Wooden Icon of Praise of the
Mother of God Virgin Mary the Theotokos
On Saturday, the fifth week of Great Lent, the Holy Church solemnly proclaims the prayer singing of the akathist, or thanksgiving praise to the Most Holy Theotokos.
This holiday was established in the 9th century for the repeated deliverance of Constantinople with the help and intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos from the invasion of enemies. Under Emperor Heraclius, when Patriarch Sergius, carrying in his arms the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos along the city walls, begged the Lord for protection from the Persian and Scythian troops besieging Constantinople, then the people sought protection in the churches of God, day and night begging the Zealous Intercessor to save their city.
Her icon, painted by the holy evangelist Luke, was kept in the Blachernae Church. On the night when the combined forces of the Hagarians and Persians moved towards the city from sea and land, a terrible storm suddenly arose, which scattered and sank the ships of the attackers. The remaining enemies fled in shame. Then, all that night, the grateful people who were in the Blachernae church proclaimed a victorious, all-night song to the Defender of the city: “To the chosen Voivode, victorious, as if we had gotten rid of the evil ones, let us sing thanksgiving to Thy servants, the Mother of God!” And from that time, in remembrance of such a great miracle, the Orthodox Church established the Feast of the Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos.
At first, the feast of the Akathist was celebrated in Constantinople in the Blachernae Church, where the miraculous icon of the Mother of God and the sacred objects of Her earthly life - Her robe and belt - were kept. But later the holiday was included in the typikons (statutes) of the monasteries of St. Sava of Studium and then in the church liturgical books, and from that time on it became common to the entire Eastern Church.
The icon is made by printing on a wooden board. Paints are mineral, do not fade with time. The thickness of the board is 2 cm. The board is covered with primer by hand. The image is covered with wax. Each icon has a metal mount on the back side so that you can hang the icon on the wall. The surface of the icon is smooth.
