In iconography, there are several types of icons of the Virgin. Odigitria is considered one of the most widespread icon painting types. This type includes one of the most revered icons of the Mother of God - the image of the Iveron Blessed Virgin Mary.
Christian tradition has preserved to us information that the first icon painter of the face of the Mother of God was the holy apostle and evangelist Luke. It is assumed that the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Iverskaya was painted by him. At the present time, this holy miraculous image is located on Mount Athos above the gates of the Iversky Monastery (this location of the icon gave rise to the name of the image as a goalkeeper).
The history of the appearance of the image on Athos dates back to the time of iconoclasm (IX century). This period in Byzantium was marked by the struggle of the authorities against any manifestations of icon painting both in churches and in the homes of believers. For the veneration of icons, many Christians endured oppression and persecution, and the icons themselves were confiscated and burned. In the 9th century, the image, now called Iberian, was in the house of a pious woman who lived near Nicaea. During the period of iconoclastic heresy, for the sake of saving the holy icon, the Christian woman lowered the holy image into the sea.
Two centuries later, the monks of the Georgian Iversky Monastery of Athos saw the wonderful image of the Mother of God at sea. A pillar of fire rose up from the icon. The Monk Elder Gabriel the Holy Mountain had a vision of the Mother of God, in which the Virgin Mary commanded the monk to walk on the waters and bring the holy image to the monastery. The elder fulfilled the order of the Mother of God.
The holy icon was first placed in the church, but at night, in an amazing way, the shrine itself appeared above the gates of the monastery. The icon was again brought to the temple, but in the morning the image again remained above the gates. This went on several times. In this miracle, the monks enlightened that the location of the icon should be located just above the gates to the holy Georgian monastery.
At present, there is a legend that before the coming of the Antichrist to the world, the Iberian icon of the Mother of God will leave the monastery itself.
A special reverent veneration of the Iveron Icon of the Theotokos was expressed in the writing of numerous copies from the prototype. Some of the lists have become miraculous. Among the most famous copies of the Iveron Icon is the image of the Montreal Iveron Icon, painted by a Greek monk in 1981. The image streamed myrrh for 15 years.
In Russia, there are also revered copies of the Iberian icon: the image of the Mother of God in the Novodevichy Monastery in Moscow (in turn, the copy of this icon is in the Iverskaya Chapel in Moscow), the image of the Iverian Icon of the New Jerusalem Monastery, the Nizhny Novgorod image and several others.
Days of Remembrance of the Iberian Icon of the Theotokos: Tuesday of Bright Week, February 25 (presentation of the list to the Valdai Monastery), October 26 (meeting of the list for Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1648), May 6 (the second acquisition of the list of the Novodevichiev Monastery image in 2012). Also, some church calendars indicate the date of the appearance of the prototype to the Athos monks at sea on April 13th.
