Among the saints revered by the Christian Church, a special place is occupied by the Mother of God, the pious Virgin, who was destined for a special place in God's plan - to become the mother of Jesus Christ, God the Son in his human incarnation. It is not surprising that the image of this saint was embodied in many icons.
In the Russian Orthodox Church, the Mother of God has always been revered especially - as the patroness of Russia. The number of icons of the Mother of God is numbered in dozens. Some of them are better known, others less - for example, there is a copy of the Vladimir or Kazan icon in almost every church, and not every Christian knows about the Azov or Barskaya icon.
All the variety of icons of the Virgin is divided into three types - Eleusa, Hodegetria and Oranta.
Eleusa
The Greek word “eleusa” is translated into Russian as “affection” or “merciful”. On such icons, the Mother of God is presented in touching union with the Divine Child, whom she holds in her arms. The faces of the mother and the baby Jesus touch, and the halos are connected.
Such an image symbolizes the indissoluble unity of the Earthly and Heavenly, the Creator and the Creation, the endless love of God for man.
Hodegetria
On icons of the Hodegetria type, the Mother of God is also depicted up to the waist and with a baby in her arms, but the image differs from emotion in greater severity.
The baby, seated on the left hand of the Mother of God, does not cling to her, but is somewhat detached from her. His left hand is raised in a blessing gesture, and his right hand rests on a scroll - the Law. The right hand of the Mother of God is directed at the baby, as if showing the faithful the way to Him. Hence the name of the icon - Odigitria, translated from Greek - Guidebook.
Oranta
The Latin word "oranta" means "praying." On such icons, the Mother of God is depicted in full growth, with her hands raised in prayer, and most often without a baby. However, the image of the Divine baby can be present in the bosom of the Mother of God, such an icon is called "Great Panagia (" All-Holy "). The half-length image of the Great Panagia is called the "Sign".
In this type of icons, the Mother of God appears as a patron saint, forever praying to God for leniency towards people.
This classification is only a distant look at the huge variety of the Theotokos icons. There are many images of each of these types.
On some icons, the Mother of God is depicted surrounded by other biblical heroes - "Theotokos with the prophets", "Theotokos and the holy virgins."
The names of certain icons refer to some cities, but this does not mean that the icons were painted there. For example, the Vladimir icon, according to legend, was written by the evangelist Luke, in 450 was transferred from Jerusalem to Constantinople, in the 12th century a copy of it was sent to Kiev to Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, and later the son of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky took it to the north of Russia. The Mother of God herself appeared to the prince in a dream and ordered to leave the icon in the city of Vladimir, after which the icon was named Vladimir.
The Fedorov icon is famous for the fact that it was with her that the Kostroma clergy went out to meet the embassy, which brought the young Mikhail Romanov the news of his election to the kingdom. Thus, the icon became the patroness of the Romanovs' house, and foreign princesses, entering into marriage with Russian tsars, received not only Orthodox names, but also the patronymic Fedorovna.
Special prayers are dedicated to many of the Mother of God icons. It is customary to pray in front of some icons in certain life situations, their names speak about this: "Joy to all who grieve", "Seeking out the dead", "Assistant in childbirth".
It is impossible to tell about all the icons of the Theotokos - there are many of them, and behind each there is an important part of the Christian spiritual experience.
