Miraculous healing of the soul and body from the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring. Prayer for the icon of the life-giving spring

The warrior Leo, who later became emperor (455-473), met a blind man in a grove dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos, who asked for water. Leo could not find a water source for a long time, when suddenly he heard the voice of the Most Holy Theotokos, who pointed him to the source and ordered to put mud from those waters on the blind man's eyes. After that, the blind man received his sight, and the warrior, becoming emperor, marveling and rejoicing at the miraculous healing, ordered to clean the source and erected a temple in its place. The temple was named - evidence of the miraculous power of the source.

After the fall of Constantinople, the temple was destroyed and rebuilt only in 1834-1835.

In memory of this miracle, on the day of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Life-Giving Spring, a small consecration of water is performed - it occurs several times during the year, a great consecration of water is performed only on the feast of Baptism (Theophany)

Iconographically, the image of the Mother of God, the Life-Giving Source, goes back to the Byzantine image of the Mistress of the Victorious type, which in turn goes back to the image of the Sign type. Initially, the icon of the Life-Giving Spring was transmitted in lists without an image of the source, later a bowl (phiale) was included in the composition, and later also a reservoir and a fountain.

On Bright Week, the service is filled with joyful Easter hymns, fasting is canceled on Wednesday and Friday, the entire Liturgy is served with the Royal Doors open, and after each liturgy a procession is performed.

On the same day, at the Liturgy, the Gospel about the expulsion of the merchants from the temple is read.

Appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring"

In the 5th century in Constantinople, near the so-called Golden Gates, there was a grove dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos. There was a spring in the grove, glorified by miracles for a long time. Gradually, this place was overgrown with shrubs, and the water was covered with mud.

Icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring”

Once the warrior Leo Markell, the future emperor, met in this place a blind man, a helpless traveler who had lost his way. The lion helped him out onto the path and settled in the shade to rest, while he himself went in search of water to refresh the blind man. Suddenly he heard a voice: “Lion! Don't look far for water, it's close here." Surprised by the mysterious voice, he began to look for water, but did not find it. When he stopped in sadness and thoughtfulness, the same voice was heard for the second time: “King Lion! Go under the canopy of this grove, draw the water that you find there, and give it to the thirsty one, put the mud that you find in the source on his eyes. Then you will know who I am that sanctifies this place. I will help you soon erect a temple here in My name, and all who come here in faith and call on My name will receive the fulfillment of their prayers and complete healing from ailments. When Leo fulfilled everything commanded, the blind man immediately regained his sight and went to Constantinople without a guide, glorifying the Mother of God. This miracle took place under the emperor Marcian (391-457).

Emperor Marcian was replaced by Leo Markell (457-473). He remembered the appearance and prediction of the Mother of God, ordered to clean the source and enclose it in a stone circle, over which a temple was built in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos. Emperor Leo called this spring the “Life-Giving Spring”, since the miraculous grace of the Mother of God manifested itself in it.

Emperor Justinian the Great (527-565) was a man deeply committed to the Orthodox faith. He suffered from water sickness for a long time. One day at midnight, he heard a voice saying, "You cannot regain your health unless you drink from My well." The king did not know what source the voice was talking about, and fell into despondency. Then the Mother of God appeared to him already in the afternoon and said: “Get up, king, go to My spring, drink water from it and you will be healthy as before.” The patient fulfilled the will of the Lady and soon recovered. The grateful emperor erected a new splendid temple near the temple built by Leo, at which a crowded monastery was subsequently created.

In the XV century, the famous temple of the "Life-Giving Spring" was destroyed by Muslims. A Turkish guard was assigned to the ruins of the temple, who did not allow anyone to approach this place. Gradually, the severity of the ban softened, and the Christians built a small church there. But it was also destroyed in 1821, and the source was filled up. The Christians again cleared the ruins, opened the source and still drew water from it. Subsequently, in one window, among the wreckage, a sheet half-rotted from time and dampness was found with a record of ten miracles from the Life-Giving Spring, which took place from 1824 to 1829. Under Sultan Mahmud, the Orthodox received some freedom in worship. They used it to erect a temple for the third time over the Life-Giving Spring. In 1835, with great solemnity, Patriarch Konstantin, concelebrated by 20 bishops and with a large number of pilgrims, consecrated the temple; a hospital and an almshouse were set up at the temple.

A Thessalian from his youth had a strong desire to visit the Life-Giving Spring. Finally, he managed to set off, but on the way he fell seriously ill. Feeling the approach of death, the Thessalian took a word from his companions so that they would not betray him to burial, but would take the body to the Life-Giving Spring, where they poured three vessels with life-giving water on it, and only after that they buried it. His wish was fulfilled, and life returned to the Thessalian at the Life-Giving Spring. He accepted monasticism and spent the last days of his life in piety.

The appearance of the Mother of God to Leo Marcellus took place on April 4, 450. On this day, and also every year on Friday of Bright Week, the Orthodox Church celebrates the renovation of the Constantinople church in honor of the Life-Giving Spring. According to the charter, on this day, the rite of consecration of water is performed with an Easter procession.

The Most Holy Theotokos with the Divine Infant is depicted on the icon above a large stone bowl standing in a pond. Near a reservoir filled with life-giving water, those suffering from bodily ailments, passions and mental infirmities are depicted. They all drink this life-giving water and receive various healings.

Troparion to the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring"

Let us draw, people, healing souls and bodies with prayer, the River flows for everyone - the Most Pure Queen of the Mother of God, exuding wonderful water for us and washing away the hearts of blackness, cleansing sinful scabs, but sanctifying the souls of the faithful with Divine grace.

Prayer before the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring"

O Blessed Virgin, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ! You are Mati and the patroness of all who resort to You, look with mercy on the prayers of Your sinful and humble children. You, who are called the Life-giving Source of grace-filled healings, heal the sicknesses of the afflicted and implore Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to send down and all those who flow to You, spiritual and bodily health, and, having forgiven us our voluntary and involuntary sins, grants us everything even to eternal and temporal life is necessary. You are the joy of all those who mourn, hear us, the mournful; You are the quenching of sorrow, quench our sorrow; You are the exaction of the lost, do not let us perish in the abyss of our sins, but always deliver us from all sorrows and misfortunes and all evil circumstances. She, our Queen, favoring, our indestructible hope and invincible intercessor, do not turn Your face away from us for our many transgressions, but stretch out to us the hand of Your motherly mercy and create with us a sign of Your mercy for good: show us Your help and prosper in every deed good. Turn us away from every sinful undertaking and evil thought, may we always glorify Your honorable name, magnifying God the Father and the Son of the Only Begotten Lord Jesus Christ and the Life-giving Holy Spirit with all the saints forever and ever. Amen.

With boundless love and reverence in the Christian world, they treat the Heavenly Queen - the Blessed Virgin Mary. And how can one not love our Intercessor and Prayer Book before the Throne of God! Her clear gaze is directed at us from countless icons. She showed great miracles to people through her images, which became famous as miraculous. One of the most famous among them is the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring".

Miracle in the Sacred Grove

Holy tradition tells that in ancient times, when Byzantium was still a prosperous state and the heart of world Orthodoxy, there was a sacred grove near its capital Constantinople, not far from the famous Golden Gate. It was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Under the shade of its branches, a spring flowed from the ground, bringing coolness on hot summer days. There were then rumors among the people that the water in it had some healing properties, but no one took them seriously, and the source, gradually forgotten by everyone, was overgrown with mud and grass.

But then one day, in 450, a certain warrior named Leo Markell, passing through a grove, met a blind man who got lost among dense trees. The warrior helped him, supported him while he got out of the thickets, and seated him in the shade. When he began to look for water to give the traveler a drink, he heard a wonderful voice telling him to find an overgrown spring nearby and wash the blind man's eyes with it.

When the compassionate warrior did this, the blind man suddenly regained his sight, and both of them fell to their knees, offering up to the Blessed Virgin, as they realized that it was her voice that was heard in the grove. The Queen of Heaven predicted the imperial crown to Leo Markell, which came true seven years later.

Temples are gifts from grateful emperors

Having reached the highest power, Markell did not forget the miracle that appeared in the sacred grove, and the predictions about his so amazing rise. By his order, the source was cleaned and surrounded by a high stone border. Since then, he began to be called the Life-Giving One. A temple was erected here in honor of the Blessed Virgin, and the icon of the Mother of God “The Life-Giving Spring” was painted especially for it. Since then, the blessed spring and the icon kept in the temple have been glorified by many miracles. Thousands of pilgrims began to flock here from the farthest ends of the empire.

A hundred years later, the emperor Justinian the Great, then ruling, suffering from a serious and incurable illness, came to the sacred grove, where the temple of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" stood. Having washed in the blessed waters and performed a prayer service before the miraculous image, he regained health and strength. As a sign of gratitude, the happy emperor ordered to build another temple nearby and, in addition, to found a monastery, designed for a large number of inhabitants. Thus, the icon of the Mother of God “The Life-Giving Spring” was glorified more and more, prayer before which was able to heal from the most serious ailments.

The fall of Byzantium and the destruction of temples

But the terrible disasters of 1453 fell upon Byzantium. The great and once prosperous empire fell under the onslaught of the Muslims. The great star of Orthodoxy has set. Unholy invaders set fire to Christian shrines. Was thrown into ruins and the temple of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring", and all the monastery buildings that stood nearby. Much later, in 1821, an attempt was made to resume prayer services in the sacred grove, and even a small church was built, but it was soon destroyed, and the blessed spring was covered with earth.

But people in whose hearts the fire of true faith was burning could not calmly look at this sacrilege. Secretly, under the cover of night, the Orthodox cleared away their desecrated shrine. And just as secretly, risking their lives, they carried away, hiding under their clothes, the vessels filled with it. This continued until the internal policy of the new owners of the country changed, and the Orthodox were given some relief in performing divine services.

Then a small church of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" was built on the site of the destroyed temple. And since Orthodoxy cannot be without mercy and compassion, an almshouse and a hospital were built at the church, in which, through prayers to our Most Pure Intercessor, many suffering and crippled people gained health.

Veneration of holy icons in Russia

When, with the fall of Byzantium, the sun of Orthodoxy set in the East, it shone with renewed vigor on Holy Russia, and with it liturgical books and holy images appeared in abundance. And then life was unthinkable without the humble and wise faces of the saints of God. But a special attitude was to the images of the Savior and His Most Pure Mother. Among the most revered icons were those painted in ancient times on the banks of the Bosphorus. One of them is the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring".

It should be noted that since the 16th century it has become a practice in Russia to consecrate springs and reservoirs located on the territories of monasteries or near them, and at the same time to dedicate them to the Most Holy Theotokos. came to us from Greece. Numerous lists from the Byzantine image of the "Life-Giving Spring" also became widespread. However, compositions written in Russia earlier than the 17th century have not yet been found.

The image of the Virgin in the Sarov desert

As an example of a special love for her, one can recall the famous glory of which the unsunset torch of Orthodoxy, Sarov, brought his name. In that monastery, a temple was specially erected, in which the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" was kept. Its significance in the eyes of believers was so great that the venerable elder, on especially important occasions, sent pilgrims to pray to the Mother of God, kneeling before this miraculous icon of Hers. As is clear from the memoirs of contemporaries, there was no case that a prayer remained unheeded.

An image that strengthens in the fight against sorrows

What is the power possessed by the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring"? How does she help and what can you ask her for? The most important thing that this miraculous image brings to people is deliverance from sorrows. Life, unfortunately, is full of them, and we do not always have enough mental strength to cope with them.

They come from the human enemy, as they are the offspring of unbelief in the providence of God. It is in these cases that the "Life-Giving Spring" - the icon of the Mother of God - brings peace to human souls. What else do they pray to our Most Pure Intercessor? About saving us from the very sources of these sorrows - the troubles and hardships of life.

Celebrations in honor of the holy icon

As another example of the special veneration of this icon, we should mention the tradition that has developed over many centuries to serve on Friday of Bright Week a prayer service for the blessing of water in front of this image. It is served in all churches immediately after the end of the liturgy. Since ancient times, it has been customary to sprinkle gardens, kitchen gardens and arable land with water consecrated at this prayer service, thereby calling for the help of the Most Holy Theotokos in granting a rich harvest.

The feast of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" is usually celebrated twice a year. Once this happens on April 4, since it was on this day in the year 450 that the Mother of God appeared to the pious warrior Leo Markell, ordering him to build a temple in her honor in the holy grove and pray in it for the health and salvation of Orthodox Christians. On that day, the akathist to the icon of the Mother of God “The Life-Giving Spring” is certainly performed.

The second holiday takes place, as mentioned above, on Friday of Bright Week. On that day, the church remembers the renovated temple in honor of this icon, which was once located near Constantinople. In addition to the blessing of water, the celebration is also accompanied by the Easter procession.

Features of the iconography of the image of the Virgin

Special attention should be paid to the iconographic features of this image. It is generally accepted that the icon of the Mother of God "The Life-Giving Spring" has its roots in the ancient Byzantine image of the Most Pure Virgin, called the "Mistress of the Conqueror", which, in turn, is a variant of the Mother of God icon "The Sign". However, art historians do not have a unanimous opinion on this issue.

If you study the lists of icons that were distributed at one time, it is not difficult to notice some significant compositional changes made over the centuries. So, in the early icons there is no image of the source. Also, not immediately, but only in the process of developing the image, a bowl called a phial, a reservoir and a fountain entered its composition.

The spread of the holy image in Russia and Athos

A number of archaeological finds testify to the spread of this image in Russia. So, for example, in the Crimea, during the excavations, a dish with the image of the Virgin was found. Her figure with prayerfully raised hands is depicted in a bowl. The find dates back to the 13th century and is considered one of the earliest images of this kind located on the territory of our country.

A description of another image corresponding to the image of the “Life-Giving Spring” of the 14th century can be found in the work of the church historian Nicephorus Callistus. He describes the image of the Mother of God in a phial, set over a pond. On this icon, the Blessed Virgin is depicted with the Christ Child in her arms.

The fresco "Life-Giving Spring", located on Mount Athos, is also interesting. It belongs to the beginning of the 15th century. Its author, Andronicus the Byzantine, presented the Mother of God in a wide bowl with the blessing of the Eternal Child in her arms. The name of the image is written in Greek text along the edges of the fresco. Also, a similar plot is found in some icons stored in various

Help poured out through this image

But still, what is the unique appeal of this image, what is it that attracts people to the icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring”? How does it help and what does it keep? First of all, this image brings healing to all those who suffer bodily and in their prayers to those who hope for the help of the Queen of Heaven. It was from this that his glorification began in ancient Byzantium. By this he won love and gratitude, finding himself among the expanses of Russia.

In addition, the icon successfully heals mental illnesses. But the main thing is that it saves those who resort to it from the harmful passions that so often overwhelm our souls. It is from their influence that the "Life-Giving Spring" - the icon of the Mother of God - saves. What do they pray before her, what do they ask the Queen of Heaven for? First of all, about giving strength to cope with all the low and vicious that is inherent in us by human nature damaged by original sin. Unfortunately, there is much that exceeds human capabilities and in which we are powerless without the help of the Lord God and His Most Pure Mother.

Source of Life and Truth

In all cases, no matter what compositional solution the author of this or that version of this image stops at, it should first of all be understood that the Life-giving source is the Most Pure Virgin herself, through whom the One who gave life to all beings on earth was incarnated into the world.

He spoke the words that became the stone on which the temple of the true faith was erected, He revealed to people the way, and the truth, and life. And that blessed Life-giving source, the jets of which washed away sin and watered the Divine field, became for all of us the Queen of Heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

After the fall of Constantinople, the temple was destroyed and rebuilt only in 1834-1835.

On the same day, at the Liturgy, the Gospel about the expulsion of the merchants from the temple is read.

Appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring"

Icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring”

Troparion to the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring"

Prayer before the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring"

The first wooden church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" was built on his estate at the end of the 17th century by Prince V.V. Golitsyn. Half a century later, the estate passed to Prince D.K. Kantemir, who ordered to replace the old church with a new, stone one, in the style of Peter's baroque. Half a century later, his son, Prince M.D. Kantemir, again renovated the building of the temple, adding a northern chapel to it and dedicating it in memory of his father to the Great Martyr Dmitry of Thessalonica. A little later, a southern chapel appeared in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The prince's interest in this temple is connected with the veneration of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring", which is known for helping in finding a child. The childless prince M.D. hoped for the appearance of offspring. Cantemir. In addition, the temple became the burial place of the family. In 1775, after the acquisition by Catherine II of the Kantemirov estate, this place was named the village of Tsaritsyno. In the 1930s, the Tsaritsyno church, like many Moscow churches, was closed and in subsequent years was used for economic purposes. As a result, the church building and its wall paintings were badly damaged. In 1990, the temple was returned to believers, and after its restoration with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Russia, who personally consecrated the revived temple in 1998, divine services resumed in it. At present, the relics of many saints are kept in the temple.
Address: Moscow, st. Dolskaya, 2. Tel.: 8 (495) 325-34-56.

Moscow region. Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" (Kosmodamianskaya) in Metkino

The chronicles say that in the 17th century in the village of Metkino, not far from Moscow, there was a wooden church of Cosmas and Damian. In 1701, it burned down, but many icons were saved, they were placed in a small chapel built nearby. In 1848, the current stone church dedicated to the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" was built in its place. The appearance of the new temple was not accidental. In 1829, an extraordinary event took place in Metkin - the appearance of the image of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring". And in 1840, the soldier's widow Avdotya Evdokimova, who lived in Moscow, transferred to her homeland, to the village of Metkino, the image of the Most Holy Theotokos "The Life-Giving Spring", presented to her by merchant Anna Kiriyanova. From that time on, people from all around began to flock to worship the image of the Mother of God. Two months later, the rector of the temple, Father Vladimir, wrote to the Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, His Grace Filaret that “there are more and more people who come to worship the image” and the reason for this is the miraculous healings that come from the icon. The next rector of the temple, Father John, in 1846 turned to the metropolitan with a request to allow the construction of a new stone church in the name of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" on the donations of numerous pilgrims. Six months later, the laying of the church took place. Its architecture harmoniously combined features of late classicism and pseudo-Russian style.

With the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring", which enjoyed great reverence among believers, every year religious processions were held to the surrounding villages. In Soviet times, the temple was closed. Some icons were saved thanks to parishioners who hid them in their homes under threat of death. But the miraculous image of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" disappeared without a trace. The building of the church was subjected to many destructions. Only in the 1990s, in complete desolation, it was returned to believers, and intensive work began to restore the temple. Moreover, the people participating in the restoration told that they heard angelic singing in the dilapidated walls of the temple. As if the Mother of God herself patronized its revival. The temple was consecrated in 2003, and the main altar was dedicated, as in the old days, to Saints Cosmas and Damian, and its two chapels to the icons of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" and the holy Archangel Michael. The double name of the church is connected with this.
Address: Moscow region, Domodedovo district, Domodedovo, White Stolby microdistrict, st. Metkino, d. 12.

Tver. Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" (Grieving Church)

Church of God Maeri Life-Giving Spring.
Tver. 18th century

Until 1750, there was a home for poor and homeless people on Sorrow Hill. Then it was decided to build here a temple in the name of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" and open an almshouse with it. In 1763, during a great fire in Tver, the church burned down. After 30 years, instead of it, a new stone church was built with a chapel of All Saints and a bell tower. A little later, two more chapels were added to it: in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" and the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring", which became the main one. The temple is distinguished by a special, unusual architecture for Tver. It is the only temple in the city with a classicist rotunda and a seven-sided baroque altar. In Soviet times, the temple was closed, the porch was broken, and the building was used as a book warehouse. The church was returned to believers in 1994. Now this functioning temple, maintained in good condition, is considered the decoration of the city.
Address: Tver, st. Volodarsky, 4.

Arzamas. Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring"

Church of the Mother of God Life-Giving Spring. Arzamas. 18th century

Built in 1794, this beautiful church with intricate decorative moldings and a rich history. Its main altar was consecrated in honor of the icon "Life-Giving Spring", two small ones - in honor of Archangel Michael and the icon of the Mother of God "Assuage My Sorrows". The temple has a very interesting building design - in the form of a ship. The carved iconostasis was made by the famous Arzamas masters the Mitryashchevs. The church was closed in 1935, the icons were lost forever. However, in 1944 it was returned to believers, and since then it has been a functioning temple. Of the many ancient Arzamas churches that the city was so famous for at the beginning of the last century, only two temples, standing on the main square of the city, have retained their original appearance. This is the Resurrection Cathedral and the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring". It contains an ancient and rare prayer image - the icon "Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos", which is revered as the main shrine of the temple.
Address: Nizhny Novgorod region, Arzamas, pl. Cathedral.

Zadonsk. Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" in the Zadonsky Nativity-Bogoroditsky Monastery

The Zadonsky Monastery was founded at the beginning of the 17th century by two pious elders-schemamonks Kirill and Gerasim. The first monastery church was dedicated to the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. In 1692, the monastery, which at that time already had a considerable scale and fame, burned to the ground. The fire did not touch only the miraculous icon, with which the monks began the construction of the monastery. After this miracle, through the efforts of numerous pilgrims, the monastery was restored. The source at the Zadonsk Monastery, according to the chronicle, became known from the beginning of the 18th century. In 1730, a chapel was built next to it in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring", and in 1870 a temple was erected. After the revolution of 1917, the spring was filled up, the temple was closed, and various Soviet institutions were housed within its walls: from a hospital to a food processing plant. The restoration of the monastery began in 1988 with the repair of the main Vladimir Cathedral. Three years later, the first monks settled in it. In 1991, the holy relics of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, previously a revered shrine of the monastery, were solemnly transferred to the monastery. In 1994, the monastery spring was restored and the church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" was recreated according to the preserved lithography. At the source, a bath is currently built for those wishing to plunge into the healing waters. In the main Vladimir Cathedral of the monastery there are many locally venerated icons, shrines brought from Jerusalem, and particles of the relics of the saints of God.
Address: Lipetsk region, Zadonsk, st. Kommuny, d. 14.

Sortavala. Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" and the Life-Giving Trinity in the Valaam Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery

The Valaam Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, located on a high hill of Valaam Island, on Lake Ladoga, was founded in the 10th century by St. Sergius and Herman of Valaam. At the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. The monastery was called the "Great Lavra", it was famous for its high spiritual life. Many well-known Christian ascetics in different centuries labored within the walls of this monastery: the Monk Arseny Konevsky, the Monk Alexander of Svir, the Monk Savvaty of Solovetsky, the Monk Euphrosynus of Sinozersk and others. The Valaam monastery was repeatedly attacked by the Swedes. After the complete destruction in 1611, the monastery remained in oblivion for more than a hundred years, and the Finns settled on its territory. Only the holy relics of St. Sergius and Herman remained intact, hidden by the monks deep underground. In the XVIII century, at the direction of Peter I, the revival of the Valaam monastery began. In 1782, the famous ascetic elder Nazarius from the Sarov Hermitage was appointed head of the monastery, and with his arrival a new creative stage in the history of the monastery began. He introduced the cenobitic charter of the Sarov Hermitage in the Valaam Monastery. Under him, a five-domed stone Transfiguration Cathedral with a high bell tower and cell buildings with the Assumption and Nikolskaya churches were erected.

The church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" was built in 1814 under the successor of Father Nazarius - hegumen Innokenty. The building style is Byzantine. The monastery was repeatedly visited by imperial persons and spoke highly of it. Emperor Alexander I ranked the Valaam Monastery among the first-class. After the revolution of 1917, Finland became independent, and Valaam ended up on its territory, which made it possible to save the monastery from ruin for a while. In early 1940, the monastery was heavily bombed by Soviet aircraft. The brethren were forced to evacuate to Finland. The monastery bell sounded sadly for the last time, announcing the death of the monastery. After the transfer of the Valaam archipelago to the Soviet troops, the monastery suffered the tragic fate of slow destruction. It was only in 1989 that the authorities of Karelia allowed part of the former monastery to be transferred to the Leningrad diocese, and the first monks arrived on Valaam to revive monastic life. Since 1990, the monastery has come under the jurisdiction of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. The following year, the monastery acquired a spiritual treasure - the imperishable relics of the Valaam ascetic, hieroschemamonk Antipas, from which miracles of healing still occur. The former relics are gradually returning to the monastery, for example, an ancient cross-reliquary with a particle of the relics of the great martyr Panteleimon the healer. One of the main shrines of the monastery is the Valaam icon of the Mother of God, through prayers before which healings are performed. Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) wrote: “Valaam, on which you see granite ledges and high mountains, will become for you that spiritual height from which the transition to the abode of paradise is convenient.” And now thousands of pilgrims come to Valaam with a desire to touch the life-giving source of faith.
Address: Republic of Karelia, Sortavalsky district, about. Valaam, Sortavala.

The taste of water is known when thirsty. We all know the joy of the first sips - would drink and drink. But remember, Pushkin? “We are tormented by spiritual thirst…” What is spiritual thirst and how can we quench it?

"Agiasma" is a Greek word. It translates as "holy". This is what holy water is called in the Orthodox Church. There is a special kind of parishioners, very common. They visit God's temple once a year for Baptism - stock up on holy water. With large plastic canisters, with Pepsi bottles, they stand up to the distribution and strictly observe so that they do not let them out of the queue. Bent over under the weight of their burden, which, as you know, does not pull, the parishioners, satisfied with the day not spent in vain, return to their homes, pour water into bottles, jars, pots, in a businesslike way look at the stock - enough for a year. Until the next baptismal distribution.

Pardon my ironic tone. I didn't allow it because I judge these people. Thank God they go at least once a year. But the great agiasma - baptismal water - requires a special, reverent attitude towards itself.

But holy water is not only that which is consecrated by priests according to a special order. Many Orthodox saints had a special power - to bring holy springs out of the earth through the prayers of their Lord and His Most Pure Mother. History has preserved for us not only the names of these saints, but also the sources themselves, in which grace and healing power have not yet been depleted. Let's remember one such event, ancient, because we are talking about the fifth century.

A wonderful plane tree grove adorned the holy gates of the great Constantinople. A spring spouted in the grove, the water of which was unusually tasty, cool and healing. As time went on, the spring overgrown with bushes, green mud covered the water, it became almost invisible to the human eye. Once a noble warrior Leo Markell passed by, and towards him a blind man - old, exhausted, helplessly feels the road with a staff, stretches out his hands, asks for a drink. Lev Markell was a kind man. He took the blind man by the hand, led him into the cool under the shade of broad plane leaves.

“Sit here,” he said, “and I’ll go and look for some water for you.” Went. Yes, he only took a few steps, when he heard a female voice: “Do not look for water far, it is here, next to you.”

Has stopped. What kind of business is this - there is no one, but the voice ... Turns his head around, surprised. And the voice again: “King! Under the canopy of the grove there is a spring. Find him, draw water, give the thirsty one to drink. And put the mud that has covered the spring over the eyes of the unfortunate one. And build a temple on that spot. He will have great glory...

Leo Markell's astonishment was replaced by heart trembling. He understood that the Queen of Heaven blesses him for a good deed. But why did She call him, a warrior, a king? He did everything as ordered. And he took water, and put mud on the blind man's eyes. The miracle did not slow down: the blind man regained his sight, went to Constantinople in jubilation, thanking the Mother of God.

And Markell soon became emperor. Now it's a king! – has become a common reference to him. And the king ordered to clean the spring, release its clean jets, build a temple nearby. At the same time, an icon was also painted, which has been called the “Life-Giving Spring” since ancient times. The icon depicts a tall large bowl. The Mother of God hovers over the cup, holding the Eternal Child in her hands. Blessing Hand of the Child. A hundred years later, another temple was built on this site - luxurious, elegant, and with it - a monastery. Very soon people were drawn here with a prayer for healing. They received according to their faith. Healings in the plane grove took place constantly, and the fame of the life-giving source reached the most remote corners.

Since ancient times, the icon "Life-Giving Spring" has also been known in Russia. Her memory is celebrated on a special day - Friday of Bright Week (Easter Week). And this once again proves how revered she is among the Russian people. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, a list from the icon "Life-Giving Spring" was brought to the Sarov Hermitage. The great elder Seraphim greatly revered the icon, sending many to pray to it. There is an icon "The Life-Giving Spring" in Moscow, in Tsaritsyno, Dmitry Kantemir, adviser to Peter the Great, built a temple, and his son Kantemir Antioch, a famous Russian poet, rebuilt and renovated it. For more than two hundred years, services have not stopped in the temple "Life-Giving Spring". It was closed just before the war. Yes, if only they closed it, otherwise they plundered it. What was not here: the transformer station hummed, printing presses chirped, shavings rustled in the carpentry workshop. Today, the church has been returned to Orthodox Christians, services have resumed in it.

Of course, any source that has been produced in a holy place or through the prayers of God's saints can be called life-giving. “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate water from water,” we read in the Bible. And the Gospel of John tells of a pool at the Sheep Gate, where from time to time an angel descended and disturbed the water. Christ Himself entered the sacred waters of the Jordan and was baptized by His Forerunner John. The Jordanian waters have since carried a special grace and power. Now that pilgrimages to the Holy Land have become commonplace, the words "I bathed in the Jordan" have also become commonplace.

Photographs are now stored in many family albums: pilgrims in long white shirts enter the waters of the Jordan ... So inaccessible and so familiar. Is it good? It is probably good that we, having accumulated money and issued a foreign passport, are striving to join the great Christian shrines. If only not to allow your own heart to be ordinary, if only to forbid it to knock habitually at the same time.

Generous and our Russia for life-giving sources. Saints, great ascetics built springs through their prayers, decorating with them, like sparkling gems, a modest and discreet Russian landscape. Only Sergius of Radonezh exhausted two sources in his life.

One right on Makovets, on the site of the future Trinity-Sergius Lavra, when the brethren murmured - far, they say, father, we should go for water. That place is now lost. True, from time to time young, full of enthusiasm, seminarians begin to pace the ground around the seminary - to look for where ... But if the ancient blacks knew about zealous descendants, they would have left a piece of birch bark with a map where to look. Didn't think. But already in the middle of the 17th century, as a consolation to the brethren, during the repair of the Assumption Cathedral, a spring gushed. There was a blind monk in the monastery. It was called Paphnutia. I drank some water - I saw the light. Others began to draw handfuls. And others felt a surge of physical and spiritual strength. Now, in place of that spring, there is a painted over-well chapel.

To this day, that spring quenches the thirst of the afflicted. There is a queue for him from morning to evening. Leave the Lavra and not get holy water? Not good. Some even argue that this spring of Sergius is the very one that Sergius himself begged for for the brethren. How not great is the temptation to believe, but this is another source. Although it is also life-giving, I affirm this with all responsibility, because often after a trip to the Lavra I bring home this amazing water.

But fifteen kilometers from Sergiev Posad, not far from the village of Malinniki, there is a source of Sergiev. Here he is just exhausted by the Radonezh miracle worker himself. Once, feeling a murmur among the brethren and not wanting to give it a go, Sergius left the monastery and headed towards Kirzhach through the forests. On the way, he stopped right here and prayed for a long time. Sergius's prayer was heard, and a spring sparkled with pure silver in the deep forest. 600 years have passed, but the spring is alive, and not only alive, but has become a twenty-meter waterfall, under a strong stream of which it is not so easy to stay on your feet.

At the very top of the waterfall there is a small chapel-log house with icons on four sides and lamps above them. Akathists are sung here, candles are constantly burning here. From here, along three wooden gutters, a strong stream of water rushes down to the small river Vondige. A little lower there is a log bath.

All year round they go and go to the spring for healing. Even in severe frosts, frail old women stand under its chilling jets with a prayer: "Reverend Father Sergius, pray to God for us." Three times it is necessary, they say, to bathe. Many sick people run away from such unprecedented audacity. In frost! Under ice water! Of course, only the most believers allow themselves to come to Malinniki in winter. And those who are stronger in body, but more enduring, and more distrustful, they are waiting for the summer. And in the summer!.. With sadness I come here in the summer. The green field around the source turns into an impregnable foothold. Great folk festival. In bathing suits, swimming trunks, family shorts and just underwear, "pilgrims" are rushing to the grace of the holy key. They push, fall on slippery wooden steps, scratch their bare bellies into the blood.

The spectacle of summer Raspberries is ugly. After rinsing, the pilgrims lay in the cold a self-assembled tablecloth with a bottle in the center, the music cuts in. Sometimes someone's intelligible voice will sound: “We found a place ... Here is a holy source!” But can you hear over music and toasts?

Agiasma is a shrine. The life-giving source is the place of our spiritual healing. Prayer should sound here, silence should be here. Spiritual thirst is not quenched hastily and not in large sips over the edge of a three-liter jar. There is a spiritual culture that is important for each of us, and this culture has its own laws. There were a lot of icons "Life-Giving Spring" in Russia precisely because the need to quench spiritual thirst lived and lives in our people. People who were tired of sorrows prayed before her, those who suddenly lost their faith, listened to the enemy's slander, but were afraid, very much afraid of life without God, prayed before her. The Mother of God, hovering over the chalice, embracing the Child, peers intently into the eyes of the worshipers. She knows our doubts, fatigue, fear. But She is well aware of what we have doubted: life without faith is a dried-up spring, it is a mud-covered ditch. There is no future in such a life.

Let's remember the Samaritan woman from the Gospel of John who came to the well to draw water. Christ asks to drink, and she is at a loss: "Lord, You have nothing to draw, and the well is deep." And Christ tells the Samaritan woman about another water, whoever drinks it "will never be thirsty." She asks: "Sir, give me this water", not yet understanding what is being said. Christ speaks to the Samaritan woman at the well. There was just a well, but after meeting with the Savior, it became a life-giving source. She was just a Samaritan woman, a sinful woman, but she became a preacher of God's word. In the year 66, she was thrown into a well by a torturer. Her name was Fotina (Svetlana). From the Gospel times to ours, the need for living water has not disappeared. On the contrary, having lived through atheistic times, we endure this thirst with particular torment. We don't even always know what it is.

Restlessness of the soul, restlessness, causeless languor. We are looking away from the holy life-giving source of quenching our thirst. We are looking for who where. And we don't find it. And we are angry at life, at its fetters, holding back our impatient gallop. In front of the icon "Life-Giving Spring", maybe we will come to our senses? Maybe clarity of mind will be given to us and a simple thought will visit: “I am looking in the wrong place, I am quenching my thirst in the wrong place.”

Now it’s somehow calmed down, but just recently, like crazy, we ran to the blue screens with heavy, like weights, cans of water - to charge. Another television swindler stared at us and at our banks. We puffed our eyes at the TV swindler. This game of staring was like a disease. Almost an epidemic. In a rare house there was no one who wanted to improve his health for nothing. Then we drank the charged water until we were exhausted, if we catch our breath, we drink again. Let's take a breath - again. Crowded stomachs, bladders, swelling under the eyes ... But we are not fools like, educated, have lived and seen everyone. The Lord, according to the words of the Epiphany hymn, “gives purification by water to the human race,” but we did not resist the abuse of water. Sin. And the priest, when we come to confession, will ask: “Did you go to psychics? Did you drink water charged on TV? Will impose penance. And he will be right. We ourselves have sinned, we will correct ourselves. And for help and consolation, let's go to the icon "Life-Giving Spring". And then we will choose the time and visit one of the many holy springs - whether it is Sergiev in Malinniki, or Pafnutiev in Optina Pustyn, or Seraphim in Diveevo. And let us wash away from ourselves in their life-giving waters everything that hinders us and confuses us. The flesh will burn with a healthy heat, the head will clear up, the soul will hide in anticipation of the extraordinary. Don't let the wait be in vain. May an amazing power be granted to the soul from a life-giving source. The Samaritan woman really wanted living water and asked the Lord for it. She did not know what kind of water, but asked. But we, sinners, know, but do not ask ...

Natalia Sukhinina

Appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring"