August 16 is a special date for the Orthodox. It was on this day, in the year 944, that the Image of Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands was transferred from Odessa to Constantinople.
Bread, Canvas, Nut… This holiday has many names. But for the Orthodox, this day is notable for the fact that it is on August 16 (according to the old style - August 29) that one of the main holidays is celebrated. And it is no coincidence. In 994, the historical transfer of the Image of Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands to Constantinople took place.
According to one of the biblical legends, the king Abgar, who was sick with leprosy, who ruled in the time of the Savior in Edessa, believed in the Lord and turned to the Teacher with a request for healing. As payment for the service, the tsar commissioned the court painter Ananias to paint a portrait of the Savior. Ananias went to Jerusalem, but could not approach Jesus, surrounded by people. Then he climbed the nearest hill and set to work. But no matter how hard the painter tried, he did not succeed. Soon the Lord himself called Ananias, listened and promised to send his disciple to his ruler. And then he asked to bring him water and a towel (ubrus).
Having washed his face, the Lord wiped his face with a cloth on which His Divine face was imprinted. Ananias took this canvas with the Image of Christ Not Made by Hands, along with a letter to his master. And as soon as he applied the ubrus to his face, there was almost no trace of the disease. A healing canvas with the face of the Savior and the words "Christ God, everyone who trusts in You will not be ashamed" Abgar, who was baptized, installed over the city gates. Thus, the ruler made it possible for all its inhabitants to turn to God.
In 944 Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who redeemed the holy face of Christ, transferred with great honors the Image of the Savior and the letter that the Teacher addressed to Abgar to Constantinople, the capital of Orthodoxy. Ubrus with the Image Not Made by Hands was placed in the Pharos Church of the Most Holy Theotokos.
There are several legends about the further "travels" of the holy canvas. According to one of them, the Not-Made-by-Hands Image was stolen by the Crusaders in the 13th century. Another legend says that the canvas with the face of Christ was transferred to Genoa around 1362. It is also known that the Image was printed several times, leaving its exact copies. One of them remained "on ceramics" when Anania returned to Edessa, the other ended up on a raincoat and ended up in Georgia.
In honor of the Holy Image of the Savior in Pskov there is a temple in the name of the Image of the Lord Jesus Christ not made by hands. However, the Feast of the Transfer is celebrated in all Orthodox churches. It coincides with the order of the Burial of the Shroud.
On this day, festive services, prayers and consecration of nuts are held in all holy monasteries, since the feast is celebrated on the Dormition, or the third (Nut) Savior. And the icon of the Image of Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands is considered the most widespread in the Orthodox world.
