Icon Day is an unexpected joy of the year. Memorial Day of the Icon of the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy. Iconography of the image “Unexpected joy”

As usual, during the Divine Liturgy, students of the Grace Compound give sermons on the theme of the holiday. This is what they said that day. “Dear brothers and sisters! How often does it happen in our lives accidental, i.e. unexpected joy and how we feel about it?

When receiving a gift, even the most ill-mannered among us will at least quietly say “thank you.” And unexpected joy is a spiritual gift. Thanksgiving for him is in prayer. Some say: “I don’t know a single prayer, I don’t know how to pray at all, I’ll go up to the icon and think: what should I do next? Well, I crossed myself, and then what? " We know English because we completed foreign language courses, we know how to drive a car because we passed our driver's license exams, we know how to knit because our mother taught us, and we bake pies according to our grandmother's recipe. But no one taught us to pray. We are self-taught at best. But first of all, it’s never too late to learn. Secondly, does the Lord need our long speeches? “Glory to Thee, Lord!” - the shortest prayer in the world. We've already learned it. Pronounced with a repentant heart, it will be heard.

If we take a closer look at our life, we can easily find in it many reasons for unexpected joy. Your son passed physics with a B, but it seemed to you that even a C was a blessing—an unexpected joy. It rained for a week, and today the sun is in the entire sky - an unexpected joy. You picked up a tiny puppy, who soon became your friend, your husband was unexpectedly given two (you and him) free trips to a sanatorium, but you never know... Life is woven from small joys, half of which are unexpected, so many reasons for thanksgiving. Another thing is that we don’t have the skill. We know how to ask, beg, cry in front of an icon, but give thanks... Let's learn to give thanks. And teach children. After all, children need this science so much in life. An ungrateful person who forgets to thank his neighbor for his mercy will all the more forget about the highest gratitude. The consequence of the inability to give thanks will be his inability to experience heartfelt joy. And the inability to have joy of the heart will cause a joyless life. What a chain reaction, what a strong connection.

What to pray for in front of the icon of the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy”? What to ask the Most Holy Theotokos?

They pray for health and healing in front of the image. They ask for intercession in everyday matters. Desperate spouses pray for the birth of a child or pregnancy. The proud, mired in lawless deeds, ask for forgiveness. They ask for missing relatives, they implore the Mother of God for family reunification. They ask for protection from evil people and slander. The poor get help. Sudden, joyful deliverance from troubles is granted to people. That is why the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy” is so revered by the people.”

21.12.2017

Prayer of the Mother of God before the icon of Her Unexpected Joy

O Most Holy Virgin, All-Blessed Son of the All-Blessed Mother, Patroness of the city of Moscow, Faithful to the Representative and Intercessor of all who live in sins, sorrows, troubles and illnesses! Accept this prayer song from us, unworthy of Your servants, offered to You, and like the sinner of old, who prayed many times before Your honorable icon, You did not despise Him, but You gave him unexpected joy and You bowed down Your Son with many and zealous intercessions towards Him. for the forgiveness of this sinner and erring one, so even now do not despise the prayers of us, Thy unworthy servants, and implore Thy Son and our God, and grant to all of us, who with faith and tenderness bow before Thy celibate image, unexpected joy for each need: to sinners , mired in the depths of evils and passions - all-effective admonition, repentance and salvation; for those who are in sorrow and sorrow - consolation; for those who find themselves in troubles and embitterment - a complete abundance of these; for the faint-hearted and unreliable - hope and patience; to those who live in joy and abundance - unceasing thanksgiving to the Benefactor; to those in need - mercy; those who are in illness and long illness and abandoned by doctors - unexpected healing and strengthening; for those who were waiting for the mind from illness - the return and renewal of the mind; those departing into eternal and endless life - memory of death, tenderness and contrition for sins, a cheerful spirit and firm hope in the mercy of the Judge. O Most Holy Lady! Have mercy on all who honor Your honorable name, and show everyone Your all-powerful protection and intercession; abide in piety, purity and honest living until their last death in goodness; create evil good things; guide the erring one on the right path; Make progress in every good work that is pleasing to Your Son; Destroy every evil and ungodly deed; in bewilderment and difficult and dangerous circumstances, those who find invisible help and admonition were sent down from Heaven; save from temptations, seductions and destruction; protect and preserve from evil people and from enemies visible and invisible; floating float; for those who travel, travel; Be the Nourisher for those in need and hunger; for those who do not have shelter and shelter, provide cover and refuge; Give clothes to the naked; for those offended and unjustly persecuted - intercession; invisibly justify the slander, slander and blasphemy of those who suffer; expose slanderers and slanderers before everyone; Grant unforeseen reconciliation to those who are bitterly at odds, and to all of us for each other love, peace and piety and health with long life. Preserve marriages in love and like-mindedness; spouses who exist in enmity and division, die, unite me to each other and establish an indestructible union of love for them; to mothers and children giving birth, grant permission quickly; raise the babies; For young people to be chaste, open their minds to the perception of every useful teaching, instruct them in the fear of God, abstinence and hard work; Protect from domestic strife and enmity of half-bloods with peace and love. Be the Mother of motherless orphans, turn them away from every vice and filth and teach them everything that is good and pleasing to God, and bring those seduced into sin and impurity, having revealed the filth of sin, from the abyss of destruction. Be the Comforter and Helper of widows, be the rod of old age, deliver us all from sudden death without repentance, and grant us all the Christian end of our lives, painless, shameless, peaceful and a good answer at the terrible Judgment of Christ. Having ceased in faith and repentance from this life, with the Angels and all the saints, make them live, begging for the mercy of Thy Son to be merciful to those who passed away by sudden death, and for all the departed who have no relatives, begging for the repose of Thy Son, Thou thyself be a ceaseless and warm Prayer Book and Intercessor May everyone in Heaven and on earth lead You as a firm and shameless Representative of the Christian race, and, leading, glorify You and Your Son, with His Originless Father and His Consubstantial Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.

“Learning to pray from the Lord,” that is, to pray as the people of the Bible and our fathers in the faith prayed, means not only the assimilation of certain texts, but also all the methods, forms, gestures with the help of which prayer finds its proper expression. Whoever wants to be in communion with the Father can come to Him only along the “path” of the Son, which was paved, and they themselves became a living part of it, all those fathers in faith who “walked correctly before us.” Deep personal experience of prayer and serious knowledge of the works of the holy fathers make it a valuable help to everyone who has embarked on this path.

Today, December 22, is the day of celebration of the icon of the Mother of God"Unexpected Joy" . It received its name in memory of the healing of one sinner through the holy icon through the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God.

After the Dormition, She appeared to Christians thousands of times and performed many miracles. She saved Moscow from Tamerlane’s troops, Veliky Novgorod from her own Russians. The Mother of God healed St. Seraphim of Sarov from dropsy, and saved the peasant Fedot Obukhov from death in the cold. And the nameless drunkard, crawling on all fours - from a destructive passion for wine!

All the appearances of the Mother of God, all the legends about Her miraculous icons are a continuation of Her life.

History of the shrine

Icon of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy" created in the 18th century according to the plot voiced in the work of St. Dmitry of Rostov “Irrigated Fleece”. According to legend, one person, spending his life in sins, however, had the habit of bowing before the icon of the Mother of God and bringing her the Archangel’s greeting: “Rejoice, O Blessed One! The Lord is with You." The Mother of God did not reject his prayers. She began to pray to God for mercy on the sinner. And the Lord granted him repentance.

Getting ready to go on a sinful deed again, that man, as usual, stood up for prayer in front of the image of the Mother of God and suddenly saw that the image of the Mother of God on the icon had come to life, and the Divine Infant had ulcers open and bleeding on his arms and legs, and blood was also flowing from His rib, as once upon Golgotha. To the question of the horrified young man: “Oh, Lady, who did this?” The Mother of God answered: “You and other lawless people, with your sins, again crucify My Son, like the Jews. You call Me merciful. Why do you insult Me with your lawless deeds?” Only then did the abyss of his fall reveal itself to the young man, who was shocked to the depths of his soul, and for a long time he prayed in tears to the Mother of God and the Savior for mercy.

The Most Pure Virgin, being the main intercessor for the human race before God, prayed for his forgiveness until the Lord Jesus Christ said: “Now his sins are forgiven for Your sake.” The young man left his former sinful life, began to live honestly and piously, and until the end of his days he thanked with tears the Intercessor of the human race, through whose prayers he was given the unexpected joy of forgiveness and remission of sins. It was these sincere repentance, internal purification and newfound spiritual joy that became the reason for painting the image of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy". It depicts a man kneeling. He stretches out his hands to the icon in which the Mother of God holds Her Son on her lap. Below, under the face, the first words of the story telling about this are usually placed: “A certain lawless man...”

The time and place of origin of the prototype are unknown. Currently, the icon of the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy” enjoys great veneration among believers; copies of the image are in almost every Orthodox church, although the distribution of the holy icon in Moscow began in the middle of the 19th century.

One of the first known icons of “Unexpected Joy” was the one that at that time was in the Moscow church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Burning Bush” in Khamovniki. In 1835, this icon was transferred to the temple according to the oral will of parishioner Alexandra Kunitsyna. Since 1837, the icon began to be glorified by miracles. One such miracle was witnessed in detail.

In 1838, on the night from Monday to Tuesday of Holy Week, a certain officer’s widow, Anisya Stepanova, came to the house of one of the parishioners of the Church of the Burning Bush, Anna Timofeeva. This woman suffered from deafness for four months. She contacted doctors, but they could not help her. After spending the night with Anna Timofeeva, in the morning both women went to the temple to ask the priest to serve a prayer service. In the church, at the moment when the troparion “Christ is risen from the dead” began to be sung, and after that the troparion to the Most Holy Theotokos “Now a priest diligently approaches the Mother of God,” Anisya Stepanova suddenly regained her hearing, which after this miracle was completely restored.

It is worth noting that before the 1917 revolution, the “Unexpected Joy” icon from the Church of the Burning Bush in Khamovniki was one of the most revered among the people. After the revolution, the fate of this image is unknown.

The most revered icons of the Most Holy Theotokos “Unexpected Joy” are in church in honor of this icon in Maryina Roshcha, V Church of St. Theodore Stratilates near Chistoprudny Boulevard. One of the most famous and revered lists is the image of the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy”, located at the left choir in Temple in honor of the Prophet Elijah in Obydenny Lane.

This icon was originally placed in the Kremlin, in the small church of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen, which was located not far from the Kremlin Church of the Annunciation. Before the 1917 revolution, many believers constantly came to the image of the Mother of God located in this temple. then, after the destruction of the church.

She was then transferred to Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Sokolniki. In troubled times, all the miraculous and most revered icons from the destroyed Moscow churches were brought there. IN Elijah Temple the icon was handed over in June 1994. Since then, numerous believers have resorted to the miraculous image of the Mother of God in the temple, which is popularly called the temple of “Unexpected Joy” for help and consolation.

“There is an icon of the Mother of God on a shelf in the kitchen. Hangs on the windshield in the bus cabin. Hidden in the People's Artist's passport. Clutched in the hand of a wounded soldier far away in the Caucasus. On a noisy and dirty avenue, in an endless wheat field, the Mother of God invisibly appears to those who call upon Her.”

Olga Nadporozhskaya “The Most Holy Theotokos”

Iconography of the image “Unexpected joy”

According to the type of iconography, the presented image of the Mother of God belongs to the “Hodegetria” type (translated from Greek as “Guide”). This type of icon conveys the idea of ​​the Mother of God leading people to Christ. It is the prayer of the Most Pure Mother of God that is most powerful before the Lord, and therefore it is She who leads us to Him. The kneeling man addresses this image.

Under the image of the Mother of God, one of two texts is usually placed - either the beginning of the story of the miracle told by St. Demetrius of Rostov, or part of the prayer to the icon “Unexpected Joy”. According to tradition, the icon also depicts (in the form of a ribbon) the words of a man addressed to the Mother of God, and Her response to him, as well as the words of the Infant God.

A characteristic feature of the icon that the man is addressing is that both the Mother of God and the Child are addressed directly to him. On the one hand, this distinguishes it from the classical image of the Virgin Mary “Hodegetria”, where the Mother of God bends over the Infant Christ. On the other hand, this reflects the miracle itself - the appeal of the Mother of God and the Son of God to a praying person.

Thus, the icon represents not only the image of the Mother of God and the Child Christ, but represents an entire iconographic composition.

Prayer before the icon and knowledge of the events that are associated with the appearance of the image inspire a person to moral rebirth; and prayer for loved ones helps those in despair find unexpected joy and gives hope for sudden joyful deliverance from troubles and sorrow if they have settled in their lives.

U Saint Philaret (Drozdov) There is an amazing prayer:

“Lord, I don’t know what to ask of You. You alone know what I need. You love me more than I know how to love myself... I do not dare to ask for either a cross or consolation, I only stand before You, my heart is open; You see needs that I don't know. See and create according to Your mercy; strike and heal, overthrow and raise me!” The author of these lines already understood that it is difficult to ask the Lord for a specific miracle. That the Lord Himself knows better what we need. “Teach me to pray. Pray within me yourself..."

There is no sin that the Lord would not forgive a person who is capable of sincerely repenting and embarking on the path of correction.

Prayers for the holiday

Troparion to the Most Holy Theotokos before the icon of Her “Unexpected Joy”

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Today, faithful people, we spiritually triumph, / glorifying the zealous Intercessor of the Christian race, / and flowing to Her most pure image, we cry out to the Lord: / Oh, Merciful Lady Theotokos, / grant us unexpected joy, / burdened with many sins and sorrows, / and deliver us from all evil, // praying to Your Son, Christ our God,/ to save our souls.

Kontakion to the Most Holy Theotokos in front of Her Icon “Unexpected Joy”

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There are no imams of other help, / no imams of other hope, / except for You, Lady. / Help us, / we hope in You, / and we boast in You, / For we are Your servants, / / ​​Let us not be ashamed.

On December 22, the celebration of the icon of the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy” takes place. Its creation is associated with the parable of a criminal sinner who every day fervently prayed before the image of the Most Holy Theotokos, repeating the Archangel greeting: “Rejoice, full of grace!”, and then went off to commit sinful acts. But one day, kneeling in front of the icon, he suddenly saw that the icon had come to life. Bleeding wounds opened on the hands and feet of the Divine Child, whom the Mother of God was holding.

The terrible vision frightened and shook the lost man to the depths of his soul; tears flowed from his eyes. With deep compassion, he asked Our Lady: “ Who dared to do this?" To which She answered him that it is he and other sinners who crucify Her Son with their sins every time.

The criminal realized his guilt and began to ask for forgiveness from the Savior, but was refused twice. Then the Mother of God stood up for him and told Jesus that she would lie with the sinner at His feet until he received forgiveness. Christ forgave the sinner, but demanded that he kiss the wounds on His body. The criminal did just that. After this, he came to his senses, repented and realized his guilt. Since then he has not sinned.

Icon “Unexpected Joy”: meaning, what it helps with

The “Unexpected Joy” icon is a picturesque revelation of the plot described above. It depicts a man standing in front of an icon of the Mother of God, who is holding the Child of God in her arms. The highly moral meaning of the icon is that prayer and sinfulness cannot be combined, and the path to salvation is always the same - through repentance and awareness of sin.

The celebration of the “Unexpected Joy” icon occurs twice a year: December 22 and May 14. These days, Divine liturgies are held in churches in honor of the icon. The days of memory of the icon are filled with great meaning. They remind us of the need to live righteously and not sin. If you have made mistakes in the past, then it is not too late to stop and take the right path, repent of your sins and beg for forgiveness. The Lord will certainly hear your prayers and heed your requests. Any person deserves forgiveness, it is important to realize and repent in time.

On this day, you should think about the bad deeds that you once committed, about those things for which you are now ashamed. You can write down on paper everything that you consider to be your personal sin, and then think about how you can correct the current situation. If you offended someone, then ask for forgiveness; if you stole, then return twice as much. Remember that with good deeds you can correct the evil you once committed.

Also, do not forget that human life consists of small joys that we sometimes simply do not notice, chasing a ghostly dream. Often we forget to pay due attention to our loved ones and say words of gratitude to them. Many cherished dreams do not come true for the reason that they become an obsession for us, preventing us from enjoying every new day and seeing something bright and good in it.

The meaning of the “Unexpected Joy” icon carries hope in the will of the Lord, as well as renunciation of sinful thoughts and immoral deeds. We must be grateful for every day we live, which we spend next to our loved ones, learn to enjoy the little things and see happiness in seemingly ordinary things. There is no need to idealize the world and waste precious time searching for illusory happiness, because it lives inside us, and we only need to open our hearts and let it in.

The “Unexpected Joy” icon helps:

• gain spiritual strength and peace of mind;
• achieve your goals;
• obtain the forgiveness of a person whom you have greatly offended;
• in the treatment of various ailments, especially deafness;
• find missing people;
• pregnant women carry and give birth to a healthy child;
• for parents whose children have gone downhill, to bring them to their senses and set them on the right path;
• resolve disputes and resolve conflicts.

Video: Icon of the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy”

Today, in the Orthodox world and beyond, there are many great and miraculous icons known that have mystical powers. Even modern scientists cannot explain all these supernatural abilities. Many icons dedicated to the Mother of God, which are located in churches and temples, attract many pilgrims. They come to them to pray and ask for help, to cope with any difficulties in life. So on December 22, the Orthodox world celebrates a holiday in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy.” This icon is a symbol of the need to ask for repentance for those people who have lost their way and are trying to correct themselves.

History of the icon.

The reason for painting the icon was a story written by a Russian minister in the Orthodox Church, Saint Dmitry, who was the Metropolitan of Rostov. He lived in the 18th century AD and wrote a legend about the mercies of the Great Mother of God. Among all his works there was a story that was of great importance for the painting of the icon “Unexpected Joy”.

The icon tells the story of the healing of a man who spent his entire life in mortal sins. Whatever sinner this man was, he spent every morning singing about the Great Mother of God. The unknown fact remains that no one knows who this man really was. He could be a merchant who achieved success through dishonest transactions, or he could be a robber and rob travelers who got lost on the road. Not a single fact remains about this man's life.

And now the day of another evil thought has come. The man came to the icon, knelt down and began to ask the Mother of God to help him in his deeds. After the prayer, the sinner looked up at the icon and saw something that changed his life forever. The Mother of God came to life, and the wounds of the baby sitting in her arms began to bleed. The sinner was frightened and began to pray to Mother Theotokos to explain to him what such terrible signs meant. The answer was simple, she explained to him that people crucify the earthly Savior every day, because they spend every day in sins and evil thoughts. Thus, all the torment of Christ is transferred to her, thereby making her grieve. After listening to the explanations of the Mother of God, the man realized that through his sinful actions his soul was becoming more terrible every day.

The sinner lost heart and began to ask for mercy from the Mother of God, but his gaze drew attention to the fact that the little Savior was turning away from him. The sinner was enveloped in fear and asked the Mother of God to pray for him in front of her son, he agreed. Twice the Mother asked Christ for forgiveness for the man’s sins, but he never forgave him. Forgiveness came only when the Mother of God wanted to fall on her knees with the sinner and beg for forgiveness. Christ had mercy and granted forgiveness and atonement for all sins. As a sign of his mercy, the Savior allowed the sinner to cover the bleeding wounds with his hand. If you believe Dmitry Rostovsky, then the name of the icon “Unexpected Joy” came from this great event, because Jesus forgave the sins of a man who really needed it. After this Great event, the sinner took the right path and radically changed his life, becoming one of the pious people.

Symbolism of the icon.

If you look at the icon, you can understand that the composition that is depicted on it is written in a very complex way, because it shows all the events related to those incidents. It turns out that the icon simply depicts images of the Mother of God and other saints. They tried to depict the entire story of the plot from beginning to end, which became the reason for painting this icon. Today, the icon in front of which the sinner fell to his knees and begged for forgiveness has not survived. But the whole story calls on people to turn to the Lord, because only thanks to him can one receive salvation, get rid of torment, sins and death of the entire human race. On the right side, the image of Christ in the icon is depicted in torn clothes, on his body there are many wounds, which are a symbol of the fact that he endures all the torment caused by people when they commit sinful acts. On the left side of the icon, a sinner is depicted kneeling before the Savior and begging for forgiveness. This work of art even contains the words that the sinner said, asking the Lord to atone for all his sins.

What is asked in prayers in front of the “Unexpected Joy” icon.

An icon can protect a person from misfortunes; people come to it when there is no one to ask for help. It helps solve all everyday problems that a person cannot cope with on his own. All those who have children come to this icon and pray for them, asking the Mother of God to help the children not to stray from the path of God.

Often people come to the icon who have already lost their way, but have realized their mistakes and want to ask the Mother of God to guide them on the true path. Those praying in front of this icon can hope that they will receive everything they need, which they could not get without prayer before.

The icon is also capable of healing people from illnesses. There have been cases when a person lost deafness after praying for help. During military operations, Russian women came to the Mother of God and asked to help their relatives return from the front.

There are many mystical and Great icons known in the world; not every person can believe in their power. Even those skeptics who can no longer expect help from anyone come to church to pray. Faith tries to guide a person on the righteous path; whether to follow it or not, the person decides for himself.