Over the two thousand years of Christianity's existence, many revered images have accumulated. They pray before them everywhere - from Argentina to Kamchatka, asking God and especially His Mother for help in matters, healing from diseases and saving the soul.
We will tell you about 10 of the most miraculous icons in the world, both Orthodox and Catholic. They are listed alphabetically.
10. Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God, Poland
It is one of the oldest and most revered icons in Poland, although the nickname among the people has a somewhat sinister one. She is called the "Black Madonna" because the colors of the sacred image have darkened greatly with old age. According to legend, it was written by the Evangelist Luke.
Over the many years of its existence, the icon has seen a lot and even suffered - in the 15th century, during the uprising of the Hussites, one of them struck several blows on the icon with a sword, which are still noticeable. It is believed that it was the presence of this icon that helped the monastery to defend itself against the superior forces of the Swedes in the 17th century. For forty days, 70 monks and 180 volunteers defended the holy place from a detachment of 4000 Swedes. After the end of the siege, King Casimir crowned the icon - this is how Catholics "reward" especially revered images that confirmed their reputation as miraculous.
Since then, the Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God has been considered the patroness and protector of Poland, and pious Poles strive to make a pilgrimage to her at least once in their lives.
9. Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God, Ukraine
Like many revered shrines of the Belarusian and Ukrainian lands, the Pochaev icon changed its "confession" several times. Initially, it was "Orthodox", then, after the transfer of the monastery in which it was kept, into the hands of the Uniates (these are Catholics of the Byzantine rite) it became "Catholic".
But both of them recognized its status as miraculous, and just half a century after the icon was converted to Catholicism, it was crowned by the Pope. In general, during its "Catholic" years (from 1721 to 1832), the icon became famous for performing 539 documented miracles.
The most famous miracle attributed to prayers in front of this icon is the deliverance of the monastery from the Turks, who had already laid siege to the monastery and intended to plunder it with all their might. However, through the prayers of the Monk Job of Pochaev, the Mother of God herself appeared before them. Frightened Turks began to shoot at it, but the arrows, of course, fell down and hit them. The enemy fled in terror.
Now the Pochaev icon is still, like many centuries ago, in the main cathedral of the Lavra of the same name in Ukraine.
8. Osenovitsa, icon of the Mother of God from the Rila Monastery, Bulgaria
This icon in itself is an extraordinary sight. A very small image of the Virgin, decorated with a silver halo, is located in the center of the lattice field. And in each cell are the relics of one of the revered Orthodox saints.Such a mixture of a sacred image with a reliquary is very rare in Orthodoxy.
Osenovitskaya icon - one of the national shrines of Bulgaria; according to legend, it was presented to the monks of the Rila Monastery by the Byzantine emperor in the distant XII century. Since then, the folk path of the beggars for consolation from the heavenly Intercessor has not overgrown to her.
And our contemporary, Archimandrite Clement of Rilski, who was the abbot of the monastery for a long time, kept a record of miracles performed in front of the icon, moreover officially documented, with the signatures of witnesses. Like many centuries ago, the icon is located in the main cathedral of the Rila Monastery.
7. Zaraisk image of St. Nicholas, Russia
Saint Nicholas is one of the most beloved and revered saints by the Orthodox. There are a great many images of him, and we will tell you about the most miraculous of them - "Nicholas Zaraisky".
This image has been venerated in Zaraysk since ancient times: Russian tsars, grand dukes, nobles and peasants went to pray to it. For "Nikola Zaraisky" a whole cathedral was specially built, in which the icon was located for a long time, until it was taken to Moscow "for restoration" in the middle of the last century.
Since then, the miraculous image has remained in the Andrei Rublev Museum. He managed to return to his hometown only once - during the celebration of the 850th anniversary of the city.
6. Image of St. Luke of Crimea, Russia
This saint is practically our contemporary. He died only in 1961 and was canonized just 30 years after his death. Luka Voino-Yasenetsky all his life worked as a doctor, surgeon, wrote several books. During his lifetime, he treated people and did not leave this business after death.
It is best, of course, to make a pilgrimage to his relics, which lie in the cathedral in Simferopol, but if there is no opportunity to go to Crimea, then there is another option. One of the miraculous icons of the saint with a particle of relics is in the Moscow Dormition Church in Putinki.
5. Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, Russia
This is the same icon in honor of which the national holiday of November 4 was introduced. She appeared in the 16th century to the girl Matrona after a gigantic fire that burned down almost half of medieval Kazan.
And in the ashes, a ten-year-old girl found the image of the Mother of God, completely unharmed by the fire. The miraculous acquisition of it could not but affect people's minds, and the icon began to be considered special. It was her that Patriarch Germogen blessed the militia of Minin and Pozharsky. It is believed that the Russians owe the intercession of the Mother of God to the defeat of the Polish troops, many times outnumbering the militia.
True, the fate of the icon turned out to be sad. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was stolen from the church, and the thief sold the salary and burned the icon itself. However, many of its copies (copies) have survived, many of which, in turn, are considered miraculous - for example, Tobolsk and Tambov. There are also lists in the capitals - St. Petersburg and Moscow.
4. Iberian icon of the Mother of God, Athos, Greece
This is one of the oldest and most revered shrines of the Orthodox world, the first mention of which dates back to the 9th century. During the uprising of the iconoclasts, the owner of the icon, in order to save it from desecration, having prayed, lowered the icon onto the waves of the sea and pushed it away from the shore.
Almost two centuries later, the monks of the Athos Iversky Monastery saw a pillar of fire in the sea - this is how the sacred image announced its arrival. The abbot of the monastery with honor brought the icon to the temple, but she had her own opinion about the place where she would like to be. The next morning the monks were surprised to find the icon hanging over the gates of the monastery. This was repeated several times, until, finally, the Mother of God appeared to the abbot in a dream and said that the monks would no longer tempt her by unauthorized movements of the icon.
For many centuries, the image became famous for miracles, so much so that even Turkish soldiers, who loved to plunder monasteries on Athos, did not dare to remove the richly decorated frame from it. Currently, one of the most wonderful icons in the world can only be seen by men, since women are not allowed to enter Mount Athos.
3. Guadalupe image of the Virgin Mary, Mexico
It is the most revered icon in Latin America. It is believed that it was not written by human hand. Another distinctive detail of the image is that the Mother of God is depicted there as dark-skinned, similar to a young beautiful Indian woman.
The appearance of this image is associated with a miracle shown in the 16th century to a peasant of Spanish-Indian origin. In the middle of winter, the Virgin Mary appeared to him on the hill, and the hill itself was covered with blossoming roses. The amazed peasant gathered roses in his cloak, and when he later showed them to the bishop, everyone fell to their knees when they saw the image of the Virgin Mary on the cloak.
The miracle caused a massive conversion of the Aztecs to Christianity. The cloak with the image of the Virgin was exhibited for worship for almost five hundred years, but its preservation is amazing. The teaching has not yet come to a common conclusion as to how exactly the drawing was applied to the fabric.
Every year about 14 million people make pilgrimage to the shrine in Mexico City.
2. Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, Russia
From faraway Mexico we will be transported to the capital of Russia - Moscow. It is there, in the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, that one of the most famous icons in the world is located - the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. This is one of the most beautiful images of the Virgin, written no later than the 12th century in Byzantium and sent to Russia as a gift to the Kiev prince Mstislav.
Since then, she served as the patroness and protector of the Russian land, saving Moscow from the plunder by Tamerlane. Fortunately, despite its antiquity, the icon is available for worship by believers. For her, according to the last word of science, a special kivot was created, which maintains a microclimate inside itself that is safe for ancient painting.
1. Budislav icon of the Mother of God, Belarus
In the Catholic churches of Belarus, there are many ancient prayed icons that have performed many miracles. Some of them come from the Orthodox tradition, while others, like the Budislavskaya icon of the Mother of God, were brought from Rome itself.
She stayed on the Belarusian land for a very short time, but already half a century later she became famous for numerous miracles, so much so that a book was written about her ("The Zodiac on Earth"). It tells about over 40 cases of miraculous healing of people who prayed to the Budislav icon.
True, Catholics recognized her merits much later than the Orthodox (she was crowned only at the end of the 20th century). The revered image is located in the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin, in the village of Budislav, Minsk region.