Among the household relics of the Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos, who occupied the throne from 1328 to 1341, was a miraculous icon of the Mother of God, according to legend, one of three once painted by the Evangelist Luke. The name of the crowned owner gave it its name, and in subsequent centuries it became known as the icon of the Andronikov Mother of God.

Icon saved from fire

Shortly before his death, the emperor (his image is given below) presented it as a gift to a Greek monastery located on the Peloponnese peninsula. There, under the arches of the ancient monastery, the Andronikov Icon was kept until the invasion of the Turks, who captured the peninsula in 1821 and destroyed the monastery.

The Ottoman conquerors plundered all the valuables stored in the monastery, and what they could not take out was set on fire. Only the icon, once a gift from the Byzantine emperor, was miraculously preserved. Bishop Agapius saved her from the hands of the Gentiles. At the risk of his life, he took the shrine to the city of Patras (the modern name of Patras), free from invaders, and there he handed it over to his relative, Russian consul A.N. Vlassopoulo.

The icon, painted on a wooden board, had a very small size ─ 35 cm x 25 cm. The Most Holy Theotokos was depicted on it alone without Her Eternal Child. A characteristic feature of the image was the bleeding wound on the neck of the Mother of God, left after a spear strike inflicted in the 8th century, when Byzantium was engulfed in the fire of iconoclasm.

Road to Russia

In 1839, the icon of the Andronikovskaya Mother of God was sent from Greece to St. Petersburg by the son and heir of the consul who had died by that time. Upon arrival in the capital of the Russian Empire, the shrine was located in the house church of the Winter Palace until 1868, and then for some time in the Trinity Cathedral, located on It is believed that Andronikovskaya’s akathist was compiled in those same years

In April 1877, the holy image was sent to Vyshny Volochok, where it was received with extraordinary honors by the local clergy and townspeople. After the solemn service in the Kazan Cathedral, the shrine was transferred in a religious procession to a convent located not far from the city, founded in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.

Miracles revealed in the Feodorovsky Monastery

After the icon of the Andronikovskaya Mother of God took pride of place in the main church of the monastery, its abbess, Abbess Dosithea, petitioned the Holy Synod to establish an official day of celebration dedicated to the acquired shrine. Soon her request was granted, and since then, celebrations dedicated to this icon have been held annually on May 1.

There is evidence that the prayer to the Andronikov Icon of the Mother of God often brought the fulfillment of the most cherished and difficult desires. The monastery book is full of records about the healing of hopelessly sick people, about finding family happiness and successful childbearing. It is not surprising that after this the image began to be revered as miraculous.

Years of Bolshevik rule

This continued until the tragic events of 1917, which radically changed the entire way of life in Russia. With the coming to power of the atheistic forces, the women's monastery was closed. Most of the buildings located on its territory were destroyed, and those that, according to the authorities, were of economic value were rebuilt and used for the needs of the military unit located there.

Two miraculous icons of the Mother of God that were kept in the monastery before its defeat, Andronikovskaya and Kazanskaya, were transferred to the only city church that remained open at that time. This was the same Kazan Cathedral, which in 1877 became the site of celebrations on the occasion of the arrival from St. Petersburg of the image painted by the hand of the Evangelist Luke.

The fate of this temple is very sad. Having successfully survived all the decades of communist rule with their regular anti-religious campaigns, it was destroyed in 1993, when, in the wake of perestroika, the Churches were returned and thousands of devastated and desecrated shrines were restored. The vestments and icons in it were transferred to another city church ─ Epiphany. The icon of the Andronikovskaya Mother of God was also placed there in the early 80s.

Stolen shrine

Simultaneously with the destruction of the Kazan Cathedral near Vyshny-Volochok, the revival of the women's monastery began, in which, before its abolition, the miraculous Andronikov icon was located. However, she was not destined to return to her previous place. Back in 1984, the icon, under very mysterious circumstances, was stolen from the Epiphany Church, and to this day has not been found. For more than two decades, nothing is known about her fate.

Andronikovskaya Icon of the Mother of God in Pereslavl-Zalessky

The news of the appearance of a stolen icon in Pereslavl spread throughout the country in 2005. However, as it turned out, it was not true. The reason for its appearance was events that in themselves deserve attention. It all started back in 1998, when one of the parishioners brought a life-size lithographic copy of the stolen Andronikov Icon to the church of the Pereslavl-Zalessky Feodorovsky Convent (photo below). After some time, another woman donated an icon case to the monastery, its size exactly matching the previously brought lithograph.

The icon thus acquired was placed in the temple, but since it did not represent any artistic or historical value, its appearance went unnoticed. This continued until 2005, when the lithograph, according to eyewitnesses, began to emit a wonderful fragrance that filled the entire temple.

An inexhaustible source of miracles

Moreover, in subsequent times, numerous miracles of healing were recorded, revealed through prayers before her. This caused an extraordinary stir among believers and served as a reason to consider the lithographic copy as miraculous as its stolen original. The celebration of the day of the newly found icon takes place on May 14 and November 4.

A year later, the Andronikov Icon, or rather its lithographic copy, began to stream myrrh abundantly, which gave it universal fame and, accordingly, increased the number of pilgrims. For the information of skeptics, we note that there is a lot of evidence of people living today who received healing from ailments after their visit to the Feodorovsky Monastery, where the Andronikov Icon of the Mother of God is still located.

What they pray for before her can be clearly seen from the text of the short prayer given along with the photograph that opens the article. The main thing is the petition for the intercession of the Mother of God for us before the Throne of the Most High, who bestows life, health and all earthly blessings.

The Andronikovskaya Mother of God is asked to organize family life, to grant mutual understanding between spouses, to resolve housing problems, and to bestow the happiness of motherhood and fatherhood. People ask her for blessings before trips. They ask her for healing.

Especially the icon of the Andronikovskaya Mother of God helps with diseases of the eyes and legs. Abundant help is sent in cases where only the Lord and His Most Pure Mother can help.

Andronikovskaya Mother of God

Listen to the prayer of the Andronikovskaya Mother of God

Andronikovskaya Prayer

Oh, Most Holy Lady and Lady Theotokos! Thou art the Highest of all and of all creatures, the Most Honest: Thou art the Helper of the offended, the hopeless Hope, the poor Intercessor, the sad Consolation, the hungry Nurse, the naked Robe, the sick Healing, Salvation of sinners, Help and Intercession of all Christians.

Oh, All-Merciful Lady, Virgin Mary and Lady! By Your grace, save and have mercy on our most pious, autocratic, Great Sovereign, Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich of All Russia, and his wife, the most pious Empress Alexandra Feodorovna; his mother, the most pious Empress Maria Feodorovna; his heir, the blessed Sovereign Tsarevich and Grand Duke Alexy Nikolaevich, and the entire reigning house.

Save, O Lady, and have mercy on Thy servant, the Most Holy Governing Synod, and the most reverend metropolitans, archbishops and bishops, and the entire priestly and monastic rank, and the faithful governing council, and military leaders, city governors, and the Christ-loving army, and well-wishers, and all Orthodox Christians in the robe By your honest protection; and pray, Lady, from You without seed the incarnate Christ our God, that He may gird us with His power from above against our invisible and visible enemies.

Oh, All-Merciful, Lady and Lady Theotokos! Raise us from the depths of sin, and deliver us from famine, destruction, from cowardice and flood, from fire and sword, from the presence of foreigners and internecine warfare, and from sudden death, and from attacks of the enemy, and from all evil.

Grant, O Lady, peace and health to Thy servant, all Orthodox Christians, and enlighten their minds and the eyes of their hearts to salvation, and make us, Thy sinful servants, worthy of the Kingdom of Thy Son, Christ our God: for His Power is blessed and glorified, with His beginningless Father, and with His Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

The Andronikovo Icon of the Mother of God, also known under the names of Monemvasia and Greece, is the family shrine of the Greek Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos, according to legend, one of those painted by the Apostle and Evangelist Luke. According to the first surviving documentary evidence of the icon, in 1347 Andronik donated it to the Monemvasia monastery in Morea, where it remained until the beginning of the 19th century. After the attack on Greece in 1821 by Turkish troops, the abbot of the monastery, Bishop Agapius, trying to save the miraculous Andronikov icon, hid with it in the city of Patras. Before his death, Agapius bequeathed this shrine to his relative, the Russian Consul General N.I. Vlassopulo, whose son, A.N. Vlassopulo, in 1839 sent the icon from Athens to Odessa with a letter addressed to the Highest Name to forward it to St. Petersburg to Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich. From 1839 to May 12, 1868, the Andronikov Icon was in the Winter Palace, and from May 12, 1868 to April 16, 1877 - in the Trinity Cathedral, on the St. Petersburg side. In 1877, the miraculous icon was transferred to the Kazan convent near the city of Vyshny Volochok, Tver diocese. In 1984, the icon was stolen and its current whereabouts are unknown.

The icon depicts the Mother of God shoulder-length, without the Child. There is a bleeding wound on the right side of the Mother of God’s neck. At the bottom of the icon was attached a case in which a Damascus steel knife with a bone handle was stored, with which the icon-hating Turk struck the icon, after which a bleeding wound appeared. The icon was also accompanied by an embroidered Byzantine coat of arms (double-headed eagle), confirming the imperial origin of the image.

There are many revered copies of the Andronikov Icon.

Veneration of the shrine in the Kazan convent in Vyshny Volochok

The Greek icon of the Mother of God once belonged to the home shrines of the Greek Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos and was named “Andronikova” in his honor. The holy icon, according to legend, was written by the Evangelist Luke on a board 35 cm high and 25 cm wide. The Mother of God is depicted on it without the Infant God. The most pure face of the Mother of God was painted so inexpressibly beautiful and divinely that it amazed the best experts in church foreign painting. And every reverent Christian, looking at him, could not help but be convinced that only the Holy Spirit could inspire and give the power to the divinely inspired evangelist to paint the divine face of the one whom he described in such beautiful features in his gospel. On the right side of the neck of the Queen of Heaven there was a wound with dried blood that miraculously flowed out when the icon-hater struck her. In a blue velvet case at the bottom of the icon there was kept a small knife with a white bone handle, which allegedly inflicted the wound on the holy image.

The icon traveled a very long way before it reached the monastery.

Emperor Andronikos III donated a Greek icon to the monastery of the city of Monemvasia. Here the holy icon remained until the beginning of the 19th century, when the Greeks rebelled against the Turkish yoke in 1821. The Turks, in response to this, devastated Monemvasia, plundered temples and monasteries, beat and expelled people. The rector of the monastery, Bishop Agapius, leaving everything to the enemies, saved only this icon - the image of the Greek Mother of God. He handed over the icon for safekeeping to the Russian Consul General Ivan Nikolaevich Vlasopulo, who was not married to his own niece. And upon his death, he bequeathed the shrine to him as his property. In 1839, his son presented the icon as a gift to Emperor Nicholas I. And then it came to us across Russia.

For almost 30 years until May 12, 1868, the icon remained in the large church of the Winter Palace. Over the years, the donor’s mood completely changed, and he demanded back the icon given to the sovereign. Alexander I, reigning at this time, ordered the return of the Andronikova Mother of God. But the owners did not take the icon, and on July 6, 1867, the wife of A.I. Vlasopulo ceded her rights to own the icon, without having it in her hands, to the collegiate assessor M.I. Fedorov. But he did not immediately take advantage of his legal right as owner. It was as if they were all afraid to approach the Winter Palace for the ancient royal shrine, about which they bargained and with which they made their domestic transactions.

In 1868, the icon was transferred from the Winter Palace to the favorite temple of Peter I, the Trinity Cathedral on the St. Petersburg side. It was a miracle. The Mother of God herself chooses a dilapidated temple, crumbling over time, on the outskirts of the city as the site of the settlement of Her image. Many St. Petersburg residents began to visit this temple and pray in front of the holy icon, receiving beneficial actions from it. However, on April 16, 1877, M.A. Fedorov, accompanied by bailiffs, took the Greek shrine from the Trinity Cathedral and brought it to his wretched apartment. Having become the owner of such an ancient and great shrine to M.A. Fedorov did not know what to do with her. He had many intentions, but not one of them was blessed by the Queen of Heaven Herself. And in March 1885, the icon was bought by the merchant of the 1st guild E.N. Sivokhin and, with the blessing of the Tver Archbishop Savva, donated to the Vyshnevolotsk Kazan monastery. And for many years people prayed to her and she did not leave them with her intercession.

(celebration May 1, Oct. 22), according to legend, was invested in 1347 by Byzantium. imp. Andronikos III Palaiologos in the Monemvasia monastery in Morea (information about the presence of the icon in Monemvasia from 1347 is contradicted by both the date of death of Andronikos III Palaiologos - 1341, and the absence of mentions of it among the shrines of the monastery). In 1821, during the Greek. uprising, the rector of the Monemvasia Monastery, Bishop. Agapiem A. and. was moved to Patras and bequeathed to the Russian Consul General in Greece I.N. Vlassopulo, from whose son A.I. Vlassopulo in 1839 was delivered from Athens to St. Petersburg to the Highest name of the Emperor. Nicholas I. Oct 30 1839 A. and. was placed in the court sacristy and until 1868 was kept in the Big Center. Winter Palace. From 1868 to 1877 it was in the Trinity Cathedral on the St. Petersburg side. After a lawsuit initiated by the bankruptcy department for the affairs of the insolvent debtor A. Vlassopulo, the icon came into the possession of the St. Petersburg resident M. A. Fedorov, who in 1885 sold it to the St. Petersburg merchant E. N. Sivokhin. On May 1, 1885, Sivokhin moved the icon to Vyshnevolotsky in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy. Mother of God women mon-ry. After the monastery was closed in 1924, the icon was kept in the Epiphany Cathedral of Vyshny Volochok, from where it was stolen in 1983.

The legend conveyed, apparently, by Bishop. Agapius, called A. and. one of the 3 images written by the Evangelist Luke (doubts about the reliability of these data were expressed in 1866 by the confessor of Their Imperial Majesties, Archpriest P. Bazhanov). According to information delivered to the imp. Nicholas I A. Vlassopulo, A. and. was made using the wax-mastic technique; its size is approx. 33´ 24 cm. The iconography is characteristic of the icons that were part of the main Deesis ranks - the Virgin Mary is depicted without the Infant Christ, in a three-quarter turn to the right, with a slightly bowed head, wearing a crown on top of the maforium. A distinctive feature of the image is the depiction of the wound on the neck of the Mother of God.

There is evidence of the frame and chasuble for the icon made by Bishop. Agapius, and the work on decorating the icon undertaken in 1825 by I. Vlassopulo and in the 70s. XIX century M. Fedorov. On the lower field of the icon on a silver plate there was a chased (?) inscription: “῾Η Κυρία τοῦ ̓Ανδρονίκου Αὐτοκράτορος Κ. Γ. Π. Σ." (Mistress Andronika the autocrat). The 2nd inscription was placed on the silver gilded frame of the image: “Αὐτὴ ἡ παντίμιος ἁγία εἴκων ὑπάρχει δώρημα τοῦ εὐσεβ οῦς βασιλέως ̓Ανδρονίκου Παλαιολόγου εἰς Μονεμβασίαν" (This all-honorable holy icon is a gift from the pious king Andronikos Palaiologos in Monemvas yu). The icon was decorated with the image of the coat of arms of the Byzantine Empire, embroidered in gold on green velvet, and a knife was also attached to it; according to legend, the icon was wounded. During the years of A. and. in the Trinity Cathedral, at the expense of St. Petersburg citizen I. F. Gromov and his wife, a case was made for the icon with images on the sides of Saints Alexander Nevsky and Mary Magdalene; When transferred to the Vyshnevolotsk Monastery, the image was inserted into a frame (size 103´ 90 cm) with images of St. Ephraim the Syrian and MC. Neonillas (patrons of E. Sivokhin and his wife). Copy of A. and. in 1885 it was kept in the Trinity Cathedral on the St. Petersburg side. Lists of the icons have been preserved. XIX century small in size (TsMiAR, TsAK MDA), the inscriptions on which do not correspond to the original.

The celebration of the image on May 1 was established in 1885 in memory of its transfer from St. Petersburg to Vyshny Volochyok.

Lit.: Bringing the ancient Greek icon of the Mother of God from the Winter Palace to the Trinity Cathedral on the St. Petersburg side on May 12, 1868. St. Petersburg, 1868, 1875; Historical and statistical information about the St. Petersburg diocese. St. Petersburg, 1873. Issue. 3. P. 371, No. 488; The celebration of the bringing of the ancient Greek. icon of the Mother of God, called “Andronikova”, from St. Petersburg to Kazan Vyshnevolochsky women. mon-ry, May 1, 1885 St. Petersburg, 1885; Snessorev. The earthly life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. pp. 468-470; Dimitry (Sambikin). Monthsword. Tver, 1899. Issue. 9. Part 1. May. pp. 19-20; Bukharev I. Icons. pp. 133-134; Villager E. Our Lady. pp. 678-679; Rejoices in You: Rus. icons of the Mother of God XVI - early. XX century: Cat. vyst. from the funds of the Museum. Andrey Rublev. M., 1995. S. 71, No. 66.

N. IN . Pivovarova

The Mother of God (Ever-Virgin Mary) is one of the most revered images in Christianity. Among Orthodox Christians, many images of the Mother of God are considered miraculous, healing, and myrrh-streaming. No matter what difficult trials befell the Russian people, both high-born nobles and poor people turned to the Mother of God with prayer. They went to churches to see icons for blessings, for support, for faith.

The Greek icon of the Mother of God is considered one of the most ancient miraculous images. The first mention of it dates back to 1347 AD. Painted according to legend by the Evangelist Luke, this icon was passed down from generation to generation in the family of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. In honor of him, it received its second name - Andronikovskaya.

In 1347, Andronik donated the icon to the Monemvasia monastery, located in Morea, as the Peloponnese peninsula was called in those days. During the capture of Byzantium by the Turks in 1821, Monemvasia was almost completely destroyed. The untold riches of the Monemvasia monastery fell into the hands of the insatiable Janissaries. But the miraculous icon of the Mother of God escaped such a fate. The abbot of the monastery, Bishop Agapius, managed to escape with the icon in the city of Patras.

But the fugitive bishop did not survive his monastery for long. Shortly before his death, the Monk Agapius bequeathed it to his relative, the Russian consul N.I. Vlasopulo. Subsequently, his son sent the Andronikov Icon from Athens to St. Petersburg in the highest name of Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich. Attached to it was the coat of arms of Byzantium, embroidered in gold.

The shrine remained in St. Petersburg until May 1 (May 14, new style), 1877, when it was transported to the Tver province to a convent consecrated in honor of the Kazan Mother of God. This day is designated as the day of veneration of the Andronikov Icon. The second time Orthodox Christians venerate the Greek icon is on October 22.

The nuns of the Tver monastery managed to preserve the icon during the turbulent revolutionary and war years. But in 1984, the icon of the Andronikovskaya Mother of God was stolen from the holy monastery and its whereabouts are unknown to this day.

The Mother of God on the Andronikovskaya icon is depicted without the Child. It was called miraculous because of the bleeding wound on the neck of the Mother of God. According to legend, the wound appeared after an attempt by a possessed Turk to cut the icon with a dagger. The dagger itself, made of Damascus steel, was placed in a carved bone sheath and attached to the icon. It was believed that the icon was able to protect against wounds and dashing people. Pilgrims preparing for a long journey came to her for blessings.