The celebration of the icon of the Joy of All Joys (Seraphim Tenderness) takes place August 10 (July 28, old style).
What do they pray for to the icon of the Joy of All Joys (Seraphim Tenderness): pray for the granting of spiritual joy; about the healing of mental and physical infirmities.
Icon of the Mother of God Joy of All Joys (Seraphim Tenderness)
Prayer to the icon of the Mother of God Joy of All Joys (Seraphim Tenderness)
About the Lady Theotokos, the delight of my soul, the divine stream of my withered heart, the bright lamp of my darkened mind, the guide of my lazy will, the strength of my weakness, the endowment of nakedness, the wealth of poverty, powerful and quick healing of incurable wounds, the drying of tears, the quenching of sobs, the transformation of troubles , relief from illnesses, resolution of bonds, hope of salvation! Hear my prayer: give me time of repentance, zeal for salvation, strength in the labors of pleasing God: save me from misfortunes and all kinds of evils, in temptation and troubles extend Your helping hand, so that I may rise in the fall and not perish in cruelty. Dondezh I remain in this much-painful life, do not deprive me of the gifts of Your mercy. Grant Thy goodness to all the Christ-loving brethren standing here and praying. Raise the infants, guide the young, support the old, comfort the faint-hearted, bring the erring to reason, look upon and protect the widows and the orphans, pour out Your rich mercy on all those who love and hate us. And at the end of my life, at the time of my exodus from my body, be my Intercessor: soften mortal illness, quench melancholy and lead my poor soul to the eternal abode, so that the dark force does not take me, let it drag me down into the depths of hell. to her, Offering the Lady Theotokos, Tenderness to my soul! Warm my heart, cold in faith and love, with tears of tenderness; For the prayers of our venerable father Seraphim, Your honorer, bestow upon me, the one who grieves and is burdened with sins, the necessary joy and consolation. May I not, O Bride of God, be deprived of the hope of my fruit, but may I be granted this acceptance in God and my Savior, Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. To him be glory and power, honor and worship, with his Beginningless Father, and his All-Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Since November 10, the myrrh-streaming icon from the Bryansk village of Lokot has been in Samara. And she was first met in the Samara Cyril and Methodius Cathedral.
On November 10, the Most Holy Theotokos quietly and imperceptibly revealed Her miracle to the residents of Samara: the myrrh-streaming icon “Tenderness” from the Bryansk village of Lokot arrived in our city. The rector of the Cyril and Methodius Cathedral, Archpriest Sergius Guselnikov, received the shrine with excitement and love. He brought it in with due honor and placed it in the center of the temple.
Every shrine has great significance, especially the miraculous icon of the Mother of God,” said Father Sergius Guselnikov. - Because the Mother of God extends Her cover over the believers and protects them from all evil with Her omophorion. I had long heard about this amazing myrrh-streaming icon, but I never thought that this shrine would come to our cathedral. But the Mother of God arranged everything through Her Providence, and now this icon arrived in our temple. We all remember the visit to Samara by the great shrine - the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, which resided in the Intercession Cathedral, and many thousands of people came and came there to pray for the help of the Queen of Heaven in their needs, sorrows and illnesses. And the arrival of this miraculous icon of “Tenderness” is of very great importance, because the Mother of God hears our prayers and responds to our requests. Of course, the Mother of God gives a lot for the salvation of our soul, for the healing of both physical and mental ailments. And those accompanying this icon testify that in the eighteen years since the icon began to stream myrrh, thousands of cases of miraculous healings and help from the Mother of God through prayers at this icon have occurred. Therefore, we hope that here in Samara the Mother of God will help many people through prayers before the miraculous icon of “Tenderness.”
An ordinary miracle
That day, dentist Natalya Nikolaevna Murashkina came to the village department store to do some shopping. But in one department of the store her gaze fell on a carelessly thrown calendar-poster with the image of her favorite icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness”.
Don’t pay any attention, it’s expired, throw it away anyway,” the saleswoman waved it off. And Natalya had already moved on, but her heart was uneasy. The face of the Mother of God on Her icon - even if it was a simple sheet of paper, an expired calendar - was lying underfoot, on the floor, like unnecessary rubbish...
She came back and bought this calendar. She brought it home, cut off the number, and hung the icon on the wall. Not suspecting that this act will change all of her - and not only her! - life.
On November 2, 1998, the icon suddenly began to smell fragrant and flow with myrrh. A wonderful myrrh emerged from a thin sheet of paper and flowed over the beautiful face of the Most Holy Theotokos! And Natalya decided to inform the Ruling Bishop about this - then the Bryansk diocese was ruled by Archbishop Melchizedek (Lebedev).
Well, it was not right for Vladyka to show such a piece of paper from the calendar,” says Yuri Ivanovich Shishkov, who accompanied the icon, assistant to the Ruling Bishop of the Zheleznogorsk and Lgov diocese of the Kursk Metropolis, Bishop Veniamin. - We decided to make a frame for it. And when they took it off the wall, they saw that on the back side of the icon an image of the Mother of God appeared, only this time not made by hands. Bishop Melchizedek arrived, took the icon - and the myrrh flowed over his hands. “How many times have I been to Jerusalem and Mount Athos, but nowhere have I seen such miracles! - the Lord exclaimed. “Probably in Heaven they want to tell us something with this miracle.” And Archbishop Melchizedek gave his blessing to leave the icon in the house. But making a chapel for it is not a separate building, but an extension to the house. This chapel was built, and the icon remains in it permanently.
Subsequently, they took the icon to the Snetogorsk convent, and the confessor of the Pskov diocese, Archimandrite Hermogenes (Murtazov), prayed before it and said: “The Lord has given special and special gifts to this icon. She will attract people to her. Barren women, having prayed before this icon, will give birth to healthy children. It will help heal cancer. She will help find missing people - not only living, but also dead. This icon has been given the power and authority to change the life path of every person who turns to it with faith.”
And for eighteen years now, people from all over the world have been coming to see the icon.
Favorite icon of Father Seraphim
The image of the Mother of God “Tenderness” is the favorite icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov, continues Yuri Ivanovich Shishkov. - Father Seraphim called this icon “Joy of All Joys,” prayed on his knees in front of it and rested in kneeling prayer in front of this image.
In the 30s of the last century, after the destruction of the Diveyevo Monastery, the monks saved this icon, and for many years it was passed from one keeper to another. After the death of the last custodian, the icon was handed over to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'. He left the icon in the house Patriarchal Church. And now this icon is brought out for veneration only one day a year, during Great Lent, for the Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos, in the Elokhov Cathedral in Moscow. Therefore, few people even in Russia have seen this image, because not everyone can afford to come to Moscow on this day. A copy of the icon was written for Diveev, which is now also revered as miraculous.
The icon we brought is also a copy of it. It was found in the village of Lokot, Bryansk region - the former estate of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov, the younger brother of the Passion-Bearer Tsar Nicholas II and the last Russian Tsar. Although he ruled Russia for only one day, it is still deeply symbolic. The first Tsar of the Romanov dynasty was Mikhail, and the last Tsar to rule Russia was Mikhail. We don’t know how much longer we need to wait until the prediction about the Tsar’s accession to the throne is fulfilled. This is not open to us.
Grand Duke Michael was killed by the Bolsheviks first among the Romanovs; this happened near Perm on the night of June 12-13, 1918. His body, as the Bolsheviks reported, was burned in the furnace of a metallurgical plant. The martyr prince was glorified as a saint by the Russian Church Abroad, and now, when the two branches of the Russian Orthodox Church have finally reunited, his glorification begins here in Russia.
Every year on his memory day, June 12, a religious procession dedicated to the memory of the Grand Duke takes place in the village of Lokot, and the procession is led by this icon.
Yuri Ivanovich interrupted his story and looked with a soft smile:
Do you know that your newspaper was the first to write about the miracle in the village of Lokot? With the blessing of the blessed Metropolitan of Kursk Juvenaly, Evgeny Muravlev wrote about this to the Orthodox newspaper Blagovest, with which he collaborated for several years as his own correspondent for the Kursk region. And then many readers of Blagovest read about the myrrh-streaming icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness”. Well, she gained all-Russian fame in 2003, when they celebrated the 100th anniversary of the glorification of St. Seraphim of Sarov.
“In the middle of summer they will sing Easter!..”
Where should the Blagovest journalist be on August 1, 2003 - of course, in Diveyevo, at the celebrations dedicated to the centenary of the glorification of Father Seraphim! To languish in anticipation at Tsyganovka - from the metal gallery of the traffic police post, you can take good pictures from a small height. Hear from the old women standing nearby a story about the last nuns of the Diveyevo monastery who lived in nearby villages after the destruction of the monastery. To see Priest Oleg Stupichkin - to know that it was the last time, that the day was not far off when I would pray for him as if he had been killed!.. And wait, wait, peering until it hurts in my eyes: when will the procession of the Cross appear around the bend! And now the sea of people began to rustle and become agitated: they are coming! And the majestic Procession of the Cross left the closed area, where you cannot enter without a special pass. And all of us, crowding along the road, rushed into a huge column with banners, icons, and a silver shrine, in which they carried the holy relics of Father Seraphim from Sarov to Diveevo!.. And in inexplicable excitement we followed Father, “rejoicing and trembling together.” And when the religious procession entered Diveevo to the sound of bells, someone gasped loudly, pointing to the sky. The sun played, shimmering in different colors. It was the first of August - and Easter was in my soul!
And when the reliquary with the relics took its place in the Trinity Cathedral, when the Divine service ended, people gradually, reluctantly, began to disperse. And a small group of people stood at the cathedral - I remember, Preobrazhensky. “Now they will bring the icon...” someone reluctantly explained. “Myrrh-streaming, from the village of Lokot,” another added just as sparingly. And I stood next to them in order to follow the icon through Diveevo to the tent camp where the crusaders who had come to the celebrations in Diveevo from Kursk, from the homeland of St. Seraphim of Sarov, were staying.
The first stars appeared in the sky when we arrived at the camp. And for those who, like me, saw this miraculous icon for the first time, one of the crusaders told the then not so long story of its appearance...
You know, Yuri Ivanovich, then it was not clear to me why the reverse side of the icon, and not the front side, was decorated with a metal chasuble, - I say today, thirteen years later, not to a nameless “someone”, but to the assistant to the Bishop of the Zheleznogorsk and Lgov diocese, accompanying the miraculous icon on a trip to Samara - as on all other trips. And he answers:
And during the procession from Kursk to Diveevo, the icon was carried in a simple travel case, without a chasuble. The history of making the chasuble itself is amazing - and deserves a separate story.
Miraculous image
Of course, now, looking at this wonderfully decorated icon, if you don’t know, you won’t even think that it used to be just an ordinary wall calendar. Now she is dressed in beautiful expensive vestments.
Yuri Ivanovich Shishkov tells the parishioners about the miraculous image that appeared on the back of the icon. |
On the eve of the procession, Natalya decided to make chasubles for the icon. But not stamped ones, but special ones, worthy of this shrine. Having collected as much money as we could, we arrived in Sofrino. But when the master came out and saw this lithograph, he only smiled condescendingly and said: “Do you understand where you even came to? We make vestments for ancient valuable icons! We carry out the orders of the Patriarch himself. What did you bring? Well, just think, it flows myrrh! You know, sometimes our Sofrino icons stream myrrh, and it’s hard to surprise us with myrrh. We recommend that you contact a workshop of a lower rank. Well, however, if you really want us to make the chasuble, then it will cost...” And such an amount was named that even if Natalya sold her house, then this money, together with the funds collected earlier, would hardly be enough .
But when this figure was announced, the icon suddenly shone with a wondrous light from within. It shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow. And the Mother of God in the icon opened her eyes. All the workers of the Sofrino plant came running to see this miracle - and this is a huge production. And work at the plant stopped. The deputy director of the plant came running and ordered: immediately take this icon to my office, you are disrupting the Patriarch’s order! It was the eve of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the birth of Patriarch Alexy II. The icon was taken to the office, but people still began to filter in one by one to at least look at this miracle. And one suggested: “I’ll donate materials for the robe,” and the other donated stones for decoration. And completely free of charge he undertook to make a chasuble, for now only for one side of the icon, by the master of the Patriarch himself - the same one who later, in the course of work, noticed that in addition to the face of the Mother of God, there is also an image of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The icon was left with him. Natalya returned home. And three days later the master called her:
Natalya Nikolaevna, in our Church there are very strict canons. They also concern the manufacture of vestments for icons. And if we make vestments for the icon of the Mother of God, where there is no God-infant or Savior, then we use stones of the Mother of God colors - white and blue - for decoration. And when we make vestments for an icon where the Infant God or the Savior is present, we use rubies. And the expert council decided that, according to the canons, it is necessary to use rubies for the chasuble for the miraculous image.
Natalya didn’t understand anything. He repeated again. And again she did not understand why he was saying this, because there is only one Mother of God in the icon. And then the master asked a direct question:
But don’t you know that on the miraculous image, in addition to the face of the Mother of God, there is also the image of Christ?
This is the first time I've heard this from you! - Natalya answered.
Place a photographic image of a miraculous image on the table. Did you put it in? Now go around and look again.
And only after doing this, she understood what the master was talking about. We all know this image very well from the Shroud of Turin: this is the image of the Crucified and Risen Lord Jesus Christ. While working on the chasuble, the master decided first of all to dress the miraculous image along the contour with the chasuble. And in the course of his work, he noticed that in addition to the face of the Mother of God, there was another image on the icon, which no one had seen before.
And this chasuble for the miraculous image was brought on July 31, at the end of the procession from Kursk, and the next day the icon was already in Sarov dressed in the chasuble.
And the front side of the chasuble was made two years later, for the Procession of the Cross Moscow - Minsk - Kyiv.
Once a very famous icon painter came to us from St. Petersburg to be the first to write a list of this icon. But when she saw the miraculous image, she said: “I can’t reproduce this! And no one can. We are working with a brush, but the thinnest stroke will be too rough. After all, this image is written in chiaroscuro. And no earthly artist or icon painter can do this. Just as an earthly man cannot make something dead come alive.”
It cannot be said that this image was written by the world. We tried to conduct such an “investigative experiment.” They took an icon with a white back and dripped myrrh onto it. But paper is hygroscopic, and the myrrh saturates the paper through and through, the stain begins to spread until the entire paper becomes wet from the myrrh. When the Mother of God depicted this image, the paper around it remained white, only at the edges there were dark spots from the world. But this photo was taken many years ago. The icon itself is of no value to the state, since it is ordinary paper, but the chasuble, made very skillfully, is valuable, and besides, it has various interesting stones on it. And when we export an icon abroad, we apply for an export permit from the Ministry of Culture because of the chasuble. Several years ago, when we removed the chasuble, we saw that the entire surface of the reverse side of the icon had become dark, everything was saturated with the world. But along the perimeter of the miraculous image there remains one centimeter of white paper, which is not saturated with the world. The Mother of God does not allow the world to close in and swallow this image. And therefore it is impossible to say that the image was written by the world. The technique of writing it is unknown to us. It's a secret. Like many other things connected with this icon. We simply do our job out of obedience, and what and how will happen next is the mystery of God.
Unexpected joy
Those people who then, in 2003, walked on foot with incessant prayer from different parts of the once united and vast Soviet Union to Diveevo - and there were many such processions of the Cross! - they all worked for the glory of St. Seraphim of Sarov.
Our religious procession from Kursk also came, we were placed in one of the tent camps. There were several of them, because then many thousands of people gathered for the celebrations. But the main celebrations took place in Sarov. A closed city where we never dreamed of getting to. On those holidays, Orthodox Patriarchs from all over the world, President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and officials from the Russian Government came to Sarov.
And so on the night of August 1, a Bishop from the organizing committee for the celebrations came to the crusaders’ tent.
-Who was this Bishop?
And I still don't know. Natalya, half asleep, did not immediately realize that it was Vladyka, she thought, some kind of
the priest came to venerate the icon. He asks her about the icon, and Natalya answers the questions with annoyance (she was so tired, she just lay down and was not allowed to rest!). It was dark in the tent, and she did not immediately see that the newcomer had an unusual cross decorated with rubies on his chest.
And the Bishop conveyed the Patriarch’s order that the myrrh-streaming icon be delivered to Sarov. Natalya was surprised: why? The bishop replied: “Don’t you know that tomorrow’s procession of the Cross was predicted by Seraphim of Sarov during his lifetime? He said that the time would come and a religious procession would take place from Sarov to Diveevo. There will be people like ears of corn in a field. And in front they will carry the miraculous icon. And His Holiness Patriarch Alexy believes that Seraphim of Sarov had your icon in mind.”
Why the Patriarch made such a decision, we do not know to this day what kind of revelation he had. After all, he could have given the original icon for this historical procession, in front of which the Reverend himself prayed. Or I could take the Diveyevo list from the monastery - it is also miraculous. But the Patriarch blessed to carry a hitherto little-known lithograph, which was brought to Diveevo by a religious procession from the Kursk land. One way or another, the prophecy was fulfilled on this icon, and now we can claim that the appearance of this icon was predicted by Seraphim of Sarov himself.
The icon was immediately taken to Sarov. And overnight, state security officers issued permission to thirty participants in our procession, and we were brought to Sarov. This is what happened in Sarov. After the Patriarchal service, the procession from Sarov to Diveevo began. And the reliquary with the relics was carried by twelve Bishops at the very beginning of the procession. Raka is heavy, silver, 240 kilograms. Next, the Bishops had to give the cancer to specially selected monks. But for some reason these monks did not make it to Sarov. It turned out that there was no one to carry the relics. And the brethren of our religious procession carried the relics of Seraphim of Sarov from Sarov. And this was also a great miracle, an unexpected joy.
This is how Father Seraphim managed everything.
And there really were countless people in that predicted procession from Sarov to Diveevo, like ears of corn in a field.
Grace will flow miraculously
- But how did it happen that the icon from the Bryansk village turned out to be the main shrine of the procession from Kursk?
This is not entirely true. Officially, the main shrine was the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” - a copy of the miraculous revealed icon, taken abroad after the revolution.
One day I got a call in Kursk from the editorial office of the newspaper “Rus Derzhavnaya”: Andrei Bardish is coming, help him. Andrey came with the idea of holding a religious procession from Kursk to Diveevo. But getting to the Lord was not so easy. And I am the spiritual child of Schema-Metropolitan Juvenaly, now deceased, and that is why I was able to bring him to Vladyka Juvenaly. And since I already knew this myrrh-streaming icon, I suggested going to Lokot and asking Natalia for permission to take the icon to the procession. Andrei came to Lokot and placed the blessing of Metropolitan Yuvenaly in front of the icon for the procession of the Cross. And then a whole stream of peace poured out from the icon for this blessing! “It’s good that I made a photocopy of the Lord’s blessing in advance!” - Andrey exclaimed. Now this document, all flooded with the world, could not be shown to anyone. Whoever looks at it will say: are you wrapping pies in it?!
We returned to Vladyka Yuvenaly and showed what happened to the document he issued. And the Lord venerated his own blessing as if it were a shrine. And he said: “I cannot bless you for carrying the Tenderness Icon as the main shrine, because it is from another diocese. I bless you to carry the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign,” and you, as the leaders of the procession of the Cross, can also invite any other icon to participate in it.”
That's what we did. And although the main icon was the “Sign” icon, the procession was actually led by an icon from the village of Lokot. And subsequently, three icons took part in the religious processions: “The Sign”, St. Seraphim of Sarov and this icon. And in 2005, Patriarch Alexy II blessed us in Moscow on Slavyanskaya Square with the icon of the Great Martyr George the Victorious. And now four icons always participate in all religious processions that we have conducted or, God willing, will continue to conduct.
I remember meeting a woman from the Kursk Cross Procession at the Diveyevo spring of the Great Martyr Panteleimon. She walked through the water with her bloody bare feet, and the wounds immediately healed! Was it difficult for you to walk?
Difficult. But how blessed! You can talk about this procession for hours. How many wondrous miracles there were in it! And rainbows of different colors and different shapes, and crosses from clouds, and myrrh streaming, and healings. And many other miraculous phenomena.
Perhaps the most memorable event was what happened in the town of Sapozhok, Ryazan Region. It was on Vladimir Summer Day, July 6th. When we read the akathist to the Mother of God and Tsar-Martyr Nicholas, the paper lithograph, which was in the chapel at the source, became myrrh. And so much of the world was emitted that it covered the surface of the source several centimeters thick. The water in the source became cloudy, mixing with the fragrant world. After bathing in this font, the participants of the procession walked around fragrant for several days.
And one day, on the way to Diveyevo, an oncoming car stopped, an old grandfather got out and, seeing the icon, suddenly shouted: “People, people, you don’t even know what kind of icon you are carrying! After all, there is a prophecy of Seraphim of Sarov that in the last times the Mother of God Herself will walk on Her earth. Only not in the guise of the Wife, but in an icon, which will be different in that it will have two faces. And I’ve been looking for this two-faced icon for fifteen years! In Russia, abroad, in monasteries and churches. So it turns out that this is what she is like!” Having bowed to the icon, he got into the car and drove away. The crusaders told about it after the old man had left, and I was not able to ask him how he knew about such a prediction. Did someone tell him about it, or did he read about it somewhere? Because I have never seen such a prediction in any written sources. As I haven’t met to this day.
At first I accepted this information with distrust, because you can’t trust everyone you meet. Suddenly it’s exaltation or charm. But nevertheless, this prompted us to carefully study the prophecies of Seraphim of Sarov, which have been published and are available in the public domain.
And what we managed to read turned out to be so interesting! After all, the Reverend saw the future. Father Seraphim foresaw that Russia would face unprecedentedly difficult and bloody trials, that the Empire would be divided by borders. But “the time will come, and the Lord will have mercy on Russia and will lead it through suffering and sorrow to great glory.” And together with Russia and around it, the Slavic peoples will once again unite and merge into a single Orthodox ocean.
“Here the piles of the Mother of God passed”
Among the prophecies of Seraphim of Sarov there is one very mysterious and enigmatic one. The Monk Seraphim said that where the Mother of God passes with Her Most Pure Feet, there will be a border that the Antichrist will not cross. The groove will rise up
heaven and will not let him in. And as a sign that everything would be as he said, Father blessed to dig the Holy Canal around the Diveyevo Monastery.
And if this prophecy is taken literally, then it turns out that only those who live in Diveyevo will be saved from the Antichrist.
- And we remember how people from everywhere rushed to move to Diveevo...
- ...buy houses, settle, build in Diveyevo. Now you can’t buy a house in Diveevo - it costs as much as a comfortable Moscow apartment.
It is clear that this prophecy does not need to be taken literally; something incomprehensibly deep is hidden in it. But what? We couldn't understand this. And a few years ago we ended up in the Pafnutyevo-Borovsky Monastery near Kaluga, to Schema-Archimandrite Vlasius (Peregontsev). And the elder said:
This icon is the Groove of the Mother of God. And the more countries and peoples you manage to go around with this icon, the more people the Mother of God will have time to save from the Antichrist.
Father Vlasiy explained everything very simply and clearly:
Well, look. After the master dressed the miraculous image along the contour, the outlines of the image began to look like a stack, an imprint of the Mother of God’s foot! In Belarus they say - trace. This trace is the right one. And when the chasuble was placed on the front side of the icon, the left foot had already appeared.
And today it is not only the only icon in the world that has a miraculous image of the Mother of God and at the same time the face of Christ from the Shroud of Turin. But this is also an icon where the Mother of God is depicted with two piles at once, right and left. There is a Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God in Ukraine, but there is only one stack.
So She now walks the earth, protecting Her people from the yet to appear, coming Antichrist.
At the end of that religious procession in Diveevo, we thought: what can we do? It was a difficult time, when after the “sovereignty parades” the very existence of Russia was under threat. We turned to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II with a request to bless the holding of the religious procession in 2005, which will unite the capitals of the fraternal peoples - Moscow, Minsk and Kyiv. And dedicate it to the 60th anniversary of the Victory. His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II blessed, and in 2005 this procession took place. Since then, the icon has constantly participated in religious processions - first in all-Russian, and now international.
And we went around the perimeter of Crimea, which has now returned to Russia, in 2009-2010.
Since 2003, religious processions alone have covered about fourteen thousand kilometers along the roads of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Abkhazia, Moldova, and Transnistria. And now it’s impossible to count how many cars we drove with her. The icon was also greeted by the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, and Armenia. There are other countries, other peoples ahead.
Now no one can say how many years this miracle will continue. How many years will the Most Holy Theotokos walk on the earth in Her icon and what will be the outlines of this Canal. For now this miracle is with us. And we can still come to the icon, fall down with repentance and prayer.
Grace of the Queen of Heaven
As Elder Hermogenes told us, this icon especially helps infertile women and cancer patients. There are a lot of these healings. Although there have also been cases of healing of cerebral palsy, trophic ulcers, diabetes mellitus, hemophilia, and anorexia. These are those diseases that are predominantly spiritual in nature. You probably noticed on the glass that protects the icon, droplets that look like drops of dew. This is myrrh-streaming. Scientists - a commission from the Patriarchate - came to the icon. They took myrrh for research. But our Church does not have its own laboratories, so the research was carried out in the laboratories of the special services. And so scientists have not been able to determine the composition of this world; it cannot be defined and cannot be identified, because there are no analogues of this substance on earth. It is of unearthly origin. And this myrrh has the unique property of helping to heal diseases that modern medicine is difficult to treat or cannot cure at all. There is no doubt that in your city and in this church there will be miracles and healings, as there were in other churches, dioceses and countries. Another thing is that it is impossible to foresee these miracles in advance, because they do not happen to order. They happen through fervent prayers and faith. There is a lot of evidence about them.
There was a very high-profile case of healing in Georgia, in the city of Gori. The girl’s legs gave out and she stopped walking. She was sent to Tbilisi. Doctors were unable to make a diagnosis. And since it was Friday, we decided to postpone the consultation until Monday. But the girl was getting worse. And then the father, on his own responsibility, asked the clinic to release the girl. He brought her to the icon and carried her into the temple in his arms. And she knelt before the icon and began to pray. The girl attached her icon to the icon, a copy of ours. And during prayer, the icon - her own - began to pour myrrh. The father carried the girl into the temple in his arms, and she walked out of the temple on her own feet. There are a great many such cases, we have books and films about this - everything can be watched, seen and read.
In the history of Orthodoxy, this icon can only be compared with the Montreal Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, the custodian of which Joseph Muñoz was killed in 1997, and the icon disappeared and has not yet been found. And exactly a year after the murder of Munoz, this miracle appeared in the village of Lokot.
So we must come and pray while the icon is with us. And no matter what happens, we believe: the Lord will not abandon His people, and one miracle of His and the Queen of Heaven’s mercy will be replaced by another.
When icons bleed
The myrrh flow of the icon is uneven. The icon does not tolerate lipstick, and from contact with it, when pilgrims leave traces of lipstick on the glass of the icon case, the icon stops streaming myrrh for some time. It happens that myrrh-streaming stops for no apparent reason. It's dried out and that's it. At special moments, when “all human flesh is silent,” the icon does not exude the blessed myrrh. It does not flow myrrh during Holy Week, and the myrrh flow resumes at the very time when the Holy Fire descends on the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. At this time, everything in the chapel is filled with peace. Therefore, we try to have the icon at home on Easter.
This icon bled twice. The first time was when the New Athos Monastery in Abkhazia went into schism. And the second time in the city of Novosokolniki of the Velikiye Luki diocese of the Pskov Metropolis. In the evening it bled, and in the morning we learned that Airbus 321, which was flying from Egypt, had been blown up. And among the more than two hundred passengers and crew members who died in it, the deputy mayor of Pskov and his wife also died.
Sometimes we put notes to the icon in the most difficult cases, when we need to find out the will of God about something really important, spiritual. It was very rare that questions concerning ourselves were asked. And one day I decided to ask about something very important, but my own. He wrote: “Mother of God, forgive me for my insolence...” and asked a question. And the myrrh from the icon marked the only word in this note: insolence. Since then, I have decided to approach Her with a question only in the most extreme cases.
By the grace of God and the Most Holy Theotokos, despite all our falls into sin, the Russian people still remain a God-bearing people. Russia still stands as a barrier to the spread of Satanism throughout the world.
Angelic and human measure
Once the abbot of a Moldavian monastery, who came to see the icon, asked: why do you think the Lord showed such a miracle precisely through the icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness”, and not through any other? After all, there are a great many icons!
We couldn't find an answer to this question. And he said:
Well, how can you not understand! After all, in the Gospel the Savior Himself said: when I come again, will I find faith on earth? And we see that people have become so angry, envious, love has become scarce in people. And the Mother of God in the image of “Tenderness” teaches us all first of all love! After all, love is so lacking in our cruel world.
Once pilgrims arrived from Moscow, and one pilgrim said:
You know, Natalya Nikolaevna, I’m getting ready to go on the road - and on the way I’ll have to go through mud, Russian muddy roads... - and I think to myself: I’m going to God knows where, to some Lokot, the name is dissonant, ugly. Whether it's Derzhavino or Klin - the names speak for themselves.
And so she, having read the evening rule, dozed off, and held the New Testament in her hand. The Gospel slipped out of her hands, she caught herself and picked up the book, which had opened from the fall. She herself, like many of us, decided to look: what was open?.. And the first thing she read was the word “elbow”! The New Testament opened at the Revelation of John the Theologian, and the pilgrim read that a cubit is the measure of both angels and humans: “And he measured the wall thereof to be one hundred and forty-four cubits, with the measure of man, which is also the measure of an Angel” (Rev. 21:17) .
And so we asked everyone what measure is the same for an Angel and a person, and no one could answer this question. This, they said, is the secret of God.
Or maybe this measure is the measure of love? Because God is Love.
Well, now, in these November days, the Feet of the Mother of God came to the God-saved city of Samara, to this majestic temple. But let the Feet of the Mother of God first of all pass through the soul and heart of each of us.
The icon will remain in the Cyril and Methodius Cathedral until the Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, then from December 5 to 25 it will be in the Samara Iversky Convent. As for further stay on Samara land, this will depend on the desires of the priesthood and the hierarchy of the Diocese.
Recorded by Olga Larkina.
Photo by Evgeny Sitnikov.
I wanted to buy an icon of the Mother of God for my daughter at the church shop. But I was surprised - I know for sure that the image I chose is called “Tenderness,” but in the shop they called it differently, “Seraphim Tenderness,” and then they generally said “Joy of all joys.”
I almost got angry, even though it’s a sin (how can you confuse the names of icons, especially those that you offer to people?), but God advised me - I asked. I heard a lot of interesting things about this face with three names. And of course, I bought it for the house - I think we need exactly this one.
It was created at the end of the 18th century, painted in oil on canvas, the basis was a cypress tablet. Iconographers claim that an icon related to it in writing style is the Ostrobramskaya Mother of God. However, “Tenderness” is not decorated with Western attributes (stars around the halo, a lunar cross at the bottom).
At one time it hung in the cell of Seraphim of Sarov. He prayed to her every day, and it is to this saint that we owe the main name of the icon (“Joy of All Joys”). A lamp was burning near the icon all the time. The monk anointed the sick who came to him with oil from here, and they were healed.
He even gave his soul to God during one of the prayers in his cell near the Mother of God. This happened on January 2, 1833. The saint was buried on the territory of the Diveyevo Monastery. After the death of the saint, the monastery was named Seraphim-Diveevsky.
There are many icons depicting the kneeling Seraphim of Sarov standing in front of this image. For example:
The further history of the image can be told as follows:
- After the burial of the saint, the face of the Ever-Virgin was transferred to the Diveyevo Monastery. And not just like that, because even during his life the monk told the sisters that they would be entrusted to the care of this heavenly Mother. He was hanged in the Trinity Cathedral, located on the territory of the monastery. Filmed only for the religious procession.
- Before the revolution, the icon was decorated with a rich frame, which the Second himself ordered. Let's say, a halo of rays flying in different directions was made of pearls and numerous precious stones. With the icon becoming famous for its frequent healings, lists were made, and many also became known as miraculous. Unfortunately, not all of them have survived to this day, having “burned” in the crucible of the atheistic revolution.
- After the revolution in 1927, the monastery was closed, the archbishop, bishop and abbess were arrested. However, Mother Superior was able to free herself. Having collected some of the sisters and the things of Father Seraphim (including this icon), they left for Murom.
- Under Soviet rule, the holy image was transported several times for its preservation. In particular, in Kratovo (a village in the Moscow region). Moreover, the nun and (later) priest who kept the image did not forbid the believers from approaching it. They often noticed that he healed the sick.
- In 1991, when Orthodoxy again came into its legal force, all the personal belongings of Saint Seraphim were transferred to the Patriarch from Moscow (at that time he was Alexy II).
Today it is one of the most revered shrines in our country. Its original is constantly in the residence of the Patriarch. True, believers can see it too. On Saturday of the akathist (5th week of Great Lent, the moving feast of the Praise of the Mother of God), she is solemnly brought to the Epiphany Cathedral, where she can be venerated.
Remembrance day of this icon
- August 10 (old style July 28).
There is another date associated with this face of the Virgin Mary: December 22 (or 9 according to the old time). On this day, the Diveyevo Monastery celebrates the founding date of this holy monastery.
It is also impossible not to mention another short date, namely the year - 1903. This year the canonization of Seraphim of Sarov took place.
But what does the “Tenderness” icon itself mean?
The Virgin is depicted here herself, with folded hands and humbly lowered eyes. This moment is the Annunciation. Archangel Gabriel had just appeared to her with the news that Mary had been chosen to become the Mother of the Son of God. As you know, having heard these words, Mary humbly said: “Let it be done according to your word.”
How to pray to this icon correctly
It is difficult to say now with what words Saint Sarovsky addressed the beloved face of the Mother of God. Obviously, over the many years that this icon hung in his cell, he prayed in different ways. We, too, can use different, most importantly, pure and sincere words, in which we will clothe our requests and gratitude.
But these days there is a special prayer that the priests advise to address specifically to the icon of “Seraphim Tenderness.” Here is her text:
And there is also a troparion. This is a short church chant that is sung in honor of a holiday, a saint, or (as in the current case) an icon. Often the troparion reveals the essence of what is sung about. The troparion of the Tenderness icon is sung to this face:
Who should pray to her first?
- To the sick or for the sick, as he bestows healing.
- Pregnant women. Many believe that this is an icon of pregnant women, since it really helped many to conceive, bear and give birth to healthy babies.
- To young girls. It is known that the icon helps to maintain purity even in our corrupted times, as well as to meet a worthy person who will become a husband.
- Teenagers or their parents also pray to the icon. It helps to calm down the violent adolescence.
- Finally, this face helps to touch evil hearts. Both her own, burning from mental hardship, and someone else’s, so she is sometimes asked to help reconcile with someone or send kindness to someone.
By the way, these days you can not only pray to the icon, but also wear a small body pendant with the image of the “Joy of All Joys.” In church or jewelry stores you can find both modest silver and diamond pendants.
On the back of such icons you can see the words of greeting with which the Angel addressed the Madonna, or an image of a lily - it was this flower that he gave her as a sign of her purity.
But remember: it is very advisable to consecrate a body icon purchased in a regular store. Only then will it truly connect you with the one to whom you pray.
The Monk Seraphim of Sarov lived not so long ago - from 1754 to 1833. But so much has changed during this time, both in matters of faith and in our country! We believers venerate this saint not once, but twice a year: January 2 (or 15 according to the old style) and July 19 (or August 1 according to the old style).
But why did he gain so much respect among believers? What miracles did he glorify his name with, and why is even his favorite icon so revered? You will learn about all this from an hour-long film about St. Seraphim, the miracle worker. Believe me, you will not regret the time spent watching!
The most detailed description: prayer, tenderness of all joys, joy - for our readers and subscribers.
Icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness”, or “Joy of all joys”, Seraphim-Diveevskaya
Before the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Tenderness”, or “Joy of all joys” they pray for the healing of all bodily infirmities.
Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos before Her Tenderness Icon of Seraphim-Diveyevo
Accept, O All-Powerful Most Pure Lady, Lady Theotokos, this honorable gift, the only one bestowed upon You, from us, Thy unworthy servants: chosen from all generations, above all creatures of heaven and earth, appearing, for for Thy sake the Lord Almighty was with us, and Thy Son By knowing God and being made worthy of His holy Body and His most pure Blood; Blessed are you, too, in the birth of generations, O God-blessed One, the brightest of the cherubim and the most honest of the seraphim. And now, All-Singing Most Holy Theotokos, do not cease praying for us, Thy unworthy servants, that we may be delivered from every evil advice and every situation and that we may be preserved unharmed from every poisonous pretext of the devil; but even to the end, through Your prayers, keep us uncondemned, as if through Your intercession and help we are saved, we send glory, praise, thanksgiving and worship for everything in the Trinity to the one God and the Creator of all, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Troparion, tone 4, sung in the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery, Nizhny Novgorod diocese
Let us fall to the Mother of God with tenderness, all burdened with sins, kissing Her miraculous icon of Tenderness and crying out with tears: Lady, accept the prayer of Your unworthy servants and grant us, who ask, Your great mercy.
Even as I imitate the barren fig tree, I, the accursed one, do not at all bring tenderness to the fruit and am afraid of being flogged, but, looking at the miraculous icon of Your Tenderness, Lady, I groan from my heart and cry out: You are touched, O Compassionate One, and to me, who am petrified at heart, deign to give gifts of soul and heart tenderness.
We magnify You, Most Holy Virgin, Mother of Christ our God, and honor Your holy image, from which you exude healing to all who flow to You with faith.
Book title
Canonnik (Russian translation)
Timroth Ambrose
CANON OF THE HOLY VIRGIN BEFORE HER “TOUCHING” ICON OF SERAPHIM-DIVEEVSKAYA (“JOY OF ALL JOYS”)
Let us fall to the Mother of God with tenderness, / all burdened with sins, / kissing Her miraculous icon “Tenderness” / and crying out with tears: / “Mistress, accept the prayer of Your unworthy servants / and grant us, who ask, / Your great mercy.”
Irmos: I will open my lips, / and they will be filled with the Spirit; / and I will speak a word to the Queen Mother, / and I will appear brightly triumphant, / and I will joyfully sing of Her miracles.
Have mercy, have mercy, have mercy, O Lady, / over me, Thy sinful and unworthy servant, / who dares to sing of Thy miracles.
Most Pure Mother of God, / do not reject me, accursed and unclean, / who dares to sing Your miracles, Tenderness.
Glory: I have no other refuge and warm intercession / to Thy Son and our God, O All-Praised One; / therefore grant me, a great sinner, / to praise Your miracles.
And now: I am overwhelmed by laziness and overwhelmed by passions, / I am Your indecent servant, Lady, / I do not know how to properly praise / and glorify Your miracles.
Irmos: Establish Thy singers, O Mother of God, / a living and abundant source, / who have organized a spiritual festival / and in Thy divine glory / honor them with crowns of glory.
Chorus: Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
I, the unfortunate one, / have sinned more than all people in my life, Most Pure One, / but, hoping for Your bounty, I cry: / “Grant me spiritual tenderness!”
None of those who come running with faith / under Your Divine Cover, O Lady, / leave You empty, / therefore I, a great sinner, dare to cry out: / “Grant me Divine tenderness.”
Glory: Jacob, seeing the Divine ladder, said: / “It is the foundation of God!” / This is You, Most Praiseworthy; Therefore, I pray to You: / grant me, / wholly unworthy, a good ascent to virtue.
And now: The Lord, Good Mother of God, who hears graciously in sorrows / and misfortunes of soul and body / has revealed You to everyone; / so also to me, heavily overwhelmed by insane passions, / give me tears of tenderness / and grant Thy, O Virgin, maternal intercession.
Lord, have mercy, three times.
My sins have risen above my head, O Lady, / I am defiled by them, and there is no healing for my flesh; / but You, O Most Merciful, grant to my soul tears of repentance / to cleanse the defilements of sin / and heal bodily ailments, / Who gave birth to the Physician of all and the Lord.
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God: Mental wounds have brought upon me / and bodily illnesses, Lady, / but You, as the Most Merciful, have healed both, / giving me the unfading gift of spiritual tenderness, / so that I may continually glorify Your / omnipotent intercession.
Irmos: Sitting in glory / on the throne of the Divine, / on a light cloud, / the most divine Jesus came, / carried by an immaculate hand, / and saved those who cried: / “Glory, O Christ, to Thy power!”
Chorus: Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Where Your grace overshadows, O Lady, / there all sorrow disappears and joy reigns. / Honor her and me, unworthy, crying out: / “Rejoice, Mother of God, Joy of all joys!”
I have no tears, I am unfortunate, / no emotional tenderness, / but She, as the Merciful One, has given me this favor, / so that I cry out: / “Rejoice, Most Pure Virgin, Joy of all joys!”
Glory: Me, weak and pitiful from the wounds of sin, / heal me, O Most Pure One, / by pouring out the oil of Your mercy, / and raise me up so that I can sing to You: / “Rejoice, Lady, Joy of all joys!”
And now: My mind has become darkened in the pleasures of life, / but You, Lady, the light of my darkened soul, / disperse the darkness of my passions, / so that, enlightened by You, I cry out: / “Rejoice, Bride, who has not known marriage!”
Irmos: The whole world was amazed / at Your divine glory: / for You, a Virgin who did not know marriage, / carried in Your womb the Most High God / and gave birth to the eternal Son, / giving peace to all who sing of You.
Chorus: Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
How long will the enemy revile me and throw me to the ground, weak and weakened by heavy soul and body? / Be touched, O Lady, and overthrow the enemies who fight with me, O All-Praised One, / giving peace to my soul.
Above all the Angels and Archangels / You have appeared, the Pure Maiden of God, / therefore I pray to You / to crush the arrows of the enemy, sharpened against me, / giving peace to my soul.
Glory: How long, my soul, do you remain in sins, / do you put an end to the sinful custom! / Rise from the depths of evil, looking at the powerful intercession of the Most Pure One, / always quick to help you / and bestowing peace on your soul and body with Her grace.
And now: Joy, and gladness, and Divine rejoicing, / the Virgin, who did not know a husband, have multiplied for us according to the will of God: / for behold, in the midst of bitter weeping, / we rejoice through Your prayers.
Irmos: This Divine and revered by all / celebrating the feast of the Mother of God, / come, God-wise, / let us applaud, / glorifying God who was born of Her.
Chorus: Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Rejoicing in Divine greatness, / as the beginning of our joy, / we offer exclamations of gratitude to the Virgin, / diligently honoring Her as our Intercessor.
A joyful song is worthy of You, / we, Pure Virgin, offer with joy, / having been delivered from troubles by Your prayers.
Glory: The tongues of angels cannot sing / praises worthy of You, Pure One; / we now, slavishly taking on this, / Gabriel’s exclamation “Rejoice!” we bring it to you.
And now: As Divine refuge, / having acquired Your intercession before God, / in adversity, persecution, and sins, we resort to You / and from You, Most Pure One, we accept deliverance.
Lord, have mercy, three times. Glory, and now:
Having become like a barren fig tree, / I, unfortunate one, bear no tender fruit at all / and am afraid of being cut down; / but, looking at Your miraculous icon of Tenderness, Lady, / I groan with all my heart and cry: / “Have mercy, O Compassionate One, / and over me, with a petrified heart, / deign to grant spiritual and heartfelt tenderness!”
Ikos: I have surpassed in my sins / the harlot, and the prodigal son, and the tax collector, and the thief, and the Ninevites, / I am alone, more unfortunate than all people; / and, having lost grace and boldness towards the Lord, / I groan with all my heart and cry out: / “Deign to show yourself as the Intercessor and Guarantor of salvation / to my many-sinful soul, / giving me spiritual and heartfelt tenderness!”
Irmos: The God-wise / creations did not honor more than the Creator, / but they bravely trampled down the fire that threatened them, / joyfully sang: / “Praised Lord and God of the fathers, / blessed are You!”
Chorus: Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
O Lady, You pour out a river of inexhaustible mercy to all sinners. / Therefore I pray: give water to my thirsty soul / and irrigate my sin-dry heart, / so that in blessing I may sing: / “Praised Lord and God of the fathers, blessed are You!”
Listening graciously to everyone in sorrows / and misfortunes of soul and body, / do not reject, O Lady, even me, unworthy, / but grant me the honor to sing: / “Lord and God of the fathers, blessed are You!”
Glory: Do not reject, Mother of God, / me, wounded by the advice of the serpent, / do not disdain me, who stinks of many sins, / but deign to always sing: “Lord and God of the fathers, blessed are You!”
And now: When the thrones are set for the Judgment / and all those born on earth appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, / then reveal, O Lady, Your maternal intercession / and unfailing help to me who calls out: / “Lord and God of the fathers, blessed are You!”
Irmos: The pious youths in the oven / The Child of the Mother of God saved: / then - typified, and now - active; / He calls the whole universe to sing to You. / Sing to the Lord, O creatures, / and exalt throughout all ages!
Chorus: Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
Deliver me from fear, O Lady, / from anger and airy ordeals. / Show Thy great mercy / on me, unworthy, but singing: / “Sing to the Lord, you creatures, / and exalt Him to all ages!”
Deliver me, Most Immaculate, / from the attacks of evil people and crafty demons, / for they tremble at Your great name / and disappear like smoke; / grant me, in the tenderness of my heart, to sing: / “Sing to the Lord, you creatures, / and exalt Him to all ages!”
Glory: Extinguish, O All-Praised One, the fiery arrows / of the prince of the dark region, always fighting with me, / weak and sad, / and enable me to sing with gratitude: / “Sing to the Lord, you creatures, / and exalt Him forever!”
And now: Accept my poor singing, All-Merciful Lady, / Virgin Lady Theotokos, / covering those who sing with Your maternal mercy: “Sing to the Lord, you creatures, / and exalt Him throughout all ages!”
Irmos: Let everyone born on earth / rejoice, enlightened by the Spirit; / may the nature of the disembodied Minds triumph, / honoring the sacred triumph of the Mother of God, / and may she cry out: / “Rejoice, All-Blessed, / Pure Mother of God, Ever-Virgin!”
Chorus: Most Holy Theotokos, save us.
When my strength fails / at the departure of my sinful soul / from this unfortunate and vile body, / then especially show on me, unworthy, / the strength of Your arm, O All-Blessed One: / grant me at the hour of death to joyfully cry out to You: / “Rejoice, O All-Blessed One, / Pure Mother of God, Ever-Virgin!”
I am poor and wretched, deprived of good deeds, / without spiritual tenderness; / You Yourself, Most Merciful, / grant me to cry out in gratitude: / “Rejoice, All-Blessed One, / Pure Mother of God, Ever-Virgin!”
Glory: Sprinkle me with the hyssop of Your mercy, O Most Pure One, / so that I may be cleansed from my grave and cruel iniquities / and in the tenderness of my soul I will cry out from my heart: / “Rejoice, All-Blessed One, / Pure Mother of God, Ever-Virgin!”
And now: What I thought about in my soul, that’s what I brought / - singing within my power to You, Lady; / do not reject him according to Your usual mercy / and do not disdain me, a great sinner and unclean one, / but grant me always to sing to You with tenderness: / “Rejoice, All-Blessed One, / Pure Mother of God, Ever-Virgin!”
Warm intercession in troubles and the Helper / and reconciliation with God, / She, thanks to Whom we were delivered from destruction, / - Let us glorify the Mother of God, faithful.
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God: In You we, sinners, have a Patroness, / O most pure Virgin, / Make Thy Son and God favorable to us / through Thy maternal prayers.
O Most Holy Lady, Lady Virgin Mary! Accept our unworthy prayers, save us from the slander of evil people and from sudden death, give us repentance before the end, have mercy on our prayers and give us joy instead of sadness. And deliver us, O Lady and Lady Theotokos, from all misfortune, misfortune, sorrow, illness and all evil. And at the second coming of Your Son, Christ our God, grant us, Your sinful servants, to stand at His right and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life with all the saints for endless centuries. Amen.
Accept, O all-good and mighty most pure Lady, Lady of God, Mother of God, these precious gifts, which alone are due to You, from us, Your unworthy servants, chosen from all generations, who appeared to be the highest of all creations of heaven and earth! Indeed, thanks to You, the Lord of Powers is now with us, and through You we have come to know the Son of God and have been rewarded with His holy Body and His most pure Blood. Therefore, blessed are You in the generations of generations, having acquired bliss in God, brightest of the Cherubim, and highest in honor of the Seraphim. And now, all-praiseworthy Most Holy Theotokos, do not cease to pray for us, Thy unworthy servants, so that we may be delivered from every evil advice and from every misfortune, and remain unharmed from every poisonous attack of the devil. But even to the end, through Your prayers, without condemnation, preserve us, so that, saved by Your intercession and help, we, for all glory, praise, thanksgiving and worship, send up in the Trinity the one God and the Creator of all, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.
Tenderness - All joys Joy: prayers
Glory:
And now:
Irmos:
Glory:
And now:
Glory, and now:
Irmos:
Glory:
And now:
Irmos:
Glory:
And now:
Irmos:
Glory:
And now:
Ikos:
Irmos:
Glory:
And now:
Irmos:
Glory:
And now:
Irmos:
Glory:
And now:
Glory, and now:
Most Pure Mother of God, / do not reject me, accursed and unclean, / who dares to sing Your miracles, Tenderness.
Glory: I have no other refuge and warm intercession / to Thy Son and our God, O All-Singing One, / so grant me, a great sinner, to praise Thy miracles.
And now: Obsessed with laziness and overwhelmed by passions, I am, / Thy inexorable servant, O Lady, / I am at a loss to praise and glorify Thy miracles.
Irmos: Thy hymns, Mother of God, / living and unenvious Source, / spiritually establish the face of yourself, / in Thy Divine glory, / grant crowns of glory.
No one, come running with faith under Your Divine Cover, O Lady, / the melancholy comes from You, / and I, a great sinner, boldly call: / Grant me Divine tenderness.
Glory: Jacob, having seen the Divine ladder, said: / This is the degree of God, Even as You art, Moving; / I also pray to Thee: / grant me, the unworthy fierceness, a good ascent to virtue.
And now: Just as you are obedient to all in sorrows and situations of soul and body / show Thee, Lord, Good Mother of God, / so grant me, fiercely overwhelmed by placeless passions, tears of tenderness / and grant Your, O Virgin, Motherly intercession.
Having exceeded my head, my sins, O Lady, / I am defiled by them, and there is no healing in my flesh, / but You, Most Compassionate, grant to my soul tears of repentance to cleanse the defilements of sins / and heal bodily ailments, Who gave birth to all kinds of Physicians and the Lord.
Glory, and now: I have attracted spiritual wounds and bodily illnesses, O Lady, / but You, as the Most Merciful, heal both, giving me the inexhaustible gift of spiritual tenderness, / and may I continually glorify Your all-powerful intercession.
Irmos: Seated in glory on the Throne of the Divine, / in a light cloud, / the Divine Jesus came, / with an imperishable hand, and those who called for salvation: / glory, O Christ, to Thy power.
Tears are not imam, accursed az, below spiritual tenderness, / but She, as the Merciful One, favors these gifts, so I cry: / Rejoice, Most Pure Virgin, all joys of Joy.
Glory: I am weak and accursed by the scabs of sin, / heal, O Most Pure One, pouring out the oil of Thy mercy, / and raise up songs to Thee: / Rejoice, O Lady, O Joy of all joys.
And now: Having darkened my mind in worldly sweets, / but You, Lady, the light of my darkened soul, disperse the darkness of my passions, / so that I may be enlightened by You, I cry out: / Rejoice, Unmarried Bride.
Irmos: Everyone was terrified / about Your Divine glory, / for You, the Unartificed Virgin, / had God in your womb above all / and you gave birth to a lifeless Son, / giving peace to all who sing Your praises.
Highest of all, the Angel and Archangel appeared, O Pure Mother of God, / I also pray to Thee, the arrows of the enemy, sophisticated against me, to crush, / souls that give peace.
Glory: As long as, my soul, you remain in sin, having no end to your sinful custom, / arise from the depths of evil, looking to the sovereign intercession of the Most Pure One, who is always quick to help you / and with His grace giving peace to your soul and body.
And now: Joy, and joy, and Divine rejoicing, / Inexperienced Virgin, God has multiplied for us: / behold, we who weep fiercely, we rejoice in Thy prayers.
Irmos: This divine and all-honorable celebration / of the Divine Wisdom, Mother of God, / come, let us clasp our hands, / from Her we glorify the God born.
The song of joy is worthy of You, O Pure Virgin; we bring it joyfully, / having been delivered from troubles by Your prayers.
Glory: The pagan angels cannot sing Thy praise worthily, O Pure One, / but we now, slavishly mounted, / bring Gabriel’s joy to Thee.
And now: As a Divine refuge, we have acquired Your protection to God, / in adversity, and in persecution, and in sins, we resort to You / and we accept change through You, Most Pure One.
Even as I imitate the barren fig tree, / I, the accursed one, bear no fruit of tenderness and am afraid of being flogged, / but, looking at the miraculous icon of Your Tenderness, Lady, / I groan from my heart and cry out: / You are touched, O Compassionate One, / and I, who am petrified at heart, / deign to give spiritual and heartfelt tenderness.
Ikos: My sins have exceeded the harlot, and the prodigal, and the publican, / and the thief, and the Ninevites, I am the only one who is more damned than all others, / and, having lost grace and boldness towards the Lord, I groan from my heart and cry out: / You are the Intercessor and Helper of the salvation of a much-sinful soul do my good, / giving me spiritual and heartfelt tenderness.
Irmos: Having not served the creation of God’s Wisdom / more than the Creator, / but the fiery rebuke manfully trampled, / I rejoiced, singing: / blessed are the Lord and God of the fathers.
Even though you are obedient to all in sorrows and situations of soul and body, O Lady, / do not reject me, unworthy, but grant me the song: / of the fathers, Lord and God, blessed art thou.
Glory: Do not reject me, O Mother of God, who was wounded by the serpent’s advice, / do not disdain me, who stinks of many sins, / but grant me to always sing: / of the fathers, Lord and God, blessed art thou.
And now: When the thrones are set for the Judgment and all earthly beings appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, / then show me, the Lady, Your Motherly intercession, abundant help, I cry out: / the Lord and God of the fathers, blessed art thou.
Irmos: The pious youths in the cave / The Nativity of the Theotokos was saved, / then formed, / now in action, / the whole universe lifts up the song to You: / Sing to the Lord, O deeds, / and exalt Him to all ages.
Deliver me, Most Immaculate, the bitterness of evil people and crafty demons, / for they tremble at Your great name, like smoke disappear; / Vouchsafe me, in the tenderness of my heart, to sing: / Sing to the Lord, O works, and exalt Him unto all ages.
Glory: The dark power of the prince, who always fights against me, weak and despondent, extinguish the kindled arrows, O All-Singing One, / and make me worthy to sing with gratitude: / Sing to the Lord, O deeds, and exalt Him forever.
And now: Accept my poor singing, O All-Merciful Lady Virgin, Lady Theotokos, / Covering those who sing with your motherly mercy: / Sing to the Lord, O deeds, and exalt Him unto all ages.
Irmos: Let every earth-born / leap, enlightened by the Spirit, / let the nature of the bodiless minds triumph, / honoring the sacred triumph of the Mother of God, / and let him cry out: / Rejoice, All-Blessed Mother of God, / Pure Ever-Virgin.
I am poor and wretched because of good deeds, without spiritual tenderness, O Most Merciful, / You Yourself grant to me, so that I cry out in gratitude: / Rejoice, All-Blessed Mother of God, Pure Ever-Virgin.
Glory: Sprinkle me with the hyssop of Thy mercy, O Most Pure One, / that I may be cleansed from my grave and cruel iniquities, and in the tenderness of my soul, let me cry from my heart: / Rejoice, O All-Blessed, Pure Ever-Virgin One.
And now: Even though I thought in my soul, with the strength of my strength I brought singing to You, Lady, / do not reject me with Your usual mercy / and do not be disgusted by me, many sinners and unclean, / but always vouchsafe to sing to You in tenderness: / Rejoice, All-Blessed Mother of God, Pure Ever-Virgin.
Glory, and now: You are the Representative of the Imams, sinners, O Most Pure Virgin, / You are blessed to create Your Son and our God / With Your Mother’s prayers.
The article will talk about the icon of the Mother of God of Tenderness, what believers pray for in front of it, and what unique significance it has for the whole world. It depicts the Virgin immediately after the Good News, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and announced that she would become the Mother of God. This moment captured the beginning of the Incarnation of God, and from here the fulfillment of the promise of the salvation of all mankind begins. The Lord has already come to earth to show his love and atone for the sins of the world.
“Tenderness” is not just an icon, it is a testimony. About eternal life, about forgiveness. The image foreshadows death on the cross in the name of endless love.
Description of the Tenderness icon: types
In this article you will learn about the Seraphim-Diveyevo Icon of Tenderness. But besides the most famous “Joy of All Joys,” there is a whole iconographic type of icons under the general name “Tenderness.” Let's get to know them briefly.
Icons of “Tenderness” (Eleusa) are one of the main types of images of the Mother of God. There are many traditional icons, the main distinguishing feature of which is the letter of the Virgin Mary with Christ in her arms, where they press their cheeks to each other. Which is the iconographic type of Tenderness in the traditional version. This symbol means the absence of distance between God the Son and His Mother and the endless love between them. The famous icons of the Mother of God of this type are as follows:
- Novgorodskaya;
- Pskov-Pecherskaya;
- Vladimirskaya;
- Feodorovskaya;
- Donskaya;
- some others.
There are also lesser-known iconographic varieties of Tenderness, such as the “Leaping of the Child,” which also belongs to the type of Eleusa.
But the greatest fame and veneration belongs to the Diveyevo Icon “Tenderness”, in front of which the Rev. prayed. Seraphim of Sarov. He called her “The Joy of All Joys” and healed the sick in front of her. The Mother of God herself repeatedly appeared to the saint, healed him from a fatal illness, “this Family of ours” - she spoke about him. Father Seraphim left this icon behind him as the Trustee of the Diveyevo Monastery. The icon became famous for many miracles.
Its original has miraculously survived to this day. The shrine is kept in the Patriarchal Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the working Patriarchal residence in Chisty Lane. There is a tradition one day a year - on the Feast of the Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos - to bring the Seraphim-Diveyevo Icon of the Tenderness of the Mother of God for veneration by all believers. The service with the image takes place in the Moscow Epiphany Cathedral in Elokhov. Traditionally, on this day an akathist to the Blessed Virgin Mary is read. The holiday is celebrated on Saturday of the fifth week of Lent.
Seraphim-Diveyevo Icon of the Mother of God Tenderness: meaning
The Seraphim of Tenderness is one of the most touching images of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Here she is depicted as if alone, but remembering what the event is dedicated to, we know that this is not so. The son is invisibly present and reflected in her face with divine features - meekness, chastity, quiet light.
It is difficult to even guess what the Mother of God felt at that moment: in the icon we see her downcast gaze. Cross-folded hands on the chest symbolize the inexpressible Mystery and foreshadow the sacrifice of the cross. The head is in a tender half-tilt. Image of the words around the crown: “Hail, Unbrideless Bride.”
An unknown icon painter depicted several most expressive strokes on the canvas. And these strokes perfectly conveyed the essence: before us is the Mother of God at her most exciting moment, immediately after the Annunciation. Soon she will go to Elizabeth, and her cousin will tell her the words that will become a hymn to the Mother of God: “Virgin Mother of God, rejoice!..”. And the Virgin will answer: “My soul magnifies the Lord...” - we sing this Song to her to this day. The culmination of the event. Humanity has matured to accept the Son of God, and behold, He is with us.
Miracles Icons of the Mother of God Tenderness
Taking its beginning from the hands of Rev. Seraphim, this image has been pleasing us with its help for several centuries. Miracles continue today. The modern icon of the Mother of God “Seraphim Tenderness” is known, called Lokotskaya, after the place of its discovery in the village of Lokot, Bryansk region. This is the only double-sided miraculous myrrh-streaming icon in the world. There is numerous evidence that physical and mental illnesses are healed before the image. She also appeared wonderfully. One woman saw a paper calendar of the Virgin Mary lying neglected on a store counter. It turned out that the calendar was expired and could not be sold. Fearing for the fate that the Holy Face might suffer, the woman took the image home. Over time, it began to flow myrrh, then miracles and healings occurred. Next, in the woman’s house, all the icons were filled with myrrh. On the paper icon “Tenderness” another Face was formed, on the other side. The icon can still be found today. Its keeper, Natalya Shishkova, has been hosting pilgrims for more than 10 years.
According to her, prayer before the icon of the Mother of God of Tenderness helps heal serious illnesses and cope with life’s difficulties.
Icon of the Mother of God Tenderness: what does it help with and what do believers pray for?
Seraphim's Tenderness is the embodiment of purity and restrained joy. One of the most sublime images of the Virgin Mary. Among the people, the icon is revered as a faithful assistant in choosing a worthy groom and a teacher of chastity for girls. It is believed that the icon of the Mother of God of Tenderness helps young girls in choosing their path, what they pray for in front of it, as well as for a good marriage, conception, and successful childbirth. You can ask for the gift of a noble character and a pure life for fragile girlish hearts.
The icon is not simple. Seraphim of Sarov had the prototype: how, when, where this icon came from - we don’t know anything. It is only known that the monk always fervently prayed before it, blessed his spiritual children with it, and miracles and healings took place before this icon. And as a culmination, after standing in prayer on a stone in front of her for 300 days, Father Seraphim gave up his soul to God.
Icon of the Mother of God of Tenderness: prayer and troparion
Prayer
Receive, O All-merciful, Most Pure Lady, Lady Theotokos, the only one applied to You, from us, Your unworthy servants: chosen from all generations, the highest of all creatures of heaven and earth, who appeared, because for Your sake the Lord of hosts was with us, and by You the Son of God was known and We have been made worthy of the communion of His holy Body and His most pure Blood; Blessed are you, too, in the birth of generations, O God-blessed One, the brightest of the Cherubim and the most honest of the Seraphim. And now, all-sung Most Holy Theotokos, do not cease praying for us, Thy unworthy servants, that we may be delivered from every evil council and every situation and that we may be preserved unharmed from every poisonous pretext of the devil; but even to the end, through Your prayers, keep us uncondemned, as if through Your intercession and help we are saved, we send glory, praise, thanksgiving and worship in the Trinity to the One God and the Creator of all, now and ever, and forever and ever. Amen.
Troparion, tone 4
Let us fall to the Mother of God with tenderness, all burdened with sins, kissing Her miraculous icon of Tenderness and crying out with tears: Lady, accept the prayer of Your unworthy servants and grant us, who ask, Your great mercy.
We see that the icon of the Tenderness of the Mother of God has not lost its meaning to this day. And, probably, it is unlikely to lose it. What do they pray for before her? Who will help us so much, who will console us so much, if not the Queen of Heaven? With maternal tenderness, until our last day, she will take care of everyone who does not reject her help. Let us pray to her for prudence and high morality. May She not leave us in trials and may we not forget about Her in prosperity.
