Are vouchsafed healing and receive the knowledge of the true faith,
And they repel the attacks of the Russian* horde.
Therefore entreat remission of sins
For us who fall down before you.
Enlighten our hearts to thoughts of piety,
And raise a prayer to your Son to save our souls.
(Troparion of the Pochaev Icon – Tone 5)
Pochaev mountain is in modern-day Ukraine, and it is there in the 14th century, that an appearance of the Mother of God with her Saviour was granted to two monks and a nearby shepherd. After the vision, a single footprint remained in the mountainside, from which a spring emerged. The previously uninhabited mountain became the site of a monastery dedicated to the miracle. Over 200 years later, the monastery was visited by the a Greek Bishop, Neophit, who left behind as a gift, an Icon of the Theotokos from Constantinople. This is the Icon which came to bear the monastery’s name: the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God.
*Original prayer uses 'Muslim' - please pardon my edit. I'm broken hearted and devastated this invasion has brought terror, death and suffering to Ukraine. Of course, it may well be the fuse igniting a full-blown WWIII.
Moscow is called the third Rome in Slavic mythology. Constantinople to Kiev to Moscow was the route of Orthodoxy. Putin, I think, believes he is the new Czar who inherits this legacy. Most in the West are ignorant that for him this is a crusade. If the Pope enters these troubled waters as some are urging him. If he goes to Moscow and returns to the Vatican crying I will have to give serious attention for this is Garabandal’s prophecy. We sit at a precipice. I wonder who will hold us back?
ReplyDeleteTerry, I love the Icon. The colors are sublime face of the Virgin with sadness and tenderness to the Christ Child is both beautiful and troubling. Thanks for posting it.
DeleteYes - I've been reading about all of that - he wants to restore Christianity. Hitler had grandiose aspirations as well. I'm very sad about these developments.
DeleteWe should be troubled. I have got past ny recent rosary block of late. I will pray for Ukraine as we all should. Reports are 10% of population is Catholic.
DeletePraying here.
DeleteI'm not troubled about this at all. I think there's a lot more to the story of what's going on than you'll be hearing from the MSM.
ReplyDeletePlease elaborate.
DeleteI love the icon of Our Lady of Pochayiv. It's on my "bucket list" to visit Ukraine and the Pochayiv monastery. Here is a very good article about the icon: https://www.museumofrussianicons.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Sept_2016_Sciacca_Franklin_The_Icon_of_the_Pochayiv_Mother_of_God.pdf
ReplyDeleteThere is also the amazing apparition of the Mother of God over the Pochayiv monastery in 1675 to save it from invasion: https://orthochristian.com/140968.html