The Damascene Icon of the Mother of God, by ancient
tradition, was painted by Saint John of Damascus in gratitude to the
Theotokos for the miraculous healing of his right hand, cut off through
the perfidy of Emperor Leo the Isaurian. This icon is also known as “Of
the Three Hands” Icon of the Mother of God (June 28, and July 12).
In
the ninth century in the time of the Iconoclasts, Saint John of
Damascus (December 4) was zealous in his veneration of holy icons.
Because of this, he was slandered by the emperor and iconoclast Leo III
the Isaurian (717-740), who informed the Damascus caliph that Saint John
was committing treasonous acts against him. The caliph gave orders to
cut off the hand of the monk and take it to the marketplace. Towards
evening Saint John, having asked the caliph for the cut-off hand, put it
to its joint and fell to the ground before the icon of the Mother of
God. The monk begged Our Lady to heal the hand, which had written in
defense of Orthodoxy. After long prayer he fell asleep and saw in a
dream that the All-Pure Mother of God had turned to him promising him
quick healing.
Before this the Mother of God bid him toil without
fail with this hand. Having awakened from sleep, Saint John saw that
his hand was unharmed. In thankfulness for this healing Saint John
placed on the icon a hand fashioned of silver, from which the icon
received its name “Of Three Hands.” (Some iconographers, in their
ignorance, have mistakenly depicted the Most Holy Theotokos with three
arms and three hands.) According to Tradition, Saint John wrote a hymn
of thanksgiving to the Mother of God: “All of creation rejoices in You, O
Full of Grace,” which appears in place of the hymn “It is Truly Meet”
in the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great.
Saint John Damascene
received monasticism at the monastery of Saint Sava the Sanctified and
there bestowed his wonderworking icon. The Lavra presented the icon “Of
Three Hands” in blessing to Saint Sava, Archbishop of Serbia (+ 1237,
January 12). During an invasion of Serbia by the Turks, some Christians
who wanted to protect the icon, entrusted it to the safekeeping of the
Mother of God Herself. They placed it upon a donkey, which without a
driver proceeded to Athos and stopped in front of the Hilandar
monastery. The monks put the icon in the monastery’s cathedral church
(katholikon). During a time of discord over the choice of igumen, the
Mother of God deigned to head the monastery Herself, and from that time
Her holy icon has occupied the igumen’s place in the temple. At the
Hilandar monastery there is chosen only a vicar, and from the holy icon
the monks take a blessing for every obedience.
The Greek Revolution of 1821 Remains Incomplete
-
What did the Greek Revolution of 1821 achieve? Was it betrayed by the
Western powers and Greek traitors? Why?
The post The Greek Revolution of 1821 Remai...
Fesuri călugărești croșetate (100% bumbac)
-
Până acum am croșetat fesuri groase (cu 25% lână), fesuri subțiri (cu 55
% bumbac) și fesuri cu 100% lână merinos. Acum am lucrat aceste fesuri
pentru ...
What About Me, Says Patriarch of Alexandria
-
Source: spc.rs What about me? Patriarch of Alexandria Theodore responded
with a letter to the appeal of His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porphyry, in
which H...
Does God Really Care About Me?
-
Have you ever gotten the message that God doesn’t care about you? Logic
tells you this to be true; however, your heart seems unable to accept this
conclusi...
The Catacomb Church (1991)
-
The text below is excerpted from the 2011 book "In the Catacombs" by S.V.
Shumilo:
"Remaining in a position without rights, the Catacomb Church – as in t...
The Experience of Autism from the Inside
-
I write this post with a great deal of caution. I am going to attempt to
flip the script on how autism is often described. Rather than a set of
outward b...
The Four Horsemen of Palamism
-
There are many interesting things taking place in academia right now
regarding Orthodox history and theology, beyond the usual faddish
expressions of “theo...
Moving
-
I started this blog back in late 2005. For a few years, I posted fast and
furiously--138 in 2007. Then gradually it dropped off to the point where I
o...
Ascension and Judgment in the Triumphal Entry
-
One of the key features of the Gospels is the many prophecies of Christ
regarding His own passion, death, resurrection, …
Continue reading →
The circular firing squad on Pope Francis
-
Introduction
I. The pastoral Magisterium
II. When truth functions as law
III. The fence and the circle of orthodoxy
IV. Criticizing Magisterial failures
V. ...
Christmas: the Eternal embraces the Finite
-
The following is a Christmas-season meditation by Susan Anne, who will be
joining me on this blog as a co-author. Beginnings and endings, finite
measures o...
Sam Bankman-Fried Gets 25 Years
-
Meanwhile the great crypto-con continues. As of this post, people are
spending near $70,000 a piece for imaginary money called bitcoin. Stulti et
pecunia e...
Manifest
-
Manifest is a binge worthy 4 season series on Netflix. We are on the last
season and I am impressed by the intelligent and evenhanded treatment of
group pr...
Service Interruption notice
-
You may have noticed rigorousintuition.ca is currently down. We're moving
servers. Drew informs me it shouldn't take too long. Perhaps tonight or
tomorrow....
The truth drew hatred…
-
“Seest Thou what suffer those who censure, O Word of God, the faults of
the unclean. Not being able to bear censure, lo, Herod cut off my head, O
Savior....
The Dynamism of Holy Tradition
-
I. How & Why Traditions Are Created “Be imitators of me, just as I also am
of Christ. Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold
firml...
Apostleship - A Family Affair?
-
Sometimes I amuse myself by imagining Jesus and the Apostles in situations
they might see if they grew up in the America that I know and love. When I
was a...
Moving Day
-
I’m beginning to copy some of the articles on ecumenism over to a new blog
called “Eirenikon“, devoted solely to the topic of Orthodox/Catholic
rapprocheme...
No comments:
Post a Comment