Prayer for adding mind to the mother of God. Prayer for help in learning to increase the mind. How does the icon of the Icon of the Mother of God “Mind Addition” help

A believer does everything, asking for the will of the Lord and hoping for his mercy. Prayers always come to help, even in such mundane matters as teaching children.

Even at the earliest stage of development, the mother and child have a special bond that helps him to calm down at an older age, as can be seen from the mother's healing word. Read about him to know what power a woman has when she becomes a mother.

But growing up, children do not always please their parents with high grades received in school. And it is not always the case that the child is not taught. Sometimes it's just worth talking to him. Perhaps he has problems with the teacher, and he is embarrassed to tell you about it, or he cannot understand the material, returning to teaching after an illness. The reasons are sometimes easy enough to eliminate: you just need to find a common language. After all, not only teachers but also parents are responsible for getting a good education.

A mother always strives to get the best for her child and to protect him from misfortunes and troubles from birth. Children's icons, which should be hung in the children's room, will help in protection. They will also set the child in the right mood for the perception of serious information. In addition to positive contact with the child, prayers, which have miraculous power with sufficient faith, can also affect learning on the part of parents. After all, who, if not a mother, gives his child protection and prudence. One of the most powerful prayers is the following:

Lord Jesus Christ our God, who dwelt in the hearts of the twelve Apostles unhypocritically, by the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, who came down in the form of fiery tongues, and opened these mouths, and began to speak in other tongues: Lord Jesus Christ Our God Himself, send down that Spirit from Your Holy One ( name); and plant the Holy Scriptures in the ears of his heart, even your most pure hand was written on the tablet for the law-maker Moses, now and ever, and forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer to Sergius of Radonezh

In the life of St. Sergius of Radonezh it is said that he knew less literacy than his peers and brothers, for which his parents and teacher scolded him. Being then still a youth Bartholomew (this is the name he was given at baptism), he prayed and saw a wonderful old man. Bartholomew shared with him his desire to learn to read and write and bitterness that he could not master the reading of holy hymns. Then the elder prayed and gave him a piece of his prosphora, predicting that from that hour the boy would be taught to read and write. On the same day, the prediction came true. It is not surprising that a prayer is also dedicated to Saint Sergius of Radonezh, so that children learn better and gain wisdom.

Like the virtues, the ascetic, as a true warrior of Christ God, fought on the passion of the Velma in a temporary life, in pennies, vigils and veneration, the image of being your disciple: the same the Holy Spirit dwelt in thee, with His action you are brightly adorned: but as if having boldness to Holy Trinity, remember the flock, you have gathered the hedgehog in a wise way, and do not forget how you promised, visit your children, Reverend Sergius, our father.

At every stage of life, a mother protects her child. For this, mother's prayers for babies and adult children have been created. Mother's love is limitless. We wish you all the best, read the prayer words and don't forget to press the buttons and

03.05.2016 06:24

Every couple wants to give birth to a healthy and successful baby. To make their hopes come true, many are engaged ...

Detailed description from several sources: "Prayer for the addition of the mind icon of the mother of God" - in our non-profit weekly religious journal.

O Holy Virgin! You are the Bride of God the Father and the Mother of His Divine Son Jesus Christ! You are the Queen of Angels and the salvation of people, a denouncer of sinners and a punisher of apostates. Have mercy on us, who have sinned grossly and have not fulfilled the commandments of God, who have broken the vows of baptism and the vows of monasticism, and many others that we promised to fulfill. When the Holy Spirit departed from King Saul, then fear and despondency attacked him and the darkness of despair and a joyless state of mind tormented him. Now, for our sins, we have all lost the grace of the Holy Spirit. The mind was bogged down by the vanity of thoughts, forgetfulness about God darkened our souls, and now the heart of every kind of sorrow, sorrow, illness, hatred, evil, enmity, revenge, gloating and other sins are pressing. And, not having joy and consolation, we call to You, Mother of our God, Jesus Christ, so beg Your Son to forgive us all our sins and send us the Comforter Spirit, as He sent Him to the apostles, but those who were comforted and enlightened by him, let us sing a song of thanksgiving to You. : Rejoice, Most Holy Theotokos, who has added intelligence to our salvation. Amen

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The ringing of the church bell rang out over Russia for the first time in the 10th century. From that moment on, the chime of the bell was continuously associated with the spiritual life of every Orthodox Christian. The sound of a bell is not only a voice about the beginning of the Divine service, not only a notification about great Orthodox holidays, but also a reminder of the heavenly world, a call to repentance, repentance and awareness of the real meaning of human existence.

Prayers before the icon of the Mother of God "Mind Addition"

O Holy Virgin! You are the Bride of God the Father and the Mother of His Divine Son Jesus Christ! You are the Queen of Angels and the salvation of people, a denouncer of sinners and a punisher of apostates. Have mercy on us, who have sinned grossly and have not fulfilled the commandments of God, who have broken the vows of baptism and the vows of monasticism, and many others that we promised to fulfill. When the Holy Spirit departed from King Saul, then fear and despondency attacked him and the darkness of despair and a joyless state of mind tormented him. Now, for our sins, we have all lost the grace of the Holy Spirit. The mind was bogged down by the vanity of thoughts, oblivion about God darkened our souls, and now the heart of every kind of sorrow, sorrow, illness, hatred, evil, enmity, revenge, gloating, and other sins are pressing. And, not having joy and consolation, we call to You, Mother of our God, Jesus Christ, so beg Your Son to forgive us all our sins and send us the Comforter Spirit, as He sent Him to the apostles, but those who were comforted and enlightened by Him, let us sing a song of thanksgiving to You. : Rejoice, Most Holy Theotokos, who has added intelligence to our salvation. Amen.

My abiding queen, my most holy hope, friend to the sire and strange intercessor, help in need and embittered by the veil, see my attack, see my sorrow; from everywhere I am possessed by temptation, but the intercessor is not. You yourself help me as if I am weak, feed me as strange, teach me as if she was delusional, heal and save me as hopeless. Not the imams of any other help, not the imams of any other hope, unless You, Lady, help us, we hope in You and we boast of You, Your God is Rabbi, so we will not be ashamed. Under Thy mercy we resort, Virgin Mary, do not despise our prayers in sorrow, but save us from troubles, One pure and blessed one. Amen.

The Most Pure Theotokos, the House, whose Wisdom of God has created for Himself, spiritual gifts to the Giver, our mind is elevating from the world to the premium and leading everyone to the knowledge of reason! Receive a prayer song from us, unworthy Thy servants, who worship Thy most pure image with faith and tenderness. Pray for Thy Son and our God, let him grant us wisdom and strength, to judges truth and impartiality, as a pastor spiritual wisdom, zeal and vigilance for our souls, as a mentor for humility, as a child of obedience, but we all have a spirit of reason and piety, a spirit of humility and meekness, spirit of purity and truth. And now, all-singing, our all-beloved Mother, give us an addition of mind, subdue, unite in enmity and division of existence and put them in an insoluble union of love, convert all those who are deceived from foolishness to the light of Christ's truth, teach the fear of God, abstinence and diligence, teach the word of wisdom and soul-beneficial knowledge to those who ask, grant us, autumn us with eternal joy, the most luminous Cherubims and the most honest Seraphims. But we, the glorious deeds and the many-minded wisdom of God in the world and our life, see, we will get rid of the earthly vanity and unnecessary worries of life, and we will raise our mind, our heart to Heaven, as if by Your intercession and help glory, praise, thanksgiving and worship for everything in the Trinity to the glorified God and all the Creator we send, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.

Confirm the wisdom of the Mentor and the meaning of the Giver, the unwise Enlightener and the beggars, the Intercessor, the Mother of Christ of our God, strengthen my heart, the Lady, and add reason, pray to Christ fervently. Thou shalt give me the word, who gave birth to the Father's Word, and so boldly ask Thy Son for us. Amen.

Prayer for enlightenment and mind gain

Prayers for admonition are read in front of the Add Mind icon, turning to the Most Holy Theotokos their aspirations and requests for help. The composition and style of painting the icon are not typical for the school of classical Russian or Byzantine iconography and differ from the common canonical subjects. The Mother of the Lord hovering over the Heavenly Jerusalem holds the Son in her arms. Both of them are wrapped in a phelonion, which gives their embrace divine unity. The angels, with their humble appearance and bowed heads, seem to point to the Mother of God - turn your prayers to her and receive mercy by her kindness.

The history of the appearance of the icon

In ancient times, when the Orthodox Church was reformed by Patriarch Nikon, this was rejected by many followers and ministers. The global schism, which added confusion to the believers, alienated the understanding of why the patriarch was changing the liturgical rites or introducing new canons. The reform itself had the intention of unification with the rites of the Greek Church, as the closest to the original source. But not everyone was given the opportunity to comprehend the correctness of Nikon's steps. This is a period when adherents of the old rituals separated from the main patriarchy, for which they were anathematized.

Among the crowd of doubters there was a certain monk-icon painter, whose name has sunk into the age-old haze, but by chance left behind him the greatest mark in Russian iconography. The legend says that the monk fell into mental anguish, fearing to betray the true God and not fall into the captivity of the devil's traps. Having embarked on the path of fasting and prayer, as a true believer, he asked for enlightenment and enlightenment for himself, for only the Heavenly Forces were given the ability to indicate the correct path. This prayer for the miraculous addition of the mind eventually became the defining power of the icon, which the monk wrote, fulfilling his vow to the Mother of God.

In one of the long prayer nights, the Mother of God descended to a restless person, and he immediately began to earnestly ask her for admonition and a hint, which side to take and which path of worship to choose so as not to fall into mortal sin. She gave hints, restored peace to his mind and promised to direct his fate with her mercy if the monk painted the icon, depicting it in the form in which the Mother of God appeared to him. Having enlightened the mind and taking the side of the reforms of Patriarch Nikon, the monk immediately began work on the icon, which he later called "Adding the mind".

Composition icons

Having received divine prompts and the ability to separate the grain from the chaff, the diligent monk depicted the Mother of God soaring over the Heavenly Jerusalem. This is such a promised place from the book of Revelations - a city of the righteous, filled with the Holy Spirit. Candles in the hands of angelic creatures symbolize the light emitted by the Lord and his faith, and are an important part of our being - without them the sources of knowledge and understanding of the universe will not open to us.

The central figure of the Mother of God with the Child is executed in an image uncharacteristic for canonical subjects. Such images, when the Mother and the Child God are wrapped in a single phelonion, are found only in the sculpture of the city of Loret. This symbolizes the belonging of the Theotokos and God the Son to the Heavenly hypostasis, and the royal crowns on their heads give us an understanding of their divinity. To both of them we offer our prayers with a request to show us the path of knowledge and to give understanding of our earthly path.

Having clung to the icon in prayers, the Orthodox person sees in front of him the Blessed Virgin, whose destiny is to protect the flock of his Son from mistakes and ordeals, from emotional anxiety and imprudent steps. A prayer for aspirations to increase the mind, crying out from a suffering heart, will surely be rewarded by the Queen of Heaven.

The power of the icon is to give admonition

The abilities of any icon are determined by those prayers that ascend to it and receive mercy from the Forces of Heaven. The very prehistory of the creation of the image "Adding Mind" and its subsequent glorification defines this face as help to the restless and striving for the truth people. And each subsequent prayer is another brick that strengthens the power of faith in this holy face.

Usually this image is asked for help in such sorrows:

A maternal conspiracy whispered near the icon will help a lagging and careless student to approach his studies more diligently. Adding perseverance and gravity, he will enlighten and direct you on the path of knowledge of science.
A strong rite of passage at the icon "Adding Mind" is able to heal a person with mental underdevelopment or congenital dementia. It is in the power of the Lord and the Mother of God to direct the efforts of such a child on the path of his perfection.
In case of mental confusion, indecision in choosing the right path, misunderstanding of the prospects for your future, daily prayer at the holy image can reveal the truth and clarify the mind of the one praying.
Absent-mindedness and inability to concentrate at certain times can cause problems. Concentration and accumulation of mental and mental strength - this is what prayer helps such people.
On the difficult path of knowledge and study, the power of this icon has no equal. Often, on the eve of important exams, students resort to the help of the holy image of the Mother of God, so that she would grant them insight and mental strength to overcome all trials with dignity.
Also, for those who, in doubts and confusion, fearfully look into their future, having no idea how to proceed in a difficult situation, the image of the Mother of God, which helps in enlightening the mind, will give guidance or otherwise give hints.

Rites and rituals for gaining reason

There is a difference in how to apply the prayer for enlightenment of the mind. In the case when a person constantly requires the care of the Heavenly Queen, prayer should accompany and instruct the Orthodox soul daily. But when the suffering suddenly befell due to demonic intrigues, it is more expedient to apply church ritual and outside help. It can be expressed both in prayer vigils at home with someone close to you, and in a temple service. Usually, prayer in the temple is a collective and stronger appeal to the Lord, for your crying voice is multiplied by everyone present in the service.

Prayer at home

The holy image "Adding Mind" is a rather rare image, but its value does not diminish from this. If there is a need to turn to the Mother of God in prayers, do not be stingy and find the desired face in the icon shops. They never use magazine clippings or posters for a home iconostasis, for this is a grave sin and a devilish obsession.

Be sure to confess whenever you begin prayer prayers for mercy. It is difficult for a sinful soul to let the Holy Spirit into his heart, and the mind will be clouded and will not receive the desired enlightenment.
The prayer for increasing the mind, as a rule, is read in the morning, before the activity begins, so that it has a beneficial effect on you.
It is customary to end the night vigil with prayers of thanks that the Heavenly Patrons did not leave you with their worries.
It is not forbidden for a loving mother to write on a piece of paper a prayer to instruct her child, so that the word addressed to the Mother of God would constantly accompany and take care of the child. But a mother's prayer written on paper does not exempt from the need to involve the child in independent prayer with a petition for admonition.

First prayer before the icon Adding the mind.

A short prayer

Very often there is a need to receive admonition and instruction at the beginning of some activity. Sometimes confusion and confusion prevent a person from concentrating and making the right decision - for such help, carry a short prayer with you. Read at the right time, it will help you avoid mistakes and, by the grace of the Mother of God, will guide you on the right path.

Prayer will help a sincere believer.
Only a baptized person will receive the help of the Holy Spirit.
The strength of your faith is the key to successfully fulfilling your prayers.

The second prayer before the icon Increasing the mind.

“To my abiding queen, my most holy hope, friend to the sire and strange intercessor, help in need and embittered by the veil, see my attack, see my sorrow; from everywhere I am possessed by temptation, but the intercessor is not. You yourself help me, as if I am weak, feed me as strange, teach me as if she was mistaken, heal and save me as hopeless. Not imams of any other help, not imams of other hopes, unless You, Lady, You help us, we hope in You and we boast of You, Your God is Rabbi, so we will not be ashamed. We run under Your mercy, Virgin Mary, do not despise our prayers in sorrows, but save us from troubles, One pure and blessed one. Amen".

Prayer for admonition in the temple

Your prayer, ascended in the temple, will always be strengthened by those participating in the service. Going to the temple, people carry their aspirations and requests that overwhelm their hearts. Praying collectively under the pastoral guidance of a priest, each by his own efforts multiplies the voice of the crying.

Apply for a prayer for health for the one for whose admonition you will pray.
Confession and Communion is a prerequisite before starting any ceremony.
Do not be sad if the temple does not have the necessary image "Adding the Mind". Prayers and spells in the temple to add mind can be performed in front of any icon of the Virgin.
Before turning to the Heavenly Patroness, do not forget to make a sacrifice by lighting a church candle so that the light of your faith ascends upward.

The third prayer before the icon Adding the mind.

“The Most Pure Theotokos, Home, Herself has created the Wisdom of God, spiritual gifts to the Giver, from the world to the premium, our mind elevates and everyone to the knowledge of reason! Receive a prayer song from us, unworthy Thy servants, who worship Thy most pure image with faith and tenderness. Pray for Thy Son and our God, let him grant us wisdom and strength, to judges truth and impartiality, as a pastor spiritual wisdom, zeal and vigilance for our souls, as a mentor for humility, as a child of obedience, but we all have a spirit of reason and piety, a spirit of humility and meekness, spirit of purity and truth. And now, all-singing, our all-beloved Mother, give us an addition of mind, subdue, unite in enmity and division of existence and put them in an insoluble union of love, convert all those who are delusional from foolishness to the light of Christ's truth, teach the fear of God, abstinence and diligence, teach the word of wisdom and soul-beneficial knowledge to those who ask, grant us, autumn us with eternal joy, the most luminous Cherubim and the most honest Seraphim. But we, the glorious deeds and the many-minded wisdom of God in the world and our life, see, we will get rid of the earthly vanity and unnecessary worries of life, and we will raise our mind, our heart to Heaven, as if by Your intercession and help glory, praise, thanksgiving and worship for everything in the Trinity to the glorified God and all the Creator we send, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen".

Healing prayers for every believing Orthodox soul have tremendous power. Since then, when Christ showed the world miracles of healing from bodily ailments.

Our apartment, our home - this is what should protect us from adversity, be a cozy and pleasant place for life, give a feeling of happiness. For this, our apartment must be not only clean.

Prayer and its wonderful property. The angel announced to the Virgin of the immaculate conception in her blessed womb of the one who. in search of someone to blame, but it is better to turn your prayers and aspirations for reconciliation and admonition to the intercessor of all wives - the Mother of God.

Prayers for help for a family in difficult times can neutralize the threat of divorce. Asking the Heavenly Father to instruct both spouses, the wife opens her heart to his prompts and instructions.

Icon of the Mother of God Adding Mind

Cost and terms

Wooden board 40x30 cm, gesso, tempera, gilding of halos.

The celebration in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Mind Addition" is performed August 15 (August 28, New Style).

Before the icon of the Mother of God “Adding Mind”, they pray for the illumination of the light of truth not only for children who have not only embarked on the path of faith, but also for all people wandering along the roads of this world.

Legend about the icon of the Mother of God "Adding Mind"

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the ethnographer and archaeographer A. Titov preserved for posterity an old legend explaining the origin of the "Mind Addition" icon. The scientist brought it up in his work from the words of the rector of the Romanovsky Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Cross, Archpriest Vladimir Miroslavsky, to whom he turned about the ancient miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "Mind Addition" located in this church.

“Pious old-timers say that in ancient times many mentally ill people flocked to this holy icon, and some of them, according to their faith, received healing from the Blessed Virgin,” said the father of the archpriest. - “In the near future after Patriarch Nikon, there was a pious man living in Moscow. He read a lot of church books of Joseph's time, and then began to read books corrected by Patriarch Nikon. After reading those and other books, he began to think and reflect a lot: whether he will be right before God and what books should he follow in order to be saved; he thought for a long time, but could not resolve the issue and went mad. When consciousness returned to him, he prayed to the Mother of God that She would return his mind. Through his prayer, a vision of the Mother of God followed him. She commanded him to paint the image as She appeared to him and pray before him, and promised that if he fulfilled this, he would be healthy. That man was an icon painter. After the vision, when consciousness returned to him and his mind cleared up, he began to paint the image of the Mother of God. But since the vision was short, he forgot how to paint the image. Then he again prayed to the Mother of God and continued to write as God had inspired him. Thus, he painted an icon and called it “Mind Addition”. ”

Iconography of the image of the Most Holy Theotokos "Adding Mind"

The iconography of the image was formed in the 16th century under the influence of Western engravings and icons with complex symbols. However, most of the surviving icons "Adding Mind" belong to the 18th - 19th centuries. On them, the Most Holy Virgin and the Infant God are depicted with royal crowns on their heads, while Christ blesses with his right hand, and in His left hand is a power, a symbol of royal power. A special feature of the icon is its unusual dress. The Mother of God is clothed with the Infant God in a long bell-shaped cloak - a red dalmatic, richly embroidered with golden crosses and adorned with precious stones. In the upper corners of the icon there are lamps with tongues of flame. The Blessed Virgin is depicted against the background of the starry sky, which opens under the arch of the portal. Angels with lighted candles fly up to the Blessed Virgin and the Child from both sides; above the heads of the Mother of God and the Divine Child - three Seraphim, at Their foot - Cherub with outstretched wings. Below is the city, the symbol of Heavenly Jerusalem.

A. Titov established that the statue of the Mother of God from the city of Loreto in Italy served as the prototype of the icon of the Mother of God "Adding Mind" (Academician N. Kondakov gave him an exact indication of the prototype): "The image of this icon appeared in Russia, obviously, from the 16th century. In Loreto there is a Holy House, or Holy Hut, where the image of the Mother of God is placed. This look is made entirely of cedar wood, covered all over with diamond rivieras and pearl threads. The image of the Mother of God, as can be seen from the attached drawing, is generally similar to our icon “Adding the Mind”, which indicates its Western origin, only it has been remade in the “Moscow style”.

The robe, in which, according to the centuries-old custom, the statue of Our Lady of Loret is put on, is called a dalmatic. The Dalmatic is an outer tunic for men and women that spread from Dalmatia at the end of the 2nd century, which later became a festive dress (the English king wears a Dalmatic at coronation) and sacred vestments: the bishop's sakkos and the deacon's surplice. As clothing the Dalmatic disappeared in the Middle Ages. Until the 11th century, the Dalmatic was white, then other colors were allowed, and sometimes even multi-colored was found; The Dalmatic's only adornment in the beginning was narrow purple stripes from the neckline all the way to the hem. Dalmatic was made from linen, wool, or silk.

Tradition attributed the authorship of the Loret statue to the holy apostle and evangelist Luke, but experts concluded that it was sculptured by an Italian sculptor in the 13th-14th centuries. This ancient statue was destroyed by a fire that broke out in the Holy House in 1921. The following year, it was replaced by a new one, which Leopoldo Celani, after the model of Enrico Quattrini, carved from Lebanese cedar wood. The new statue was artificially blackened to make it look more like the lost one, darkened with time and soot. Chelani, perhaps by mistake, made the black too saturated, while the face of the ancient statue was not so dark.

Pilgrims visiting the Holy House in Loreto can now take with them a cardboard icon "Adding Mind", only under the Italian icon is added the signature: "Our Lady of Loreto. Russian Icon of the 18th Century ”. The Old Slavonic inscription reads: "The Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, the Most Pure Virgin Mary, called the Key of Wisdom."

About the Loret Icon of the Virgin

Scientists today have irrefutably proven that the Holy House in Loreto was erected from the stones of the Nazareth earthly house of the Blessed Virgin, in which She was born, received the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel and in which the Holy Family subsequently lived. This house became the subject of special reverence for the apostles and early Christians. A church was built in it, and for many centuries Christians with reverence entered this house, which became one of the first Christian churches in Palestine. According to legend, in the house there was an icon of the Mother of God with the Infant God, written on a blackboard by the holy apostle and evangelist Luke, and their sculptural image carved from wood.

The earthly home of the Mother of God in Nazareth consisted of two parts. One part was a cave, or grotto, carved into the rock - now it is one of the main shrines of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Another part was a stone outbuilding that adjoined the rock.

The Muslim era began in the East in 622. The followers of Islam conquered Persia, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, North Africa, Spain, made an attempt to penetrate the Pyrenees. They also subdued Jerusalem, which courageously defended itself for four months. Caliph Omar ordered to erect a mosque in the place where the temple of Solomon once stood.

The establishment of the Turks in Palestine made the pilgrimage of Christians immeasurably more difficult and dangerous, many of the pilgrims became victims of Muslim fanaticism. The stories of returning pilgrims about the sad fate of the holy sites of Palestine aroused feelings of grief and intense resentment against Muslims in a religiously-minded society. In 1096, the era of the Crusades began. From the end of the 11th to the end of the 13th century, the lands of the East became the scene of a fierce clash between the crusaders and the Muslims. At first, the success was on the side of the crusaders. However, two hundred years later, the crusaders lost almost all of their conquests. In 1244 Jerusalem was forever lost to them.

During the Crusades, many Christian shrines were transferred from the East to Western and Central Europe. In those years, the idea of \u200b\u200btransferring Orthodox shrines from the East to the West was especially widespread among Christians: Christians were afraid of their desecration or even destruction by Muslims. Many of these shrines remained on the land of Italy. In May 1291, the crusaders left one of their last strongholds - the port of Akru, after which Tire, Sidon and Beirut fell.

According to legend, it was in that memorable year for the history of the Holy Land in 1291 that the crusaders transported the stone extension of the Nazareth House by sea to Dalmatia. Dalmatia, Illyria region, which is the historical territory of modern Croatia, is located within the Dinaric Highlands on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. Under the emperor Augustus in the 6th year after the birth of Christ, it was annexed to the Roman Empire (later ceded to Byzantium). In this area the Holy Apostle Titus preached the Gospel; The fiercest persecutor of the Christian faith, Emperor Diocletian, was a Dalmatian by birth. We do not have reliable information whether an attempt was made to restore the Holy House in Dalmatia, but there is accurate evidence that in 1294 the stones of the Holy House and the image of the Blessed Virgin on the board, which arrived from the Holy Land, were first transferred to the Italian port city Ankopu and then to Loreto.

Now the authenticity of the House of the Virgin in Loreto is beyond doubt. The stones from the Nazareth House of the Blessed Virgin, from which the Loret House was built, were transported to Ancona by sea. The inhabitants of the city passed from mouth to mouth the tradition that the Holy House appeared on the waves of the sea. The veneration of Our Lady of Lorets as the patroness of travelers is based on this legend. The most ancient evidence of this dates back to the 15th century.

The first message that has come down to us, which definitely speaks of the transfer of the Holy House, dates from 1465-1472. According to this testimony, a certain Rinalduccio claimed that his grandfather's grandfather often spoke of seeing the Holy House arriving "on the waves of the sea, like a ship." From a second text found quite recently, it follows that the earliest record of this event dates back to at least 1440.

So, the legend that the Holy House was miraculously transferred by the angels received an explanation: the shrine was brought by ship at the request of the family of Angels - the rulers of Epirus. On a miniature from the early 15th century (circa 1425-1440), kept in the Parisian National Museum of the Middle Ages and the Cluny Baths, the Holy House floats on the sea on something like a raft, while an angel of God accompanies and protects it from above. This miniature helps to understand the historical and spiritual meaning of the event: the transfer of the shrine by sea on the initiative of people and with the patronage of Angels. In the same museum there is also a wood sculptural composition "The Legend of the Holy House in Loreto" dating back to the beginning of the 16th century - in the center there is a sculpture with angels carrying the Holy House in their arms.

Of course, upon arrival in Loreto, the Holy House was reproduced again from exact drawings. It is documented that in Loreto, a century before the transfer of the House of Our Lady, there was a church "St. Mary in the Laurel Grove", so the place for the Holy House was not chosen by chance.

An ancient legend says that the Holy House was erected without a foundation on the road and the believers were afraid that the building might collapse. Therefore, it was decided to enclose it with strong walls. However, very soon the builders saw that the new walls, although they were erected closely, moved away from the ancients. Subsequently, the Holy House was surrounded by a basilica, built in the 15th - 16th centuries. The news of the Loreto shrine spread throughout the Christian world, and the Holy House in Loreto became one of the most revered places, attracting many pilgrims.

Excavations carried out in 1962-1965 under the Holy House in Loreto confirmed both the presence of the remains of a supporting wall built at the beginning of the 14th century, which is mentioned by tradition, and the absence of its own foundation. Three walls, about three meters high, were actually erected directly on the ancient road; The House of the Holy Family in Nazareth was opened with its eastern side towards the grotto. Comparison of the Holy House in Loreto with the cave in Nazareth showed that they are parts of one whole and mutually complement each other. This was confirmed not only when comparing sizes, proportions, type of masonry, but also methods of processing natural stones hewn in the form of bricks. Research has confirmed that it was precisely these techniques and materials that were used during construction in Galilee during the earthly life of Jesus Christ. The surviving inscriptions (graffiti) on some ancient natural rough stones placed in the walls of the Holy House are made by the Judeo-Christian type of writing that was prevalent at that time in Nazareth.

We have already mentioned that the Holy House in Loreto has three walls; in the eastern part of it there is an altar, and in it, behind the throne, under an arch, there is a statue of the Mother of God with the Child. On Their heads are precious crowns. The Divine Infant holds a power in his left hand, and blesses with his right.

The appearance in Russia of the Loret Icon of the Mother of God

In Russia, the Loretskaya icon received a new name - "Adding the mind". Now the time of the appearance in Russia of information about the Loret shrine has been precisely determined. It is known that in the manuscript collections of the 17th century there is often a text under the title: "The Story of the Church of the Holy Mother of God, in which she was born from Joachim and Anna." And A Titov cites the text of the best, according to the research of the historian and archaeographer AI. Kirpichnikov, a list from this story is a manuscript of the first half of the 16th century, kept in the library of the Moscow Theological Academy. The list turned out to be modern to the legend itself, which is confirmed by the postscript at the end of the manuscript: “In the summer of 7036 (that is, 1528 from the birth of Christ). June came to Moscow the envoy of the Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich from Pope Clement the Fourth, Eremiy Trusov and his comrades, who saw this holy church from Rome 300 miles away and brought this scripture to us ”.

Relations between the Grand Duke Vasily III and the popes began in 1503. (The marriage of his father John III with Sophia Palaeologus put Moscow in close and close ties with Italy, at that time one of the most civilized countries in Europe.) There is a letter from Pope Leo X, in which he in 1519 persuaded Vasily Ivanovich to unite the Russian Church with the Catholic on the basis of the Union of Florence, for which he promised the Moscow prince the royal title, and the Moscow metropolitan - the dignity of patriarch.

In May 1524, Pope Clement VII, through the Genoese "Captain Paul", also entered into correspondence with the Grand Duke, offering friendship and alliance. Vasily Ivanovich sent Dmitry Gerasimov and Eremey Trusov to the Pope for negotiations. As one of the main arguments in favor of union, Catholics used the presence of common Christian shrines: their veneration should have spiritually linked East and West. One of these shrines was the Holy House in Loreto. Therefore, the Pope recommended that the Moscow ambassadors visit Loreto and inspect the ancient temple. The ambassadors were fully prepared for the perception of the shrine: they knew that many shrines of Palestine had perished or had been removed "from the godless barbarians of the Turks." They knew the miraculous transfer of faces and holy icons, and in other legends they encountered the invisible transfer of entire buildings. According to the ministers of the temple, they recorded a wonderful story about the Holy House and the sacred statue of the Mother of God; so this legend got to Russia and spread in numerous lists. The most complete of them, mentioned above, is offered to the readers' attention.

Prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos in front of Her icon, called "Adding Mind"

First prayer

Second prayer

To the Wise Mentor and the meaning to the Giver, the unwise Enlightener and the beggars to the Intercessor, Mother of Christ of our God, confirm, teach my heart, the Lady, and add reason to Christ, prayerfully diligently. Thou shalt give me the word that gave birth to the Father's Word, and imashi boldly ask Thy Son for us. Amen.

Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos in front of her icon "The Giver of the Mind"

O Holy Virgin! You are the Bride of God the Father and the Mother of His Divine Son Jesus Christ! You are the Queen of Angels and the salvation of people, a denouncer of sinners and a punisher of apostates. Have mercy on us, who have sinned grossly and have not fulfilled the commandments of God, who have broken the vows of baptism and the vows of monasticism, and many others that we promised to fulfill. When the Holy Spirit departed from King Saul, then fear and despondency attacked him and the darkness of despair and a joyless state of mind tormented him. Now, for our sins, we have all lost the grace of the Holy Spirit. The mind was bogged down by the vanity of thoughts, forgetfulness about God darkened our souls, and now the heart of every kind of sorrow, sorrow, illness, hatred, evil, enmity, revenge, gloating and other sins are being pressed. And, not having joy and consolation, we call to You, Mother of our God, Jesus Christ, so beg Your Son to forgive us all our sins and send us the Comforter Spirit, as He sent Him to the apostles, but those who were comforted and enlightened by him, let us sing a song of thanksgiving to You. : Rejoice, Most Holy Theotokos, who has added intelligence to our salvation. Amen.

Troparion and kontakion to the Most Holy Theotokos in front of Her icon, called "Adding the mind"

Troparion, voice 4:

O Most Glorious Mother of Christ our God, / the Good Giver, / by Thy mercy preserve the entire universe, / grant us, Thy servant, wisdom and intelligence, / with the light of Thy Son of Thy soul, enlighten our soul, / One All-Singing, // glorified from Cherubim and Seraphim.

Kontakion, voice 2:

Yako Units enlighten us with the mind, / we praise Thee, Most Pure, / Mother of the Reason, the whole universe holding, / The beauty of the visible and invisible world, // illuminating us with the rays of life.

First prayer

Second prayer

Prayer three

Troparion, voice 4:

Kontakion, voice 2:

Prayers for the development of the mind in children: Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos in front of Her icon "Giver of the Mind" or "Adding Mind", to the Unmercenaries and Wonderworkers Cosmas and Damian, Martyr Neophytos, Venerable Sergius, Abbot of Radonezh,

Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos in front of Her icon "The Giver of the Mind" or "Adding the Mind".

O Holy Virgin! You are the Bride of God the Father and the Mother of His Divine Son Jesus Christ! You are the Queen of Angels and the salvation of people, a denouncer of sinners and a punisher of apostates. Have mercy on us, who have sinned grossly and have not fulfilled the commandments of God, who have broken the vows of baptism and the vows of monasticism, and many others that we promised to fulfill. When the Holy Spirit departed from King Saul, then fear and despondency attacked him and the darkness of despair and a joyless state of mind tormented him. Now, for our sins, we have all lost the grace of the Holy Spirit. The mind was bogged down by the vanity of thoughts, forgetfulness about God darkened our souls, and now the heart of every kind of sorrow, sorrow, illness, hatred, evil, enmity, revenge, gloating and other sins are being pressed. And, not having joy and consolation, we call to You, Mother of our God, Jesus Christ, so beg Your Son to forgive us all our sins and send us the Comforter Spirit, as He sent Him to the apostles, but those who were comforted and enlightened by him, let us sing a song of thanksgiving to You. : Rejoice, Most Holy Theotokos, who has added intelligence to our salvation. Amen.

Troparion, voice 4

O Most Glorious Mother of Christ our God, good Giver, save the whole universe with Your mercy, grant us, Your servant, wisdom and intelligence, enlighten our Son with the light of Your Son, the One All-Singing, glorified from Cherubim and Seraphim.

Kontakion, voice 2

As the Units enlighten us with the mind, we praise Thee, the Most Pure, Mother of the Reason, the entire universe holding, the Beauty of the visible and invisible world, illuminating us with the rays of life.

Unmercenaries and wonderworkers Cosmas and Damian.

Troparion, voice 5th

Saints without silver and wonderworkers, Cosmo and Damian, visit our infirmities: tune priyaste, tune give us.

Kontakion, voice 2nd

Grace to receive healings, extend health to those in need, healers, miracle workers of glory, but your visit to the warriors of insolence is degraded, the world is healing miracles.

Prayer

To you, the holy saints of silverware and wonderworkers Cosmo and Damian, as a quick helper and a warm prayer book for our salvation, we kneel down unworthy, and, bending over, zealously cry out: do not despise the prayers of us sinners, weak, into many iniquities of those who have fallen and all the days and hours of those who sin.
Pray the Lord, that He will add to us, an unworthy servant, His great and rich mercy, save us from all sorrow and illness, you have more natural from the Lord and Savior of our Jesus Christ the inexhaustible grace of healings, for the sake of firm faith in the unrequited healing and martyrdom of your death. Paki, falling down, diligently pray: ask us from the Lord all that is beneficial, even in our temporary belly, especially for eternal salvation, may we be vouchsafed by your prayers to seize a Christian end, painless, shameless, peaceful, and may we get rid of the wiles of the devil and eternal , but the endless and blessed Kingdom of the Heavenly Heiress will be. She, saints of God, do not cease praying for us, who flow to you with faith, if because of our multitude of sins and we do not deserve your mercy, both of you, faithful to the imitation of God's humanity, create, so that we bear fruits worthy of repentance and achieve eternal rest , praising and blessing the wondrous in the saints of His Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ, and His Most Pure Mother, and your warm intercession, always, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.

Martyr Neophytos.

Sedalen, voice 4th

A new-flowered garden like a garden, stagnant in the helipad of Christ's passion-bearers. You have borne the fruits of the Divine Reason. Those who honor the image are faithfully fed, gloriously Neophyte, suffering wisdom, but always save us with your prayers, coming to God.

Stanza on "Lord, I have cried", voice 8

Oh, glorious miracle! From the shroud of Samech, the perfectly wise Neophyte performs miracles by the action of the Spirit: from the stone he exudes water with prayers, lifts up the dead, even rocks appear.
Oh, the Divine deeds of the five-suffering martyr! With his prayers save our souls, Christ, for he is benevolent.

To the Monk Sergius, hegumen of Radonezh.

Oh, sacred head, venerable and God-bearing our Father Sergius, by your prayer, and by faith and love, even to God, and by the purity of heart, even on earth to the monastery of the Most Holy Trinity your soul arranged, and the angelic fellowship and the Most Holy Theotokos were honored to visit, and I received miraculous grace, after your departure from the earthly, you came closer to God and joined the heavenly powers, but did not retreat from us with the spirit of your love, and your honest relics, like a vessel of grace full and overflowing, left us! Having great boldness towards the All-Merciful Ruler, pray to save His servants, who believe in His grace and flow to you with love. Ask us from our Great God every gift that is beneficial to everyone and to everyone: faith is blameless, our city is affirmed, peace is peace, deliverance from gladness and destruction, preservation from the invasion of aliens, consolation for the grieving, not afraid of healing, fallen exaltation, erring on the path of truth and salvation return, for those who strive for strengthening, those who do good in good deeds, prosperity and blessing, upbringing as a baby, instruction for young people, ignorant of understanding, for orphans and widows intercession, departing from this temporary life to eternal good preparation and parting words, those who have departed your blessed repose, and all On the day of the Last Judgment, grant a part of deliverance, the gums of the country are fellows of being and the blessed voice of the Lord Christ to hear: "Come, blessings of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the folding of the world." Amen.

Unmercenaries and wonderworkers Cosmas and Damian.

Oh, wonderworkers of glory, healer of gratitude, Cosmo and Damian! You, from the youth of Christ, loved God, not only an art of healing, but even more the inexhaustible grace of healing all ailments from God, you have taken it naturally. The same, you will soon hear us, before your honest icon falling down. Young children, teach your help in teaching by asking a book, with your prayers, but they will be zealous for your life, they will not acquire an earthly point, and even more in piety and righteous faith, they constantly ripen. On the bed of illness to those who are lying, helping the desperate in humanity, those who come to you warmly with faith and earnest prayer, grant healing of illnesses by your merciful miraculous visit: likewise from fierce ailments to despondency, cowardice and grumbling that came, given to you from God by the grace of patience and instruct, so that they may understand the will of God, holy and perfect, and the partakers will become God's saving grace. All those who zealously resort to you, safeguard them from fierce illnesses, and protect them from sudden death, and by your powerful intercession to God in the right of faith, keep firm, in piety, ripening, and together with you they will be honored in the future to sing and glorify the All-Holy and the magnificent Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

Saints Cosmas and Damian are also prayed for the health of the children.

Prayers for different occasions of family life.

Blessing for marriage, Prayers for the patronage of those entering into marriage, Prayers for the happiness of marriage, Prayers for advice and love between husband and wife, Prayers for any family and household needs, Prayers for childbearing infertility, Prayers if you want to have a male child, Prayers pregnant women for a safe resolution and the birth of healthy children, Prayers for the health of babies, Prayers for women who have aborted, Prayers for a lack of breast milk, Prayers of a father or mother for children, Prayers for raising children in Christian piety, Prayers for the development of the mind in children, Prayers before the start of training, Prayers for the well-being of children in society, Prayers for lost children, Prayers in grief for children where they are and whether they are alive, Prayers for sleep disturbances in babies, Prayers for spoiling children and for healing from the "darling", Prayers in diseases babies, Prayers for the protection of children, Prayers for chastity and a happy marriage of daughters, Prayers for salvation from violence, Prayers for women com of ailment, Prayers for the elimination of family troubles, Prayers for the intercession of widows and orphans and for help in need, Prayers for the well-being of the second marriage, Prayers for the quick return of a spouse from a distant absence, Prayers for help in everyday affairs, for God's blessing over the house.

Before starting the story about the first icon of the Mother of God "Adding Mind" written in Russia in the tradition of the Moscow school, it is worth talking about her ancient image, which at one time served as its prototype and inspired icon painters to write this list, which has become so revered in Orthodoxy, soon after creation showed miraculous properties. This is the world-famous Loreto icon of the Mother of God and a sculptural image of the Mother of God with the Child, located in the Italian city of Loreto, in the Holy House, which, as scientists have now absolutely reliably proved, was built from the stones of the Holy House, or the Holy Hut in Nazareth, where she was born, the Most Pure Virgin grew and received the Annunciation from the Archangel Gabriel, and then the Holy Family dwelt. The Holy House consisted of two parts: a rocky cave carved into the stone and a stone annex to it. The grotto is now part of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth as one of its main shrines.

The Holy House was revered by all the apostles and early Christians, they always entered it with a feeling of special spiritual trepidation, and, being within these walls, everyone experienced a special, inexplicable reverence that arises even now when visiting the Holy House in Loreto. During the early Christian period, it became one of the first Christian temples in Palestine. According to Tradition, in the same place the apostle and evangelist Luke wrote on the tabletop with the blessing of the Most Holy Theotokos Her first icon and carved a sculptural image of Her and the Infant from wood.

From the first quarter of the 7th century, almost the entire East fell under Islamic influence. Constantinople was taken, all the lands where Christianity had already spread - Persia, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, North Africa, southern Spain; Muslim warriors sought to subjugate the lands beyond the Pyrenees. Jerusalem fell after four months of siege, and Caliph Omar erected a mosque on the site of the destroyed temple of Solomon. The stay of Christians in Palestine, both residents and pilgrims, became life-threatening. The pilgrims who returned told about the sad fate of both Christians and shrines of the Holy Land.

Until the beginning of the 11th century, Christian indignation accumulated. In 989, Russia was baptized, but the sprouts of Christianity were still gaining strength here, when in the West the papal church was already fully formed, gained strength and militancy, and from 1096 the time of crusades against the Muslim East began. Until the end of the 13th century, this bloody confrontation lasted, and during this period the crusaders were able to take to the West many Christian shrines that survived during the Muslim rule. Since 1244, when the Ottoman Empire extended its power not only in the East, but also in the lands of southeastern Europe up to Italy and even threatened Rome, Jerusalem was lost to Christianity. But, thanks to the Crusades, many shrines of the faith were transported to Central and Western Europe, so that they would avoid desecration and final destruction. In May 1291, the Crusader troops were forced to leave Accra, Tire, Sidon, Beirut. Tradition says that the dismantled stone annex of the Holy House with an icon and a sculptural statue of the Mother of God and the Child wrapped in a felonie was one of the last shrines that they managed to take out. The Holy House was transported to Dalmatia, which was the region of Illyria, the historical territory of Croatia, which was annexed to the Roman Empire by Emperor Augustus in the 6th century. Whether the restoration of the Holy House was undertaken in Dalmatia - there is no exact historical information, but it is reliably known that in 1294 the stones from the walls of the Holy House, as well as the image of the Most Pure One, were delivered to the Italian port city of Ankopa, and then, approximately in the period from 1465 to 1472 years - in Loreto, where the complete reconstruction of the man-made part of the Holy Hut took place.

Over time, the history of the appearance of the Holy House in Ancona turned into a legend, and the inhabitants of the city already say that the Holy House came here by sea, because the Loretic Icon is considered in Catholicism to be the patroness of travelers by sea. The fact that the Holy House came on the waves is evidenced by the resident of Ancona Rinalduccio: he claimed that his great-great-grandfather personally saw and told that the Holy House arrived "on the waves of the sea, like a ship." But the last record found about the arrival of the Holy House says that it could have been even earlier - in 1440. Perhaps the emotional presentation of the event through the mouth of the ancestor of Senor Rinalduccio turned the journey of the Holy House through the waves on a ship into a journey like on a ship, since it happened at the behest of the angels who patronized Epirus - the Greek lands that adjoined Illyria along the northern border, the place where at first from The stones that formed the walls of the Holy House were delivered to Palestine. In Paris, in the National Museum of the Middle Ages and Thermes of Cluny, there is a 15th century miniature depicting the Holy House floating on the sea like a raft, and above it - the Angel of God, guarding it during the journey. The essence of the miniature reconciles the spiritual and material essence of the event: yes, the Holy House arrived by sea on a ship, but by God's will through the mediation and patronage of disembodied forces. In the same museum, there is another work on the same theme: a sculptural composition carved from wood dating back to the 15th century, The Legend of the Holy House in Loreto, in the center of which is a sculpture with angels carrying the Holy House in their arms.

The site for the reconstruction of the Holy House in Loreto was also not chosen by chance: even a century before its transfer, there was a church “St. Mary in the Laurel Grove” here. The building of the shrine was rebuilt according to the exact drawings that the Crusaders drew up before dismantling it at Nazareth. But the house did not have a foundation, it stood by the road, and residents feared that the building could collapse from resonance in the soil when passing nearby, which is why they decided to erect walls close to the House, which, however, quickly moved away from its walls. In the 15th - 16th centuries, the Holy Hut in Loreto was surrounded by a basilica that has survived to this day, and this place has become an object of worldwide population of Christians, and all the research of scientists in the 60s of the 20th century has absolutely proved that the Holy House in Loreto is in fact the same the extension of the cave in Nazareth during the time of the Savior's earthly life in all the parameters under study, such as: the technique of cutting stones and masonry, comparing the sizes of adjacent walls and the plane of their abutment, and so on. Here, in the altar under the arch behind the throne, is now the statue of the Mother of God with the Child, surrounded by angels, which became the prototype of the icon of the Mother of God "Adding the Mind". The current image is secondary. Scientists believe that the first was carved not by the Apostle Luke, but performed by the Umbrian-Makerjan master much later, in the XIII-XIV centuries. In 1921, the Holy House caught fire and the ancient statue burned down, but the sculptor Leopoldo Chelani carved a new one from Lebanese cedar wood after a model recreated by Enrico Quattrini. Wanting to give the statue an aged look, he blackened it, but the face turned out to be too dark. The very same statue of Our Lady is wrapped in a red Dalmatic, decorated with embroidered gold crosses, precious stones and pearl threads, Her head is crowned with a crown and surrounded by burning lamps - the Russian list repeats all the main details of the Loret shrine.

By the way, the Orthodox version of the icon "Adding Mind" is now in Loreto. These are the prints of our Russian list, and the pilgrims take with them small cardboard icons, under which it is written in Italian: “Our Lady of Lorets. Russian Icon of the 18th Century ”. And in Church Slavonic: "The Icon of the Blessed Mother of God, the Most Pure Virgin Mary, called the Key of Wisdom", thereby reminding us that there is another name for this image, called "The Key of Understanding", which has the same historical origin, but different iconographic image.

The history of the appearance of the image of the Mother of God "Adding the mind" in Russia

Since the 17th century, historians have often found in manuscript collections a text with the title: "The Story of the Temple of the Holy Mother of God, in which she was born from Joachim and Anna." This text is a list from a manuscript of the first half of the 16th century, which sets out the story of the Russian ambassadors Dmitry Gerasimov and Eremey Trusov about their visits to Rome and Loreto. Tsar Vasily Ioannovich sent them to Pope Clement VII to strengthen ties, which by that time were already quite close thanks to the marriage of his parents - John III and his second wife Sophia Palaeologus. Sophia's father, Thomas Palaeologus, a Byzantine, was the despot of Morea, that was the name of the modern Peloponnese peninsula, mother, Catherine Dzakkaria came from an ancient Genoese family.

The manuscript was kept in the library of the Moscow Theological Academy, judging by the postscript at the end, it was up to date with the events described in it. The postscript was dated 1528 from the birth of Christ according to modern chronology and read: “In the summer of 7036. June came to Moscow the envoy of the Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich from Pope Clement the fourth, Eremiy Trusov and his comrades, who saw this holy church from Rome 300 miles and to us I have reported this scripture. "

The Western Church was very interested in joining the Russian Church to the Catholic Church as part of the Florentine Union, about which a document has been preserved - a letter from Pope Leo X to Vasily Ioannovich from 1519. Later, Clement VII began a correspondence with Basil III, offering him friendly and allied relations. Clement received the Russian envoys and invited them to visit the Holy House in Loreto. This proposal was dictated not only and not so much by spiritual motives as by political ones - the presence of common Christian shrines, many of which were removed from the Christian lands of Palestine, should have contributed to the efforts of the Orthodox Church to join the Catholic Union. The envoys returned, brought with them a "Tale ..." with a detailed description of both the Holy House and the statue of Our Lady of Loret, but the consequences that Pope Clement could expect did not happen. On the contrary, by the will of God, in a miraculous way, the testimony of the Loret icon was transformed in Russia into its amazing, completely Russian, although somewhat unconventional, image, written in the Moscow school of icon painting.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian ethnographer and archaeographer A.A. Titov presented in one of his works the story of the rector of the Romanovsky Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Cross, Archpriest Vladimir Miroslavsky about the history of the birth of the image "Adding the mind".

Somewhere immediately after the events related to the innovations in the church-ritual and other life of Orthodoxy in Russia by Patriarch Nikon, there lived in Moscow a very pious parishioner, an icon painter who read many church books published under Patriarch Joseph, and then the same, but corrected Patriarch Nikon. He read them all and began to think, following which of them is more pleasing to God in order to save his soul. He thought so long and hard that he eventually went mad. In moments when his mind returned to him for a while, he prayed to the Mother of God for his complete admonition and an end to the torments of madness. He prayed so fervently that the Mother of God appeared to him in a vision with the Infant Jesus Christ, both of them were wrapped in a felonne with crosses embroidered on it, the Seraphim and angels hovered over them with lamps in their hands, and at their feet lay Jerusalem, his image in Vyshnikh. The Mother of God told him to write Her Most Pure Image as She appeared to him in a vision. The icon painter began work, but he could work only in moments of enlightenment of the mind, the vision was so short that he quickly forgot it, then he again prayed that the Lord would help him to restore Her image. So painfully, but with love, he painted this image, and as soon as he finished it, his mind returned to him. Since then, the image has been called "Mind Addition", or "Mind Giver".

The mentally ill, who were in a nervous breakdown, began to flock to this icon, and many received healing - so the old-timers say. But most of all, children who had difficulties in learning received healing and help, and the icon painter turned out to be a joyful, bright icon, giving hope for salvation from the darkness of both spiritual and mental madness.

The meaning of the icon

On the "Adding Mind" icon, the Heads of the Mother and the Son are crowned with crowns, the Infant with his right hand blesses those who stand before the icon. In His left is the power - the symbol of the Kingdom. Above Them, against the background of the starry sky, there are three Seraphim, around them are angels with candle-lamps, at their feet are Cherubims, and below the High Image of Jerusalem.

Of course, both the crown on the head and the scarlet felonne, embroidered with crosses, like the Loret dalmatic - all these attributes are characteristic of Western icon painting, but, passed through the heart of the Russian icon painter, the master of the Moscow school, it turned out to be a completely native, Russian image of the Mother of God, holding her Light of Truth, Sun of Truth.

Yes, they turn to this image for help when there are problems with clarity of thought, in poor mind and loss of reason and memory, but if we are consistent and reason like those who want to save the soul first of all for God, then should we turn to her with a prayer for loved ones, for those who, according to ordinary concepts, are not insane. It seems that their reason is in order, and their intellect is at their best, and everything works out in material life, but the soul is far from God and moreover, they themselves do not want to take into account that it is the soul, not the mind, that is the greatest jewel. No matter how clear the mind, firm - memory, a soul without God, without the Light of Truth - wanders in the dark and risks wandering where there is no return.

Why did the icon painter see this particular image, how did he learn about it? More down-to-earth researchers believe that among the manuscripts and books that the icon painter read, there was a "Tale ..." about the Holy House in Loreto. He read it, and a detailed description of the statue of the Loret Mother of God was imprinted in his subconscious, later embodied in a vision, therefore he saw the Mother of God as he later depicted. But you can never deny the Divine essence of what is happening when it comes to a shrine. Let the doubters reason so. We will allow ourselves another explanation - the Most Pure One wanted this very image to be in Orthodox icon painting, as an equilibrium to the Catholic Loretsky, an image that belongs entirely to Russia, embodied from the heart of an Orthodox icon painter. And we see that even all Western borrowings - the crown, the starry sky, the unusual image of the preparatory one still bear the imprint of our Orthodox Russia: they are folk, and they have the solemnity and grandeur and drama of the Russian icon. And turning to this beautiful image, everyone will find what to ask the Mother of God in front of him - a clear state of mind, bright piety of the soul, so that she does not get bogged down in the follies of this world, but follows the Truth that illuminates her path in the twilight of earthly existence.