Pochaiv beautiful painted icon

The Pochaiv Icon of the Mother of God is a miraculous icon of the Mother of God, one of the most revered by the Orthodox Church. It is also revered by the Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic churches. It is kept in the Pochayiv Lavra (Pochayiv, Kremyanetsky district, Ternopil region).

The icon is painted with oil paints in a strictly Byzantine style on a simple linden board, padded from below (so that it does not bend) with two oak crossbars. Depicts the Mother of God in a belt with the Mother of God on her right hand. Above the icon is the monogram "Mary the Virgin"; on the right side of the Savior is the monogram "Jesus Christ". Saints are also depicted on the icon on the stamps: the prophet Ilya, the martyr Mina, the protomartyr Stephen, the monk Abraham. From below - holy women: Paraskeva, Kateryna, Irina the Virgin.

On the lists of the icon, a footprint is often depicted at the bottom of the icon on a rock shrouded in clouds - as a memory of the legend about the appearance of the Mother of God on Mount Pochaivska, where the footprint of her foot remained.

Sometimes the images of the Pochaiv Mother of God Mary and Jesus are depicted in their "original" form, i.e. without crowns; or the crown is present only in the Blessed Virgin.

Lists of the "left-handed" Mother of God of Pochaivska are very rare.

In 1866, a robe was made for the miraculous icon from 2 pounds of pure 82nd grade gold and 20 gilts. Precious stones are used for decorations.

The origin of the image is not clear. The icon is written in ancient Byzantine script, so it could have been created either in Byzantium or in Bulgaria.

In 1597, it was donated to the monastery by Anna Goyska, the wealthy widow of the Lutsk Zemstvo judge, who owned Pochaev in the second half of the 16th century. It is believed that in 1559 this icon was presented to Anna by the Greek Metropolitan Neofitus (later the Patriarch of Constantinople) as a sign of gratitude for the warm welcome in Pochaev, through which he passed on his way back from Muscovy. Since then, the image has become a shrine of the Hoyska family.

There is a gap of several hundred years between the life periods of the figures depicted on the icon. On this basis, scientists believe that the original could be the family icon of Metropolitan Neofit, his ancestral relic.

Legend has it that pious Anna asked the Blessed Virgin to heal her brother Philip, who was blind from birth, and a miracle happened - he saw. After such a miracle, Goyska, with a procession of the cross, carries it to Pochaivska Mountain for general worship, generously endows the monastery with meadows and fertile lands.

However, in 1623, Anna's grandson (according to other sources, her nephew), Andrzej Firley, a castellan from Belgium (later the Sandomierz voivode, a participant in the defense of Zbaraž), a Calvinist by faith, violated her will by taking the icon from the monastery. However, in 1644, he returned her - if we believe the tradition, on the advice of Abbot Iov Zaliz (1551–1651), in order to save his wife from a mental disorder. In fact, the abbot simply filed a complaint with the Lublin Tribunal, which, after years of litigation, in 1643 ruled in favor of Saint Iov and obliged the castellan to return the icon.

"Our Lady of Pochaivska" is credited with protecting the monastery from the Tatar attack that took place in early August 1675. The fact is that the monastery was poorly fortified, but the attack was repelled.

From 1713 to 1832, the Pochaiv Monastery belonged to the Union Order of Basilians. During this period, the monastery chronicles left records of 539 cases of healing attributed to the icon of the Holy Virgin of Pochaivska. In 1773, Pope Clement XIV, at the request of Kaniv's elder, Count [Source?] Mykola Vasyl Pototsky (who, by the way, switched from the Catholic rite to the Union one, sympathized with the Ukrainian Cossacks, provided significant funds for the reconstruction of the Pochaiv monastery) sent 2 crowns of of pure gold: one for the Virgin Mary, the other for little Jesus. The coronation was conducted by Lutsk Union Bishop Sylvester Rudnytskyi.

Since that time, most lists (copies) of this icon, both Orthodox and Catholic, are written with crowns.

The icon of the Mother of God of Pochaivska is addressed for healing from blindness, chronic diseases, as well as for the liberation of captives.

Pochaiv painted icon on a blackboard

- linden board,

- levkas volumes;

- egg tempera;

- gold leaf.

The term of writing the icon: 5-7 days.

Written icons are created using traditional techniques: on a quality board, using quality paints, with levkas.

The size and materials for the icon are also chosen according to your wishes.