At the end of the XIII century, on September 8, 1295, as legend says, in the surrounding forests near Kursk, in the roots of a tree, the Most Holy Theotokos showed her face to a pious husband. “… And he saw near the Tuskari River, in a half-mountain / at the root of a large tree, an icon lying prostrate, which he had only just lifted from the ground, as a source of water immediately flowed from that place. Seeing this, the husband put the honestly acquired icon in the hollow of a tree, and at the same time announced this Orthodox miracle to his comrades, who, agreeing with each other, built a chapel a few fathoms above the place mentioned and, having placed a miraculous icon in it, returned to the world. …"
The found icon with its image resembled the Novgorod icon of the Sign of the Mother of God (1170). This icon found on the banks of the Tuskari went down in history as the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God "The Sign", and for seven centuries it has been the patroness and defender of the Kursk land.
Many mysterious and significant events are associated with this icon. According to one of the modern researchers of the history of this icon J. Senatorsky, centuries later "miraculous signs and God's mercies descended on all who with faith touched the miraculous image of the Mother of God of the Sign of the Kursk Root".
The appearance of this icon took place at a turning point in history for the Russian land: many Russian cities and settlements were torn apart and destroyed by the Tatar-Mongols. Kursk was one of these cities experiencing terrible disasters. The inhabitants of this city in all the misfortunes that befell them saw the wrath of God, the punishment for sins. They also associated their liberation from foreign robbery with God's grace, which descended on them in the images of miraculous icons, which in a significant number appeared to the Russian people in the lands enslaved by the Mongols.
Church sources retained the names of such famous icons in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos, at different times revealed to our forefathers, as Kostroma (1239), Ustyug (1290), Kursk Root (1295), Tolgekaya (1814), Chukhloma (1350). Donskaya (1380), Tikhvin (1383), Putivlskaya (1405) Kolochskaya (1413), Pskov or Chirskaya (1420), Kazan (1579).
True, among church historians, disputes have flared up more than once regarding the year of the appearance of the Kursk Root Icon. This was explained by the fact that in a number of copies of "The Tale of the Apparitions of the Miraculous Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Kursk …" (a literary monument of the 17th century), 1295 is not named at all, but only mentions that it was the time of Mongol rule.
But be that as it may, in one of the handwritten legends, the year 6803 from the creation of the world or 1295 from the birth of Christ is named. And this very date is celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church as the time of the appearance of the Kursk shrine.
One of the first chronicles mentions of the miracles of the Kursk Root Znamenskaya Icon is associated with the name of Prince Vasily Shemyaka, to whom his sight returned after fervent prayer in front of the image of the Mother of God.
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With the intercession of this icon, the Kuryans associate overcoming the consequences of the terrible famine (1601-1603) during the reign of Boris Godunov and the Time of Troubles with innumerable troubles from impostors, the reflection of the raids of the Crimean Tatars, Lithuanians and Poles.
Miracles and signs associated with the Kursk Root Icon so amazed everyone with their divine power that their fame spread throughout Russia, and gradually this image became a national shrine. This icon became one of the most popular; copies of it were richly decorated and distributed in churches, monasteries, and among the troops.
When in 1689, during the Russian-Turkish wars, Russian warriors set out on the Crimean campaign, the image of this icon adorned the regimental banners with the inscription: “We lay all our hope in You, Mother of God. You have favored us from all our enemies with your invincible - wondrous voivodship, keep us forever in your home."
A copy of the miraculous icon of the Kursk Root in 1812 was sent by the Kurds to the active army of Prince Mikhail Kutuzov, and throughout the war with the French he guarded the Russian soldiers.
In 1769, under the shadow of this image, the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, one of the greatest, along with the Monk Sergius of Radonezh, a Russian saint, strengthened his health. The future saint was born on July 19, 1759 in the city of Kursk in the Moshnin merchant family, who at their own expense built one of the pearls of cult architecture - the Sergiev-Kazan Cathedral in the center of Kursk. Even in childhood, the wondrous veil of God was manifested over the holy youth more than once, clearly showing in him God's chosenness. When he was seven years old, his mother, who was examining the still unfinished Church of St. Sergius, took him with her to the very top of the bell tower under construction. Inadvertently, the boy fell from the bell tower to the ground. Agathia ran downstairs in horror, thinking that her son had crashed to death, but, to indescribable joy, she found him safe and sound. Three years later, the boy fell seriously ill, yes,that his family no longer believed in the happy outcome of his illness. At this time, Father Seraphim saw the Most Holy Theotokos, who promised him Her forgiveness and speedy healing from the disease. And soon this prophecy came true. An annual religious procession with the miraculous icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos (called the Root) took place in Kursk; this time, due to rain and mud, the procession passed right through the courtyard of Agafiy Moshnina. Agathia hastened to carry her sick son and put him to the miraculous icon, after which the youth of the herds recovered and soon recovered completely. An annual religious procession with the miraculous icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos (called the Root) took place in Kursk; this time, due to rain and mud, the procession passed right through the courtyard of Agafiy Moshnina. Agathia hastened to carry her sick son and put him to the miraculous icon, after which the youth of the herds recovered and soon recovered completely. An annual religious procession with the miraculous icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos (called the Root) took place in Kursk; this time, due to rain and mud, the procession passed right through the courtyard of Agafiy Moshnina. Agathia hastened to carry her sick son and put him to the miraculous icon, after which the youth of the herds recovered and soon recovered completely.
During its long history, the icon has traveled a lot. So, in 1597, at the end of the 16th century, the icon was sent to Moscow, where Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich met it together with Patriarch Job, all the clergy and the army. By order of the tsar, the icon was adorned with a silver-gold frame, pearls and precious stones. Around the icon was made a cypress board, on which the Lord of hosts was depicted, and on the sides and below - the prophets with scrolls in their hands and the corresponding sayings from their scriptures. Tsarina Irina Fyodorovna hung a shroud of red satin from the icon, which she embroidered with gold and silver threads and adorned with precious stones.
After the return of the icon to Kursk, Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, shortly before his death, issued a decree on the construction of a male monastery on the site of the appearance of the icon. For four centuries, this monastery has been known to the Orthodox world as the Kursk Root Christmas-Bogoroditskaya Hermitage.
This monastery is not only an Orthodox shrine, but also a monument of architectural art, since on its territory there are churches of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Life-Giving Spring, All Saints, an almshouse, a covered gallery leading to the source, ponds, outbuildings, picturesque surroundings. Regularly, many people flocked here during the procession and the world famous Korennaya Fair, which was considered the largest along with Makarievskaya near Nizhny Novgorod and Irbitskaya in the Urals.
The very first religious procession in history with the Kursk Root was held in 1618, on the ninth Friday after Easter, by the highest decree of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. On this summer day, the miraculous icon was solemnly transferred from the Znamensky Monastery (founded in 1612) to the "wilderness" that is on the vine."
The residence time of the shrine in the Root Monastery varied: at first - one week (1726-1765, which is recorded in church sources), since 1765, at the request of the abbot of the Root Monastery Isaiah, the Moscow Patriarch extended this period to two weeks.
And in 1768, by the Decree of the Holy Synod, it was forbidden to wear the icon in the Root Hermitage due to a violation of the Spiritual Regulations, which resulted in unworthy disputes between the abbots and monks of the Znamensky and Root Monasteries over the proceeds from the procession and the Root Fair. And during the procession in 1767, there were even riots.
The ban on the religious procession to the Root Hermitage lasted 22 years. It came during the reign of Empress Catherine II, who imagined herself standing guard over the morality of her subjects. The procession, which had a 150-year tradition, attracted pilgrims to the Root Monastery. After its ban, the authority of the Kursk Fair began to decline, the interests of the merchant people began to be undermined, which ultimately caused tangible damage to the state treasury.
And only in 1790, after numerous requests from the clergy, the bureaucratic people, the Holy Synod heeded the requests of the Kurds and again allowed to hold religious processions. After 22 years, in June 1791, on the ninth Friday after Easter, the miraculous icon, accompanied by thousands of pilgrims, solemnly marched from the Znamensky Monastery to the Root Hermitage. Among the participants in the renewed procession were pilgrims from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Greece, Poland, Wallachia and other countries.
Since 1805, the dates for the location of the icon in the Root Hermitage have been changed. This was done by Alexander I in response to the request of the Abbot of the Root Monastery Makarii. The Russian emperor allowed the miraculous icon to stay in the Root Hermitage not for two weeks, but from the ninth week after Easter until September 12 (25) - the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.
In the middle of the 19th century (May 1852), the State Council decided to make the days of the procession non-working. The tradition of the procession, which had been entrenched for centuries, was a well-established order and ceremonial part. After Kursk received the status of the provincial capital (1775) and the diocesan-administrative center (1833), the importance of this rite increased significantly. Raised to the rank of a provincial holiday, the procession of the cross united the residents of Kursk, bringing together secular officials, clergy and ordinary people. In addition, the participation of governors and clergy in religious processions gave this rite a special solemnity and significance.
According to the recollections of Archbishop Seraphim of Kursk and Belgorod, on the eve of the removal of the miraculous icon, on Thursday evening, in addition to the bishop's all-night vigil in the Znamensky Cathedral, a folk all-night vigil was also served on a special platform in the middle of the Regional Square. It began after 8 pm and ended after midnight. Tens of thousands of faces lit up with candles burning in the darkness. A hundred-voiced choir carried sacred songs around. The ringing of the monastery bells was picked up by the bell ringers of all Kursk churches. And grace descended on everyone who gathered for the procession from the near and far provinces of Russia and other countries … The great IE Repin conveyed this state of mind very realistically in his painting "Religious Procession in Kursk Province."
The tradition of the procession in the Kursk province was interrupted by the events of 1917. After the decree (January 23, 1918) was issued on the separation of church from state and state from church, as His Holiness Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, wrote in those days in his desperate message, “the most severe persecution was also erected on the Holy Church. Holy churches are either destroyed through executions from deadly weapons … or robbery … by the godless rulers of this century … Power … shows everywhere only the most unbridled self-will and continuous violence over everything and, in particular, over the Holy Orthodox Church."
The monastery where the icon was kept was plundered during the civil war, but the Kursk Root Icon of the Sign of the Mother of God was saved. In October 1919, this shrine was transported first to Belgorod and then to Taganrog with the direct participation of Bishop of Kursk and Oboyan Theophanes. And on April 1, 1920, the icon left Russia on the steamer Saint Nicholas. The last time the icon was on the territory of Russia was in the same 1920 in September-October at the request of General Wrangel in his troops. After that, only a copy of it remained in Russia.
In emigration, the icon was in the Greek Thessaloniki, the Serbian city of Nishche, Belgrade, Vienna, Munich. She traveled this path in thirty years and finally finally stopped in the New Root Desert near New York (USA). From the moment the icon left Russia (1921), the Kursk Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos has been the main shrine of the Russian Orthodox emigration.
The monastery in the Root Hermitage was closed in 1923, and then completely destroyed, plundered and desecrated. So Russia lost another of its national shrines, the Life-Giving Spring, consecrated by the Mother of God herself, they tried to wipe it off the face of the earth, filling it with concrete. But the source was making its way in new places. Not only the monastery suffered, but also all those who did not want to forget the centuries-old tradition. The territory of the monastery was surrounded by a four-meter-high fence, on all approaches to the monastery they set up vigilantes. A hunt was organized for literally every pilgrim; They tried to erase the very memory of the procession to the Root Hermitage among the believers.
But it was impossible to eradicate faith by force. By all means, the believers sought communication with their shrine. Changes took place only in 1988, on the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Rus. This year, the ruling bishop of the Kursk diocese, Juvenaly, addressed the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Pimen and the head of state Mikhail Gorbachev with a request to return the Root Monastery to the faithful.
After this appeal, on August 7, 1989, the executive committee of the regional Council of People's Deputies issued a decision on the phased transfer to the diocesan administration of a part of the historical and architectural complex “Kursk Root Christmas-Bogoroditskaya Pustyn. On August 15, the first divine service took place on the site where the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos stood before the 1917 revolution.
From that moment, the revival of the Kursk Root Hermitage began as a monument of the 16th century. The restoration of this monument was carried out in almost five years. A belfry and temples of the Root Hermitage were erected on the site of the ruins. At the place of the appearance of the icon, a temple was again erected, built at one time by an associate of Peter I, Field Marshal General Boris Petrovich Sheremetev, at his own expense in honor of the victory over the Swedes won near Poltava.
In addition to the main structures of this Orthodox monument, a skete with a house church, a hotel, farm buildings, pastures and vegetable gardens, a fish pond and a barnyard was revived. Land routes to this historic shrine were re-established.
Orthodox traditions, once interrupted, were also revived. The first religious procession after a long break took place on June 15, 1990, on the ninth Friday after Easter. In scale, it differed from its historical predecessors (its length was only 900 meters); it was carried out inside the monastery fence. Subsequent processions of the cross regained their former historical scale. Having become a national holiday, the procession to the Root Hermitage was carried out by thousands of pilgrims from the near and far abroad. The atmosphere and all the events that take place are sanctified and contain a huge outfit of spiritual energy.
His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, who visited this monastery in September 1991, called the Kursk Root Hermitage the third spiritual center of Russia along with the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and the Diveyevo monastery of Seraphim of Sarov in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
This sacred place to this day never ceases to amaze its pilgrims with miraculous signs. So, in the year of the 700th anniversary of the appearance of the icon of the Mother of God "The Sign" of the Kursk Root procession was accompanied by a natural miracle. The move took place on Friday 23 June and was particularly crowded and solemn. It was preceded by a week, during which heavy rains fell. It rained from Thursday to Friday as well. On the day of the procession, in the early morning, when Vladyka Yuvenaly began the divine liturgy in the Znamensky Cathedral before the removal of the miraculous icon, the sky suddenly cleared of heavy clouds, and everything around was lit up with a gentle summer sun, which shone all the way through the procession.
On this day, for the first time after the resumption of the course, the residents of Kursk and the guests of the city solemnly carried the patron of the Kursk Territory along the streets of Kursk to the Vvedensky temple Yams? Coy settlement with thanksgiving prayers in the Upper Holy Trinity and Resurrection Ilyinsky churches, Sergiev-Kazan Cathedral that stood on the way of the procession.
Grishechkina N. V.