According to the Gospel of Luke, on the fortieth day after the birth of Jesus Christ, his mother brought the baby to the temple. There they were met by Saint Simeon, who had only one glance at Mary and her son to read their future.
The elder predicted to the Mother of God the death of Jesus on the cross, and also told about the grievous torments that she would endure, the unbearable pain that would pierce her at the sight of her son's suffering. Several centuries passed, and an unknown icon painter painted a new icon of the Theotokos, where he figuratively depicted the prophecy of Simeon - the face of the Virgin Mary and seven arrows (swords) piercing her body. The icon was named "Seven-shot" (another variation of this iconographic type is "Softening Evil Hearts"). Over the centuries, many copies from this image were famous for their miraculous power, and therefore today they are equally revered by both Orthodox people and Catholics.
Belfry stair
Even 100 years ago, the most revered miraculous copy of the Seven-Shot Icon was considered to be an image from the St. John the Theological Church, which stood on the banks of the Toshnya River, not far from Vologda. And he was found miraculously.
Once, a peasant from the Kadnikovsky district, suffering from a lameness since birth, had a voice in a dream, ordering him to go to the St. John the Theological Church and pray there to the Seven-shot image of the Most Holy Theotokos, in order to get rid of a serious illness. With great difficulty, the peasant got to the church indicated to him, but he could not find the icon that appeared to him in his dream. Walking around the entire temple in search of the cherished image, the pilgrim began to climb the belfry and suddenly stumbled on the stairs. The step under his foot turned over, revealing in front of the amazed peasant the face of the Mother of God, stained with mud. It turns out that the cherished icon in the temple was taken for a simple board for a long time, and people trampled on it, not even realizing that they were trampling on a great shrine.
The newly acquired image was immediately cleaned of dirt and exhibited in the main aisle of the church. And after a prayer service served in front of him, the pilgrim, who found a wonderful icon, got rid of his limp.
The news of the miraculous finding of the shrine soon spread throughout the entire area. People went to the icon to ask her to get rid of bodily ailments and everyday troubles. After praying in front of the cherished icon, the pilgrims not only were healed from serious illnesses, but also found peace and harmony in their families, and also received good luck in business. It was noticed that the seven-arrow icon helped to resolve conflicts between people, softening the bitter hearts of implacable enemies.
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In 1830, a few years after the acquisition of the image, a terrible cholera epidemic broke out in Vologda. After numerous deaths, believers decided to ask for help from the miraculous icon. The image was surrounded by the procession around the city, and the plague immediately retreated.
The miraculous icon was kept in the St. John the Theological Church until 1917, but after the church was closed by the Bolsheviks, the image disappeared without a trace. However, a list has survived from the shrine, which has been kept in the Vologda church in the name of St. Righteous Lazarus since 1945.
Don Madonna
It must be said that the seven-arrow icon is revered not only in our country, but also abroad. An example of this is the "Don Madonna" in Venice, where it is kept in a special chapel. The history of this icon is quite interesting.
In 1942, Italian soldiers of the Alpine Corps fought on the Don near the city of Pavlovsk on the German side. Once a platoon of Lieutenant Giuseppe Perego was hiding from bombing in the chalk caves of the Resurrection Monastery, destroyed by the Bolsheviks during the anti-religious campaign. And there one of the soldiers found an ancient seven-shot image of the Virgin. The found icon was given to the military chaplain, Father Polycarpo, who placed the shrine in the camp church. Not knowing the name of the found image, the Italians nicknamed the icon Madonna del Don ("The Don Madonna") and often prayed to the Orthodox shrine before hot battles. Even being convinced Catholics, many soldiers were sure that Madonna's intercession helped them survive in the battles.
During the large-scale offensive of the Red Army in 1943, the remnants of the Alpine Corps, miraculously not being surrounded, were able to leave the borders of the USSR and reach Italy. Many participants in those events were sure that the Don Madonna had brought them to their homeland. Later, the veterans recalled the extraordinary kindness of the inhabitants of the villages through which their path passed, because only thanks to their help the hungry and frostbitten invaders survived. War-worn people shared their last supplies with the Italians without showing any hostility towards yesterday's invaders. The Italians believed that their hearts were so softened by the intercession of the Mother of God.
Having reached Venice, Father Polycarpo placed the found icon in a small chapel, and a few years later the people saved by it presented the image with a rich silver frame, on the rosettes of which scenes of the events of 1943 were engraved. In addition, there are always two bowls in front of the icon - with the earth and the water of the Don, in order to emphasize the deep respect for the homeland of the shrine.
Miro and blood
However, the most famous miraculous seven-shot image of the Mother of God today, of course, is a small modern icon from the village of Bachurino near Moscow. This shrine now known to the whole world today - an ordinary typographic image pasted on cardboard - was acquired by a Muscovite Margarita Vorobyova in 1999 in an icon shop in Sofrino. But a few days later, the first droplets of the world appeared on the paper icon, and since then this image has been continuously streaming myrrh. The wonderful moisture that regularly drains from the image has a persistent pleasant smell, and also has healing properties.
As soon as the miracles of the ordinary home icon became widely known, a special commission from the Russian Orthodox Church visited the Vorobyovs' apartment in order to take the miro for research. The analysis showed that the moisture flowing from the image is very similar in chemical composition to the sap of the coniferous tree growing in southern countries, and in addition, it contains an antidepressant and a wound healing agent.
And soon it was noticed that from time to time the icon begins to bleed, and this always happens before the tragic events in the country. So, on the eve of the sinking of the Kursk submarine, deep dark shadows appeared under the eyes of the Mother of God, and tiny wounds were covered in her hands, from which droplets of blood oozed. During the terrorist attack at the show of the musical "Nord-Ost" and the seizure of a school in Beslan, the icon was covered with blood stains.
The analysis showed that the blood on the image is human - of the first group, Rh positive, but how and where it appears on the icon remains a mystery.
Soon there were so many people who learned about the wonders of a simple home icon that visitors simply could not fit in the tiny apartment of the Vorobyovs. And then it was decided to build their own temple for the miraculous image. Margarita sold a Moscow apartment and acquired a small plot of land in the Moscow region, in the village of Bachurino. A few months later, a small church and a small house for Margarita and her family grew up here, which were helped by patrons of art.
Given by faith
However, the icon is rarely in its church, as it is on constant trips around the country and the world. The fact is that many believers want to touch such a miracle and receive the anointing, and therefore Margarita and her husband Sergei (he accompanies the image on trips) receive invitations from all over the world. Moreover, the icon “visits” both hospitals and correctional institutions, and in 2009 it was brought to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior for the election of the new Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill.
In a short time, many miracles were noticed from this small image, but Seven-Shotgun meets not all of its visitors equally. There are people who cannot approach the icon, as if some force is erecting an obstacle in their path. Others are brought by relatives, but, barely seeing the image, the poor fellows begin to scream and break free, trying to run away from the place where the icon is located. But most often the seven-arrow icon is friendly to its guests, helping many of them in their affairs and granting healing to those in need.
The clergy believe that every seven-shot image is endowed with invisible power. One has only to sincerely pray to this icon, and it will grant a person peace of mind, help to establish family life and protect from the intrigues of enemies. And an ordinary icon purchased in a church shop will save a house better than any security system. The main thing is to believe in its power, because it is not for nothing that the Gospel says: "To everyone is given according to his faith."