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The Volokolamsk Icon of the Mother of God
Tender Mercy (Eleusa) Commemorated on March 3 The Volokolamsk Icon of the Mother of God is a copy of the Vladimir Icon of the Moscow Dormition cathedral. The icon was brought from Zvenigorod to the Dormition monastery of St Joseph of Volokolamsk on March 2, 1572, during the second week of Great Lent and was solemnly met by Igumen Leonid (1563-1566; 1568-1573) and all the monastic brethren. It is distinguished by its particular depiction on the margins of St Cyprian (right) and St Gerontius (left), Metropolitans of Moscow. The name of Metropolitan Cyprian is associated with the first arrival of the ancient Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God from Constantinople to Moscow in the year 1395, and under Metropolitan Gerontius in 1480 the Vladimir Icon came finally to Moscow. At the end of the seventeenth century, when a church of the same name was built in Moscow at Staraya Basmanna, the church atop the gate of St Joseph of Volokolamsk was rededicated in honor of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The Volokolamsk Icon was transferred to its proper place on the iconostasis of the new cathedral Dormition church of the monastery of St Joseph of Volokoamsk. In 1578, the icon was recognized as wonderworking. The icons of the Tender Mercy type show Christ Child pressing his left cheek against His mothers right cheek. Here the Theotokos again represents the Church of Christ, displaying the fullness of love between God and man, a love that can only be achieved within the bosom of the Church, our Mother. Love here bridges heaven and earth, the things of God and the things of man; this union is expressed in the touching of the faces and the halos. The Theotokos is pensive, as she presses her Son to herself. She envisions His way of the cross, His life full of sufferings. Among the icons of this type, Our Lady of Vladimir is the one most widely known and loved by the faithful. It is no accident that this very icon has become one of the greatest of Russias holy objects. There are several reasons for this, including its ancient origin, its attribution to the Evangelist Luke, and the numerous events related to its transfer from Kiev to Vladimir and later to Moscow, as well as the multiple instances of the delivery of Moscow from the plundering raids of the Mongol hordes. However, the very type of representation - the Tenderness Mother of Godcharacter evoked a positive response in the hearts of the Russian people. The concept of sacrificial service for the people has always been one that could be understood by, and was near and dear to, the Russians. The great grief felt by the Theotokos, who had brought her Son into this world of cruelty and sufferings, and her pain were very much in keeping with the innermost feelings of the Russian people. |
