''Theotokos of Pochayiv'' ( uk, Почаївська ікона Пресвятої Богородиці) is an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

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 ...

of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, painted in a late

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

style, of the

Eleusa The Eleusa (or ''Eleousa''; el, Ἐλεούσα – ''tenderness'' or ''showing mercy'') is a type of depiction of the Virgin Mary in icons in which the Christ Child is nestled against her cheek. In the Western Church the type is often known as ...

iconographic Iconology is a method of interpretation in cultural history and the history of the visual arts used by Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and their followers that uncovers the cultural, social, and historical background of themes and subjects in the visu ...

type. Like many famous icons, it is now usually displayed with most of the surface covered by an elaborate frame in precious metals, or

riza : A riza ( Russian: риза, "vestment," "robe"; Ukrainian: шати, ''shaty'', "vestments") or oklad (оклад, "covered"), sometimes called a "revetment" in English, is a metal cover protecting an icon. It is usually made of gilt or silve ...

, except for the faces. The icon is venerated equally by

and Catholics. The origin of the icon is not clear. It is painted in old

manner, hence it could be made in either Byzantium or

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

It has been in the

Pochayiv Lavra , native_name_lang = , logo = , logo_size = , logo_caption = , image = Панорама Почаївська лавра 02.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = General v ...

(monastery), in

Ternopil Ternópil ( uk, Тернопіль, Ternopil' ; pl, Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol; german: Tarnopol) is a city in the west of Ukraine. Administratively, Ternopi ...

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, since 1597, when it was given by a wealthy widow Anna or Hanna Hoyska, who owned the town of Pochayiv in second half of the 16th century. Anna had received the sacred image from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

metropolitan Neophyte.''"О тебе радуется", из книги Н.Дмитриевой, "Pravoslavie.RU" Russian Orthodox Portal, August 2005, in Russian'' In 1773,

Pope Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV ( la, Clemens XIV; it, Clemente XIV; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in Sep ...

, meeting the request of the count Nicolas Potocki sent two small golden crowns for the icon - one for the Holy Virgin, the other for Jesus. Thus the icon was acknowledged as wonder-making. According to some sources, the

depicted on the icon helped to heal Philip, the brother of Hanna Hoyska, from blindness. Later, the Theotokos of Pochayiv acquired a reputation as a miracle-working icon. The day of the Theotokos of Pochayiv icon is marked by

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

communities on 5 August.''Thousands Make Pilgrimage To Pochaiv, by Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), through Religious Information Service of Ukraine Portal News, August 2002''

References

Pochayiv Pope Clement XIV Ukrainian icons {{Theotokos in Russia