Akathist to the "Vsezaritsa". Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos before the icon "Vsezaritsa"

Often people think that miracles are something from the field of legends and fairy tales. Or, at least, something very old, ancient, forgotten. But, oddly enough, in our time there are real miracles. Parishioners of Orthodox churches and monasteries of the monasteries from time to time are witnessing the healing of diseases by praying before the icons of the Virgin.

The custom of praying to the Theotokos

Together with the adoption of Christianity in the tenth century, the tradition of veneration of the Mother of God came to Russia. Along with the temples in honor of Christ the Savior, temples appeared on our land dedicated to His Most Pure Mother. The domes of such temples, according to custom, are painted in blue, considered the color of the Virgin. Images of the Virgin are necessarily present in the iconostasis of any Orthodox church.

There are many variations of images of the Mother of God, which are considered miraculous. According to rough estimates, there are about six hundred of them. People often ask themselves the question: "What icon should we pray in each particular case?" Priests usually answer this question in this way: you can pray for any need for any icon to which soul it is. The Virgin is one. Before whatever icon we pray our prayer, it is turned to the same Mother of God, who is always ready to say a word for us before her Son.

There is, however, a tradition to turn to different icons in different everyday needs. Some icons of the Virgin were specially "approximated" to one or another of the needs of people. For example, the "Mammal" is referred to the mother of infants for help. About the older children pray before the icons "Education of children" and "Addition of the mind." There are other cases. Someone, having addressed with a prayer to the Theotokos, received from Her miraculous help. A person seeks to tell others about the miracle that has happened. Another person who has a similar problem, having heard about the mercy of God through the prayers of the Mother of God, turns to the same icon and, through his faith, also receives what he asks. So in the people the tradition is fixed. Before the Tikhvin icon pray for children, before Kazan - about the healing of the eyes. On the healing of tumors by tradition, the akathist "Vsezaritsa (Pantanasse)" is read.

The icon of the Virgin "Vsesaritsa (Pantanassa)" and the holy mountain Athos

According to the folk tradition, the healing of cancer patients pray before the icon "Vsezaritsa" or, in Greek, "Pantanasse". This icon appeared and gained fame in the Vatopedi monastery, located on Mount Athos. According to legend, the Most Holy Theotokos, accompanied by John the Theologian, went to Cyprus in 48. However, the ship that fell into the storm, was forced to moor to Athos. Admired by the extraordinary beauty of the peninsula, Holy Mary wished to remain here to lead the gospel preaching. It is considered that Jesus Christ Himself, at the request of His mother, made Athos its lot.

Athos is still considered a special place for Christians. Since 1046, it officially acquired the name "Holy Mountain". Life here flows according to its own specific laws. This place is a special monastic prayer. On Mount Athos today there are twenty male monasteries, and both the creation of new monasteries and the abolition of the existing ones are forbidden by the laws of Athos. In the monasteries of Athos, a large number of Orthodox shrines are kept. Among them there are about sixty revered icons of the Most Holy Theotokos. One of these icons - "Pantanasse"

The icon "Vsezaritsa" is known from the seventeenth century. The story of the old man Joseph Hesychast, who lived for many years on Mount Athos, to his disciples, is preserved. One day (in the seventeenth century) before the icon "Vsezaritsa" a strange young man appeared. He stood for a long time before the icon of the Virgin, muttering something. Suddenly in the face of the Mother of God flashed something like lightning, and the youth was thrown to the ground by some unknown force. Coming to himself, the young man wished to confess and confessed to the priest that he was fond of magic and came to the monastery to test his magical abilities before the holy icons. After the miracle that happened to him, a person completely changed his life, left magical lessons and stayed in the monastery. This was the first miracle that occurred from the "Vsezaritsa".

All in the same seventeenth century, one of the Greek monks made a list with a miraculous icon. People who prayed before the icon began to notice that its impact on patients with malignant formations is especially beneficial. Over time, the icon of Vsezaritsa gained fame as an assistant in the healing of cancer patients.

Iconography of the Vsezaricy

The Most Holy Theotokos is depicted on an icon in robes of scarlet color. The icon painter portrayed her sitting on the royal throne. A god in the arms of the Mother holds a scroll in her left hand, blessing the prayers before the believers in the right hand. The Mother of God with her right hand points to her Son, as if to say: "This is your Savior, come to deliver you from sin, sickness and death." In the background of the icon are two angels, overshadowing their wings the Most Pure Virgin and stretching out their hands to it. The nimbus above Christ contains the inscription in Greek: "The one from whom everything is around."

The whole icon is executed in bright, warm colors. There is also a scarlet robe pointing to the royal dignity, and the full perfection of the Virgin, and a golden background, symbolizing eternity.

The first appearance of the icon in Russia

The first list of the Vatopedi icon "Vsezaritsa" for Russia was made in 1995. August 11 this year, written with the blessing of the governor of the Vatopedi monastery, Archimandrite Ephraim, the icon was taken to Moscow, to the children's oncology center on Kashirka. Employees of the center noticed: after the children have attached to it, many have made significant improvements, which are difficult to attribute solely to the action of drugs.

Female monastery in honor of the icon "The Vsezaritsa" in Krasnodar

There is in Russia a monastery dedicated to the famous icon of the Virgin "Vsetsaritsa". It is located in Krasnodar. The main shrine of the monastery is "Vsezaritsa" - an exact copy of the Athonite icon. The list was made in 2005 by the Russian master icon-painter from Pereslavl-Zalessky Valery Polyakov. On the feast of Easter, Vatopedi Archimandrite Ephraim served a special prayer service on which the newly painted icon was consecrated. After the moleben, the icon was attached to more than one hundred Vatopedi shrines, including the Belt of the Blessed Virgin.

With great honors, the icon was taken from Athos to Krasnodar. Since then, the monastery regularly performs services to the Vsezarica: Akathist, prayers, prayer services. Patients of the Krasnodar regional oncology dispensary became frequent participants of the prayer. Many of them came to the temple quite recently, having learned about their terrible diagnosis. In the hope of a miracle, they turn with sincere prayer to the Most-Pure Theotokos.

The Church of All Saints in the Novoalekseevsky Monastery in Moscow

In this temple there was one of the most famous wonders of Pantanasse - the image was suddenly zamirotochil. Just a few drops of the wonderful world appeared on the icon, and an unusual fragrance from him spread throughout the temple.

In the temple, the Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos "Vsezaritsa" is regularly served. At the moleben, the oil is consecrated for the anointing of all the sick and afflicted. Anointed with oil can be not only oncological, but also other aching.

The image of the "Vsezaritsa" from this temple is often delivered to the nearest oncology dispensary for the performance of prayer services.

Novospassky Monastery in Moscow

This is one of the most ancient Moscow monasteries, the site of the oldest burial places of royalty. There are a lot of miraculous icons and relics. Since 1997, among the shrines of the monastery there is a list of the Vatopedi icons. Her image is revered as miraculous. Every Sunday before the holy image the akathist to the Mother of God "Vsemtsaritsa" is read, water-molebens are held. The servants of the monastery here, as elsewhere, conduct a special book, in which there are cases of miraculous help on prayers before the icon of the "Pantanasse".

Once a year, an icon from the Novospassky monastery is delivered to the Institute of Oncology. Herzen. In the hospital temple of the Institute, a moleben and akathist "Vsezarice" is performed. After the prayer, everyone can apply to the miraculous image and ask for help and healing in the fight against the disease.

Is church prayer a cure for cancer patients?

It can be argued that in some cases it does happen. The Mother Superior of the Krasnodar Monastery, the mother of Neonilla, can tell of the cases of the amazing help of the Most Holy Theotokos. It happens that the sick person turns to the "Vsezarica": the akathist reads, prays hard, and suddenly the tumor either disappears completely, or stops its development, as it were "frozen" at the stage where the person started his prayer feat. The nuns diligently collect evidence of the miraculous help of the monastery shrine and place them on the site of the monastery.

Despite the fact that the icon is known, first of all, as a rescuer from tumorous diseases, there are cases when the akathist before the icon "Vsezaritsa" heals and from other very different diseases. There are cases of getting rid of serious addictions - alcoholism and drug addiction. Mindful of the first miracle of the icon, the faithful turn to her with prayers for practicing magic and also receive help from the "Vsezaritsa".

To receive assistance from above it is advisable that not only the relatives of the aching people read or sang the Akathist to the MostHoly Mother of God "Vsezaritsa", but the sufferers themselves, wanting to get rid of the disease, prayed to her.

Why is healing going on?

As the priests say, according to the faith of Orthodox Christians, according to their labors and sincere prayers, grace is sent from God. The Lord will surely turn his gaze towards the man who aspires to him. What does it mean to strive for the Lord? First of all, it is to try to participate regularly in the sacraments instituted by Christ for his Church. First of all, this is the Sacrament of Confession, established for the purification of believers from sins, and the Holy Communion granted to us for connection with our Savior Christ. To help the sick, the Sacrament is also established. It takes place in all the churches in the days of Lent. Some churches also perform their sabbathing in the Nativity Fast. For seriously ill patients, it is possible to invite a priest to a house to perform the sobor. In this case, the sacrament is performed regardless of the calendar dates. In addition to church ordinances, you can make a strong prayer to Jesus Christ and the Theotokos. One of such additions is the akathist icon of the Mother of God "Vsezaritsa".

How correctly to read akathist "Vsezarice"

Serious prayer work is not accepted without a blessing. Therefore, first of all, it is advisable to turn to an Orthodox priest and ask for the blessing to read the Akathist "Vsezaritsa". The text of the akathist can be purchased at the church shop.

While reading the Akathist to the Mother of God "Vsezaritsa", it is logical to have this icon in front of your eyes. It does not matter whether it is an icon made on a blackboard by a professional icon painter using special colors, or a small reproduction. It is advisable, however, that the icon purchased be consecrated in the temple. All the icons that are sold in church benches are already consecrated.

Before any icon it is possible to pray with your own words - the main thing is that prayer should come from the heart. However, among the Orthodox, "book" prayers, compiled in ancient times by famous or unknown saints, are very popular. Reading these prayers, we, as it were, pray together with our co-religionists, who composed the moleben text, and also with the generations of people who once read these prayers.

To perform services before a particular icon, special prayer texts are composed - canons and akathists. Akathist, for example, consists of twenty-five small by volume prayers, called icocks and kontakion. In any akathist there are thirteen kondaks and twelve icocks. Icons are usually read, kondaks are sung. However, if the worshiper is devoid of musical abilities or simply does not know how to sing an akathist, one can give up singing and simply read the akathist "Vsezarice". If a person prays in solitude, perhaps it is more convenient for him to read the text of the akathist to himself. This option is also possible. The Lord and the Mother of God hear a silent prayer. The main thing is for our heart to scream.

It is worth remembering that the word "akathist" in translation means "do not sit." Akathists always read standing. However, many priests do not get tired of reminding that this rule applies only to healthy people. If a person is difficult or impossible to stand for health reasons, one can read the akathist of the Mother of God "Vsezaritsa" sitting, lying or reclining.

While reading the "Vsezarice" akathist, the canon or any other prayer, one should not necessarily expect from the prayer of some special sensations, strong emotions. Such feelings are possible, but not necessarily. Orthodox priests, following the holy fathers of antiquity, warn against specifically seeking such feelings or giving them some special significance. The Lord often invisibly touches the soul of a person, without accompanying what is going on with extraordinary sensations. At the same time, it is possible that a person in pursuit of the sweetness of prayer gradually forgets about God and, as the holy fathers say, "falls into charm", exposing his soul to serious danger.

Like every prayer, the akathist "Vsezarice" requires full attention. The praying man needs to try to understand each word he read. It is known, however, that our thoughts tend to dissipate and "fly away" quite far from the content of prayer. Do not despair because of this. Simply, having noticed the "disorder", it is necessary to return the thought to the required channel and do it every time when we catch ourselves on the fact that we are distracted from the prayer.

In the Great Lent in the temple it is not customary to read the akathists, except for the akathist "Passion of Christ." However, for domestic prayer, a Christian has the right to choose the rule himself. Therefore, if the aching person reads the Akathist Icon of the "Vsezaritsa" at home, this can not be considered a sin or a violation of church canons.

There is a tradition to read an akathist for forty days. However, this is not a law, the time for prayer should be chosen according to the forces. You can pray for fewer days or more if there is such a desire.

While reading prayers, it is not worth "begging" the decision that seems to us to be the only one desired. While expressing our ardent request to the Theotokos, one must nevertheless leave a place for the will of God, which does not always coincide with our desire, but always aims at the benefit of our soul. Some priests recommend praying for forty days, temporarily giving up an intensified prayer and waiting for some time. If the situation has not changed and the person who has prayed has not come to any important conclusions for himself, we can resume the prayer work and re-read the "Vsezarice" akathist.