All the days of Bright Week appear before us as a single bright Easter day. Friday of Bright Week stands out in particular: the fact that on this day, for the first time after the Great Agiasma for the Epiphany, the consecration of water is performed in all the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the fact that in the very liturgical rite of this day, to the Paschal stichera and troparia, they add chants of the service to the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring". The appearance of this image is associated with the following miraculous event.

In the 5th century, there was a grove near Constantinople, dedicated, according to legend, to the Most Holy Theotokos. In this grove there was a spring, long glorified by miracles, but gradually overgrown with bushes and mud. In 450, the warrior Leo Markell, the future emperor, met a lost blind man in this place, helped him get out onto the path and settle in the shade. In search of water for an exhausted traveler, he heard the voice of the Virgin, commanding to find an overgrown source and anoint the eyes of a blind man with mud. When Leo obeyed the command, the blind man immediately received his sight. The Mother of God also predicted to Leo that he would become emperor, and seven years later this prediction came true.

Having become emperor, Leo Markell remembered the appearance and prediction of the Mother of God and ordered to clean the source, surround it with a stone circle and erect a temple in honor of the Mother of God on it. The holy key was called by the emperor “Life-giving source. The icon of the Mother of God, painted for the new church, was also named in the same way.

In the future, this temple was repeatedly rebuilt and decorated. But after the fall of Constantinople, it was destroyed by the Muslims. And only in 1834-1835. over the Life-Giving Spring was again erected Orthodox church.

It just so happened that all the famous monasteries of Constantinople were rebuilt into mosques or are now in ruins. And the small one standing on the source is still alive. For one and a half thousand years, people have been coming to the place, which the Turks called "Balykly", and collecting water in bottles. Closets are arranged around the source, where the sick are poured; Greeks, Turks, Turkish women, Armenians, Catholics constantly come to the water - everyone asks the Queen of Heaven with tears and accepts healing. The Mohammedans involuntarily confess the Mother of God and say: “Great in wives is St. Maria!" and call the water: “St. Maria"

A Thessalian from his youth had a strong desire to visit the Life-Giving Spring. Finally, he managed to set off, but on the way he fell seriously ill. Feeling the approach of death, the Thessalian took a word from his companions so that they would not betray him to burial, but would take the body to the Life-Giving Spring, where they poured three vessels with life-giving water on it, and only after that they buried it. His wish was fulfilled, and life returned to the Thessalian at the Life-Giving Spring. He accepted monasticism and spent in piety last days life.

Iconographically, the image of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" is associated with the ancient Byzantine image of the type "Nicopeia Kyriotissa" - "Mistress the Victorious", which, in turn, goes back to the image of the "Sign" type.

Initially, the image of the "Life-Giving Source" was distributed in the lists without the image of the source. Such is the Blachernae miraculous image, made of marble, located near the imperial baths. It depicts the Mother of God, from whose hands holy water flows? "agiasma". Later, a cup (phiale) was included in the composition. In later times, they also began to depict a reservoir and a fountain on the icon.

In Russia, over time, the composition of the icon "Life-Giving Spring" is gradually becoming more complex. A wooden well appears, from which a water jet beats, on the sides of it are depicted the ecumenical saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. They draw life-giving water and distribute it to people standing around. In the foreground are depicted obsessed with various ailments.

Gradually, the composition of the icon became so complicated that the independent image of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" became only a component in the overall complex composition. So, in 1668, the famous Russian icon painter Simon Ushakov, with one of his students, painted the icon of the Life-Giving Spring “with miracles”. In sixteen hallmarks, he depicted the miracles of the Mother of God, performed at the Life-Giving Spring.

Icon Holy Mother of God The "Life-Giving Spring" was deeply revered in Russia. In the Sarov desert, a temple was erected in honor of this icon. Those sick pilgrims whom Reverend Seraphim Sarovsky sent to pray before the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, received healing from her.

The concept of springs as a symbol of the Mother of God's help and the grace of God is quite ancient. On many Mother of God icons, for example, "The Driver", Zhirovitskaya, the icon of the Annunciation of the Mother of God at the well, the image of the source is invariably present. And each icon of the Mother of God in this broad sense can be called the "Life-Giving Spring", meaning the Mother of God's help and Her rich mercy.

Even though history has kept the exact date events of the appearance of the Mother of God to Leo Markellus (April 4 (O.S.) 450), the real celebration of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" is set to take place on Friday of Bright Week, when the renewal of the Constantinople Church of the Life-Giving Spring is celebrated and the great miracles that occurred in this temple.

Since the 16th century, a custom similar to the Greek one has been established in Russia, to consecrate springs located in monasteries and near them, to dedicate them to the Mother of God and to paint icons of the Mother of God, called the “Life-Giving Spring”.

Lists from the miraculous icon "Life-Giving Spring" are in the Sarov Hermitage; Astrakhan, Urzhum, Vyatka diocese; in a chapel near the Solovetsky Monastery; Lipetsk, Tambov diocese. An excellent image is placed in the Moscow Novodevichy Convent.

In the village of Vorobyevo near Moscow (Vorobyovy Gory) since the 16th century there was a wooden church at the royal palace in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "The Life-Giving Spring", "furnished with exceptional luxury." It probably owes its name to the numerous underground springs flowing along the slopes of the Sparrow Hills. Over time, due to dilapidation, it was repeatedly rebuilt, having existed until the beginning of the 19th century, after which it was abolished. Today, its existence is reminded by the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring", located to the left of the Royal Doors in the temple Life-Giving Trinity on Sparrow Hills - the only remaining of the 4 temples of the village of Vorobyevo.

Troparion, tone 4
Today, by the faith of faithfulness to the Divine and wholesome image of the Most Holy Theotokos, pouring out drops of her outpourings, and showing miracles to the faithful people, even we see and hear spiritually celebrate and kindly cry out: heal our ailments and passions, as if you healed the Karkin and numerous passions; we also pray to Thee, the Most Pure Virgin, pray to Christ our God, incarnated from You, that our souls be saved.

Troparion, tone 4
Let us draw, people, healing souls and bodies with prayer, the River flows for everyone - the Most Pure Queen of the Mother of God, exuding wonderful water for us and washing out the hearts of blackness *, cleansing sinful scabs, but sanctifying the souls of the faithful with Divine grace.

Kontakion, tone 8
From the inexhaustible You, the Source of God-grace, give me, sharpen, the water of Your grace, ever-flowing more than words, as if the Word gave birth to more than meaning, pray, sprinkle me with grace, and I call Thee: rejoice, saving water.

Icon of the Life-Giving Source, what helps, the meaning of the icon of the Life-Giving Source, in what cases they pray to it, in which temples is the icon of the Life-Giving Source and its meaning

Icon of the Life-Giving Source, what helps

The image of the Life-Giving Key of the Mother of God takes its own foundation since the 5th century.

Actually, at that time, near Constantinople, a miraculous icon, with the assistance of a key, managed to cure a blind man. Such a miracle of nature could not remain undiscovered, and as a result of this, absolutely everyone became aware of it. According to the decree of the ruler Leo I, in honor of the created miracle, a cathedral was erected not far from the sacred key.

It is rather difficult to characterize even the approximate number of those people who managed to bring themselves back to life in the temple. Soon, lists began to be compiled from the appearance of the key standing near, which subsequently dispersed throughout the planet, granting the Orthodox people healing and the protection of the Lord.

On the shrine itself, the Most Holy Virgin is depicted sitting in the font with the little son of God in her palms.. From the very foundation of the Most Holy Icon, the key was not written on it, however, later Fiala (Vessel) was included in a single composition. And later on the shrine began to describe the lake and the source.

The meaning of the icon Life-giving source and how it helps

The sacred image of the Mother of God has a much greater, deepest meaning and importance. than its healing characteristics from the divine water in the source or the fonts and springs that were created and equipped with her in reverence.

Life-Giving Key- this is the embodiment of a blessed deliverer, who gives life to absolutely everyone who honestly believes in him.

After all, it is not in vain that numerous peoples declare that God is our existence, calling him the Life-Giver of Christ, and the key is the source of the Blessed Virgin. It is no coincidence that in Russian icon-painting customs, one of the names of the appearance sounds “Source”. This is the personification of the foundation of the source of existence, which in the solemn kontakion is read equally as the Water Savior or the Source of God-grace.

She has the ability to restore the health of the body and soul of earthly inhabitants, as well as the true, attentive Most Pure Mother of God, who took every human soul under her own care.

How can the image of the Life-Giving Source help?

In front of the Holy Icon, which was named after the healing waters, opened according to the order of the Mother of God, by Tsar Leo I Markell, they require support:

When freeing from negative habits, and also for the purpose of salvation from unwholesome inclinations;

For the healing of physiological and spiritual diseases;

The Mother of God assists in the preservation of an immaculate existence;

For those whose soul hurts, who are weighed down by sorrows and deprived of worldly strength, the Righteous will give help;

Sincere prayer, directed to the face, will undoubtedly help to overcome, including the most difficult ailments.

Miracles of the icon Life-Giving Spring?

In Thessaly, from a young age, one of the inhabitants dreamed of examining the area where the miraculous spring flows. And then the period came when he, with other people who believed in God, finally managed to start his own long pilgrimage.

However, on the way, the young man was overtaken by an illness and, realizing that he did not have long to exist, the inhabitant of Thessaly made his own request to the pilgrims traveling with him.

So that if the inevitable happens, they did not immediately begin to bury his body, but took it to the Immaculate Spring and poured 3 reservoirs of miraculous water on his body, and only later gave his body to the earth.

The pilgrims fulfilled with a prayer the request of the dying However, when the 3rd reservoir was poured into the wanderer's body, the young man was resurrected. As a result of the accomplished amazing deed, the Thessalian decided, until the end of his own days, to serve and be in asceticism with God and the Mother of God, according to the prayers of which the Child of the Most High, by the good will of his own mother, returned him to life.

There are a large number of other examples of healing with water from the springs, sacred in the Reverence of the Blessed Nevertheless, a miracle is performed only if a person zealously and wholeheartedly says a prayer and lives in an unchanging confession to the Almighty, in fact, in this case, he will acquire the desired weakening and healing.

Feast of Iconographic Composition

The time of the celebration in honor of the miraculous icon was determined in memory of the reconstruction of the Cathedral of the "Life-Giving Spring" in Constantinople, which was erected by King Leo I Markell according to the will of the Blessed One over the miraculous spring.

The period also fell out just on Friday of Bright Week, and now every year in Orthodox churches on Blessed Week, with the Easter movement of the cross, the rite of consecration of water is laid.

In which cathedrals is the image located?

For the present period, more than a hundred chapels and temples have been installed, which were named in honor of the Virgin. The following is information about some of them:

Church of the Image of the Immaculate (Kosmodamianskaya) in Metkino. In accordance with the chronicles, in the 17th century there was a wooden temple of Damian and Cosmas near the Capital, but in 1701 it was bedroomed, however, a large number of images were saved by dragging them to a small chapel located nearby. In the site of the destroyed cathedral in 1848, the current Lord's Cathedral was created, intended for the miraculous face of the Sinless, which was not unreasonable, since in 1829 a miracle of the appearance of the Most Holy One happened. And earlier in 1840, Avdotya Evdokimova, the widow of a soldier, gave to her homeland in the village of Metkino from the Capital a miraculous icon that was presented to her by a merchant Anna Kiriyanova. And since that time, from absolutely all corners, people began to go to the temple in order to bow before the face;

In Tsaritsyno (Capital), in addition, there is a temple of the shrine of the Virgin;

Cathedral of the miraculous display of the Mother of God (Sorrowful Church) in Tver;

The temple of the miraculous image, the Blessed, is located in the Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery in Zadonsk;

The icon can also be seen in the Church of Our Lady in Arzamas.

Icon of the Life-Giving Spring - what helps?

But still, what is the inimitable attractiveness of the icon, what exactly captures people in the image of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring”? In what way can it help and from what will it save?
Previously, the face brings a cure to absolutely all physically sick people and, in their own prayers, to those who rely on the assistance of the Almighty. Actually, from this arose his respect in ancient Byzantium.

By these healing actions and patronage, he earned favor and gratitude, immersed in the open spaces Russian Federation. In addition, it successfully heals the image and mental illnesses. However, the main thing is that it helps those who resort to it from unwholesome desires, which often overwhelm our souls. Actually, the "Life-Giving Spring" - the image of the Mother of God, rescues from their influence.

With what petitions do they ascend before her, what do they beg for from the Immaculate? About the gift of power to cope with absolutely everything immoral, which is accepted in us by human nature spoiled by the wild fall into sin. To repentance, there are many moments that exceed human abilities, in which we are weak without the support of the Supreme Lord and His Most Pure Mother.

You can ask this shrine for support in the event that ailments attack you.

When you have a passion for strong drinks or smoking.

If you are tormented by repentance for something, or grief has fit in your soul and there is no strength to get rid of it, in this case, the Mother of God and the image of the Life-Giving Key can help.

If you want to protect yourself from sins that attract you to yourself, then praying in front of the icon will undoubtedly help not to frustrate the Commandments of Christ.

If a lot of difficulties have fallen on you, and you cannot cope with them alone, then it is necessary to provide the help of the Blessed One.

This can be done by sending a prayer with the following words:

Prayer First

“O Blessed Virgin, All-Merciful Lady Lady Theotokos! Thy life-giving source, healing gifts for the health of our souls and bodies and for the salvation of the world, sharpening, gave us; Also, thankfully, we earnestly pray to Thee, O Most Holy Tsarina, pray to Your Son and our God to give us forgiveness of sins and to every soul that grieves and is embittered, mercy and consolation, and deliverance from troubles, sorrows and illnesses. Grant, Madam, to this temple and this people protection (and observance of this holy abode), preservation of the city, deliverance and protection from misfortunes to our country, and a peaceful life here, and in the future we will be able to see You, our Intercessor, in the glory of the Kingdom of Your Son and God ours, to Him be glory and power with the Father and with the Most Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen".

Prayer two

“O Holy Virgin, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ! You are Mati and the patroness of all who resort to You, look with mercy on the prayers of Your sinful and humble children. You, who are called the Life-giving Source of grace-filled healings, heal the sicknesses of the afflicted and implore Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to send down and all those who flow to You, spiritual and bodily health, and, having forgiven us our voluntary and involuntary sins, grants us everything even to eternal and temporal life is needed. You are the joy of all those who mourn, hear us, the mournful; You are the quenching of sorrow, quench our sorrow; You are the exaction of the lost, do not let us perish in the abyss of our sins, but always deliver us from all sorrows and misfortunes and all good conditions. She, our Queen, favoring, our indestructible hope and invincible intercessor, do not turn Your face away from us for our many transgressions, but extend to us the hand of Your motherly mercy and work with us a sign of Your mercy for the good: show us Your help and prosper in every good deed . From every undertaking of sin and the thought of the evil one, turn us away, but always glorify the most honorable your name magnifying God the Father and the Son of the Only Begotten Lord Jesus Christ and the Life-Giving Holy Spirit with all the saints forever and ever. Amen".

God bless you!

Every year the Orthodox Church on Friday of Bright Week celebrates the celebration of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring". On this day, the rite of consecration of water is performed in Orthodox churches. The history of the appearance of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" dates back to the time of the 5th century and is a reminder of the miracle of the healing of the blind man by the Mother of God at the source, located near Constantinople. The warrior Leo Markell, who later became the emperor of the Byzantine Empire, witnessed this amazing event.

When Leo passed by the spring, he saw a blind man. The warrior went to the spring in order to draw water for himself and give the blind man a drink. Suddenly, Markell heard a voice commanding him to draw water from the spring and not only give the blind man a drink, but also put a wet bandage with water on the sick man's eyes. It was the voice of the Mother of God. Lev Markel fulfilled the command and the blind man received his sight.

When Leo took office as the head of a great empire, he erected a temple in honor of the Virgin Mary near the source. The House of God has been called the "Life-Giving Spring". After the Muslim conquest of Byzantium, the temple was destroyed. The House of God near the source was restored only in the 19th century.

The very image of the "Life-Giving Spring" is a later "prototype" of the ancient icon of the Mother of God of the "Sign" type. On the ancient Blachernae prototype, the Mother of God was depicted at the source. Holy water flowed from the hands of the Virgin Mary. Initially, the icon "Life-Giving Spring" did not depict a healing spring. Later, the iconography included a bowl of holy water, as well as a spring or fountain.

The earliest images of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Source" include an image found in the Crimea, relating to historians to the XIII century. Since the middle of the XIV century, images of the Virgin "Life-Giving Spring" with a bowl and a healing spring located above it appear. In the 15th century, an image of the "Life-Giving Spring" type appeared on Mount Athos in the monastery of St. Paul. The Virgin and Child are depicted in a bowl.

In Russia, icons of the "Life-Giving Spring" type began to appear in the 16th century, when the custom came into practice to consecrate water sources at monasteries, dedicating them to the Most Holy Theotokos.

It is also necessary to say about other names of the icon that have found their reflection in the Russian tradition. These include the names "Life-giving Source", "Source" and "Life-giving Source".

Advice 2: Icon of the Mother of God "Fadeless Color": history and iconographic features of the image

The Most Holy Theotokos is especially loved and revered by the Russian people. One of the manifestations of love for the Mother of God has always been the writing of holy images of the Virgin Mary. On April 16, the Orthodox Church celebrates special celebrations in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "The Unfading Flower".

The time of the appearance of the image of the Mother of God of the type "Fadeless Color" is considered to be the 17th century. At the moment, there are two versions about where this holy icon was painted. According to one version, the Athos monk is considered the author of the image, others suggest that the icon was painted in Constantinople.

The basis for creating the image "Fadeless Color" was the words from the Akathist to the Mother of God, in which the Mother of God is compared with unfading and fragrant flowers. Cultural scientists suggest that the type of writing the icon "Fadeless Color" was formed under the influence of Western iconography.

An integral part of all artistic images of the "Fadeless Color" icons is the presence of flowers. Options may vary. Flowers can be painted along the edges of the icon, or a flourishing rod is depicted, and sometimes the Mother of God with the baby stands on a pedestal of flowers.

The clothes of the Mother of God and the infant Christ are most often royal, which indicates the special divine power of the Lord and the great position of his Most Pure Mother.

Various flowers are depicted on the icons "Fadeless Color". For example, lilies or roses. Snow-white represents the special purity of the Queen of Heaven, and the rose is a universal symbol of love inherent in the Mother of God as the main intercessor before God for people.

Celebrations in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God "Fadeless Color" take place twice a year: on April 16th and on January 13th.

Before the image of the Mother of God "Fadeless Color" they pray for the preservation of spiritual purity and guidance on the path of spiritual perfection. This icon is especially revered among unmarried girls, since in Russian culture and Orthodox tradition it is customary to pray for a worthy bridegroom in front of this holy image of the Mother of God.

In the 5th century, there was a grove near Constantinople, dedicated, according to legend, to the Most Holy Theotokos. In this grove there was a spring, long glorified by miracles, but gradually overgrown with bushes and mud. In 450, the warrior Leo Markell, the future emperor, met a lost blind man in this place, helped him get out onto the path and settle in the shade. In search of water for an exhausted traveler, he heard the voice of the Virgin, commanding to find an overgrown source and anoint the eyes of a blind man with mud. When Leo obeyed the command, the blind man immediately received his sight. The Mother of God also predicted to Leo that he would become emperor, and seven years later this prediction came true.

Having become emperor, Leo Markell remembered the appearance and prediction of the Mother of God and ordered to clean the source, surround it with a stone circle and erect a temple in honor of the Mother of God on it. The holy key was called by the emperor the “Life-Giving Spring”, since the miraculous grace of the Mother of God was manifested in it. The icon painted for the new church was also named in the same way.

In the 6th century, Emperor Justinian the Great, after drinking water from a source, cured himself of a serious illness, built a new temple near the temple built by Emperor Leo, at which a crowded monastery was created. In the 15th century, after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Temple of the Life-Giving Spring was destroyed by Muslims. A small church built later was also destroyed in 1821, and the source was covered up. Christians again dismantled the ruins, cleared the source and still drew life-giving water from it. After the Orthodox received some relief in performing divine services over the Life-Giving Spring, a temple was rebuilt, in which a hospital and an almshouse were built.

The icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "Life-Giving Spring" was deeply revered in Russia. In the Sarov desert, a temple was erected in honor of this icon. Those sick pilgrims whom St. Seraphim of Sarov sent to pray before the miraculous icon received healing from it.

On Friday of Bright Week, after the Liturgy in Orthodox churches, a water-blessed prayer service is usually performed in front of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring". With the water consecrated at this prayer service, believers sprinkle their gardens and kitchen gardens, calling on the help of the Lord and His Most Pure Mother to give the harvest.

Day of celebration: Friday of Bright Week.
More about the icon "Life-Giving Source"

The “Life-Giving Spring” is a miraculous icon of the Mother of God, located in the Constantinople monastery of Our Lady of Pigi (Source), executed on the wall in the mosaic technique in the 14th century. In the iconographic type "Life-Giving Spring" (Zoodohos Pigi), which became widespread in the post-Byzantine period in Italo-Cretan painting, the Mother of God with the Christ Child is depicted bust-length, sitting in a pool in the form of a large stone bowl, from which water pours through drain holes into the lower pool ; below - the figures of people thirsting for healing. In Russia, the icons of the "Life-Giving Spring" appeared in the 17th century. In the 18-19 centuries, especially revered icons of the "Life-Giving Spring" were in the Sarov Desert, in Tula, in the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow and in many other cities throughout Russia, including Solovetsky Monastery(written by order of the Solovki archimandrite in Constantinople).

The celebration of the icon "Life-Giving Spring" - on Easter Friday.

The icon of the Mother of God the Life-Giving Spring is a miraculous image revered by all Christians. Many lists (reviews) have been created from it. Prayer for help in front of the image of the Queen of Heaven granted many believers healing from physical illnesses, mental suffering, filling the soul with pain.

The Orthodox tradition names the Mother of God with many "speaking" names that accurately characterize her essence, vocation, qualities that She reveals with her grace. The Life-Giving Source is one of them. After all, it was the Virgin Mary who became the Source of Life for the Son of God, it began with her great story way of salvation for all Orthodox. Therefore, Christians tirelessly pray to her bright faces, seeking support, help and protection.

A special day of veneration of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" is Friday of Bright Week (Easter Week). In all churches of the Russian Orthodox Church, the blessing of water is performed, and hymns are also heard to the icon of the Mother of God.

Miraculous healing with spring water

With the appearance of the image of the Mother of God and the bright holiday, a miraculous event that occurred on April 4, 450 from the birth of Christ, with the then future emperor of Byzantium, Leo Markell, is inextricably linked. Not far from the Golden Gates of Constantinople, an amazing spring gushed in a green grove. People told many stories about his miracles. Walking nearby, the warrior Leo accidentally met a tired, blind old man who had gone astray. The young man helped the traveler find the right path, seated him under a tree to rest. He himself went in search of water to drink the blind man.

Suddenly, the warrior heard a disembodied female voice telling him that he should not go far, the water is here, very close. The lion was very surprised, but he never found the stream. Tired of fruitless searches, the warrior again heard a parting speech: he must find a source, draw water, give water to the thirsty. Then you should collect mud, put the blind man on the eyes. After that, Leo will be able to find out who the one who sanctifies the life-giving source is. She will also help Leo Markell to build a temple on this blessed place, so that people who come with faith and prayers receive help, healing from illnesses.

The warrior Leo Markell performed everything exactly as the wondrous voice said. A miracle happened - the blind man received his sight. Praising the praises of the Mother of God, the healed old man went to Constantinople. Seven years later, when Leo I ascended the imperial throne, replacing Marcian, he continued to fulfill the words of the Mother of God. First, the source was cleaned, surrounded by a stone circle, and then a temple was built over it. As a sign that the spring has become another embodiment of grace Immaculate Virgin, it was called the Life-giving Source of the Virgin.

Under the subsequent rulers Justinian the Great, Basil the Macedonian, Leo the Wise, the monastery was rebuilt and decorated several times. After the fall of Constantinople (May 29, 1453), the Muslims destroyed the temple. A new Orthodox church over the Life-Giving Spring appeared only thanks to Patriarch Constantius I (in 1834-1835). A nunnery was built around it.

Image of the Life-giving Source: stages of formation

When writing the first icon of the Mother of God "The Life-Giving Spring", the ancient Greek image of the Blessed Virgin, based on the canons of the drawing in the Blachernae Church, was taken as a basis. The Mother of God was depicted as a marble statue, from the hands of which agiasma (holy water) flows. The first icon lists do not contain images of the source itself. Later, the composition of the drawing is complemented by a bowl, then a pond or fountain. On Russian memos, images of a well, symbolizing the source, have been preserved.

• One of the most ancient (the end of the 13th - the beginning of the 14th century) images of the Mother of God was discovered in the Crimea. The image of the Intercessor with prayerfully raised hands (like Oranta) is on an earthenware dish.
• The icon, painted around the middle of the 14th century, is described by Nicephorus Kallistos, a church historian. He tells about the image of the Mother of God, located in the middle of the cup-font, which is installed above the source. On the chest (or bosom) of the Mother of God is the Infant Jesus. This type of icon is called Kyriotissa.
• Already in the first half of the 15th century, the master Andronicus the Byzantine created a fresco on this theme on the wall of the Athos monastery of St. Paul. The Virgin Mary with the Christ Child are written above the chalice. Image has captions on Greek"Life-Giving Source".
• XVI century. The tradition of consecrating springs located on the territory of monasteries in the name of the Mother of God comes from Greece to Russia. For the baths and chapels erected above them, numerous images of the Virgin were painted.
• In the 17th century, this type of icon became very popular and became widespread. The images that were created on the territory of Russia became more complex in terms of composition. It should be noted that these changes in iconography had a negative impact on the power symbolic meaning. Images are increasingly being supplemented with wells with water gushing out of them. The Mother of God is surrounded by saints: John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, etc. The foreground of the composition can be supplemented by people seeking healing.

Lists of the icon of the Virgin "Life-Giving Spring" in Russia

by the most famous list from the icon "Life-Giving Spring" is a miraculous image located in the Sarov Desert. In the 18th century it was brought to the monastery by the founder of the church, Hieromonk John. The shrine is deeply revered by monks and parishioners. She was highly valued by Seraphim of Sarov. In the middle of the 19th century, the Sarov Monastery was replenished with another list of the “Life-Giving Spring” (it was brought by Hieroschemamonk Ioanniky from Constantinople). The icon shows the Appearance of the Mother of God at the Life-Giving Spring.

Today there are about a hundred temples and chapels named after the Mother of God, in which there are icons of the icon. Among them:

• Temple of the Image of the Mother of God (Cosmodamian) in Metkino, Moscow Region. In the 17th century, the wooden church of Damian and Cosmas was burned down (1701), but many icons were saved. They were moved to a small chapel. In place of the old one, a new one was built in 1848 god's temple dedicated to the miraculous image of the Mother of God. In 1840, the widow of a soldier (Avdotya Evdokimova) handed over a miraculous image to the village of Metkino. Since that time, people from the surrounding towns and villages have come and come to bow to the face of the Virgin.
• In Moscow Tsaritsino there is also a temple built in the 18th century dedicated to icon Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring".

• Cathedral with the miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin (Sorrowful Church), located in Tver.
• Zadonsky Nativity-Bogoroditsky (male) monastery (built in 1610). There is a chapel-bath dedicated to the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring".
• You can also see the miraculous image in the Church of Our Lady in Arzamas.

Miraculous healings through the prayers of the icon

Written testimonies of the healings by the Mother of God of those who turned to the icon of the “Life-Giving Spring”, drank healing water, were left by Nicephorus Kallistos Xanthopoulos, a monk of the St. Sophia Monastery (Constantinople), who lived in the XIV century. In his Synaxara, he described cases of miracles from water from a source. So the dead man from Thessaly was resurrected, bequeathed to bring him to the holy place and wash healing water. Healed from urolithiasis Leo the Wise. After visiting a helping source, Patriarch John of Jerusalem's hearing problems disappeared.

With what to refer to the image of the Virgin "Life-Giving Spring"

Miraculous healings from the lists of the image of the Most Holy Intercessor "Life-Giving Spring" and holy water continue to this day. They are described in the church books of temples and monasteries, strengthening the faith of the Orthodox in the power and help of the Mother of God. Turning to these records, one can single out the main themes, in which prayer to this Mother of God image helps.

The shrine should pray to people who are tormented by serious bodily ailments. Many women were able to carry and give birth to a healthy child, praying to a miraculous image. Those who are tormented by mental anguish of conscience, unrequited feelings, oppressive thoughts need to bow their heads before the icon. The image will help to cope with bad addictions. Relatives and relatives of the sufferer can be contacted for help. But it is best that a person himself wants to solve his problems, truly believes in the omnipotence of the Mother of God. After all, as we pray, we receive such help through our prayers.