| The Mother of God Our Lady of Jerusalem is depicted in the traditional pose of the Hodigitria, Greek for "pointer of the way." Here, the Virgin points with her right hand to the Christ Child as being "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." The letters on either side of the Virgin's head mean "Maria, Mother of God," and the letters above Christ's halo, IC XC, acronym for Jesus Christ. According to Church tradition, the original icon was painted by the Apostle St.Luke in Gethsemane, where the tomb of the Mother of God is located, in the 15th year after the Ascension of Our Lord. In the 5th century A.D., the icon was translated from Jerusalem to Constantinople. After Constantinople was taken by the Russes, it was brought to Chersonesus (Korsun). After the Baptism of Rus the icon was sent by prince Vladimir to the people of Novgorod. They installed it in the Cathedral of St. Sophia, where it remained until the conquest of Novgorod by Ivan the Terrible, from 1571; it was kept in the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Moscow Kremlin. In 1812, the icon was taken as a spoil by the French and today it is kept at Notre Dame de Paris. Over the long period of its existence the icon has been glorified by numerous miracles and cures. Feast day: October 12/25. |
