The Pochaev Icon comes to Bishkek
The Pachaev Icon
I hope that I haven’t upset Tatiana, my accountant.
She is a member of the Orthodox Church and is quite devout. Today is quite a big day for the church because it is about to take delivery of a copy of a famous icon, The Pochaev Icon depicting the Theotokos, (a Greek term for the Madonna, the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus – it literally means ”Birth-Giver of God”), carrying an infant child. Apparently it is a gift from the church in the Ukraine to the Cathedral of the Resurrection here in Bishkek.
The Pochaev Theotokos is a very famous icon and highly revered by Orthodox Christians all over the world.
The original icon is housed in the Pochaev Lavra, a hilltop monastery in the Ukraine which was established by two monks way back in 1340. It was the time of the Mongol invasion and the two had apparently run away from another Monastery.
The story goes that one of the monks climbed the hill after having prayed, and there he saw a vision of the Virgin Mary encircled by flames. He called the other monk to witness the vision. A local herdsman, (his name is actually recorded in the story, Ioann Bosoi), also saw it. He came running up to the monks and together the three of them set about praising the Lord. According to the story, the Madonna had left the imprint of her right foot in the stone where she had stood.
In actual fact, the first actual record of a monastery in Pochaev only goes back as far as 1527.
The icon came to Pochaev sometime later, in 1559. The Metropolitan of Constantinople brought it with him when he was travelling through the region and he left it as a farewell gift to a noblewoman, Anna Goiskaya, who lived on the nearby Orlya estate.
After a while, it was noticed that the icon seemed to emanate a radiance. Then, a couple of years later, in 1597, Anna’s brother was healed of an ailment and the cure was ascribed to the icon. Anna gave the icon to a monk who had been attending to her brother’s illness, and he took it back to monatery where a special church was built to house it.
It is said that the icon has been responsible for over 500 attested miracles over the centuries, (539 according to press reports here).
One miracle involved a monk from the monastery who was taken captive by the Tatars, and held as a slave. In his slavery he thought long and often of the Pochaev monastery, its holy relics, the divine services, and the singing. He longed to be in Pochaev for the approaching Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, (the icon’s own specific feast day – in fact there are three days). He prayed tearfully to the Mother of God for deliverance from his captivity. Suddenly the walls of the dungeon disappeared and the monk miraculously found himself standing before the walls of the Pochaev monastery.
Another story from the second half of the eighteenth century tells of a nobleman, a Count Pototski, who in a fit of rage directed against a coachman who he thought had overturned his carriage just outside the monastery. The Count took out a pistol and aimed it at the servant who turned towards the monastery and cried to the Virgin Mary, whose image was kept there, to save him. Inexplicably, the pistol misfired and the remorseful count ran to the monastery and pledged himself and all that he owned to the refurbishing of the establishment.
If that particular instance doesn’t sound particularly miraculous, perhaps a more traditional miracle story tells of the restoration of sight to a blind woman, Anna Akimchukova, who had come to Pochaev in 1832 on a pilgrimage with her seventy-year-old grandmother from Kremenets-Podolsk, 200 miles away.
The icon is also credited with the deliverance of the monastery in the face of a Turkish Siege in July, 1675. Tatar regiments had invaded Pochaev and had the monastery surrounded on three sides. Not designed as a fortress and not offering much defence against a siege, the Abbot urged the monks and laity to pray to their heavenly intercessors, the Virgin Mary and St Job of Pochaev, (a monk who had lived between 1551 and 1651 who joined the monastery in 1604 and became a hermit).
This they did, praying fervently and prostrating themselves before the miracle working icon and the reliquary with the relics of St. Job. The abbot ordered that a special service, (an Akathist to the Theotokos), be sung at sunrise on the morning of July 23, which happened to be just when the Tatars were planning their assault. At the opening words, “O Queen of the Heavenly Hosts,” the Most Holy Theotokos suddenly appeared over the church, in “an unfurled gleaming-white maphorion,” accompanied by angels holding unsheathed swords. She wasn’t alone, as St. Job stood beside her, bowing to her and beseeching her to defend the monastery.
The Tatars were terrified at the sight of the holy army, but they managed to shoot off arrows at the Holy pair. It didn’t do them much good, however, as the arrows fell backwards and wounded those who had shot them. In the resulting panic they trampled on each other and many were killed. The revitalized defenders of the monastery set out to pursue those that had fled and they took many as prisoners. Some of the prisoners are said to have later accepted Christianity and remained at the monastery.
July 23rd is one of the feast days dedicated to the Icon. The others are the Friday of Bright Week, (the first week after Easter), and September 8th.
You might well be wondering why it is that I hope I haven’t upset Tatiana. The answer is simple.
When it was announced that the icon was to arrive in Bishkek today, arrangements were made for the faithful to meet it at the airport and accompany it in a procession to the Cathedral. The flight bringing the relic was scheduled to arrive at 05:10 and a service planned at the airport. Buses were laid on to take the participants to the airport … but the procession back to the city, (about 40 kilometers), would be on foot. Tatiana decided that she wanted to go and asked for the day off. No problem. Then she asked me if I wanted to join them … but I, politely, declined.
Bishkek