The Cypriot Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos

July 22, new style - as well as on the first Sunday of Great Lent, the Cypriot Icon of the Mother of God is celebrated. In the Cypriot Orthodox Church, several miraculous copies of the revered image with this name are known, differing in their iconography and marked by abundant miracles.

According to Church Tradition, the icon of the Mother of God, later called the Cypriot icon, was created by the holy apostle and evangelist Luke during the earthly life of the Most Holy Theotokos. The blessed power emanating from it is so strong that it is unsafe for people who are more or less damaged by sin to see it: the beholder may even be blind. For this reason, the ancient icon was wrapped in a veil, skillfully decorated with silver and gold. However, before this was done, the Byzantine emperor Alexei Comnenus, who ruled at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries, ordered an accurate copy of the icon to be made. Thanks to the latter, we know what the original looks like. And he stays in the holy monastery at the site of the miraculous appearance of the Cypriot icon in 392.

The first copy of the icon of the Most Pure, so revered Emperor Alexei, was also sent to the island of Cyprus at his command, where a male stauropegic monastery of the icon of the Mother of God of Kykkos was erected especially for this image. Sincere prayer in front of this revered image has more than once become the cause of healings of serious illnesses and the provision of miraculous help to people.

Another version of the Cypriot icon is also known, where the Blessed Virgin is depicted sitting on a throne - and angels stand on either side of Her. An extraordinary incident is also associated with her. Once in the Middle Ages, when this icon was displayed on the gate leading to the church, a Muslim Arab rode past the holy image. Wanting to mock the revered shrine by Christians, he took out a bow, put an arrow in it, pulled the string and fired directly at the shrine. The arrow hit the knee of the Mother of God depicted on the icon - from the place where it hit, blood began to flow abundantly. The holy father, seeing the result of his action, was horrified - and spurred his horse to quickly leave the place of his atrocity. However, he never reached his dwelling - or rather, the horse rushed to the house of the Arab his already dead body ...

There is and a variety of the Cypriot icon known as the 'Knife' - or Macheriotissa. God the Son in the image of a baby is absent on it, and the Most Holy Theotokos is depicted on the icon with prayerfully outstretched hands. This image was for a long time in the monastery, which was burned down in a fire in 1892. The monastery was destroyed by the fire to the ground - and the revered icon was not damaged in the fire. After this miraculous incident, the image was transferred to the Cypriot city of Nicosia, where it remains today. Pilgrims from different countries of the world arrive on the island to bow to the Cypriot 'Knife' icon.

There is another list in Cyprus, known as the 'Cleansing' icon of the Queen of Heaven. In honor of this icon, a special monastery was established in one of the most beautiful places on the island. The holy image is endowed with a special grace to help people suffering from eye diseases - if, with sincere faith, they pray to the Mother of God at Her holy icon. This condition, however, applies not only to this icon, but also to any other revered images - after all, it is not the icon that gives help to the one asking, but the Lord through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Him.

V. Sergienko.