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The division of prayer petitions in front of different miraculous icons of the Mother of God is a convention. According to the faith of the praying, the Lord can give him help in response to a prayer in front of ANY icon.

As for the Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God, here are some materials about it.

The Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God is one of the most revered shrines not only in Poland, but throughout the world. It is located in Jasna Góra in the city of Czestochowa. Every year, tens of thousands of people come to bow to the icon and ask for healing and deliverance from misfortune...

The Black Madonna, the Częstochowa Womb Bosca, the Mother of God of Częstochowa or, as she is called in the troparion, the "Invincible Victory" - this miraculous icon is revered equally by Catholics and Orthodox. According to legend, the evangelist Luke wrote it in Jerusalem on a board from the table at which the Holy Family gathered. During the times of persecution of the early Christians, they hid the icon in caves, where they hid themselves, putting their lives in mortal danger. Saint Helen, who received the Cross of Christ, when traveling to holy places two and a half centuries later, received this icon as a gift and brought it to Constantinople, where she installed the icon in the chapel in the royal palace. There the holy face stood for five centuries. Subsequently, at the end of the 13th century, with great honors, the image was transported to Russia by the cousin of Alexander Nevsky, Prince Przemyslsky, Kholmsky, Galician and Volynsky - Lev Danilovich. The shrine was already famous for great miracles.

After the lands of the western part of Ukraine were ceded to Poland, Prince Vladislav of Opolsky turned to the miraculous icon for help during the siege of Belz Castle by the Tatars. The prince took the image to the wall of the castle and a thick unknown cloud descended on the Tatars. Those, frightened, were forced to retreat.

In a dream, Vladislav saw the image of the Mother of God, who asked him to transfer the icon to the vicinity of Częstochowa and place it on Jasnaya Gora. Following the instructions of the Virgin Mary, the prince took the icon to the place indicated to him from above in 1382. Since then and to this day, the Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God has been located there.

Scientists express different opinions about the origin of the icon and its age. Some experts even claim that the icon has been rewritten, and there is no original layer at all: thus, this is a copy, not the original. The very fact of updating the icon in the Middle Ages no one denies; a detailed description of this process has been preserved in a special book of the Pauline monastery. From there, doubts are drawn: during the restoration, the tempera paint could not lie on the one with which the icon was painted. Due to failures, the previous layer had to be removed. But all doubts are dispelled by the fact that the centuries-old series of miracles coming from the icon has not been interrupted even once. The removal of a layer of paint was not so significant compared to the actions of the Hussites who attacked the monastery in the Middle Ages. They broke up the monastery and began to take out of it all the valuables, including the Mother of God of Częstochowa. However, the wagon with the loot did not budge. The horses stood up as if rooted to the spot. And then one of the invaders, realizing that this was a miracle performed by the icon, threw it to the ground and struck at it with a saber. The punishment was not long in coming. The villain and his associates fell dead. Since then, two deep cuts have been visible on the face of the Virgin. They were left in memory of the miracle and as a warning to those who try to repeat the actions of the robbers.

Inexhaustible stream

The monastery on Yasnaya Gora, in its significance for Poland, can probably be compared with the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the greatest Orthodox church in Russia. So great is the flow of believers looking for a miracle from the Mother of God of Czeszthow, and so great is the number of those who receive this miracle. That's why pilgrimages, and sometimes hiking through all of Poland to Jasna Góra, is a tradition revered in Poland. "MatkoBoskoCzęstochowsko!" - can be heard all over Poland, regardless of gender and age. The name of Our Lady of Czestochowa is on everyone's lips.

In 1991, thousands of Catholics and Orthodox from the USSR came here to see John Paul II. This became one of the symbols of the fall of the Iron Curtain.

The Czestochowa icon attracts not only Catholics and Orthodox, but also representatives of other confessions. Pauline monks are not at all surprised. This has been happening for a long time. People get what they ask from the Mother of God, and the path to her is always open to everyone. There are cases when a convinced atheist, drug addict, thief and libertine embarked on the path of faith when he saw an icon. It is known that once one such person came with friends for a completely different reason - just to take a walk and have fun. Someone suggested "just go see". They arrived just in time for the traditional solemn ceremony of opening the icon for the faithful to see. And at the moment when the young man saw the image of the Mother of God, he could not hold back his tears. He cried. After the ceremony, he, with fear, but still went to confession, and when he left, he called his mother and asked for forgiveness for all the grief that he had caused her with his behavior (before that, the woman even wanted to leave home because of her son's antisocial behavior!) This guy is now a normal person. Theft changed to work, drugs disappeared by themselves.

Miracles

There are many such miracles. People write them down in a special book dedicated to the deeds of the miraculous icon. The book, which has been replenished for 6 centuries, contains thousands of testimonies. The entry in it is made under the kiss of the cross and is a testimony before God and people.

Here are just a few examples of miracles:

One young couple was unsuccessfully treated for infertility in various medical institutions in Poland. But they could not conceive a child. The doctors said there was no hope. Seeing their suffering, their grandmother advised them to visit the Częstochowa icon. What was the surprise of the doctors when a woman came for examination, having several weeks of pregnancy. Zuzya was born on January 4, 2012, and her great-grandmother wrote about this story in a book.

“The Mother of God often supports families, she has earned the title of the Queen of Families,” says Father Melcheor Krulik, a Pauline monk. For many years he has been in charge of maintaining the aforementioned book of miracles.

2010 On March 7, an entry by Evelina Cieslar appeared in the book. American doctors gave a woman a maximum of two weeks to live after her body, eaten by the disease, stopped accepting food and even water. She was in a state of critical exhaustion, but neither her boyfriend Barek Mahnik nor her friends left her and continued to pray, although hope was fading.

- "I a common person and the girl is far from exalted, but there, in America, when the priest actually came to my last confession, I suddenly heard a voice that said: “Now don’t be afraid, child, everything will work out!” For some reason, I decided that this was the voice of Our Lady of Yasnogurskaya and She was calling me to her,” the monk retells the story of the girl. The girl was urgently sent to Poland. Before the icon of the Mother of God there was a complete cure. There are relevant survey materials confirming this. And a year later, on May 5, 2011, Evelina arrived with her husband and with their child under her heart, just to witness this incident.

One of the most known cases already 35 years old. Yanina Lyakh, then a 29-year-old mother of two children, has been unable to move around without the help of crutches for the past 5 years. She was assigned the 1st group of disability with the right of guardianship over her. More than 60 pages of a medical report confirmed the deplorable state of Panya Yanina. After many years of examination, she was given a terrible diagnosis - multiple sclerosis, which threatened the woman with blindness and complete paralysis. The husband got drunk and left home. The woman despaired, she in a prayer to the Mother of God of Czestochowa asked for death for herself, so as not to torment the children, so that the Mother of God would take care of them. In a dream, the Virgin Mary told her to come to Yasnaya Guru on January 28, 1979. Yanina rode, as usual, with crutches, moving her legs with difficulty. Approaching the Czestochowa icon, she suddenly felt that she was standing. I tried to take a step, and it worked... Pani Yanina's crutches remained in the monastery among other evidence of healings left at different times. Three different doctors examined Pani Jadwiga. Their surprise knew no bounds. Five times after that she went on a pilgrimage on foot from Warsaw to Jasna Guru. She was here this year - January 28 ...

Melkheor Krulik emphasizes that it is interesting that it is not the Yasnaya Gora itself, as a place of prayer, that works miracles, but the icon itself. After all, a lot of evidence was brought by people from all over the world. People with faith turned to the Mother of God of Czestochowa and things happened to them that can only be explained by a miracle.

Amazing, rare and mysterious image of Czestochowa Mother of God for many centuries he caused controversy and reconciled the warring, performed miracles and was desecrated by robbers, frightened enemies and calmed those who prayed before him. One thing is known to people all over the world - this is the greatest shrine through which the Mother of God Herself helps people from Heaven. Perhaps this is the only icon that is so deeply revered by people of both main denominations of Christianity: both Orthodox and Catholics.

This icon is also called Invincible Victory”And“ Black Madonna ”because of the face darkened from time to time. To this day, among technologies modern world and military conflicts, revolutions and wars, she has the title of "Queen of Poland" - this is the main shrine of the Western Slavs and an object of pilgrimage for residents of all European countries.

WHAT AN ICON LOOKS LIKE

The image of the Mother of God belongs to the widespread iconographic type "Hodegetria". According to legend, she is one of those few icons that the Evangelist Luke painted. However, art historians, in accordance with the features of the image and the colorful layer, attribute the time of its creation to the 9th-11th centuries, and Byzantium is called the place of writing. It is possible that the icon was being actively restored at that time. In addition, every person who is familiar with the icon-painting manners of different centuries will note the medieval influence in icon painting. Indeed, in the historical documents of the 16th century, a story was found about the restoration of the Czestochowa icon by Polish masters who could not put tempera paints (which modern artists also use) on wax paints - namely, Byzantine masters and icon painters of the first centuries of Christianity used these paints. Probably, according to Western European models and taking into account Polish traditions, the trace of which is noticeable in the details of the icon, the Western Slavic masters rewrote the icon. However, the encaustic technique, which uses wax paints, indicates that initially the image could indeed have been painted in Byzantium or earlier - that is, by the Evangelist Luke himself and indeed on the boards of the table of the Zion room.

Believers, praying in front of this image, represent the Most Holy Theotokos as if in life - after all, this image, if not the authorship of a contemporary of the Mother of God, then a list from an icon drawn from nature. According to legend, seeing the icon created by St. Luke, the Mother of God blessed it and said that everyone who turns to Her before this icon will be blessed. The iconographic type of Hodegetria also includes many other miraculous icons, for example, Bethlehem, Smolensk, Kazan, Tikhvin.

The theological meaning of the image is similar to other icons of Hodegetria. The Mother of God, with a gesture of her right hand, points to those praying to Christ - the only way to salvation and life. The Mother of God shows the people of the Divine Infant, showing that only through faith in the Lord Jesus can one find the true life path the road to the Kingdom of Heaven. This Path must be traversed in order to achieve salvation.

• • The Christ Child sits on the Mother's left hand. In his left hand, laid on his knees, Christ holds a closed book - the Gospel, which symbolizes the presence of the fullness of knowledge in the hands of God, and with the other hand he blesses those who pray.

• • The darkened face of the Lady of Heaven and Earth, by which the Czestochowa icon is easily recognized, is written on a turquoise background, which is now covered with a riza. The Mother of God is turned to the believers, the Divine Infant also looks at the worshipers. The clothes of Christ are royal, with a surprisingly solemn scarlet tint. They are decorated with embroidered ornaments. The vestments and maforium (head cover) of the Mother of God have a deep blue tone - the blue tones of the headdress of the Mother of God are also depicted on the lists. The clothes of the Blessed Virgin are decorated with golden lilies, as if woven as a sign of royal dignity. Above the forehead of the Mother of God is a star with six rays, reminiscent of Bethlehem. around the head Holy Mother of God and the Divine Infant - halos merging into one yellow color with gilding. They create a contrast with other dark colors.

• • Also, the image is easily recognizable by the longitudinal cuts on the right cheek of the Virgin: two large and one small scratches go from top to bottom along it.

• • The pose of the Mother of God refers to the Byzantine tradition of writing, an image with a half-turn, hinting at the reverse perspective, in which all ancient icons are made. And the Western European influence is felt in the colors of clothes and the presence of golden lilies on it - a symbol of royal power, which came already from medieval France. The lines of the faces are softer than the Byzantine ones, there is a slight chiaroscuro, which cannot be present on ancient icons. In a miraculous way, this combination of Western and Eastern in a miraculous way gives the opportunity for sincere prayer before her to both Catholics and Orthodox. The image was painted even before the division of the Churches, therefore, despite the stay of the icon in a Catholic monastery, its lists are in many Orthodox churches.

HISTORY OF THE IMAGE

The image of the Mother of God has a huge history. He stayed in several capitals, through him the Mother of God patronized many royal persons.

After the icon was painted by the Evangelist Luke, she stayed in the community of Christians in Jerusalem. In the years 66-67, during the invasion of the Roman troops, Jerusalem Christians with the main shrines of the community, among which were the icons of the Mother of God, hid in the town of Pella not far from the city. Persecution forced them to hide for many centuries. When Emperor Constantine the Great allowed Christians to profess their faith and made Christianity the official religion of the empire, his mother, Empress Helen Equal to the Apostles, was also baptized and came to Jerusalem to gain Life-Giving Cross Christ, on which the Lord was crucified. In 326, after finding the Cross, the Christians of Jerusalem presented the Częstochowa Icon as a gift to Empress Helena - since this image was presented to the Empress herself, it was really revered by the disciples of Christ. In turn, St. Helena built a chapel for the icon of the Mother of God at her palace in Constantinople. It is known that the Częstochowa icon was located here for five centuries.

When the iconoclast emperors came to power, the icon was hidden. Traces of it are lost, but it is known that the image of Czestochowa was brought to the Slavic lands as a great shrine by the founder of the city of Lvov (Lemberg), the ruler of the Galicia-Volyn principality, Leo in the 13th century. The icon was placed in the Orthodox church of the Belz castle, mentioned in the oldest Russian chronicle - The Tale of Bygone Years. The icon was under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox clergy, but from the first years of their stay in the lands where Catholicism was widespread, Catholics began to pray before it. So the icon began to play a big role in uniting Christian denominations.
However, in Belz there is another version of the appearance in the local lands of the Częstochowa icon. It is possible that the Byzantine princess Anna, the wife of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, the Baptist of Russia, took the icon from the imperial chambers and brought it with her to Russia in the 10th century. Indeed, information has been preserved that the princess was carrying Christian icons with her, among which was the icon of Hodegetria, and Prince Vladimir placed them in the first stone church in Kyiv - Tithes. Obviously, the Czestochowa icon could stay here until 1240, and then it was taken to Belz during the Batu invasion.
When Poland conquered the Lvov lands, the icon passed to Prince Vladislav of Opolsky. In those turbulent years, wars were fought between many tribes. So the winner Vladislav soon almost died at the hands of the Tatars, who besieged the castle of Belz. Fortunately, the prince took the icon of the Mother of God of Częstochowa out of the church and placed the defenders of the fortress on the wall to pray in front of it. According to contemporaries, either madness came over the Tatars - they began to kill each other, or a poisonous fog. Their troops lifted the siege.

Today, only a list of the miraculous icon remains in Belz Castle: after being saved from the Tatar-Mongolian troops, Prince Vladislav went along with the newly acquired shrine to the capital of the principality. However, on the way he stopped in a small village near Czestochowa. Here the Mother of God appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to leave the icon in the town, building a monastery there. In the morning the image could not be moved. The prince ascertained the will of God about the location of the shrine, founded a monastery and entrusted the icon to the monks of the Pauline Catholic order for safekeeping. This place was called Yasnaya Gora - perhaps because of the prince's vision.
The scars on the face of Our Lady of Czestochowa are also historical. Some suggest that these are traces of Tatar arrows left during the attack on Belz Castle. However, it is more likely that they were left by the sabers of the Hussites - Protestant sectarians from the Czech Republic and Italy. They attacked the monastery, robbed the monastery and unloaded treasures onto a cart. The Częstochowa icon broke into three pieces when it fell. According to legend, a cart with treasures, on which the icon and other valuables of the monastery were loaded, could not be moved by several horses. Then one of the Hussites threw the icon on the ground and began to chop with a saber. Legend has it that the robber suffered an instant terrible death while others were punished with blindness and withered limbs.
And in the middle of the 17th century, the Polish people decided in a peculiar way to thank the Most Holy Theotokos for the victory over the Swedish king Charles X. King Jan Casimir defeated him near Czestochowa, while praying to the Most Holy Theotokos. Returning to Lvov, with his manifesto, he entrusted Poland to the patronage of the Mother of God and officially ordered that the Czestochowa Icon of the Blessed Virgin be called the “Queen of Poland”. Some time later, the monks of the monastery on Yasnaya Gora requested the Pope of Rome to crown the icon by letter. With his blessing, a golden crown with decorations was made, which was solemnly placed on the image with a huge confluence of pilgrims. This is a visible symbol of miracles from the icon and grace, which the Mother of God abundantly gives to those who pray in front of the Częstochowa icon. Today, the crown is carefully kept in the monastery sacristy.
In the 20th century, the icon was adorned with a riza studded with diamonds and new golden crowns of the Mother of God and the Infant God, a gift from Pope Pius X, made in 1910. And since 1926, the symbols of the earthly and heavenly power of the “Polish Queen” made with donations from Polish Catholics, the orb and scepter, adorned with jewels, have been near the image.
It is known that the common Christian veneration of the Częstochowa Icon has been going on for centuries. So, the Russian emperors Peter I, Alexander I, Nicholas I came on pilgrimage to the shrine.
In 1813, the Russian army liberated the monastery from being captured by Napoleon's soldiers. In gratitude, the abbot and the brethren of Yasnaya Gora presented General Saken with a copy of the miraculous icon. As a "symbol of the victory of Russian weapons" he stayed in the Kazan Cathedral of St. Petersburg, next to the miraculous Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, until 1917. Alas, after the revolution this list was lost.
The last recognition of the grace of the Czestochowa image was the creation of a list of her face in the Holy Land. In Jerusalem, a legend has been preserved about the house where the Most Holy Theotokos lived and reposed in the Lord - this is the dwelling of the Apostle John the Theologian in the ancient part of the city, near the Zion Upper Room (where the Last Supper was held). On the day of the death of the Mother of God, Christians celebrate the Assumption of the Mother of God - that is, “falling asleep”, because the Mother of God died quietly, and at the time of Her death, Christ visibly appeared to the apostles, taking the soul of His Mother into His arms. After the feast of the Assumption, Catholics celebrate the memory of the icon. On the site of the house where the Mother of God died, from the early Christian times there was a temple, until 966 - a large basilica built by the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine the Great, and from the beginning of the 20th century - the Church of the Assumption, built by the Germans (Mariendom). Since the end of the 20th century, the exact list of the icon has been here.

HOW TO PRAY AN ICON

In Yasnaya Gora and is still located Svyatogorsky monastery. Its heart is called the Chapel of the Virgin Mary - a three-part chapel built on the site of a wooden one in the first quarter of the 16th century, where the Czestochowa icon resides.

The image is decorated with a silver frame and inserted into the altar of precious ebony. For the safety and security of the image, it is always, except for the hours specially set for worship, closed with a silver “shutter” panel created in 1723. Only at certain times of the day, with the sounds of the organ, does the icon open for prayer by the pilgrims and the brethren in front of it. The image resides in the altar of the Chapel, above the altar, so even the open Częstochowa icon can only be seen from afar - you cannot venerate it.

Memorial Day is celebrated differently by Catholics and Orthodox. Catholics honor her on August 26, after the Dormition. In Poland, this is a national holiday, the memory of the main shrine of the country. From all its regions, and from other European countries, people make a pilgrimage to the "Uterus Boska Czestochowa". Believing Poles, according to ancient tradition, give pilgrims free shelter and food.

Orthodox commemorate March 19th. Pilgrimage traditions are not confined to this date. But it must be said that only Orthodox churches are consecrated in honor of the icon:

• • Church in Czestochowa itself;

• • Chapel in the Nilo-Stolobenskaya desert, in the Tver region;

• • Church in the Holy Ascension Monastery in the village of Horoshee, Luhansk region.

WHAT TO PRAY FOR THE MOTHER OF GOD ICON OF Czestochowa

This icon is called the "Queen" for a reason. The solemn royal title is very suitable for her, as well as the title of "Queen of Heaven." Like the Ruler, the Mother of God in front of this icon is asked for deliverance from all troubles and sorrows. Surprisingly, the tradition of writing down all the miracles performed through prayers in front of this icon, like the tradition of leaving an offering to the Most Holy Theotokos after a miracle, has centuries of history. The chapel is full of offerings from poor and rich people who have found happiness thanks to the Most Holy Theotokos.

Even in the first centuries of Christianity, there was a custom - everyone healed through prayers to God brought an offering to the icons in the form of a sick, and then healed organ. Over time, people began to simply give jewelry, jewelry. The documents of the Yasnohorsk monastery tell us that such gifts - from simple copper rings to crowns made of precious stones - were brought to the Czestochowa icon from all European countries already in the 13th century. Over time, the monks were forced to make separate velvet "clothings" - panels near the icon to display all the donations (after all, how could the gifts of people's hearts be sold, even for the needs of the monastery?). In 1717, they began to create even larger frames for jewelry with a metal base: now the icon has “clothes” according to the names of the gifts on them: pearl, diamond, gold ... The robe (clothes) of the Mother of God, on which military orders and medals are sewn, is amazing, brought by warriors of all ages in gratitude for the help of the Virgin. In the chapel, next to the icon, there is a whole wall of crutches and canes left by people who were healed by prayer in front of the icon from diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

The Mother of God helps all believers, regardless of denomination. Her grace, through prayer before the Czestochowa icon, extends to every person who prays sincerely, asking for a good deed and for help in trouble:

• • About protection from attacking enemies, visible, evil people, and invisible - spirits of malice.

• • About strengthening in faith.

• • About healing from any serious, incurable and even fatal diseases.

• • About deliverance from vices and sins.

• • About a calm path and help on the road.

• • About reconciliation in quarrels between parents and children, spouses, friends.

• • To get rid of injustice.

• • About the gift of wisdom and understanding, help in situations of difficult choices and making difficult decisions.

• • About the salvation of one's soul and the acceptance of deceased loved ones into the Kingdom of Heaven.

HOW TO READ THE PRAYER TO THE MOTHER OF GOD CORRECTLY

Despite the fact that the icon has been located on the territory of Catholic Poland for many centuries, the Russian Orthodox Church created a prayer, a short prayer book - a troparion, which is read on the feast of the memory of the icon, and an akathist, read before it. Of course, it is not necessary to go on a pilgrimage to another country, especially since the shrine is difficult to access for worship. However, you can always purchase or do it yourself - embroider a sample - a reproduction. Prayer can be read at home or in the temple in front of this image, even online, because the Church does not prohibit reading from the screen of a smartphone or computer monitor.

Prayer before the icon of the Mother of God of Czestochowa in Russian can be read online according to the text below:

O All-Merciful Lady, Queen Mother of God, chosen by God among people of all generations of the earth and today blessed by all mankind! Look graciously at the people standing in front of Your holy icon, fervently praying to You and be the Representative and Intercessor before Your Son and our God Jesus Christ for all of us - let no one leave this place of prayer deceived in his hope, but let everyone accept everything from You what he wanted in the good will of his heart, according to his needs and needs, for the salvation of the soul and the health of the body.
Pray, O Merciful Lady, to the God of Heaven, that He always keep His Church in holiness, strengthen with His blessing from above the Orthodox archpastors, protect the Church and archpastors with peace and tranquility in health, honesty, longevity, grant them to the Church, who correctly preserve the Orthodox faith and govern By the Church, by the Word of the Truth of God, from all visible and invisible enemies - the spirits of darkness - archpastors, shepherds and all Orthodox Christians, by His mercy, He delivered and in Orthodoxy and firm faith until the end of time, constantly, without changes, kept.
Preserve by Your grace, glorified by all, and under the supervision of Your gracious intercession, all our Russian state, our cities, and especially Your city and temple, gave us Your rich graces, because only You are the all-powerful Helper and Intercessor to all Christians. Bow down to the prayers of Your servants, who come here to Your holy icon of Czestochowa, hear the sighs of prayer and the words with which we pray to You before Your image. If both a non-Christian and a foreigner, passing by Your icon, also pray - hear, O loving all people as Your children, Madam Theotokos, help him with Your love and mercy, give him everything necessary for help and salvation.
Guide Christians hardened in heart and scattered over the earth on the path of truth. Turn those who have departed from the faith to Christ and introduce them into the Holy Orthodox Ecumenical Catholic Church. In the families of all people, among the monastic brethren, save and save the world, in young men and women, affirm the spirit of brotherhood and humility, and wisdom; support the elderly, instruct teenagers, make men wise, take care of orphans and widows, console the oppressed and those in grief and sorrow and be their guard, raise babies, heal the sick, free those in captivity. May Thy grace always be our guardian and Thy merciful visitation a consolation to us and our benefactors.
Give, O Good, to our land productivity, good weather and everything that is in our favor, give as a gift at the right time according to Your all-powerful prayers before Holy Trinity- The Lord, the giver of Life, together with all His saints, and with the enlighteners of the Slavic countries Cyril and Methodius. Our ancestors of the deceased, fathers and mothers, our brothers and sisters, praying in all ages from ancient days before Your holy icon, rest in the villages of the righteous, in heavenly bright and calm places, where there is neither sadness nor sighs.
When the time comes for us to leave earthly life for eternal life, be our protector, the Virgin Blessed by all generations of people, and grant an Orthodox death without pain, not in shame, peaceful, after Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, so that we future life all, together with all the saints of God, were able to live in an endless blissful life in the Kingdom of Heaven of Your Beloved and Only Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Whom we glorify, honor and bow to Him forever. Amen

Through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and Her intercession, may the Lord keep you!

Special grace has been given by the Lord to the Częstochowa Icon of the Theotokos (“Invincible Victory”) in recent times. The Lady of Czestochowa should pray for the salvation of Holy Russia and the granting of an Orthodox Tsar.

According to the revelation received after the appearance of St. Seraphim of Sarovsky in 1991 b. Valentina, now mother, needs to beg the Russian Orthodox Tsar from the Lady of Czestochowa, whose feast days fall on March 19 and September 9.

It is providential that the celebration of the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon on September 8 turns into the celebration of the Czestochowa Icon of the Lady on September 9. The very feast of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God reminds us, Christians of the last times, that the impossible can be accomplished by repentance and prayer. In 1395, the formidable conqueror Tamerlane invaded Russia and, going to Moscow, reached the Don.

Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich with his army came out to meet him, but most of all, the prince relied on heavenly intercession. He asked the people to strictly fast during the Assumption Fast and ordered the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God to be transferred from Vladimir to Moscow. Meeting the icon, the people knelt down and called to the Lady: “Mother of God, save the Russian Land!”. Tamerlane turned his hordes back.

On March 19 (6th according to the old calendar), 1917, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to stop praying for the Tsar, and pray for the Provisional Government, calling him faithful. Russia embarked on the path of destruction the day it stopped openly praying for the Tsar.

So restore the throne Orthodox Tsars we can and must pray before the Częstochowa icon of the Mother of God. This icon has been intended for the royal family ever since the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Queen Elena received the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord on March 6/19, 326.

The image of the Lady of Czestochowa also became a symbol of the glory of Russian weapons, when our army, under the leadership of M.I. Kutuzova during the Napoleonic wars took the fortress of Czestochowa in Poland (hence the name of the icon - Czestochowa) and the Pauline monks of the Yasnogorsk Czestochowa monastery, led by the rector, presented the Russian General von Sakken with a list with their miraculous icon. He was solemnly brought to St. Petersburg and placed, along with the keys to the fortress of Częstochowa, in the Kazan Cathedral.

It is noteworthy that the first prayer service for the victory over Napoleon was served precisely before this image of the Queen of Heaven. And every year on January 7 in the evening, on the eve of the celebration of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, it was before the Częstochowa icon that a prayer service was served for the granting of victory to the Russian army. So it was until 1917 ...

In the spring of 2010, the initiative group Orthodox citizens Moscow and St. Petersburg, with the blessing of the rector of the Kazan Cathedral, Father Pavel, applied to the Ministry of Culture with a request: to allow the transfer of the Czestochowa icon from the Museum of Religion, where it was requisitioned in the godless 30s, to the cathedral. Permission has been granted! Per recent times this is an almost unprecedented case. But ... the cathedral is in no hurry to return its shrine, "a symbol of the glory of Russian weapons", referring either to the lack of time to do this, then to the lack of funds, then - protection, then ... As they say, no comment. As we try, so we get.

The second tradition of prayer before Czestochowa was associated with the following events. At the end of the 19th century in Czestochowa for Orthodox church The Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God was ordered (the icon has been preserved and is in its place). The icon was commissioned by the rector Father Nikodim (Sokolov), the future Bishop Joseph, in memory of his deceased wife. And the icon painter, who was already dying, wrote on the back of the icon the prophecy of Ossia: “Death! Where is your pity? Hell. Where is your victory?

Now it becomes clear why Russian name icons "Invincible victory". Victory is the Mother of God, erasing the head of death, and victory is through the Mother of God, especially - in recent times - through Częstochowa.

Subsequently, the rector of the temple established a tradition: on Fridays, after the evening service, to perform solemn prayer singing with the rite of the akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos.

In August 2004, the Lady of Czestochowa in a helmet and chain mail appeared in a dream to Abbot Seraphim from the Holy Vvedensky Monastery of the Kurgan Diocese, ordered her to paint and distribute Her icon. The icon is called "Victory Chosen Governor" (later called "Russian Invincible Victory"), and the inscription reads: "Stand for Christ until the martyr's Cross."

"Russian Invincible Victory"

The fact that this is indeed the Czestochowa image of the Mother of God is evidenced by the wound on the face, which remained from the Tatar arrow and the iconographic type of the icon. In October of the same year in Svyato-Bogolyubsky convent in the photograph of the old painting, during the development of the film, the Virgin changed her usual attire for a helmet and chain mail. The picture clearly shows the type of the icon: Hodegetria of Częstochowa.

The repeated appearances of the Czestochowa image of the Queen of Heaven lately in different regions have long made us understand that the time has come for tireless prayer to the One through Whom death was conquered. Through prayer to Her, we can defeat our Russian conciliar death (at the conciliar level, Russia is now dead without the Anointed One) and defeat the antichrist hordes, the onslaught of which on Holy Russia is intensifying every day.

How long, Lady, will you forget us?

And do not deliver us in the hour of our sorrow!

How long will our enemy rise up against us?

By Your power and dominion crush him!

Let us glorify Thee, the Blessed One,

And glorify like an invincible victory!

A rare image that is honored by both Western and Eastern churches. Previously, the shrine was in Constantinople. Today, the Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God is the main shrine of Poland, it is respectfully called the "Queen", also the "Black Madonna".

History of the icon

The revered icon is attributed to the brush of the Apostle Luke himself. It is no longer possible to establish the accuracy of these assumptions: more than a hundred images claim to be written by an evangelist. However, it is the Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God that is mentioned in archival materials starting from the 13th century. Art historians date its creation to the 9th or 11th century. The miraculous image was brought to Poland by a certain prince.

• The Icon of the Mother of God of Czestochowa, according to legend, helped in the defense of the city from the Tatar-Mongols. She was carried to the fortress wall, as a result of which an arrow hit the image. The wound began to bleed. The Tatars, on the other hand, seemed to have gone mad and began to kill each other. A trace on the face of the Virgin has remained to this day.

• According to another version, the wound appeared as a result of the attack of the Hussites, who decided to rob the Polish monastery where the shrine was kept.

Prayers to the Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God were offered up in various cities and countries. At first she was in the city of Belz, then, at the end of the 14th century. moved to Lviv. From there, Prince Opolsky took her to his possessions. He stopped for the night in a poor village called Jasna Gora (near Częstochowa). In the morning it turned out that the image could not be moved. Then the prince gave this temple into the possession of the monastic order.

Nowadays, there is a stone church of the Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God here. This is a small church, where the main shrine is an ancient image, blackened from time to time. The image is covered with a sheet of silver, it used to hang high above the altar to make it harder to steal. Numerous enemies repeatedly tried to seize the shrine, but the Mother of God did not want to leave the place she had chosen.

In Poland, the Częstochowa Icon of the Mother of God is revered as a defender against encroachments on the freedom and independence of their Motherland. It was near a small chapel in the 17th century. the Swedes, who had previously marched victoriously across the country, were defeated. Despite the fact that the image resides in another country, prayers, a troparion and an akathist are written to him in Russian.

The meaning of the icon

The image is a very traditional version of Hodegetria. Christ sits on the hand of Mary, wearing royal clothes. Left hand The Mother of God points directly to Jesus as the only true path to Salvation. Right hand Child - blesses, in the left - the Book. This is a symbol of the fact that all the fullness of knowledge is only in the hand of God.

There are elements of Western origin on the Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God, although in general it is made in the Byzantine tradition. For example, the colors of the robes, the golden lilies on the robes. The faces are softer than on traditional Russian icons. However, the signs of mutual penetration of cultures should not instill doubt in the hearts of those who pray, since the icon was painted before the separation of the churches, therefore it can be safely revered by the Orthodox.

What to pray for the Czestochowa icon

Faith knows no boundaries, does not distinguish between nationalities. You can pray to the Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God anywhere. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Poles presented the Russians with a list, which was brought to St. Petersburg. In Russia, there are a dozen other copies, one of which miraculously appeared on canvas.

You can ask the Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God for strengthening in faith, for protection from enemies - including spiritual ones, if various passions attack. During fasting, it is necessary to pray for the strengthening of the body and soul. Numerous pilgrims flock to Poland to see the miraculous image, especially on the feast of the Assumption. The gracious mistress protects all those who hopefully ask her for help.

Prayer to the Czestochowa Icon

O All-Merciful Lady, the Queen of the Mother of God, chosen from all generations and blessed by all generations, heavenly and earthly! Look graciously at these people standing before Your holy icon, earnestly praying to You, and do Your intercession and intercession with Your Son and our God, so that no one will depart from this place of hope of his skinny and put to shame in his hope; but may everyone receive from You everything according to the good desire of their heart, according to their need and need, for the salvation of the soul and for the health of the body. Most of all, protect the autumn with Your protection, Merciful Mother, the Most Pious future Sovereign Emperor of ours and his entire reigning house; drive away from Him by Thy prayers every enemy and adversary, affirm his life in peace and silence, and we all live a quiet and silent life in every good, piety and purity; keep His kingdom in the hedgehog to be to him the Kingdom of Christ; direct His ways and advice, may righteousness and the multitude of the world shine in His days, may his heart and those who are in His power rejoice, like the heart of a father rejoicing over his children; but on those who resist and are deceitful in their hearts, they tremble before His face, so that they will not come to their senses with fear and stop from their wickedness and opposition, doing His will, as before God, from the soul and good conscience. Moth, Merciful Lady, the most heavenly God, may she always keep her holy church, strengthen our Orthodox bishops with her highest blessing, protect the world and the saints of her church who are whole, healthy, honest, long-lived and the right of those who rule the word of their truth grants, from all the same visible and invisible Enemies with all Orthodox Christians will graciously deliver and in Orthodoxy and firm faith until the end of the ages, uncompromisingly and invariably preserve. Look down with mercy, O All-Petered One, and with contempt; Thy merciful intercession to our entire kingdom of All Russia, our reigning cities, this city and this holy temple, - and pour out Your rich mercy on me, Thou art the all-powerful Helper and Intercessor of all of us. Bow down to the prayers and all Your servants who flow here to holy icon Thy this, hear the sighs and voices, by which Thy servants pray in this holy temple. If, however, both a non-believer and a foreigner, walking and passing here, pray, hear, loving the Lady, and do this philanthropy and mercifully, even to help him and to salvation. Teach your hardened and scattered hearts in our countries to the path of truth. Having fallen away from the pious faith, convert and again count the saints of Your Orthodox Catholic Church. In the families of all people and in our brethren, protect and observe the world, affirm brotherhood and humility in the young, support old age, instruct adolescence, be wise, orphans and widows intercede, comfort and protect those who are oppressed and in sorrow, raise babies, heal the sick, captives free, protecting us from all evil with your goodness and comfort with your merciful visit and all those who benefit us. Grant, O Good One, fruitful land, well-being to the air, and all, even for our benefit, timely and beneficial gifts, by your all-powerful intercession before the All-Holy Life-Giving Trinity, together with the holy chosen saints of Her Cyril and Methodius. Before departed fathers and mothers, our brothers and sisters, and all from ancient years who fell to Your holy icon, this rest of the villages of the saints, in a place of light, in a green place, in a place of rest, and where there is sorrow and sighing. When will our departure from this life come in time and to eternal life transmigration, appear to us, Most Blessed Virgin, and grant the Christian death of our belly painless, shameless, peaceful and I will partake of the Holy Mysteries, and in the future we will be honored with all, together with all the saints, endless blissful life in the kingdom of your beloved Son, Lord and our God Jesus Christ, to Him be due glory, honor and power, with His Beginningless Father and His Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever, amen.

The Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God - what helps was last modified: June 18th, 2017 by Bogolub

Recently, our Russian layman is tired of lying on the beaches of Turkey and Egypt. There has been an increase in tourists to Europe and pilgrims to all foreign holy places. To make it easier to navigate in the journal Neskuchny Sad, even a map was published called Shrines of Europe: A Pilgrim's Map. Of course, many shrines are not indicated on it, but still ... for a start, for a general acquaintance with the shrines, it is enough. Here is such a map:

The main shrine of Poland is the Częstochowa Icon of the Mother of God (celebration on March 19 and September 9, N.S.). The history of the icon is full miraculous cases healings, deliverances and help, as well as no less miraculous cases of protection from blasphemers.

The Poles call the Czestochowa icon "Polish Queen" or "Black Madonna" - for the dark tone of colors. The icon is located in the Jasnogorsk Monastery of Czestochowa, a city in southern Poland in Upper Silesia, on the Warta River. The full name of the monastery, which today belongs to the Catholic Pauline Order, is Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Maria Yasnogorskaya. The Częstochowa image is equally revered by Catholics and Orthodox. The monks of the order take care of their main shrine, and Orthodox from all over the world are welcome guests here. Organized for pilgrims, the Jasnagóra Information Center in Czestochowa (address: ul. O.A. Kordckiego, 2) provides assistance in any language for everyone, regardless of religious affiliation.

The miraculous image is kept in the main temple of the Yasnogorsk Monastery - the chapel of the Chapel. The image is placed on an altar of ebony and silver. Every day at six in the morning, with the solemn sound of a fanfare (not an organ), the icon is opened for worship: a special silver curtain is pulled back. The icon is set quite high, so, according to Russian custom, it will not work to venerate it. Believers, according to a tradition that has long been established, approach the “Polish Queen” along the chapel building, narrow as a corridor, on their knees. They close the image at nine in the evening.

The history of the icon is full of miraculous cases of help and healing, and no less miraculous cases of protection from blasphemers. According to legend, the Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God is a list of those icons that were painted by the Apostle Luke himself. This Częstochowa list, in Byzantine writing, dates from around the 11th century. By the way, the image of the Mother of God of Czestochowa was originally quite dark in color, as was the image of the Iberian Mother of God. Such a dark background and thick colors are characteristic of the Byzantine iconography of this period. In the XIII century, the icon came to Russia: the Galician-Volyn prince Lev Danilovich, the founder of the city of Lvov, placed it in the Belz castle under the guidance of the Orthodox clergy. During the conquest of Western Ukraine by the Poles, the miraculous icon went to the Polish ruler, Prince Vladislav of Opolsky. During the siege of the castle by the Tatars, the icon was taken to the city walls. From the pierced Tatar wall, a bloody trace remained on the image of the Virgin. By the intercession of the Mother of God, the Tatars retreated. According to legend, the Mother of God in a dreamy vision ordered the prince to move miraculous icon on Jasna Hora Częstochowa. Having founded a monastery on this site in 1352, Prince Vladislav transferred the miraculous shrine to it, entrusting it to the monks of the Pauline Order for safekeeping. A few years later the monastery was robbed by the Hussites. They wanted to steal the miraculous image, but suddenly the horses got up. One of the robbers threw the holy icon to the ground, another hit the face with a sword. The blasphemers immediately paid the price: the first was torn to pieces, the second's hand withered, the rest fell dead.

The icon also survived the fire, but was not damaged. In the 16th century, Catholic masters restored it, giving it the features of the Madonna, or, as Russian icon painters say, “Gothic” her image. Larisa Gacheva, icon painter: “I made a list from this image and then I understood why the Poles installed the icon so high, above head level. If you look at this image when it is at eye level, it seems that the icon is “squinting”. But when you look at her from the bottom up, this effect disappears, and you see more: the Mother of God looks mysteriously, but you feel that Her secret is not closed to you.”

During the attack on Poland by the Swedes, the Czestochowa icon again protected the Poles, and King Jan Casimir, returning to Lviv, published a manifesto, according to which he entrusted his state to the patronage of the Mother of God, calling Her Czestochowa icon "Polish Queen".

Numerous miracles from the Częstochowa miraculous icon are attested in a special book kept in the church of the Częstochowa monastery. Lists were made from the icon for both Catholic and Orthodox churches.

The icon is kept without a special case, but under the constant supervision of specialists from the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts.