The Theotokos of Bogolyubovo, or Bogolubovo Icon, is a Theotokos Agiosoritissa, a type of

Marian Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queenslan ...

icon, which is

venerated Veneration ( la, veneratio; el, τιμάω ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Etym ...

and perceived as

wonderworking Thaumaturgy is the purported capability of a magician to work magic or other paranormal events or a saint to perform miracles. It is sometimes translated into English as wonderworking. A practitioner of thaumaturgy is a "thaumaturge", "thauma ...

by the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. The icon was painted in 1157 at the request of

Grand Prince Grand prince or great prince (feminine: grand princess or great princess) ( la, magnus princeps; Greek: ''megas archon''; russian: великий князь, velikiy knyaz) is a title of nobility ranked in honour below emperor, equal of king ...

Andrew Bogolubsky, in commemoration of an

appearance Appearance may refer to: * Visual appearance, the way in which objects reflect and transmit light * Human physical appearance, what someone looks like * ''Appearances'' (film), a 1921 film directed by Donald Crisp * Appearance (philosophy), or p ...

to him by the

Mother of God ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations ar ...

History

According to Orthodox tradition, when the prince was moving from

Vyshgorod Vyshhorod ( uk, Ви́шгород) is a city in Kyiv Oblast (region) in central Ukraine, situated immediately north of Kyiv city, the national capital, and part of the Kyiv metropolitan area. It is on the right (western) bank of the Dnieper ri ...

to the Suzdal Principality in 1155, he took the Wonderworking Icon of the Theotokos from the

Mezhyhirskyi Monastery __NOTOC__ The Mezhyhirya Savior-Transfiguration Monastery). See: , group="nb" ( uk, Межигірський Спасо-Преображенський монастир, ''Mezhyhirskyi Spaso-Preobrazhenskyi Monastyr'') was an Eastern Orthodox fema ...

in Vyshgorod with him, and served

moleben A Paraklesis ( el, Παράκλησις, Slavonic: молебенъ) or Supplicatory Canon in the Byzantine Rite, is a service of supplication for the welfare of the living. It is addressed to a specific Saint or to the Most Holy Theotokos whose ...

s in front of it every day. About 11

verst A verst (russian: верста, ) is an obsolete Russian unit of length defined as 500 sazhen. This makes a verst equal to . Plurals and variants In the English language, ''verst'' is singular with the normal plural ''versts''. In Russian, the no ...

s (7.26 miles) from the city of

Vladimir Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

, as they approached the shore of the Klyazma River, the horses carrying the icon suddenly stopped and would not move forward. After prayer, the prince went to his tent and there the Theotokos appeared to him in a dream-like vision holding a scroll in her right hand, and commanded him to place her icon in the city of

and to build a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

(church) and

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

on the place of the vision. (Ever since this time, that icon has been known as

Our Lady of Vladimir The Virgin of Vladimir, also known as Vladimir Mother of God, Our Lady of Vladimir (russian: Влади́мирская ико́на Бо́жией Ма́тери, uk, Вишгородська ікона Божої Матері), and the Theoto ...

.) Great Prince Andrew did as he was told, and also commissioned the Bogolubsky Icon of the Theotokos.

Description of icon

On the icon, the Theotokos is depicted in full stature, holding a scroll in her right hand. Her left hand is turned in prayer to

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, who is depicted in an

aureole An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin ''aurea'', "golden") is the radiance of luminous cloud which, in paintings of sacred personages, surrounds the whole figure. In Romance languages, the noun Aureola is usually more related to the d ...

in the upper-right hand corner. Prince Andrew himself is depicted prayerfully, on his knees before the Theotokos. In variations of the icon, other saints may appear at the feet of the Virgin, such as saints Zosimus and Sabbatius of Solovki.

Naming and residences

The icon came to be named after Prince Andrew Bogoliubsky ("Lover of God") and was placed in the monastery he built. The church prince Andrew built was consecrated in honor of the

Great Feast In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus, called Pascha (Easter), is the greatest of all holy days and as such it is called the "feast of feasts". Immediately below it in importance, there is a group of Twelve Great Fe ...

of the

Nativity of the Theotokos The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of Mary, the Marymas or the Birth of the Virgin Mary, refers to a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of Mary, mother of Jesus. The modern canon of scripture does not record Mary's bir ...

, and the icon he commissioned was placed there. The monastery he built has come to be known as Bogolubsky

Convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

, and the town which grew up around it was called Bogolubovo. The icon of Our Lady of Vladimir remained in the convent while work was completed on the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir, after which it was solemnly

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

to the cathedral. The original Bogolubskaya icon is kept in the Knyaginin Convent of Vladimir, but over the centuries numerous copies of the icon have been made, and it continues to be venerated in many churches both in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and throughout the world. Before the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

the icon was brought annually on May 21 (June 3) to the city Vladimir where it remained until July 16 (July 29), when it was returned from there to the monastery.

Feast day

In 1771 a feast day was established in honor of the Bogolubskaya icon and in memory of the deliverance of the city of Vladimir and its vicinity from

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

. The feast day is June 18 (for those churches which use the traditional

Julian Calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...

, June 18 currently falls on July 1 of the modern

Gregorian Calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

).
БОГОЛЮБСКАЯ ИКОНА БОЖИЕЙ МАТЕРИ
'' Православная Энциклопедия под редакцией Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла (электронная версия). (Orthodox Encyclopedia - Pravenc.ru).

References

{{reflist

External links

Bogolubskaya Icon of the Mother of God
Orthodox

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...