joypeacehope: THE INTERCESSION OF THE MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

THE INTERCESSION OF THE MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD

The Meeting of the Icon of the Vladimir Mother of God.

The news reached Moscow that moving from the south to the city was Tamerlane's army—the army of an invincible and cruel conqueror. He was literally invincible—throughout his long life, he never suffered a single defeat. Tamerlane had conquered Persia, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Mesopotamia, Georgia, India, and Syria. By the end of his life in 1405, his territory stretched east to west from the Black sea to the banks of the Ganges, and north to south from the Aral Sea to the Arabian Sea.

In the summer of 1395, an event occurred which left a deep mark in the spiritual and historical life of the Russian people, and which became an eternal example of faith and hope in the Providence of God, and in the intercession of the Most Pure Mother of God.

In 1395, this terrible conqueror of nearly all of Asia Minor and the Caucasus was advancing upon Russia, had reached the borders of Riazan, razed the town of Yelets, and turned towards Moscow, nearing the upper Don River. Grand Prince Vasily Dimitrievich courageously went out with his Muscovite army to Kolomna to meet the enemy, but everyone knew that their forces were not equal.

At that great and decisive moment in history, not only was the continued existence of Moscow under question, but also of the entire Russia nation. Metropolitan Cyprian of Kiev and All Russia, the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, understood this better than anyone did. After blessing Prince Vasily to go to war, he called all the Muscovites to repentance, fervent prayer, and fasting. Then, by divine inspiration, he sent ambassadors—priests and boyars to Vladimir for the greatest sacred shrine of Russia—the Vladimir icon of the Mother of God.

The icon was carried to Moscow in a grandiose procession that lasted ten days. During the entire way, the icon was surrounded by a huge crowd of people, who knelt before it with continual cries of "Mother of God, save the Russian land!" The people of Moscow with the Metropolitan at the head, the entire family of the Grand Prince, clergy and boyars met the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos on Kuchkova field.

Today that road upon which the procession came from Vladimir is called Sretensky, (from the Slavonic word meaning "meeting"), and the gates that were erected later on the site of Kuchkova field were called the Sretensky Gates.

All of Russia prayed during those days before the icon of the Mother of God to be saved from inevitable destruction.

And a miracle happened.

Tamerlane reached the town of Yelets, and for a reason unknown to historians did not go further to Moscow, although a nearly unprotected city lay before him—easy loot and military glory. This happened on August 26, 1395.

The Chronicles, however, explain this strange move thus: in the same hour that the inhabitants of Moscow met the icon and prayed before it, Tamerlane was dozing in his tent. Suddenly in a dream, a Majestic Lady appeared surrounded by a radiant light, who threateningly told him to leave the threshold of Muscovy. Awakening in terror, Tamerlane called his advisors and inquired what this vision meant. They answered him that the Majestic Lady is the Mother of God, the great intercessor for Christians. That is why, according to the Chronicles, the frightened Tamerlane turned toward the south the next day.

On the place of the meeting of the Vladimir Mother of God, Metropolitan Cyprian founded the Sretensky Monastery, and on August 26 (September 8 according to the civil calendar), this event is still celebrated as the day that Moscow and Russia were saved from Tamerlane.

This dramatic event is well known to the Orthodox, but the rest of the story is less known, although the outcome was also the result of the people's prayers, and amazingly influenced the whole course of Russian history. Turning from Moscow to the south, Tamerlane began his grandiose crushing of the Golden Horde. All the cities of the steppe, at enmity with Russia at the time, were looted and destroyed over the course of the year. Khan Tokhtamysh in 1382 had burned Moscow out of revenge for his defeat at Kulikovo, and run off to Lithuania. After their total defeat the Golden Horde in fact cease to exist as a steppe civilization and united nation. For Russia, these events were of colossal significance.

Alexei Artemev

Translated by OrthoChristian.com

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"Anathema To Him Who Divides And To Him Who Confounds"

This statement was made by the most reverend bishops of the
Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. As the mind of God was, so the seven holy councils of the first 800 years of the church spoke, establishing and confirming the great doctrines of the Christian church universal which stand firm and solid to this day and will for all eternity. In ignorance most Protestants and Romanists today aren't even aware of Byzantine history and the glorious reign of the church during the first thousand years of history after the coming of the Blessed One. If you knew that to not embrace the decrees and canons of these councils put you in an anathematized condition, would you not repent and return to the 'true faith' of your fathers? "Do not move the ancient boundary stone", so it states in the Proverbs and what happens when we do? We will be prosecuted and thus shall it be for us who violate these ancient decrees and canons of the Holy Ecumenical Councils.

Icon Of The Descent Into Hades

Jesus Christ stands on the doors of Hades and breaks them open. The doors are in the form of a Cross to remind us that Jesus shattered these doors through the power of the Cross. Christ is pulling Adam and Eve out of Hades or Sheol, the place of death. Notice the limp hand of both Adam and Eve. The limp hand symbolizes that it is through Jesus' power that they are taken to heaven out of this place of death. It is Jesus' death and that alone that has conquered death. Left of Jesus we see John the Baptist preaching about the one who is to come to Hades to save them. John the Baptist is Jesus' forerunner even in Hades. Next to John the Baptist is King David and King Solomon. Right of Jesus we find Abel, the first saint of the Old Testament. This icon is also called the Icon of the Resurrection.

Biography of Saint Basil, Fool for Christ

Saint Basil the Blessed, was born in December 1468 on the portico of the Elokhov church outside Moscow. His parents were commoners and sent their son to be trained as a cobbler. During Basil's apprenticeship, the master cobbler happened to witness an occurrence, which showed him that his apprentice was not an ordinary young man. A merchant had brought grain to Moscow on a barge and came in to order boots, specifying that they be made in a particular way, since he would not pick them up for a year. After taking the order, Saint Basil began to weep and said, "I wish you would cancel the order, since you will never wear them." Confused, the master cobbler questioned his apprentice, and he explained that the man would not wear the boots, for he would soon die. After several days the prediction came true.

When he was sixteen, the saint arrived in Moscow and began to display what is called "Yurodivy" or foolishness for Christ. In the burning summer heat and in the freezing Russian winters, he walked barefoot through the streets of Moscow. His actions were strange, for instance, he would topple kalachi and kvas stands in the marketplace. Angry merchants would throttle and beat Saint Basil, but he welcomed the abuse with joy and he thanked God for it. Soon after it would be discovered that the kalachi was poorly cooked, and the kvas was badly prepared. The reputation of St Basil quickly grew. People saw him as a holy fool, a man of God, and a denouncer of wrong.

Another story tells of a merchant who wanted to build a stone church in Moscow, but its arches collapsed three times. The merchant turned to the saint for advice, and he pointed him toward Kiev. "Find John the Cripple," he said. "He will advise you how to construct the church." Traveling to Kiev, the merchant sought out John, who sat in a poor hut and rocked an empty cradle. "Whom do you rock?" asked the merchant. "I weep for my mother, who was made poor by my birth and upbringing." Only then did the merchant remember his own mother, whom he had thrown out of the house. Then it became clear to him why he was not able to build the church. Returning to Moscow, he brought his mother home, begged her forgiveness, and built the church.

Preaching mercy, Saint Basil helped those who were ashamed to ask for alms, but who were more in need of help than others. Once, he gave away a rich imperial present to a foreign merchant who had been left destitute. Although the man had eaten nothing for three days, he was not able to beg for food, since he wore fine clothing. The saint harshly condemned those who gave to the poor for selfish reasons, not out of compassion, but hoping for an easy way to attract God's blessings. St Basil also visited the taverns, where he tried to see goodness, even in people who others had given up as lost, and to strengthen and encourage them by kindness.
Once Saint Basil even reproached Tsar Ivan the Terrible, saying that during the divine services the Tsar was preoccupied with thoughts of building a palace in the Vorobiev hills.

St Basil died on August 2, 1557. His body was buried in the cemetery of Trinity church, where in 1554, In an early icon, St Basil is portrayed as old, with white hair curling at his ears, and a short, curly white beard. He is completely naked, and holds a handkerchief in his hand. The veneration of St Basil the Blessed was always so strong that the Trinity temple and the attached Protection church were renamed for him as the famous St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. The saint's chains, his relics, are preserved at the Moscow Spiritual Academy.

RUSSIAN ICON "GUARDIAN ANGEL"

"Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven." Matt. 18:10 " Although we can not see them with our bodily eyes, we can see them clearly with the eyes of faith. Are we really so poverty stricken in sensitivity and spiritual awareness that we do not wish to believe anything except the easily visible world? Are our hearts so occupied with worldly vainglory that they love nothing which does not pertain to wealth and temporary pleasure?" The Guardian Angel pg. 10

Icon of the Holy Archangel Michael, Captain Of The Angelic Host.

Saint John Chrysostom The Golden Mouthed

St. Gregory The Theologian

St. Gregory the Theologian, when barely thirty years old, won acclaim throughout the region as a mighty warrior in the fight against paganism and heresy. He headed the reorganisation of the Orthodox Church which had been torn asunder by the heresy of Arianism from within and by the harassment of pagans without. In the course of this holy work, he achieved distinction as an orator, traditionalist, and a crusader that earned him the title of "Theologian" despite the opposition of Maximos the Cynic, who had been set up against him by the bishop of Alexandria. He was the instrument of God in unifying the Church into a cohesive unit that could withstand any internal or external pressure.

St. Basil the Great

St. Basil set Christian perfectionism as the goal of monastic life. The monks were to practice Christian virtues together, especially love; to practice obedience to a spiritual father; to practice chastity and poverty, and share the common goods of the monastery. After they achieved Christian perfection, they were allowed to come back to the world and help others to achieve Christian perfection. Thus, the monks had the mission of "social workers" as well. St. Basil's institutions, especially his Basileias, which was at the same time an orphanage, a "kitchen for the poor," and a school for the illiterate was in practice run by monks. This was St. Basil's way of utilizing the monastic movement to benefit the mission of the Church in the world.

Prayer of St. Ephram The Syrian 306-373

O Lord and Master of my life! Take from me the spirit of sloth, lust of power, meddling and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chasity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors and to judge not my brother; For thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen. (The church historian, Sozomen credits Ephrem with having written over three million lines of hymns, poems, homilies and biblical commentary). His works are known only within Orthodoxy. "The greatest poet of the patristic age and, perhaps, the only theologian-poet to rank beside Dante." — Robert Murray.