According to a number of media reports, an icon of the 18th century - the image of the Mother of God "The Sign" was pacified in the Archangel Michael Church of the village of Urusovo, Venevsky District, Tula Region. Experts believe that the myrrh streaming of icons should be approached very carefully and checked for authenticity. However, there are different interpretations - from a miracle to a warning to be prepared for terrible events.
Religious scholar Denis Batarchuk believes that there is no unambiguous interpretation of the reasons for the myrrh streaming of icons even within the church. Everything strongly depends on a particular person and his perception, one and the same phenomenon can be perceived both as an omen of trouble and as a message of joy.
“In the 1980s, the icon of the Mother of God, called the" Sovereign ", became a very popular among believers, its original was found in the basement of the Ascension Church in the Kolomenskoye estate on the day of Tsar Nicholas II's abdication from the throne," says Batarchuk. - This is a very beautiful icon. The Mother of God, seated on the throne, was pacified, and for the believers of the end of the last century, this became evidence that new times are coming, that the Mother of God sitting on the royal throne is a reminder of the innocently murdered king. The country, as we remember, was going through a turning point at that time, and people found consolation in this.
The publicist and theologian Vladimir Tikhomirov believes that this is how God addresses man.
- God first addresses a person with a whisper of love, and if he is not heard, then with the voice of conscience, and only then God speaks through the mouthpiece of suffering. And all the small and large miracles that the Lord constantly gives to people as a sign of His presence are just quiet words of love. And the important thing here is not at all how and why this miracle happens - in particular, how the myrrh streaming of icons occurs, but how a person responds to these signs, - said Tikhomirov.
TASS / AP Photo / Dmitri Lovetsky.
Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov believes that, as a rule, icons cry to cheer people up, to show them that God is near, but, it happens, they warn of terrible times.
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- Myrrh streaming is always a miracle, always from God. Usually this is given to people for consolation, for joy. But very rarely there are cases when icons streamed myrrh as a warning to menacing days. For example, recently, in 2013, in Blagoveshchensk, people say, before the flood, the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” was pacified. In general, there are countless weeping icons in the country, only we have two myrrh-streaming icons in the Church of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh. They do not stream myrrh constantly, but occasionally. Who knows, maybe they are warning us about something, - Father Dmitry added.
The historian of religion Alexei Svetozarsky recalls that the myrrh-streaming icons are most strongly remembered in difficult times, when people need support.
- The myrrh-streaming of an icon is a sign that it has special grace. For example, in Moscow there is a church of St. Nicholas in Khamovniki, where the famous icon "The Assistant of Sinners" is located. She became famous during the cholera epidemic of 1848, when she began to expire in peace on Easter night. Fortunately, this situation was documented, the memories of Nikolai Naydenov were preserved, he observed this phenomenon, says Svetozarsky.
Church of St. Nicholas in Khamovniki. Photo: TASS / Sergey Ivanov-Alliluyev.
The historian recalled that in the 18th century there was a synodal administration of the Church, through the state organization the Holy Synod, which was established by Peter I. One of the functions of this organ of state power was to test a miracle.
- It was an enlightened age. The legislation provided for the most severe verification of a miracle for authenticity. The icon was in the possession of Dmitry Banchishkov, a participant in the war of 1812, and Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow transferred the icon to the church. And then miracles began: people saw at night how in the closed church, in front of which there was a police cordon, the light from the icon was on. This miracle was seen, including by Naydenov, - said the historian.
Alexei Svetozarsky emphasized that the first mentions of miraculous icons belong to the period of pre-Mongol Rus and are noted in the annals. Usually chroniclers associated myrrh streaming, or “tears of icons,” with an impending disaster - like the invasion of Khan Batu or the beginning of a fratricidal war during the period of feudal fragmentation in Russia.
The experts noted that today Patriarch Kirill made a detour of Moscow with the icon of the Mother of God "Tenderness", which, according to legend, is healing and helps to heal diseases. According to the religious scholar Denis Batarchuk, patriarchs do not often travel all over Moscow with icons. If we recall recent history, then the most significant was on October 3, 1993, when Patriarch Alexy II walked around the capital in a procession and prayed "For the salvation of the Russian state and the quenching of strife and discord in it" galleries.
Yurchenko Nikita
