28. october 2016
Icon of the type Orant – the one who is praying – is venerated as miraculous in Russia. It depicts the Virgin Mary with her arms up in the position of a prayer. The medallion on her chest shows Christ - Emmanuel, who, with his right hand, is blessing the mankind and in his left hand usually holds the scroll of the Scriptures.
The icon is called the Sign. To message a sign indicates that it considers the person as capable of understanding and making decisions. It is beautiful to know that God deems us worthy of this honour. When He created us to be a reflection of his own image his desire was to elevate a man with whom he could subsequently have a relationship in the full sense of the word. God does not love us as an endless stream of people, but as individuals whose names he inscribed in his palm. The Signs he gave us during the whole history of salvation, indicate how precious we are in his eyes.
The promise he gave through the prophet Isaiah to his people, became the theme for the iconographic representation of one of the most venerated icons of Russia, The Icon of the Mother of God – The Sign. Oldest representation of this icon comes from the third century and can be found in the form of Orant (the woman who is praying) in Roman catacombs. Uplifted hands reveal the way the first Christians used to worship. This way the specific Early-Christian pose in the prayer became standardized - standing with the arms close to the body, with elbows bent and palms facing forwards, as it can be observed in the position of Mother of God.
Emmanuel was located into the medallion in the Orant iconography at around the ninth century. Orant with a baby in the medallion is not a historical depiction of the mother with her son, but Virgin the Sign, who, according to Isaiah's prophecy, announces that times of salvation came.
Prayer tradition: Prayers are pronounced for the abortion of catastrophes and horrors, for the protection from hostile attacks and fires, for the protection against thieves and violent man, for the return of people who are missing, for the protection against sea dangers, for the reconciliation of sides fighting in fratricidal struggles. Christians also use to deliver gratitude in front of this particular icon for all the goodness Mother of God interceded with her Son.