Icon of the Savior of the Holy Face - saving ancient relic
In the northeast of present-day Syria, between the riversTigris and Euphrates, from 137 BC to 242 AD, there was a small state of Osroena, which was the first to declare Christianity the official state religion. Here, for the first time, the icon of the Savior of the Holy Face is mentioned.
Legend of the icon
According to numerous legends, the King of OsunaAvgar V, whose residence was in the capital of the state of Edessa, fell ill with an incurable disease - black leprosy. In a dream, he was revealed that only the face of the Savior would help him. The court painter, sent to Christ, could not capture his image because of the divine effulgence coming from Jesus, who, having met the king's pleas, himself washed his face with water and wiped himself with a towel (board). On it remained a bright image, called "Ubrus", or Mandylion, or the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands. That is, in the classical version, it is the face of Christ, executed on a canvas, along the edges of which the canvas is let out, and the upper ends are knotted.
After the miraculous healing of Avgar, mention ofthis icon is missing until the year 545, when Edessa was captured by Persian troops. As often happens, providence comes to the aid in a difficult moment. In the nave above the gates of the city were found not only the perfectly preserved icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, but also its imprint on the ceramic wall of the vault, or Ceramidion. The blockade of the city was filmed in the most wonderful way.
Features of the icon
This miraculous image in both its manifestations(executed both on canvas and on ceramics) has a number of features and customs associated with it. So, it is recommended to the beginning icon painters as their first independent work.
Icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands - the only image,on which the halo around the head of Jesus has the form of a regular closed circle with the cross inside. All these details, like the color of the Savior's hair, the general background of the icon (on the most ancient icons the background has always remained pure), bear their own semantic load.
There are opinions that the portrait, created without a brush and paints, which is, in its essence, the icon "The Savior Not Made by Hands", is a photo of Christ, which captures his face.
In Orthodoxy this icon is always, from the moment of bringingher list from Constantinople in 1355, played a special role. Although the most ancient icons of this species appeared in Russia in the XI century, only from the second half of the XIV century everything connected with the "Savior Not Made by Hands" is positioned at the level of the state cult and is introduced everywhere. Under it are built temples, this face is depicted on the banners of Russian troops in the most decisive for the country battles - from Kulikovskaya to the battles of the First World War. The word "banner" is replaced gradually with the word "banner" (from the "sign"). Khorugvi with the image of the "Savior of the Holy Face" became an integral part of the victories of Russian weapons.
Icon "The Savior Not Made by Hands" today
"Holy Face" - an icon, the value of which can not be overestimated. It is perceived as one of the main symbols of Orthodoxy, on semantic value is equal to the cross and the crucifixion.
In recent years, which are sometimes faircalled the Second Baptism of Russia, built an unprecedented number of churches, monasteries and churches. In Sochi, the Temple of the Savior Not Made by Hands was erected and consecrated on January 5, 2014, at the opening of the Olympics in record time.
