17 steps from the canopy, bounced off it, damaging the large icon hanging on the wall, and fell in the middle of the church next to the bishop's pulpit.

Fearing the worst, the Right Reverend Juvenaly and his brethren, with difficulty making their way through a pile of rubble, tremblingly approached the place where the shrine was located and took out from the silver reliquary a completely unharmed image of the Mother of God “The Sign” of the Kursk Root. The face itself was not damaged, although the glass covering it was broken into small fragments, and the convex glass covering the crown of precious stones was heavily covered with soot. Soon all the top management arrived at the scene: the governor, the gendarmerie general, the prosecutor, the police chief and the bailiff.

1st part of the city of Kursk. Upon inspection, they discovered the remains of a “hellish” machine, which was an oblong white metal box with scraps of soldered wires and fragments of a clock mechanism. The size of this box could hold more than a pound of dynamite. The news of what happened quickly spread throughout Kursk. From dawn, thousands of people gathered at the monastery and took part in a thanksgiving service served by His Grace Bishop Juvenaly of Kursk. Despite the diligence of investigators, identifying the participants in this crime took several years. Only in the fall of 1901, students of the Kursk Real School Anatoly Ufimtsev (20 years old) and Leonid Kishkin (21 years old), civilian scribe Vasily Kamenev (22 years old) and a student at the Institute of Railway Engineers Anatoly Lagutin (21 years old) were arrested who were involved in the explosion in the Znamensky Monastery. . The detainees soon began to give evidence, from which it followed that the explosion was carried out at the suggestion of A. Ufimtsev, who believed thereby to shake faith in the revered shrine and draw everyone's attention to this incident. Ufimtsev dedicated three of his comrades to his plan, from whom Kishkin helped him make an explosive projectile, and Kamenev purchased a watch, with the help of which an explosion could occur at a given time. When the bomb was ready, Ufimtsev, Kishkin and Lagutin went to the temple on March 7. During the all-night service, under the guise of worshiping the shrine, they approached the icon, and Kishkin quietly lowered a shell wrapped in cotton wool to its foot. It was decided to avoid human casualties, so the clock mechanism was set at half past two in the morning, when there are no services in the temple. For reasons of the sincere repentance shown by the accused and their frank testimony, as well as “taking into account their frivolity, as well as Ufimtsev’s minor age and the youth of the others at the time of the crime,” it was decided not to refer the case to a judicial investigation. On December 26, 1901, Nicholas II ordered the exile of the accused to remote regions of the Russian Empire under police supervision - Ufimtsev for five years in Northern Kazakhstan, Kishkin, Kamenev and Lagutin in Eastern Siberia, the first for five years, the rest for two years.

The last Russian autocrat to visit the Cathedral of the Sign was Nicholas II. The first time he was in the temple was on September 1, 1902, during military maneuvers near Kursk, and the second time was on November 22, 1914, when he was en route to the Caucasian Army. The Tsar was met at the northern gate of the temple by a solemn procession of the Kursk clergy led by Archbishop Tikhon, who served a short prayer service. After the prayer service, Nicholas II was presented with a copy of the miraculous icon. On January 20, 1918, the Bolsheviks who came to power, by a special decree, separated the church from the state, depriving it of legal rights. The attitude of the new government towards the Kursk diocese is well illustrated by the events that unfolded around the abduction on April 12, 1918 from the Znamensky Cathedral of the miraculous icon of the Sign and its copy, dressed in precious vestments decorated with gems and a golden tabernacle with the Holy Lamb. Bishop Feofan immediately notified the local authorities about the loss of the shrine, but instead of an investigation, employees of the Kursk Cheka stated that the real thieves were the monks themselves, who did this in order to sow dissatisfaction with the Soviet regime among the people. The bishop and all the brethren were put under house arrest, and a search was made in the monastery premises, which at times turned into real robbery. The next day the arrest was lifted and the robbed monks were ordered to sit quietly and not excite the people. The images were discovered only a month later. The newspaper “Red Army” reported on May 16, 1918 that “yesterday morning under the mountain where the diocesan printing house is located near the river. In Tuskari, in a well called Feodosievsky, the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God and a copy of it were found stolen from the Znamensky-Bogoroditsky Monastery in April. The icon was discovered in the well by two girls who were washing their clothes in a stream near the well. The icons lay at the bottom of the well, wrapped in a bag. Having pulled out the find from the well and unwrapped the bag, the girls saw the icons, which they informed their families and St. L. Ivanitsky. The icons collected by the commission were recognized as those that had been stolen from the monastery. At 11 o’clock in the afternoon, on the occasion of the finding of the icons on Red Square, a solemn prayer service was served, with a crowd of several thousand people praying...” It is interesting to note that two gold-embroidered icon covers were discovered after the Whites occupied Kursk in garbage heaps near the Cheka building (the former Noble Assembly).

In connection with the above, it is not surprising that the Kursk clergy greeted the occupation of the city by units of the Volunteer Army in September 1919 and the grand prayer services they held in honor of the victories of the Whites. Thus, on October 3, 1919, the newspaper “Kurskie Vesti” reported: “The Feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos coincided with the liberation of the city of Orel by our Volunteer Army from the Bolshevik yoke. In view of this, on the morning of October 1, a solemn liturgy was celebrated in the Znamensky Cathedral by Bishop Feofan, by the end of which the clergy of the city churches began to flock to Red Square. At the end of the liturgy on Red Square, in front of a huge crowd of people, a thanksgiving prayer service was served for many years to the Russian Christ-loving army and its leaders. At the beginning of the prayer service, the Governor [Prince A. A. Rimsky-Korsakov] and other city authorities arrived, who after the prayer service went with a religious procession along Moskovskaya Street. Having reached Pochtovy Lane, the procession turned to the right and a short prayer service was held in front of the convent. Then the religious procession moved along 1st Sergievskaya Street and, having reached the Annunciation Church and having given thanks, turned back along Moskovskaya Street to the Znamensky Monastery. After each thanksgiving service, Bishop Theophan blessed those praying with the shrine of the city - the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God, which accompanied the procession, and sprinkled it with holy water.” But the triumph of the volunteers was short-lived. Already in mid-October, the commander of the 1st Army Corps, General A.P. Kutepov made it clear to Bishop Feofan that Kursk could be temporarily abandoned by the Volunteers and invited him to go south, promising to provide transportation for him and the willing clergy. On the morning of October 31, accompanied by 13 monks, the miraculous icon left the Cathedral of the Sign. “It was very difficult to walk. Only the one holding the icon sat on the sleigh; everyone else had to walk, because the horses could barely pull the sleigh with things.” After a difficult three-day journey, the icon reached Belgorod, from there it went to Rostov, Novorossiysk, Serbia... In 1944, the Kursk shrine was transported to Munich, and then to the USA, where it now resides in one of the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in New York.

In 1989, this church donated a copy of the miraculous icon to the Root Hermitage.

You have read the article. You might also be interested.

The Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”, the most revered icon in the Russian Church Abroad, received the name Hodegetria of the Russian Diaspora.

Celebration - March 8, on the day of the miraculous rescue of the icon from the encroachment of atheist revolutionaries, June 10, September 8, on the day of its discovery, November 27, on the day of the celebration of the "Sign" icon, on the 9th Friday after Easter.

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The miraculous discovery of the icon “The Sign”

AND the horse of the Mother of God, called the “Sign,” depicts the Most Holy Theotokos sitting and raising Her hands in prayer; on her chest, against the background of a round shield (or sphere) is the blessing of the Divine Infant - Savior-Emmanuel. This image of the Mother of God is one of Her very first iconographic images. In the tomb of St. Agnes in Rome there is an image of the Mother of God with her arms outstretched in prayer and with the Child sitting on Her lap. This image dates back to the 4th century. In addition, the ancient Byzantine image of the Mother of God “Nicopeia”, 6th century, is known, where the Most Holy Theotokos is depicted sitting on a throne and holding in front of her with both hands an oval shield with the image of the Savior Emmanuel.

The Kursk Icon “The Sign” of the Mother of God is one of the most remarkable and ancient icons of Orthodox Rus'. The history of this icon is very instructive and is filled with so many blessed signs and wonders that it evokes involuntary reverence for the wondrous shrine.

In the 13th century, during the Tatar pogrom, when almost all of Rus' lay in ruins, the Kursk region also did not escape the fate of other Russian cities: it all fell into complete desolation, and its main city of Kursk, devastated by the hordes of Batu, turned into a wild, a deserted place overgrown with dense forest and inhabited by wild animals. Residents of the city of Rylsk, which survived the pogrom, often went here hunting to catch animals. This is what the “Tale of the appearance of the miraculous icon of the Most Pure Mother of God, its honorable and glorious sign, which is called Kursk, and the conception of the city of Kursk” tells us about the discovery of the icon:

Such an unusual appearance of the icon, combined with a miracle, soon became famous in the neighboring city of Rylsk and its environs. From here, pious residents rushed to worship the new shrine in the hope of receiving healing and consolation from it in their sorrows, which over time became more and more glorified by miracles.

But the icon did not stay here for long: miraculously it was transported from the temple and returned to the place of its appearance, on the bank of the Tuskar River. Residents of Rylsk repeatedly took it from here and placed it in Rylsk, but each time it inexplicably returned to its original place. Then they realized that the Mother of God favored the place where her icon appeared, and they left it here in the chapel. Numerous pilgrims flocked here to worship the shrine, from which miracles abounded. Prayers for the pilgrims were performed by one pious priest nicknamed Bogolyub, who voluntarily, out of special zeal and reverence for the Mother of God, came here and lived here, especially on the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, practicing asceticism.

In 1383, the Kursk land was subjected to new plunder by the Tatars. The Tatars, encountering a chapel on their way, took the priest prisoner, and decided to burn the chapel. But the chapel, despite all efforts, did not catch fire, although they surrounded it with brushwood. The superstitious barbarians attacked Bogolyub, suspecting him of magic, which they used to explain their failure. The pious priest denounced their foolishness and pointed to the icon of the Mother of God located in the chapel. The embittered Tatars grabbed the holy icon, cut it into two parts and threw them in different directions, and burned the chapel. Priest Bogolyub was taken into captivity.

In captivity of the infidels, the pious elder retained his Christian faith: despite the admonitions of the Tatars to accept their religion, he remained adamant, placing all his hope in the Most Holy Theotokos. And this hope did not deceive him. One day he was tending sheep and delighting himself in severe captivity by singing church prayers and hymns in honor of the Mother of God. The ambassadors of the Moscow Tsar, who were passing to the khan, heard this singing, recognized the old shepherd as a Russian priest and ransomed him from captivity. Bogolyub returned to his fatherland and settled again in his former place, where there was a chapel with an icon. Here he soon found parts of the miraculous icon split by the Tatars, put them together, and they immediately grew together so tightly that no trace of this damage remained; Only in the place where the icon was split did “like dew” appear. The residents of Rylsk, having learned about this miracle, glorified God and His Most Pure Mother.

Description of the icon

G The city of Kursk, which was desolate after being devastated by the hordes of Batu, was restored in 1597 by order of the Moscow Tsar Theodore Ioannovich. The pious Tsar, who had heard many stories about the miracles of the icon, expressed a desire to see it, and it was delivered to Moscow.

The board on which the Mother of God is depicted was a small square 3 ½ inches long and wide, inserted into a wooden frame of the same shape. On the latter, as stated above, at the behest of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich, images were placed: on top of the icon - the Lord of Hosts with the Holy Spirit emanating from His depths, and on the sides of it - the prophets, with scrolls in their hands and sayings corresponding to their writings.

The faces of all the prophets are turned to the image of the Mother of God and the eternal Child. The king and prophet Solomon is depicted on the right side of the icon holding in his right hand a scroll with the saying: “wisdom has created a house for itself.” Behind him, in descending order, are the prophets: Daniel, in whose left hand there is a scroll with the saying: “I saw a mountain of stone,” Jeremiah with a scroll in his left hand, on which is written: “These days are coming, says the Lord...”, etc. Elijah with a scroll in both hands, on which the saying is “jealous for the Lord.” On the left side of the icon, in the same descending order, are depicted: the king and prophet David with a scroll in his left hand and the saying on it: “Rise, Lord, into Thy rest,” the prophet Moses with a scroll in both hands and the inscription: “I have seen” bush of fire"; the prophet Isaiah with a scroll in his right hand and the saying - “behold, the Virgin will receive with child”; Judge Gideon with a scroll in his left hand, on which it is written - “come down like rain on the fleece.” The row of prophetic faces on the icon below consists of an image of the prophet Habakkuk, with the inscription on a scroll in both his hands - “God will come from the south.”

The image of these particular prophets is directly related to the image of the Most Holy Theotokos, which is called the “Sign”. The icon depicts the conception of the Son of God, Emmanuel, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and this is the greatest miracle, according to the prophecy of St. Isaiah, was a sign to the royal house of David that it would not cease until the incarnation of the Son of God. But other Old Testament prophets also foretold the same miracle of the incarnation of the Son of God; therefore, images of these prophets with scrolls containing their prophetic sayings are also placed on the icon of the “Sign” of the Most Holy Theotokos as their common consonant testimony to the truth of the miraculous sign given by God through the prophet Isaiah.

The image of the Mother of God, the Lord of Hosts and the prophets, by royal order, were decorated with a silver-gilded frame, pearls and precious stones. Tsarina Irina Fedorovna adorned the holy icon of rich Riza with pearls, precious stones and a red atlas veil with a golden gold, on which the following inscription was embroidered with golden letters: “The command of the noble sovereign and great prince Fedor Ioannovich all of Russia and the noble sovereign of the great prince Irina, and the prince of Prince Irina and the their daughter Grand Duchess Feodosia made this shroud to the image of the Most Pure Mother of God of Kursk, summer 7105" (1597)

The fields of the frame, free from images, were covered with velvet, with golden flowers and small streaks of grass embroidered on it. The wealth of decoration on the icon was enhanced by multi-colored stones, giving it great artistic beauty and rare splendor. The icon was then returned, and in the same year, with the close assistance of the tsar, a monastery was founded on the site of the chapel and a church was erected in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The first abbot was the Rylsky priest Georgy, in monasticism Euthymius.

Along with the original icon of Our Lady of Kursk, believers also lavishly decorated exact copies or copies of it, which were and are treated with no less deep reverence. The most famous among them, first of all, are the lists located in the Root and Kursk Znamensky monasteries. Both copies date back to the time of their writing. XVII century, when the custom has been established to transfer the icon of the Sign to the named monasteries for a certain period of time. In the absence of a genuine one from one or another monastery, they are installed in icon cases intended for them. The tradition preserved in the Root Monastery most likely asserts the identity of the local copy with the Mother of God icon sent by Tsars John and Peter Alekseevich to the Kursk Znamensky Monastery.

This legend is beyond doubt, because in the Znamensky Monastery there is no icon of the “Sign”, built by royal donors. Being a royal gift, the copy of the miraculous icon in the Root Hermitage is richly decorated. On its cypress board there is a silver-gilded, chased robe, studded with pearls and multi-colored stones. The crowns above the images of the Lord of Hosts and the Mother of God are generously studded with diamonds, amethysts, turquoise, yachts and other multi-colored stones. A silver-gilded chasuble with pearls and various stones also covers another copy of the icon of the Sign in the Root Hermitage. In terms of the comparative wealth and elegance of the decorations, the copy located in the Znamensky Kursk Monastery also deserves attention. She is wearing a silver-gilded robe, entirely decorated with pearls and expensive stones. Diamond crowns crown the images of the Mother of God and Emmanuel, and on the field of the frame, above the head of the Mother of God, a diamond star shines...

In the Trinity Belgorod Monastery there is a copy of the icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos, called the “royal - marching” icon. The image on the icon is covered with a small silver-gilded chasuble with enamel. The edges of the icon are overlaid with chased silver and gilded silver and on it, near the Mother of God, are depicted: at the top - God the Father, in the lower part and on the sides - nine prophets with scrolls and texts. The dimensions of the icon are small: length 9 ½ inches, and width 7 ½ inches. The history of this icon is told in the inscription engraved on the back of its silver plate. The inscription is as follows:

“In 1689, the year according to the letter issued by the Sovereign Tsars and Grand Dukes John and Peter Alekseevich, sent to His Grace Metropolitan Abraham of Belgorod and Oboyansky on March 22 of the same year, a copy of the miraculous icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos of Kursk was taken from the regiments setting out on a campaign to the Crimea, in hope, a strong militia and protection for the boyars and governors and for the protection of regiments and military men, as it is written in this letter, which was forwarded with prayer singing to the cathedral in Belgorod; from where she was sent to the above-mentioned place with the clergy, and from there she was returned with prayer singing to the Belgorod Holy Trinity Cathedral and placed in a special place arranged at that time.”

Miraculous healing of the youth Prokhor (Reverend Seraphim of Sarov)

P During the invasion of the Crimean Tatars on the southern borders of Russia, for greater safety, the icon was moved from the Root Hermitage to Kursk, to the cathedral church. In 1611 Pustyn was devastated by the Tatars. Tsar Boris Godunov had great reverence for this icon and, in gratitude for saving Kursk from the famine that raged almost everywhere during his time, made many valuable donations for the decoration of the icon. The reverence of Russian Orthodox people for the icon “The Sign” was so great that even the Pretender, wanting to attract the attention and sympathy of others, paid veneration to this icon; he ordered it to be transferred from Kursk to his camp in Putivl, and then took it with him to Moscow and placed it in the royal mansions, where it remained until 1615.

In 1615, at the special request of the Kursk residents, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich ordered the miraculous image to be returned from Moscow to Kursk and placed in the Kursk Cathedral Church. In 1618, with the permission of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the icon was moved to the cathedral of the Znamensky Monastery, where it remained all the time before the revolution.

In the same year, the church in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was rebuilt and consecrated in the Kursk Root Hermitage, devastated by the Tatars. According to legend, it was in this year that the Kursk miraculous icon was first transferred in a solemn religious procession from the city Kursk monastery to the “hermitage that is on the root.” From that time on, a pious custom was established annually, on Friday of the 9th week after Easter, to temporarily perform such a transfer.

Born on July 19, 1754 (according to other sources - 1759) in old Kursk, in the eminent merchant family of Isidor and Agafya Moshnin, the boy was named Prokhor (in the future - St. Seraphim) in Holy Baptism in honor of the apostle of seventy and one of the first seven deacons of the Church of Christ. His parents, who were engaged in the construction of stone buildings and temples, were people of a godly life, marked by virtue and hard work. Shortly before his death (+ 1762), Isidor Moshnin began construction majestic temple in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and St. Sergius Radonezh (since 1833 - Kursk Sergius-Kazan Cathedral). Its construction was completed by Prokhor's mother. By the example of her life, she raised her son in Christian piety and constant joy in God.

The Protection of God appeared over Prokhor from an early age. After the death of her husband, Agafya Moshnina, who continued the construction of the cathedral, once took Prokhor there with her, who, having stumbled, fell from the bell tower. The Lord saved the life of the future lamp of the Church: the frightened mother, going downstairs, found her son unharmed.

In 1767, on the 9th Friday after Easter, there was a religious procession with the miraculous Kursk Root “Sign” from the Znamensky Monastery to the Root Hermitage. The procession, caught in a heavy downpour, turned into the courtyard of Agafya Fotievna, whose son, 9-year-old Prokhor, was so sick at that time that they no longer hoped for his recovery. Shortly before that, the boy saw the Mother of God in a dream, who promised to visit and heal him. When the passage was in their yard, Agafya Fotievna brought the sick Prokhor to the icon of the Sign, after which he began to quickly recover. Thus, the Kursk Icon “The Sign” turned out to be connected with the life of the great Russian miracle worker, who played such an important role in the future destinies of Russia. From then on, the prayerful glorification of the Queen of Heaven became constant for the monk.

Patronage of the Russian army

H The satisfying icon “The Sign,” being the patroness of the Russian army, more than once inspired him in defending the Fatherland. In 1676, the icon of the “Sign” of the Mother of God was transferred to the Don to bless the Don Cossack troops. In 1684, from the sovereigns and grand dukes John and Peter Alekseevich, a copy of the miraculous icon of the “Sign” of the Most Holy Theotokos in a gilded silver frame was sent to the Root Monastery with the order to carry this list to the parishes of Orthodox soldiers. In 1687, Tsars John and Peter Alekseevich ordered that the icon be taken to the “big regiment”, i.e. army going on a campaign against the Crimean Tatars. This “large regiment” reached the Crimea itself and put an end to the Tatar raids on Russian lands. Thus, the Kursk miraculous icon, which appeared to encourage the Russian people on the borders of the Russian land, which lay in ruins after Batu’s invasion, participated in the last victorious campaign of the Russians against the Tatars, which finally eliminated the Tatar danger to Russia.

The construction in 1713 of the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring” is associated with the name of the outstanding commander, hero of the Battle of Poltava, the Northern War with the Swedes and many other battles, the first Russian field marshal general from the Russians, Count Boris Petrovich Sheremetyev. Returning to Moscow after the Poltava victory, Sheremetyev visited the Root Hermitage and prayed here for the victory granted to him. With the field marshal's money, a stone temple was built in the name of the Life-Giving Spring and a number of other buildings of the monastery of the Root Hermitage.

In 1812, the Kursk city society, placing all its hope in the Most Holy Mother of God, out of its zeal, sent a copy of the miraculous Kursk Icon to Prince Kutuzov in the field army to strengthen the troops, inserting it into a gilded silver frame. The Guards regiments were surrounded by it and the field marshal himself prayed in front of the miraculous image for the granting of victory. Prince Kutuzov, in his letter dated September 20, 1812 addressed to the Kursk mayor, expressed his gratitude and confidence to the Kursk citizens for this gift that the city of Kursk “is and will always be safe” under the protection of such a protector as the Queen of Heaven.

IN Crimean War The Kursk mayor also presented the commander-in-chief with a copy of the miraculous icon of the Sign.

In Moscow, on Lubyanka, in the Vvedenskaya Church, there is also an exact copy of the miraculous icon, which, according to legend, once belonged to the leader of the people's militia, the unforgettable warrior-prince Dmitry M. Pozharsky for Russia. In the parish of this church he had a house, on the site of which the building of the 3rd gymnasium currently stands. After the death of the prince, his house was turned into an almshouse for the sick and elderly, in which there was an image of the Sign of the “Kursk Root”, subsequently placed in a special stone pillar. Under the protection of the Mother of God, the entire surrounding area, during a great fire, survived the fire. The same protection from fire through the prayers of the Queen of Heaven and Earth was repeated in 1812, when the Church of the Presentation and the houses adjacent to it escaped the sad fate of many buildings that fell prey to flames.

A radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. occurred during Battle of Kursk, and the command headquarters of the Central Front of the Battle of Kursk was located at the borders of the monastery and Marshals Zhukov and Rokossovsky, who were here, were under the reliable protection of the Mother of God.

R the backdrop of revolutionary sentiment that gripped Russia at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. was also reflected in the Kursk monastery. On March 8 (old style), 1898, the miraculous image stored in the monastery became the object of a daring terrorist act. On March 3, a number of prominent Socialist Revolutionaries, wanting to undermine the people's faith in the miraculous power flowing from the Kursk Icon, decided to destroy it.

From March 7 to 8, 1898, at 1:50 a.m., a policeman standing on duty at the public places heard a deafening explosion inside the Znamensky Cathedral and saw a bright flash. All the brothers of the Kursk Znamensky Monastery were suddenly awakened by some terrible blow, and the windows in all the cells shook, and the cell attendant of the Most Reverend Juvenaly, Bishop of Kursk, was thrown out of bed. One of the monks of the Znamensky Monastery recalled these moments this way:

“During a deep sleep, I heard a terrible hellish roar, from which my bed seemed to sway in the air... A second, another - and they were running along the corridor. Only then did I realize that something terrible had happened. Running out into the corridor, I met the monks and, together with them, hurried to the monastery courtyard. We came across night watchmen who pointed out that something terrible had happened in the large church... They ran to report to the Eminence and the Archimandrite, but they had already gotten up and hurried to the church. The appearance among us of the venerable Lord, ahead of everyone, marching to the temple with firm determination and encouraging us with example and word, gave us the strength to follow him to the church ourselves. As soon as we crossed the church threshold, a terrifying, thick stench hit our faces. They brought in lanterns and began to light candles, but they were extinguished by the mass of thick and acrid smoke. Then they opened all the doors and created a draft in order to at least somewhat clear the air. When the church was illuminated, screams of horror burst from the chests of all those present. The entire vast cathedral was covered with various debris. There was plaster, pieces of wood, nails, pieces of moldings, and scraps of cloth lying everywhere.”

The northern massive door, bound with iron, located near the icon, was all broken and pushed out, and the wall itself was damaged, cracking. A massive candlestick for 150 candles is bent and distorted. The canopy, decorated with ornaments and sacred medallions, where the Miraculous Image of the Mother of God was placed, collapsed and disintegrated into its component parts. Its internal gilded walls and columns were burnt and pushed out; all the stucco work and lamps were thrown far to the side, even further than the bishop's pulpit, and the canopy in the form of a half-umbrella was pierced in several places by flying fragments. The steps leading to the icon were also damaged: the lower stone one, weighing 5-7 pounds, severely damaged the cast-iron grate enclosing the elevation, located at the foot of the miraculous icon, tearing it off, and the upper wooden one, weighing about a pound, flew through the entire temple and hit the opposite one, located from the canopy to 17 steps from the wall, bounced off it, damaging the wall paintings and those hanging on the wall big picture depicting Patriarch Jacob blessing his sons, fell in the middle of the temple next to the bishop's pulpit.

The lectern that stood near the grating was broken; the box that was on the lectern and in which St. the cross, the gospel and vestments for performing prayer services were thrown onto the floor, and the saints fell out of it onto the floor. cross and gospel. Due to the strong shaking of the air, hanging in front of St. icon, a silver gilded seven-branched candlestick with 7 lamps, weighing 16 pounds. 37 gold pieces fell off the copper rod and fell to the floor. Of the many small lamps hanging around the canopy, one fell off and lay on the floor, and the rest were just smoked from thick acrid smoke. Almost all the glass in two windows and the northern outer doors, located near the entryway, was broken. There is a lot of broken glass in the windows and exterior doors on the opposite south side of the temple. In the main dome, at a height of 16 fathoms, 19 thick bem glasses were broken (each glass was 1 arch long and 12 arch wide). The force of the air shock was so great that even in the altar, which was almost tightly closed and distant from the middle part of the temple, 5 glasses were broken. The plaster in many parts of the temple closest to the crash site has fallen off and has cracked in some.

Soon all the top management arrived at the scene: the governor, the gendarmerie general, the prosecutor, the police chief and the bailiff of the 1st part of the city of Kursk. Upon inspection, they discovered the remains of a “hellish” machine, which was an oblong white metal box with scraps of soldered wires and fragments of a clock mechanism. The size of this box could hold more than a pound of dynamite.

The attackers, hoping to destroy the holy icon, only served to further glorify it. The impression of this miracle, when the rumor about it spread throughout the city, was extraordinary. Everyone rushed to the Znamensky Cathedral to see with their own eyes this sign of the gracious power of the Mother of God and to worship her miraculous image. From dawn, thousands of people gathered at the monastery and took part in a thanksgiving service served by His Grace Bishop Juvenaly of Kursk.

Despite the diligence of investigators, identifying the participants in this crime took several years. Only in the fall of 1901, students of the Kursk Real School Anatoly Ufimtsev (20 years old) and Leonid Kishkin (21 years old), civilian scribe Vasily Kamenev (22 years old) and a student at the Institute of Railway Engineers Anatoly Lagutin (21 years old) were arrested who were involved in the explosion in the Znamensky Monastery. . The detainees soon began to give evidence, from which it followed that the explosion was carried out at the suggestion of A. Ufimtsev, who believed thereby to shake faith in the revered shrine and draw everyone's attention to this incident. Ufimtsev dedicated three of his comrades to his plan, from whom Kishkin helped him make an explosive projectile, and Kamenev purchased a watch, with the help of which an explosion could occur at a given time. It was decided to perform this action during the festive service. The Week of the Worship of the Cross was blasphemously chosen for this purpose. When the bomb was ready, Ufimtsev, Kishkin and Lagutin went to the temple on March 7. During the all-night service, under the guise of worshiping the shrine, they approached the icon, and Kishkin quietly lowered a shell wrapped in cotton wool to its foot. The mistress saved the pilgrims from death and injury, because it was decided to avoid human sacrifices and the clock mechanism was set at half past two in the morning, when there are no services in the temple.

For reasons of the sincere repentance shown by the accused and their frank testimony, as well as “taking into account their frivolity, as well as the minor age of Ufimtsev and the youth of the others at the time of the commission of the crime,” it was decided not to refer the case to a judicial investigation. On December 26, 1901, Nicholas II ordered the exile of the accused to remote regions of the Russian Empire under police supervision - Ufimtsev for five years in Northern Kazakhstan, Kishkin, Kamenev and Lagutin in Eastern Siberia, the first for five years, the rest for two years.

After this, the old man bowed to the Miraculous Icon with tears and left the temple.

Theft of the Miracle-Working Icon in 1918.

IN In 1918, a sad, but at the same time very significant event took place in Kursk: on April 11, Wednesday, the 6th week of Lent, in broad daylight, the miraculous icon and its icon-list, both in precious robes decorated with gems, were stolen from the Znamensky Cathedral.

Bishop Feofan immediately notified the local authorities about the loss of the shrine, but instead of an investigation, employees of the Kursk Cheka stated that the real thieves were the monks themselves, who did this in order to sow dissatisfaction with the Soviet regime among the people. The bishop and all the brethren were put under house arrest, and a search was made in the monastery premises, which at times turned into real robbery. The next day the arrest was lifted and the robbed monks were ordered to sit quietly and not excite the people.

In the monastery and in many churches, fervent prayers were offered daily to the Most Holy Theotokos for the return of Her miraculous image, and the prayers of the believers were heard. The images were discovered only a month later. Not far from the monastery there was an old well, dug, according to legend, by the Monk Theodosius of Pechersk himself, and therefore called Theodosius by the people. A canopy in the form of a chapel was once built over it, but this well was in oblivion, had not been cleaned for a long time, and few people used the water from it. On the day of remembrance of St. Theodosius of Pechersk, May 3, one poor woman, a seamstress by profession, was returning hungry from the market, where she tried in vain to find something edible. Passing by the Feodosievsky well, this seamstress noticed an old bag containing something. Hoping to find some food, the hungry woman went to the well and looked into the bag. It contained two wooden icons of the Sign of the Mother of God without vestments.

“Yesterday morning under the mountain where the diocesan printing house is located near the river. In Tuskari, in a well called Feodosievsky, the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God and a copy of it were found stolen from the Znamensky-Bogoroditsky Monastery in April. The icon was discovered in the well by two girls who were washing their clothes in a stream near the well. The icons lay at the bottom of the well, wrapped in a bag. Having pulled out the find from the well and unwrapped the bag, the girls saw the icons, which they informed their families and St. L. Ivanitsky. The icons collected by the commission were recognized as those that had been stolen from the monastery. At 11 o’clock in the afternoon, on the occasion of the finding of the icons on Red Square, a solemn prayer service was served, with a crowd of several thousand people praying ... "

All day on May 3, bells rang in all Kursk churches, as if on Easter. People met and hugged, not knowing how to express their joy. Everyone was in an Easter mood. The miraculous icon remained in unknown absence for about three weeks. Soon after the capture of Kursk, on the orders of General Kutepov, an official investigation into Bolshevik atrocities and atrocities was launched. First of all, they inspected the former building of the noble assembly, where the Cheka was located. And in the Chekist trash heap, two cases embroidered with gold were found - the same ones that were on the miraculous icon and its list on the day of the abduction. “There is nothing hidden that will not be made manifest” (Luke 8:17). So it turned out that the icons were stolen by security officers.

Last days stay of the Holy Image in the early 20s in Russia

P After the miraculous discovery of the Miraculous Icon, continuous prayers were performed in front of it for several days. In connection with the above, it is not surprising that the Kursk clergy greeted the occupation of the city by units of the Volunteer Army in September 1919 and the grand prayer services they held in honor of the victories of the Whites. Thus, on October 3, 1919, the Kurskie Vesti newspaper reported:

“The Feast of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary coincided with the liberation of the city of Orel by our Volunteer Army from the Bolshevik yoke. In view of this, on the morning of October 1, a solemn liturgy was celebrated in the Znamensky Cathedral by Bishop Feofan, by the end of which the clergy of the city churches began to flock to Red Square. At the end of the liturgy on Red Square, in front of a huge crowd of people, a thanksgiving prayer service was served for many years to the Russian Christ-loving army and its leaders. At the beginning of the prayer service, the Governor (Prince A.A. Rimsky-Korsakov) and other city authorities arrived, who after the prayer service went with a religious procession along Moskovskaya Street. Having reached Pochtovy Lane, the procession turned to the right and a short prayer service was held in front of the convent. Then the religious procession moved along 1st Sergievskaya Street and, having reached the Annunciation Church and having given thanks, turned back along Moskovskaya Street to the Znamensky Monastery. After each thanksgiving service, Bishop Theophan blessed those praying with the city’s shrine - the icon of the “Sign of the Mother of God” that accompanied the procession and sprinkled it with holy water.”

But the triumph of the volunteers was short-lived. Already in mid-October, the commander of the 1st Army Corps, General A.P. Kutepov made it clear to Bishop Feofan, who ruled the Kursk diocese, that Kursk could be temporarily abandoned by the Volunteers and invited him to go south, promising to provide transportation for him and the willing clergy.

Bishop Feofan gathered the clergy and allowed those who wished to take advantage of the general’s offer, especially since the latter assured that Kursk would be abandoned only for a short time. Then Bishop Theophan with the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Jerome (later Archbishop of Detroit), and with the willing clergy, went by train to Belgorod, and the Kursk miraculous icon was blessed with the monks of the Znamensky Monastery and Root Hermitage to be taken to the city of Oboyan, 60 versts to the south from Kursk, where the icon had long been invited. If the front approached Oboyan, they were instructed to leave with the icon for Belgorod. The following monks accompanied the icon: Archimandrite. Barnabas, abbot of the Root Hermitage, hieromonks Aristarchus, Smaragd, German, Hermogenes, Eleazar, Michael, Augustine, Archdeacon Ioannikios and four hierodeacons. The rest of the brethren decided to stay in Kursk.

Kursk priests who took away the icon “The Sign” In front, from left to right: Archbishop. Kursk and Oboyansky Theophanes, archimander. Barnabas is the abbot of the Root Hermitage. Behind: monks Aristarchus and Hermogenes.

In the county town of Oboyan, they found shelter in a local monastery. It was on Sunday night. The next day they served a liturgy and prayer service before the icon. On the same day we moved on to avoid falling into the hands of the Reds. All these days a terrible snowstorm raged, and it was very difficult to walk. Only the one holding the icon sat on the sleigh; everyone else had to walk. After a three-day extremely difficult journey, the monks with the Miracle-Working Icon reached Belgorod and placed it, with the blessing of Bishop Theophan, in the monastery where the relics of St. Joasaph rested. The icon stayed there for about two weeks, all the time visiting the houses of Belgorod residents, as if saying goodbye to her native Kursk region. On November 18, in a separate carriage, the icon left the Kursk borders and departed for Taganrog, where it arrived on November 20, on the eve of the Feast of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple.

The icon stayed in Taganrog for three weeks, staying at the Athos courtyard and almost daily visiting the homes of the zealous.

Further short-term stages: Rostov, Ekaterinodar, Novorossiysk. The monks with the icon often had to go hungry and cold. Finally, on March 1, 1920, on the steamer "St. Nicholas", the Kursk miraculous icon, accompanied by Bishop Theophan and the monks who did not want to part with it, left the shores of Russia and arrived from Novorossiysk via Constantinople from Thessaloniki. On April 2, the icon arrived in the ancient capital of Serbia, the city of Nis, where it was greeted with great triumph by the Serbian Bishop of Nis, Dosifei, with all his clergy and many people. Bishop Dosifei was a great friend of the Russian people and remained so until his death. He died in the rank of Metropolitan of Zagreb during the 2nd World War.

At the earnest request of General Wrangel, who after the Novorossiysk evacuation with a handful of patriotic soldiers held the last free piece of Russian land - Crimea - the Kursk miraculous icon from Serbia went there to encourage the soldiers. She arrived in Crimea on the steamer "St. George" on September 14, 1920, on the day of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Honest and Life-giving Cross. At that time, Crimea was already in its death throes, and the black cloud of Bolshevism had finally covered the Russian land. Together with the remnants of the army and with everyone who wanted to leave Crimea and escape from the Bolsheviks to a foreign land, on October 29, 1920, on the dreadnought "General Alekseev", almost exactly a year after leaving Kursk, the miraculous icon left Russian soil again, now for a long time.

A quarter of a century of stay in Yugoslavia

P After returning from Crimea to Yugoslavia, the Kursk miraculous icon remained in Zemun for some time, and then was transported to the Serbian monastery of Jazak on Fruska Mountain, where the Serbian church authorities provided living quarters for the custodian of the icon, Bishop Theophan. The remaining monks accompanying the icon were distributed among different Serbian parishes. The Serbian Church was in great need of parish priests at that time, since several hundred of them died during the 1st World War.

The miraculous icon of the “Sign” was present at all meetings of the 1st Foreign Council with the participation of clergy and laity in Sremski Karlovci in 1921, as well as at all bishops’ councils in the same city, which took place under its holy shadow.

In 1924, the Russian Trinity Church was founded in Belgrade, and in 1925, it was built. A special splendid canopy was built on the left side of it. In this canopy, with the permission of the Synod of Bishops and with the consent of Bishop Theophan, the Kursk miraculous icon was placed for permanent residence. She repeatedly departed from Belgrade to visit many places where Russian people were scattered throughout Europe.

The Kursk miraculous icon was also present at the Second All-Diaspora Council with the participation of clergy and laity in the same Sremski Karlovci in August 1938. This council was undoubtedly the largest event in the history of the Church Abroad. It was attended by 13 bishops led by Metropolitan Anastassy, 26 representatives of the clergy and 58 representatives of the laity. Delegates came from all over the world, in particular from the Far East, North and South America and from all over Europe.

In 1939 and 1940, solemn religious processions with the Miracle-Working Icon took place from Belgrade to the Serbian monastery in Khopov, where at that time the nuns of the Lesna Monastery were sheltered - an attempt to revive the former religious processions from Kursk to Korennaya Hermitage. The outbreak of war prevented the development of this good initiative.

During the Second World War, the Mother of God, through Her Miraculous Icon, showed many wondrous signs and wonders, to which there are many witnesses.

IN Western Europe together with Russian exiles

WITH Soviet troops occupied the Baltic states, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. The Soviet army entered Yugoslavia. Metropolitan Anastassy, as the head of the Russian Church Abroad, could not and did not want to be captured by the atheists and, with a large flock devoted to him, left for Germany. Its guardian, the Kursk miraculous icon of the Mother of God, also left with the Synod. She left Belgrade on September 8, 1944, having stayed in Yugoslavia for almost a quarter of a century.

This is how eyewitnesses describe the Divine Liturgy under a hail of bombs:

“...By the beginning of the liturgy, which was served by Metropolitan Anastassy, the church was filled with worshipers. It was a cloudy day. It was snowing. Despite the morning, it was as gray as twilight. But our souls were light and joyful: the Miracle-Working Icon was with us, our beloved High Hierarch was with us.
The eyes of the worshipers gaze into the face of the Lady, darkened by time. There are crowds of people confessing at both choirs. “White” refugees mixed with Russian prisoners in Vienna. I think that almost everyone who came to church that day confessed and received the Holy Mysteries.
I was infinitely happy at my meeting with the Kursk miraculous icon, which had become dear to me, and with the Metropolitan, and considered this a good sign. The worshipers whispered quietly, expressing hope that there would be no bombing on such a blizzard day. Alas, sirens suddenly began to wail, and soon a terrible bombardment began.
The distant roar of explosions (Florisdorf, the working-class part of the city of a million people, was bombed) did not interrupt the liturgy. The high priest and priests calmly shouted. The choir sang solemnly. Even the most fearful and weak in spirit did not leave the church. God was with us. The eyes of everyone looked with hope at the icon and at the gentle face of the Bishop.
The bomb explosions were getting closer. The church shook and the glass rattled. All the worshipers had solemnly calm faces. People received St. communion, they came up to venerate the Miracle-Working Icon and received the blessing of the meek old man-the Metropolitan. The service ended, and at the same time the all-clear was given. In the hands of those leaving were icons of our Miraculous Intercessor and a prosphora.
Snow was falling in flakes. An ominous black cloud of smoke was spreading across the sky. Houses nearby were burning. The picture was terrible. Everything around was burning because incendiary bombs were thrown. The streets were literally littered with broken glass. Houses were burning right in front of the cathedral, as well as diagonally from it. Several bombs fell behind and next to the cathedral, but not a single piece of glass fell inside the cathedral...”

After some time, the Synod and Metropolitan Anastassy moved to the city of Munich. The Miracle-Working Icon itself, having been installed in the Vladimir House Synodal Church, became a true “friend of the orphans, a representative of wanderers, a good comforter of all who resort to her with zeal and faith.” Many miracles happened at this time from the Miraculous Image of the Mother of God.

Arrival of the Icon of the Mother of God of Kursk “The Sign” in America

P The resettlement overseas of a significant number of Russians who found themselves within Germany and Austria after World War II forced them to think about moving the Russian foreign center to North America, where the bulk of Russian exiles departed.

To facilitate constant communication with the First Hierarch for the flock, it was necessary to move the residence of the Synod to New York, and on the first day of Lent in 1952, the Synod of Bishops, together with the Miraculous Icon of the Mother of God, moved to this city.

In 1959, by the grace of God and through the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Synod of Bishops settled on 93rd Street, in one of the best areas of New York City.

On May 16, 2007, an important historical event took place - the signing of the “Act of Canonical Communion of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia,” thanks to which there was hope for the return of the icon to the place of its appearance.

On May 6–7, 2009, a meeting of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was held in the United States, where agreement in principle was expressed to bring the Kursk Root Icon of the Sign to the borders of the Fatherland.

On September 12, 2009, after a 90-year absence, the Kursk Root Icon visited Russia. From September 12 to 23, the icon was in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and then in Kursk. On October 2, the icon was returned to New York.

Since then, the shrine is brought home every year and, in addition to Kursk, is brought to other cities in Russia and neighboring countries.

Who from the older generation does not remember the famous large canvas by I. Repin: “Religious procession in the Kursk province”, with its characteristic faces, or better yet, the faces of the simple believing Russian people? Repin just depicted the carrying of the Miraculous Image of the Sign to the Root.

The Lady gave me the honor to watch the procession of the cross from the window of one of the houses on Moskovskaya Street, along which the procession took place, and to participate in it myself. In addition, I have at hand the written memoirs of the Kursk resident Alexandra Vsevolozhskaya about the same move, with details that have escaped me or been carried away by time. I will try to combine these memories into one whole.

Already a month before the removal of the Icon, starting from the Ascension, the saint was carried day and night. Icon around the city. The people of Kursk said goodbye to their Intercessor. Most of the townspeople wanted to consecrate their homes by visiting the Most Pure One. The Miracle Worker returned to the cathedral only for festive services, and even then not for the entire time.

By the time of the removal, Kursk was very lively. Pilgrims flocked from everywhere, from near and far provinces and from districts of the Kursk province. According to A. Vsevolozhskaya, from the village where one of her estates was located in the Kaluga province, it was a rare girl who got married without having been taken to Korennaya. And from Kaluga to Kursk is at least 300 miles. Then the pilgrims usually came in groups, and during the religious procession, in order not to get lost in the huge mass of people, they hung identification marks on their long traveling staffs, which they carried high on their shoulders: multi-colored rags or ribbons, branches of a particular tree, flowers . The surrounding villages came almost without exception, in small religious processions, with their clergy, banners and shrines.

Along the edges of Red Square and on the streets closest to it, especially on Znamenskaya, where our gymnasium stood, wooden chests, or even just tents, were built - the remains of the once famous Root Fair, which was moved to Kursk. In addition to consumer goods and food supplies, they sold antique women's kichkas embroidered with gold and pearls, which were still occasionally worn by elderly wealthy peasant women, pieces of gold handicraft embroidery - a specialty of the Kursk province, handmade carpets, plakhtas, etc.

About a week before the removal, large “lanterns” were installed in front of the cathedral on Red Square, in the form of little churches, with silver-plated domes, some of them still remembered the times of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. There were 12 of them. Many candles were burning inside the lanterns. Pilgrims used to hang their offerings on lanterns: pieces of homespun linen, scarves, towels. An old monk sat near each lantern, selling candles and accepting sacrifices. There was a custom to crawl under a lantern: it was believed that it would help with toothache. By faith they were healed.

On the eve of the removal of the Icon, on Thursday evening, in addition to the priestly all-night vigil in the cathedral, the so-called people's all-night vigil was also served on a special platform, surrounded by “lanterns”, in the middle of Red Square. It started after 8 pm and ended well after midnight. People stood with lit candles. Tens of thousands of small lights cut through the darkness of the night. The singing of a powerful hundred-voice choir echoed far, far in the silence of the night. At the appointed time during the service, the powerful monastery bells rang with a magnificent chord, intensifying the prayerful upsurge. They were echoed by the bells of all Kursk churches. And all around in the gardens the linden blossomed fragrantly and the nightingales began to sing.

An incomparable picture!

In the morning the city took on a particularly festive look. The main Moscow street, along which the religious procession was supposed to follow, was cleanly swept by street cleaners and watered with water to remove dust. Along its trellises stood the troops of the Kursk garrison. Already at dawn, movement began along it. Here are individual pilgrims wandering with knapsacks on their shoulders and carrying sticks. These are mostly old men and women who cannot keep up with the religious procession, and they are afraid of the crush. Then they start walking in groups. As the sun rises, larger groups form. They go in villages, with a cross and a pair of banners at the head. There are still more or less significant gaps between these groups.

Meanwhile, at about 9 o'clock in the morning, the farewell hierarchal liturgy begins in the Znamensky Cathedral, celebrated somewhat quickly. From about ten o'clock the flow of people along Moskovskaya Street becomes continuous. Kursk suburban freedoms are coming: Kozatskaya, Streletskaya, Pushkarnaya - all historical names. The number of banners is multiplying. There’s a whole forest of them now, each more beautiful than the other.

At 11 o'clock in the afternoon, the first lantern, the oldest one, floats out of the gates of the Znamensky Monastery. There are many candles burning in it. The lantern is heavy. It is carried on long poles by at least 40 zealous people. Behind them are the same number of people on shift. They will carry you all the way to the Root Desert. The first one, at equal intervals, is already in a solid crowd of people followed by the remaining 11 lanterns.

The liturgy has departed. The main core of the procession is being formed. The miraculous Icon, in its most ancient robe sparkling with gold and precious stones - a gift from Tsar Theodore Ioannovich - during this last service in Kursk was not in its usual place in the canopy on the left side, but on an analogy in the middle of the temple. Apxiepeus, supported by two protodeacons, at the end of the liturgy, takes the shrine and, holding it high above his head, carries it out of the temple, preceded by many clergy, accompanied by the authorities and brings it onto a high platform covered with red cloth, specially built for this purpose on Red Square.

While singing: “Like the Unbreakable Wall and the Source of Miracles...”, accompanied by the ringing of the bells of all Kursk churches, the Bishop blesses the city on all four sides with the Icon. This is the most magnificent moment.

A. Vsevolozhskaya writes:

“When now I want to remember the distant past and my native Kursk, the same picture always appears before me: a kneeling mass of thousands of people, frozen in deep silence, shiny vestments and mitres of the clergy burning with lights, a bright sun, and against the background of a blue sky, as if Our native Kursk Shrine, the Source of miracles, is floating in the air, blessing everyone. How many of them there were over the centuries, how many tears and grief, how much human suffering She, our Intercessor, saw and consoled. And isn’t it a miracle that She went into exile with us to share with us our sorrows and sorrows...”

I. A. Vsevolozhskaya and I, both of us testify that in our memory, and this will be more than ten years, the weather was always beautiful on the day the Icon was taken out of Kursk. This is also a miracle...

Having blessed the city and the people, the saint quietly descends from the platform and hands over the Shrine to the provincial leader of the nobility and the governor, who carry it, according to the established order, to the old St. Elias Church. In front are military units with orchestras playing: “How Glorious is...”, then the monastics, behind them - the Orthodox choir in their crimson caftans, and finally the clergy, in white Easter vestments sparkling in the sun. There are more than a hundred of them. They march in two rows, staying closer to the troops standing in trellises, behind which the people are crowding.

In the middle of the resulting void, the Icon moves majestically - the people's Shrine, the Intercessor and Patroness of the Kursk region. Behind her, ten steps away, follows an axiepe with a staff, supported by subdeacons.

There is a short prayer service at the Elias Church. The leader of the nobility - in my time the permanent prince Dondukov-Izezdinov, died not so long ago in Paris, and the governor handed over the Icon to the City Mayor and Chairman of the Provincial Zemstvo Council. They carry it to the Annunciation House Church of the Hospital of the Sisters of Charity of the Kursk-Znamensk Community of the Red Cross, which received its name from our shrine. Apxiepeus blesses the hospital with the Icon and again hands it over to the leader of the nobility and the governor, who, according to custom, must carry it out of the city gates. They bring it into the chapel outside the Moscow Gate, from where, after a short prayer service, the Bishop takes out the Icon and himself inserts it into a specially decorated closed icon case on a stretcher, which is carried to the Yamskaya Settlement by the clergy and monastics, and then by zealots from the most honorable citizens.

The procession of the cross is now moving quickly in order to be in time for the all-night vigil in Korennaya. Stages: Yamskaya Sloboda, the village of Zhernovets, the villages of Pesochnoye, Tazovo, Dolgoe, with an hour stop in Pesochnoye. Everywhere local religious processions come out to meet the Shrine, which then accompany it.

The apostle and the senior clergy, after placing the Icon in the icon case, get into the carriage, carriages and rulers and by roundabout roads overtake the religious procession in order to later meet it in the Desert. The procession reaches there around eight in the evening, when it is almost dark. In front of the holy gates of the Abode, he is again met by the apxiepe with the clergy and brethren of the Desert. The icon is taken out of the icon case and solemnly carried again in their arms to the main monastery cathedral.

In the cathedral, first a prayer service is served, and then the all-night vigil begins, which really lasted all night until the morning. Before and after the liturgy there are private prayer services, endless prayer services. For almost a week after the arrival of the Icon, divine services continued day and night. The prayer services are interspersed with akathists to the Most Pure One, which are sung entirely in a special, wonderful desert chant, as has already been mentioned earlier.

The Icon returned from Korennaya back to Kursk on September 13, also in a religious procession, but less solemnly.

This is how the Kursk Miracle-Working Icon was carried out to the Root Hermitage by our fathers and grandfathers in the old holy time that was unappreciated by us.

* * *

In Soviet times, this tradition was interrupted and only many years later in modern Russia religious processions have resumed and every year they attract thousands of Kursk residents and guests of the city.

To enlarge - click on the image

View photo album >>> Procession of the Cross with the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God (2009)

Prayers

Troparion, tone 4

I To the insurmountable wall and source of miracles, which Thy servants have acquired Thee, Most Pure Mother of God, we overthrow the resistant militia. We also pray to Thee, grant peace to our fatherland and great mercy to our souls.

Kontakion, tone 4

P Be faithful, let us brightly celebrate the miraculous appearance of the all-honorable image of the Mother of God, and from this we draw grace, most tenderly we cry out: Rejoice, Mary Theotokos, Mother of God, Blessed One.

* * *

FThe film "The Face of the Queen of Heaven" is dedicated to the main shrine of the Russian diaspora - the Kursk-Root miraculous Icon of the Mother of God "The Sign". In May 2007, this holy icon performed the main miracle - the reunification of two separated parts of the Russian Orthodox Church - the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

Watch on Mail.ru:

Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” Kursk Root. “The Sign” Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God

More about the Kursk-Root Icon “The Sign”

Kursk icon “The Sign” of the Mother of God. Story

Celebration days:

ICON OF THE HOLY VIRGIN “THE SIGN”
Troparion, tone 4

Kontakion, tone 4

Greatness

Foreign greatness

Foreign greatness

Other greatness, like in Velikiy Novegrad

Prayer

1. The miraculous discovery of the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God and its first miracles

2. Later additions

3. Continuation of the miracles of the Kursk Root Icon

4. Healing of the youth Prokhor (venerable Seraphim of Sarov)

5. Help for Russian soldiers

6. Explosion in the Znamensky Cathedral on March 8, 1898

7. The abduction of the Miraculous Icon Kursk Root Mother of God “The Sign” by security officers in 1918

8. The last days of the Wonderworking Icon’s stay in Russia

9. Twenty-five years in Yugoslavia

10. With Russian exiles in Western Europe

11. Arrival of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” in America

12. Miraculous Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”

- a symbol of the unity of the Russian Church Abroad.

Additional details

Latest

You need to know this

Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” Kursk Root. “The Sign” Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God

More about the Kursk-Root Icon “The Sign”

Kursk icon “The Sign” of the Mother of God. Story

Celebration days:

ICON OF THE HOLY VIRGIN “THE SIGN” Troparion, tone 4

Kontakion, tone 4

Greatness

Foreign greatness

Foreign greatness

Other greatness, like in Velikiy Novegrad

Prayer

1. The miraculous discovery of the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God and its first miracles

2. Later additions

3. Continuation of the miracles of the Kursk Root Icon

4. Healing of the youth Prokhor (venerable Seraphim of Sarov)

5. Help for Russian soldiers

6. Explosion in the Znamensky Cathedral on March 8, 1898

7. The abduction of the Miraculous Icon Kursk Root Mother of God “The Sign” by security officers in 1918

8. The last days of the Wonderworking Icon’s stay in Russia

9. Twenty-five years in Yugoslavia

10. With Russian exiles in Western Europe

11. Arrival of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” in America

12. Miraculous Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”

- a symbol of the unity of the Russian Church Abroad.

Additional details

Latest

You need to know this

ICON OF THE HOLY VIRGIN “THE SIGN”
Troparion, tone 4