Reinforcement
Transfer of the Miraculous Image of the Lord Jesus Christ (Nut Savior). Transfer of the Image of Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands or the Third (Nut) Savior

Transfer of the Miraculous Image of the Lord Jesus Christ (Nut Savior). Transfer of the Image of Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands or the Third (Nut) Savior

Transfer from Edessa to Constantinople Miraculous Image Our Lord Jesus Christ was born in 944. Tradition testifies that at the time of the Savior’s preaching in the Syrian city of Edessa, Abgar ruled. He was stricken all over with leprosy. The rumor about the great miracles performed by the Lord spread throughout Syria (Matthew 4:24) and reached Abgar. Not seeing the Savior, Abgar believed in Him as the Son of God and wrote a letter asking him to come and heal him. With this letter, he sent his painter Ananias to Palestine, instructing him to paint an image of the Divine Teacher. Ananias came to Jerusalem and saw the Lord surrounded by people. He could not approach Him because of the large crowd of people listening to the Savior’s sermon. Then he stood on a high stone and tried to paint the image of the Lord Jesus Christ from afar, but he never succeeded. The Savior Himself called him, called him by name and conveyed a short letter to Abgar, in which, having pleased the faith of the ruler, he promised to send His disciple for healing from leprosy and guidance to salvation. Then the Lord asked to bring water and ubrus (canvas, towel). He washed his face, wiped it with rubbish, and His Divine Face was imprinted on it. Ananias brought the ubrus and the letter of the Savior to Edessa. Abgar accepted the shrine with reverence and received healing; only a small part of the traces of the terrible illness remained on his face until the arrival of the disciple promised by the Lord. He was the apostle of the 70, Saint Thaddeus (August 21), who preached the Gospel and baptized Abgar, who believed, and all the inhabitants of Edessa. Having written on the Icon Not Made by Hands the words “Christ God, whoever trusts in You will not be ashamed,” Abgar decorated it and installed it in a niche above the city gates. For many years, residents maintained the pious custom of worshiping the Image Not Made by Hands when they passed through the gate. But one of the great-grandsons of Abgar, who ruled Edessa, fell into idolatry. He decided to remove the Image from the city wall. The Lord commanded the Bishop of Edessa in a vision to hide His image. The bishop, coming at night with his clergy, lit a lamp in front of him and covered him with a clay board and bricks. Many years passed, and the residents forgot about the shrine. But when in 545 the Persian king Khosroes I besieged Edessa and the city’s position seemed hopeless, she appeared to Bishop Eulavius Holy Mother of God and ordered to get from the walled niche the Image that would save the city from the enemy. Having dismantled the niche, the bishop found the Image Not Made by Hands: a lamp was burning in front of him, and on the clay board that covered the niche was a similar image. After a religious procession with the Image Not Made by Hands along the city walls, the Persian army retreated. In 630, the Arabs took possession of Edessa, but they did not interfere with the worship of the Image Not Made by Hands, the fame of which spread throughout the East. In 944, Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (912–959) wished to transfer the Image to the then capital of Orthodoxy and bought it from the emir, the ruler of the city. With great honors, the Miraculous Image of the Savior and the letter that He wrote to Abgar were transferred by the clergy to Constantinople. On August 16, the Image of the Savior was placed in the Faros Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There are several legends about the subsequent fate of the Image Not Made by Hands. According to one, it was kidnapped by the crusaders during their rule in Constantinople (1204–1261), but the ship on which the shrine was taken sank in the Sea of Marmara. According to other legends, the Image Not Made by Hands was transferred around 1362 to Genoa, where it is kept in a monastery in honor of the Apostle Bartholomew. It is known that the Miraculous Image repeatedly gave exact imprints of itself. One of them, the so-called. “on ceramics”, imprinted when Ananias hid the image near the wall on the way to Edessa; the other, imprinted on the cloak, ended up in Georgia. It is possible that the difference in legends about the original Image Not Made by Hands is based on the existence of several exact imprints.

During the time of the iconoclastic heresy, defenders of icon veneration, shedding blood for holy icons, sang a troparion to the Image Not Made by Hands. As proof of the truth of icon veneration, Pope Gregory II (715–731) sent a letter to the Eastern emperor, in which he pointed out the healing of King Abgar and the presence of the Icon Not Made by Hands in Edessa as a well-known fact. The Miraculous Image was placed on the banners of the Russian troops, protecting them from enemies. In Russian Orthodox Church There is a pious custom, when a believer enters a church, to read, along with other prayers, the troparion to the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands.

According to the Prologues, 4 Images of the Savior Not Made by Hands are known: 1) in Edessa, King Abgar - August 16; 2) Kamulian; its discovery was described by Saint Gregory of Nyssa (January 10); according to the legend of the Monk Nicodemus the Holy Mountain († 1809; commemorated July 1), the Kamulian image appeared in 392, but he meant the image of the Mother of God - on August 9; 3) under Emperor Tiberius (578–582), from whom Saint Mary of Synclitia received healing (August 11); 4) on ceramics - August 16.

The celebration in honor of the transfer of the Image Not Made by Hands, held on the feast of the Dormition, is called the third Savior, “Savior on canvas.” Special veneration of this holiday in the Russian Orthodox Church was expressed in icon painting; The icon of the Image Not Made by Hands is one of the most common.

Prayers

Akathist to the Image of Our Lord Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands

Kontakion 1

We worship Your Most Pure Image, O Good One, asking for forgiveness of our sins, O Christ God, by the will of You you deigned to ascend in the flesh to the Cross, so that You may deliver what You have created from the work of the enemy, so we cry out to You with hope:

Lord God, my Savior, come to me, who is dying, and heal my incurable illnesses.

Ikos 1

“Jesus, my Savior,” Abgar, the prince of Edessa humbly prayed, “come to me and heal my incurable illnesses, in which I have suffered for many years.” Imitating him, I, stricken with sinful leprosy, cried out to my mother in prayer:

My Lord, Lord, have mercy on me according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse my iniquity. Lord my Savior, with the dew of Your mercy wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Lord, turn Your face away from my sins and cleanse all my iniquities. Lord, create a pure heart in me and renew a right spirit in my womb. Lord, do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Kontakion 2

Seeing the love and faith of Abgar of Edessa, Lord, You wrote to him: “Blessed are you Abgar, who has not seen Me and believes in Me. I will send My disciple and he will heal you and give eternal life to you and those who are with you.” Send, O Lord, Thy mercy to me also who cry: Alleluia.

Ikos 2

The mind does not comprehend the mystery, as the Lord, by applying a veil to His Divine face, depicted His likeness on it, sending it to Abgar, fulfilling his desire. Be filled with this great joy by bowing to the image of Christ. Today we worship Him with reverence, calling with prayer and faith:

My Lord, Lord, open my mouth, and my mouth will proclaim Your praise, my Lord, Lord, restore to me the joy of salvation and strengthen me with the Lord’s Spirit. Lord, I have sinned against You alone and done evil before You; by Your mercy, have mercy on me. My Lord, my Lord, my Savior, look upon the sorrow of my soul and hasten to help me. My Lord, Lord, hear me and deliver me from all sorrows.

Lord God, my Savior, come to me, who is perishing, and heal my incurable illnesses.

Kontakion 3

Abgar, filled with the power of love and joy, bowed to the Not Made by Hands image of the Savior of the world and, having received healing of his illnesses, cried out with faith, “Christ our God, everyone who trusts in You will not be ashamed.” This teaches us to always trust in the mercies of the Lord and sing to Him: Alleluia!

Ikos 3

Having love for the fallen human race, You, Christ God, through one of Your disciples, called out to Abgar from the darkness of sin and enlightened his soul with the light of Your truth. Call me also from the depths of sin, and I will cry out to You with tears:

My Lord, Lord, grant me tears of tenderness, and with them I beg You to cleanse all my sins before the end. Lord, enlighten my soul with the light of Your Divine knowledge, and lead me, by Your mercy, into Your Kingdom. My Lord, Lord, my enlightenment and my Savior, I have come to You, teach me to do Your will. My Lord, my Lord, my God, enlighten my heart, and drive away the temptation of the evil one from it, and guide me on the path of salvation. My Lord, Lord, do not reject my prayer and hear me. With Your Grace, strengthen my heart with Your fear.

Lord God, my Savior, come to me, who is perishing, and heal my incurable illnesses.

Kontakion 4

The storm of passions and worries of everyday life drowns me, and my heart, gripped by the horror of death, cries out to Ty: Lord, there is no one who helps me on earth, save me, like Abgar of old, and grant me to sing with him: Alleluia.

Ikos 4

Hearing that the Jews hate You and want to do something evil to You, Lord, Abgar writes: “I pray: come to me and dwell with me.” Imitating that love, and having risen from the depths of my fall, I boldly pray to Thee, O Christ God, here:

Lord my God, enter into the house of my soul and remain inseparable from me, a sinner. Lord, God of my heart, come and unite me with You forever. My Lord, Lord, my soul has clinged to You, come and fill my heart with joy.

Lord God, my Savior, come to me, who is perishing, and heal my incurable illnesses.

Kontakion 5

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord - the Jewish children sang of old when they met the Lord in Jerusalem. Today, we, opening the doors of our hearts to the Savior coming to us, call with tenderness: Alleluia.

Ikos 5

You have spoken wondrous words, O Lord, to all who are perishing: “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid; believe in God, believe in Me, and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” But, thinking about my own iniquity, I pray to You, O Good One, strengthen my heart and enlighten my mind, which cries out to You:

My Lord, Lord, look upon me and enlighten my eyes, so that I may not sleep into death. My Lord, Lord, guide of Israel from the land of Pharaoh, guide me in Thy way, that I may walk in Thy truth. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, I believe in You, help my unbelief. My Lord, Lord, do not rebuke me with Your wrath, and do not depart from me for my iniquities.

Lord God, my Savior, come to me who is perishing and heal my incurable illnesses

Kontakion 6

Look with my eyes at Your image, Lord, I do not dare, cursed by my evil deeds, but like a publican, groaning, I cry to You: God, cleanse me, a sinner, from the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and teach me to sing with a pure heart of Your mercy: Alleluia.

Ikos 6

Thy comforting word, O my Savior, rises up in my sorrow: “I will not leave you, orphans, I will come to you.” For this reason, I, having escaped the darkness of despair, with hope in Your love for mankind, came running to You, praying:

My Lord, Lord, my refuge in trouble and sorrow, do not leave me alone. My Lord, Lord, sinless, imputed with the wicked, rescue me from the hands of those who hate me. My Lord, Lord, save me from the desecration of visible and invisible enemies. My Lord, Lord, forgive me and accept me, like the prodigal of old, into Your arms.

Lord God, my Savior, come to me, who is perishing, and heal my incurable illnesses.

Kontakion 7

Thou hast shown Thy wondrous works, O Lord, in Thy most pure image and wonder Thou hast granted consolation to all earth-born, teaching them in the sorrowful circumstances of life to resort to Thy mercy and to sing to Thee with love: Alleluia.

Ikos 7

The entire body of the temple is desecrated, many of the cruel things I have done, I tremble at the terrible Day of Judgment and pray: open the doors of repentance to me, O Life-Giver, and like David I cry out to Thee:

My Lord, Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my prayer and have mercy on me. Lord my God, I am Yours, give me understanding and my soul will live. Lord my God, my shepherd, I have gone astray, like a lost sheep, seek your servant and save me. My Lord, Lord, have mercy on me, heal my soul for those who have sinned against You.

Lord God, my Savior, come to me, who is perishing, and heal my incurable illnesses.

Kontakion 8

On the terrible day of Your coming, I am terrified, O Christ, and I tremble, for I have many sins, but You, Merciful God, before the end, convert me, singing to You: Alleluia.

Ikos 8

You were all love for fallen people, O Jesus, and you gave them Your Holy Image, clearly speaking to all who are in sorrow and sorrow: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” For this reason, the one who is perishing, with boldness I pray to Thee, O Christ, saying:

My Lord, my Lord, my guardian, save me from the enemies who attack me. My Lord, Lord, who lives on high and looks down on the humble, look down on me, a sinner, and be my joy. My Lord, Lord, save me, drowning in the abyss of everyday temptations. My Lord, Lord, let not my heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid in confessing Your name. My Lord, Lord, receive me as a publican, as you have mercy on the Canaanites, have mercy on me according to Your mercy.

Lord God, my Savior, come to me, who is perishing, and heal my incurable illnesses.

Kontakion 9

All pagans, come, with love and reverence let us worship the most pure image of the Savior of the world, who delivered us from the work of the enemy and cry out in gratitude to Him, the Conqueror of death and hell: Alleluia.

Ikos 9

All struck by sinful leprosy, I am perplexed as to what is worthy to magnify Thee, O most merciful Master, but with the faith of my heart I confess Thee, the true Son of God, I humbly stand before the image of Thy Saint, praying:

Lord Jesus, my Joy, grant that I may rejoice in Your mercy. Lord, my Most Blessed Savior, save Your servant from unbelief and lawlessness. My Lord, Lord, Unspeakable Mercy, by Your grace consume the anger in my heart. My Lord, Lord, indescribable purity, give me purity of heart and mind. My Lord, Lord, clothe yourself with light like a robe, sanctify me, darkened by the sorrows of life.

Lord God, my Savior, come to me, who is perishing, and heal my incurable illnesses.

Kontakion 10

My Lord, Lord, merciful to my Savior, raise up my soul, weakened by cold deeds, by Your Divine mercy, like the weakened one of old at the sheep’s font, and guide me on the path of salvation, so that we sing: Alleluia.

Ikos 10

Eternal King, Comforter, True Christ, cleanse me from all filth, as you cleansed the ten lepers, and heal me, as you healed the money-loving soul of Zacchaeus the tax collector, so that I may sing to You, saying:

My Lord, Lord, you who have received our illnesses and suffered illnesses, heal the illnesses of my heart. My Lord, Lord Jesus, my Helper, help me, as my soul faints from this sorrow. My Lord, Lord, who gave eyes to the blind to see, give me an eye that I may see Your meekness and patience. Lord, long-suffering, deliver my soul from the wicked and save me for the sake of Thy mercy.

Lord God, my Savior, come to me, who is perishing, and heal my incurable illnesses.

Kontakion 11

Bringing all-conciliatory singing to You, and praying with a contrite heart, do not despise me, O Most Blessed Master! Turn away Thy face from my sins! But do not turn Your face away from the servant who sings to You: Alleluia.

Ikos 11

O true Light Christ, who enlightens and sanctifies every person coming into the world, look upon me, Thy sinful and indecent servant, and correct my life according to Thy commandments, and sanctify my soul, that I may offer Thy prayer to thee:

Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Light of the world, shine Your light on me. My Lord, Lord, You are the source of life, grant my soul imperishable life and confirm me in Your commandments. Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Sun of righteousness, with Your righteousness warm my soul and illuminate my mind. My Lord, Lord, You are my mentor, teach me to do Your will and love You with all my heart. My Lord, Lord, You have opened the eyes of the blind, open the doors of repentance for me and, as you are generous, cleanse all my sins.

Lord God, my Savior, come to me, who is perishing, and heal my incurable illnesses.

Kontakion 12

By Your omnipotent grace, confirm my heart in faith, hope and love, grant me through repentance and unflagging fulfillment of Your commandments to reach the Kingdom of Heaven, where with the faces of the apostles I will sing to You: Alleluia.

Ikos 12

You, Good Shepherd, proclaimed to everyone in sorrow and sorrow: “My friends, I am going to My Father and your Father to prepare a place for you, but I will come again and take you to Myself, if you keep My commandments.” Hearing this reverently, I dare and, immersed in fierce sorrow, come to You, praying:

My Lord, Lord, merciful to my Savior, save me who am perishing. My Lord, Lord, drive away from me the clouds of unbelief, evil and enmity, and by Your Good Spirit guide me on the path of righteousness. My Lord, Lord, consolation of my soul, comfort me from the sorrows of existence. Lord my God, for the sake of Your name, revive me and through Your righteousness bring my soul out of sorrow. Lord, Most Mighty King, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.

Lord God, my Savior, come to me, who is perishing, and heal my incurable illnesses.

Kontakion 13

Oh, Most Merciful and Most Good Lord God, my Savior, who came into the world to save fallen man, do not disdain me more than all the sinners and do not turn Your face away from me, but look at the fierce sorrow and sadness of my soul, heal and confirm in the light of truth and love, let us sing to You: Alleluia!

Oh, my Most Merciful Savior, who came into the world to save fallen man, seek me who am perishing and with Your grace sanctify my soul, cleanse my body and straighten my life according to Your commandments, so that I may sing to You with a pure heart: Alleluia.

Oh, My Most Merciful Savior, look upon Thy servant, drowning in the sea of everyday temptations and troubles, and, like Peter of old, drowning, save by Thy grace, sanctify the soul and establish it on the path of Thy commandments, so that with a pure heart and lips I cry out to Thee with love: Alleluia.

(This kontakion is read three times. Then the 1st ikos and 1st kontakion are read)

Prayer

Oh, Most Blessed Lord Jesus Christ, our God, You are more ancient than Your human nature, having washed off Your face with holy water and wiped it with a rubbish, so You miraculously depicted it on the same curb and You deigned to send it to the Prince of Edessa Abgar to heal him from an illness. Behold, now we, Thy sinful servants, possessed by our mental and physical ailments, seek Thy face, O Lord, and with David in the humility of our souls we call: do not turn away Thy face, O Lord, from us, and do not turn aside in anger from Thy servants, O helper to us. wake up, do not reject us and do not leave us. Oh, All-Merciful Lord, our Savior, portray Yourself in our souls, so that living in holiness and truth, we will be Your sons and heirs of Your Kingdom, and so we will not cease to glorify You, our Most Merciful God, together with Your Beginning Father and the Most Holy Spirit. forever and ever. Amen.

Z Hello, dear visitors of the Orthodox website “Family and Faith”!

29 August The Holy Church celebrates the feast of the transfer of the Image of Our Lord Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands!

Among the people, this holiday has remarkable names - the Third Savior and the Nut Savior.

The third Savior because this holiday is already the third in the month of August, which is dedicated to the Savior. Nut, because on this day, after the Liturgy, nuts are blessed.

The history of this amazing image is replete with miracles!

Below we present a festive sermon by the rector of the St. Elias Church in the city of Vyborg - Archpriest Igor Aksenov.

"N and the day after the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Orthodox Church in its liturgical calendar festively remembers the actual historical event of the transfer from Edessa to Constantinople of the Miraculous Image of the Lord Jesus Christ. The celebration in honor of the transfer of the Image Not Made by Hands, celebrated on the feast day of the Dormition, is also called the Third Savior. This name for this holiday was established among the church people due to the three successive holidays in the month of August dedicated to our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

On the first day of the Dormition Lent, August 14 according to the new style, the Church celebrates the Feast of the All-Merciful Savior and the Most Holy Theotokos, which was established on the occasion of the signs from the icons of the Savior, the Most Holy Theotokos and the Precious Cross during the battles of the holy noble prince Andrei Bogolyubsky with the Volga Bulgars in 1164. This is the first of three holidays to the All-Merciful Savior, celebrated in August.

In the Russian Church, the holiday of the All-Merciful Savior and the Most Holy Theotokos, or, so called among the church people, the First Savior, was combined with the commemoration of the Baptism of Rus' in 988. The day of the Baptism of Rus' is mentioned in chronographs of the 16th century: “The Great Prince Vladimir of Kiev and all Rus' was baptized on August 1,” i.e. August 14, new style.
According to the liturgical rite now accepted in the Russian Orthodox Church, on this day, August 14, a small consecration of water is always performed. Along with the consecration of water, the consecration of honey from the new collection is also carried out, which is why the First Savior is sometimes also called the “Honey Savior”, and because of the remembrance on this day of the Baptism of Rus', it is sometimes also called the “Savior on the Water” or “Wet Savior”.

The Second Savior is one of the twelfth holidays of the Russian Orthodox Church - the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, which is celebrated with special solemnity on August 19 according to the new style. On this holiday, the Church blesses grapes and other fruits of the new harvest. Since in our latitudes such fruits are mainly apples, among the church people the Second Savior is often called the “Apple Savior”.
The Third Savior, as already mentioned, is the feast of the Transfer from Edessa to Constantinople of the Image of the Lord Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands, which is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on the day after the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 29, according to the new style. This holiday is also sometimes called “Savior on the Ubrus”.

All these three holidays of the All-Merciful Savior, as it were, bind together the temporary fabric of the special, judgment days of the Dormition Fast, which for each of us ends another church year of our “growth in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18 ) .

The historical basis of the third holiday of the All-Merciful Savior was the event of the transfer from Edessa to Constantinople of the Image Not Made by Hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, which took place in 944. The history of the Image Not Made by Hands of our Savior is inextricably linked with the personality of King Abgar, who went down in history as the first king to convert to Christianity. Since ancient times, the Armenian Apostolic Church included him in its calendar under the name of St. King Abgar and reports the following information about him:

“The name of Abgara became widely known in the 4th century, when the “father of church history” Eusebius Pamphilus discovered a Syriac translation of the king’s correspondence with Jesus Christ in the Edessa archives. The document was kept in the library of Constantinople until the capture of the city by the Turks in 1453. With later additions, it appears in the Syriac manuscript “Doctrina Addaei” and Greek editions.

Abgar ruled the Osroene kingdom on the territory of Armenian Mesopotamia. For seven years this wise and pious ruler, as the author of “Jewish Antiquities” Josephus Flavius (1st century) imagines him, suffered from leprosy and doctors could not help him. Having heard about the miracles and healings performed by Jesus Christ, about the persecution against Him, Abgar sent a messenger to the Savior with the message:
“Your miracles and wondrous healings reached my ears without any medical aid. There is a rumor that the blind see; the lame and the maimed walk according to Your word; lepers are cleansed; that You cast out demons and evil spirits; that you restore health to the incurably ill and that you call the dead to life. Being animated by this hearing, I believe that You are the Son of God, performing these miracles. That is why I dared to forward this message to You and beg You to kindly visit me and heal me from a painful illness. I also heard that the Jews are persecuting You, grumbling about Your miracles and threatening You with destruction. I have a city here, although not extensive, but calm. Within its walls you will meet all your abundant needs.”

The Savior’s verbal response was recorded by the Apostle Thomas and handed to the royal messenger:
“Blessed is he who believes in Me without seeing Me. For it is written about Me that those who see Me will not believe, so that those who have not seen may believe and find eternal life. First, I must complete the work for which I was sent. And when I ascend to Him who sent Me, I will send My apostle to you, may he heal you from your illness and may he bring life to you and yours.”

Fulfilling the royal will, the messengers asked Jesus for His portrait (image). The Lord washed his face, put a white cloth on it and handed it to the amazed messengers: his facial features were clearly imprinted on the cloth! Copies were copied from this miraculous image - the so-called Abgaran images, which found distribution in the Christian world.

Arriving in Edessa, Apostle Thaddeus baptized King Abgar and healed him with the laying on of hands and prayer. Thanks to this, many Edessites were baptized after the king, believing in Christ, in whose name the messenger of the Savior performed miracles,” - such information about the Image Miraculous and King Abgar is contained in the Tradition of the Armenian Apostolic Church (quoted from: Armen Meruzhanyan. Saints of the Armenian Church. St. Petersburg , 2001, pp. 9-11).

Other sources of church tradition name the name of the painter sent by King Abgar with his letter to the Savior - Ananias, and report that when Ananias came to Jerusalem and saw the Lord surrounded by people, he could not approach Him because of the large crowd of people listening to the Savior's sermon . Then he stood on a high stone and tried from afar to paint the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, but he could not succeed. Seeing Ananias on the stone, the Savior Himself called him over, calling him by name, and asked those around Him to bring water and a linen cloth (ubrus in Slavic), which was usually used to wipe off the water after washing. Then, He washed his face and applied this towel to it, i.e. ubrus, and His Divine Face was miraculously imprinted on it.
Ananias brought this Miraculous Image of the Face of the Lord and the Savior’s response letter to Abgar to Edessa. After accepting the Holy Image, the king received almost complete healing from leprosy - only a small part of the traces of this disease remained on his face until the arrival of His disciple, promised by the Lord in a letter, to heal Abgar from leprosy. He was the Apostle of the Seventy Thaddeus, who baptized Abgar and other inhabitants of Edessa who believed in the Christ he preached.
Having written on the Icon Not Made by Hands the words “Christ God, whoever trusts in You will not be ashamed,” Abgar decorated it and installed it in a niche above the city gates. For many years, residents maintained the pious custom of worshiping the Image Not Made by Hands when they passed through the gate. But one of the great-grandsons of Abgar, who ruled Edessa, fell into idolatry and decided to remove the Image Not Made by Hands from the city wall. The Lord, anticipating his evil intention, commanded in a vision the Bishop of Edessa to hide His Image Not Made by Hands in the city wall. The saint, having come at night with some of his clergy, lit a lamp in front of the Image Not Made by Hands and filled the niche in the wall where the Image was located with a clay board and bricks.

Years passed and the residents forgot about the shrine. But, when in 545 the Persian king Khosroes I besieged Edessa, and the city’s position seemed hopeless, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to Bishop Eulavius and ordered him to remove from the walled niche the Image that would save the city from the enemy. Having dismantled the niche, the bishop found in it the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands. At the same time, the lamp, lit when the Image was hidden, continued to burn, and on the clay board that covered the niche, an exact copy of the Miraculous Image was displayed. After making a religious procession with the acquired shrine along the city wall, the Persian army retreated from Edessa.

In 630, the Arabs took possession of Edessa, but they did not interfere with the worship of the Image Not Made by Hands, the fame of which spread throughout the East. In 944, Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (912-959), the future successor of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, at her baptism in Constantinople in 954, wished to transfer the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands to the then capital of Orthodoxy, and bought it from the emir - the ruler of Edessa. With great honors, the Miraculous Image of the Savior and the letter that He sent to Abgar were transferred by the clergy to Constantinople. On August 16 (August 29, new style), the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands was solemnly placed in the Pharos Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
There are several legends about the subsequent fate of the Image Not Made by Hands. According to one, it was kidnapped by the crusaders during their rule in Constantinople (1204-1261), but the ship on which the shrine was taken sank in the Sea of Marmara. According to other legends, the Image Not Made by Hands was transferred around 1362 to Genoa, where it was kept in a monastery in honor of the Apostle Bartholomew.
It is known that the Miraculous Image repeatedly gave exact imprints of itself. One of them, the so-called “on ceramics”, was imprinted when Ananias hid the image near the wall on the way to Edessa; the other, imprinted on the cloak, ended up in Georgia. It is possible that the difference in legends about the original Image Not Made by Hands is based on the existence of several exact imprints.
During the iconoclastic heresy of the 8th century, defenders of icon veneration, shedding blood for holy icons, sang a troparion to the Image Not Made by Hands: “We worship Your Most Pure Image, O Good One...”. As proof of the truth of icon veneration, Pope Gregory II (715-731) sent a letter to the eastern iconoclast emperor Leo III (717-741), in which he pointed to the healing of King Abgar and the presence of the Image Not Made by Hands in Edessa as a well-known fact.

An interesting testimony about the history of the Image of the Face of Christ Not Made by Hands is from one of the first church historians, Eusebius Pamphilus, who lived in the 4th century, and is known for baptizing Equal-to-the-Apostles Tsar Constantine the Great, and left behind an extensive handwritten history of the Church. In the Thirteenth Chapter of this wonderful work entitled “Ecclesiastical History,” Bishop Eusebius writes:

“The story of Thaddeus is this. The divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, glorified among all people for its miraculous power, attracted thousands of people even from foreign countries, very far from Judea, who hoped for the healing of diseases and various sufferings.
Therefore, King Abgar, who gloriously ruled the nations on the other side of the Euphrates, but was tormented by a disease that was beyond human power to cure, having learned about the name of Jesus and His miracles - everyone testified about them in agreement - decided to beg Him, sending a messenger with a letter and asking for relief from the disease.

The Savior did not heed his request then, but honored him with a special letter in which he promised to send one of His disciples to cure his illness and together save him and all his loved ones.
This promise was soon fulfilled. After the Resurrection of Christ from the dead and the Ascension, Thomas, one of the Twelve, at the inspiration of God, sends Thaddeus, one of the Seventy disciples of Christ, to Edessa to preach the teaching of Christ. He fulfilled everything our Savior promised.

There is written evidence of this, taken from the archives of Edessa, which was then the capital. Among the state documents reporting the events of ancient and modern Abgar, the following story has been preserved from that time to the present day. There seems to be nothing more interesting than these letters, which I received from the archive and translated word for word from Syriac.
A copy of the letter written by the toparch to Jesus and sent to Jerusalem with the walker Ananias:
“Abgar, the son of Uchama, the toparch, sends greetings to Jesus, the good Savior, who appeared within the borders of Jerusalem. A rumor has reached me about You and Your healings, that You do them without medicines or herbs. You, they say, restore sight to the blind, restore walking to the lame, cleanse lepers, cast out unclean spirits and demons. You heal those suffering from long-term illnesses and raise the dead.

I listened to all this about You and grasped in my mind one of two things: either You are God and, having descended from Heaven, you work such miracles, or You are the Son of God, who works miracles.

That’s why I wrote to You and ask You: work hard, come to me and heal my illness. I also heard that the Jews are grumbling against You and plotting evil against You. My city is very small, but respectable, and it’s enough for the two of us.”

This is what and how Abgar wrote when the Divine light only slightly illuminated him. But you also need to listen to the letter from Jesus sent to him through the same letter carrier. It is not verbose, but full of power. Here is his text:

Jesus' answer to the toparch (Abgar) through the walker Ananias:

“Blessed are you if you believed in Me without seeing Me. It is written about Me: Those who have seen Me will not believe in Me, so that those who have not seen may believe and live. And because you invite Me to you, then I must fulfill here everything for which I was sent; and when I have fulfilled it, I will ascend to Him who sent Me. When I ascend, I will send one of My disciples to you, so that he will heal your illness and give life to you and those who are with you.”

Attached to these letters was the following, also written in Syriac:

“After the Ascension of Jesus, Judas, called Thomas, sent (to Abgar) the Apostle Thaddeus, one of the Seventy. Having arrived, he stopped with Tobiah, Tobias' son. They heard about him and told (Abgar) that the Apostle of Jesus was here, as you were promised.

And Thaddeus began to heal every disease and every infirmity by the power of God, so that everyone was amazed. When (Abgar) heard about his great and wonderful deeds, it occurred to him that this was exactly the one about whom Jesus wrote:

“When I am ascended, I will send one of My disciples to you, so that he can heal your illness.”
He called Tobias, with whom Thaddeus was staying, and said: “I heard that some powerful man was staying with you. Bring him to me." Tobiah, returning to Thaddeus, said: “Toparch (Abgar) called me and ordered me to bring you to him so that you could heal him.” And Thaddeus said: “I’m going, because I was sent to him in power.”

The next day at dawn, Tobias, taking Thaddeus, went to Abgar. When he entered, a great sign appeared to Abgar, in front of whom the first people of the country stood, on the face of the Apostle Thaddeus. Seeing this, Abgar bowed to Thaddeus to the ground. Everyone standing around was amazed because they did not see the sign that appeared to Abgar alone.

He asked Thaddeus: “Are you truly a disciple of Jesus, the Son of God, who said to me: “I will send you one of My disciples, who will heal you and give you life”?” And Thaddeus said: “Because you firmly believed in Him who sent me, I was sent to you. And if you believe in Him as you do, the desires of your heart will be fulfilled.”

And Abgar said to him: “I believed in Him so much that I would have taken an army and killed the Jews who crucified Him, if the Roman power had not prevented me.” And Thaddeus said: “My Lord fulfilled the will of His Father and, having done so, ascended to the Father.”
Abgar says to him: “And I believed in Him and in His Father.” And Thaddeus says: “Therefore, in His name I lay my hand on you.” And as soon as he said this, Abgar was healed from his illness and suffering.
Abgar was amazed: what he heard about Jesus actually happened to him through His disciple Thaddeus, who healed him without drugs or herbs, and not only him, but also his son Abd, who was suffering from gout. He, too, approached Thaddeus, fell at his feet and was healed by prayer and the touch of his hand. Thaddeus healed many of their fellow citizens, performed great miracles and preached the word of God.
Then Abgar said: “You, Thaddeus, are doing all this by the power of God, and we ourselves are amazed. And therefore, I ask you, tell me about the Coming of Jesus, how it happened, about His power and about the power with which He did everything that I have heard about.”

And Thaddeus said: “Now I will not say anything, since I was sent to preach the word publicly. But tomorrow, call all your citizens for me, and I will preach to them, and sow the word of life in them. I will tell you about the Coming of Jesus, how it happened, about His mission and why He was sent by the Father, about His power and His works, about the secrets that He told the world, about the power with which He did this, about the novelty of His teaching , about His humiliation and humiliation, about how He humbled Himself and died, how He belittled His Divinity, how He was crucified, descended into hell, destroyed a fence that had been indestructible for centuries, raised the dead, how He descended alone and ascended to His Father with a great multitude of people."

Abgar ordered his citizens to gather early in the morning and listen to Thaddeus’s sermon, and then ordered to give him gold in minted coins and in bullion, but he did not take it, saying: “If we have left what is ours, will we take someone else’s?”,” tells the story of the Not Made by Hands The image of the Face of Christ was depicted by one of the first church historians, Eusebius Pamphilus, who lived in the 4th century AD.
Such are the undoubted testimonies about the great shrine of the Christian world - the Image Not Made by Hands of the Lord Jesus Christ - the memory of the solemn bringing of which to Constantinople served as the basis church holiday, called the Third Savior."

August 29/16 (Old Art.) – celebration in honor of the Image Not Made by Hands.

During the earthly life of Jesus Christ, a prince named Abgar lived in the Syrian city of Edessa. He suffered from leprosy. Having learned about the miracles of Jesus Christ, he decided to ask Him for healing. Unable to personally travel to Judea, he wrote a letter in which he outlined his request and sent it with the painter Ananias, instructing him to remove the portrait of the Great Healer in the event that Jesus Christ Himself was not soon able to arrive in Edessa. To Abgar’s request, Jesus Christ answered that He would not come to Edessa. Knowing Abgar’s desire, the Lord washed His face and dried it with a towel, on which His most pure face was miraculously depicted. The Savior gave this image to Ananias, ordered him to take it to Abgar and tell him that one of His disciples would come to heal him. Abgar with piety accepted the Image brought to him, bowed to it, kissed it and felt relief.

After the Ascension of the Lord Jesus into heaven, the holy Apostle Thaddeus arrived in Edessa with a gospel sermon and fulfilled the Savior’s promise, completely healing Abgar from his illness, teaching him the faith of Christ and baptizing him along with many residents of the city. Residents of the city showed the greatest honor to the Image Not Made by Hands. Having written under the Image Not Made by Hands the words: “Christ God, whoever trusts in You will not be ashamed,” Abgar decorated it, installed it over the gates of the city, and commanded everyone entering the city to worship the Image of Jesus; and people came from distant countries to worship him.

The descendants of Abgar retreated from the faith of Christ, and one of them decided to remove the Image and hang an idol instead. The Bishop of Edessa, having received a divine revelation, came to the city gates at night, lit a lamp in front of the Image and covered it with a marble slab so that this place did not stand out in any way on the stone wall. Thinking that the Christians had removed the Image, the king did not put an idol in its place. After a long time, in 515, Edessa was attacked by enemies with a large army. Christians remained in the city, led by Bishop Eulalia. Having received a revelation from above, he and the Christians opened the Image, which turned out to be completely unharmed. On the same day, a religious procession was held inside the city near the fortress walls. By divine power the enemy was forced to retreat.

In the tenth century, this Image was bought from the Mohammedans, and on August 16, 944 it was solemnly placed in the Pharos Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1204, the Icon was stolen by the Latins, the “crusaders,” who captured Constantinople, and then it was kept in one of the churches at the court of the King of France until the French Revolution (late 18th century).

The further fate of this great shrine is unknown.

The image of the Savior not made by hands, like on ceramics(or on the scoop, i.e. tiles). It was miraculously imprinted in the city of Hierapolis on the tiles with which the painter Ananias covered the Image Not Made by Hands while on the road; moved to Constantinople in 965 or 968; its current location is unknown.

During the days of the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ on earth, when, living with people, He preached about the Kingdom of God through the cities and towns of Judea and the surrounding countries, “healing every disease and every illness among people”, in Edessa, a Syrian city on the other side of the Euphrates River, lived Prince Avgar. He suffered from an incurable disease - leprosy: bluish ulcers covered him on the outside; inside he felt aching bones and relaxation throughout his body. Abgar heard about the Lord Jesus Christ and about the great miracles performed by Him - how with His word He healed leprosy, weakness and every disease; and Abgar strongly desired to see with his own eyes the Creator of such miracles, hoping to receive healing from Him himself. And since the prince did not have the opportunity to go to Judea himself, he sent a request to the Lord Jesus, begging Him to come to Him in Edessa. Not having confidence that the request would be fulfilled, Abgar sent the skilled painter Ananias to Palestine, instructing him to depict the face of the Lord on the icon; the prince wanted to have at least that consolation in his illness that he would see the image of the face of Christ Jesus; so great was his love for Christ, inspired by faith through hearing. Abgar’s message to the Lord Jesus was as follows: “Prince of Edessa Abgar, Jesus, the good Savior who appeared in the countries of Jerusalem in the flesh, rejoice.

I have heard about You and Your glorious miracles, how You heal illnesses without medicine or drugs, give sight to the blind, give walking to the lame, drive away unclean spirits from people, cleanse lepers, the paralytic, those who have been lying on their beds for many years, heal with words and You raise the dead: hearing about You that You perform such wondrous miracles, I came to the following two conclusions regarding You: You are either God who came down from heaven, or the Son of God. That is why I turn to You with such a humble prayer, that You will take the trouble to come to me and heal my incurable illness, from which I have been suffering for many years; It also dawned on me that the Jews hate You and want to harm You. I have a city, although small, but beautiful and abounding in everything; So come to me and live with me in my city, in which everything we need will be found for both of us.”

With this message from Abgar, the painter Ananias reached Jerusalem. He saw the Lord Jesus teaching on the plain among a multitude of people, but could not approach Him due to the crowding caused by the overcrowding of the people. Waiting for the time when the people would disperse, Ananias stepped onto one stone, slightly elevated above the ground; from here he carefully peered into the face of the Savior, intending to depict him; and Ananias could not do this, for the All-Seer, who did not favor the intention of the painter, changed His face with divine, incomprehensible, inaccessible to the image of a human hand, glory and grace. Ananias worked for a long time, but achieved nothing. The Lord commanded the Apostle Thomas to go and bring his husband, who, standing on a stone, depicts his face. When they brought him down and he had not yet begun to say anything, the Lord called him to himself by name and, pointing to his occupation, called him by name the painter Ananias and revealed the reason for his coming, saying:

- Where is the letter from your prince Avgar, which you brought to me from Edessa?

Ananias, in surprise and horror at the Lord’s foresight, immediately took out the prince’s message and with trepidation gave it into the hands of the Savior. The Lord, having read the message, wrote to Abgar the following:

“Blessed are you, Abgar, who did not see Me and believed in Me, for it is written about Me that those who see Me do not have faith, but those who do not see Me will believe in Me and inherit eternal life. You write to Me so that I come to you, but it is fitting for Me to complete what I was sent for, and, having completed it, to return to the Father who sent Me. And when I am lifted up to Him, then I will send to you one of My disciples, who, having completely healed you of your illness, will give you and those with you eternal life (through baptism).”

Having written such a message to Abgar, the Lord Jesus Christ sealed it with a seal, on which was written in Hebrew the following inscription: Divine vision, Divine miracle. Then the Lord, fulfilling the desire of Abgar and the artist, ordered water to be brought and, having washed His holy face, wiped it with the four-pointed veneer given to Him. And oh, miracle! simple water turned into paint, and the most holy likeness of the Divine face was imprinted on the lining. Giving this image to Ananias along with the letter, the Lord said:

- Carry it, give it to the one who sent you. (These were last days the life of the Lord on earth before His suffering.

Troparion, tone 2:

We worship your most pure image, O good Christ, asking forgiveness of our sins: for by the will of your flesh you deigned to ascend to the cross, so that you might deliver what you have created from the work of the enemy. Thus we cry out to You in gratitude: You have filled all our Savior with joy, having come to save the world.

Kontakion, voice 2:

Thy ineffable and divine gaze towards man, the indescribable Word of the Father, and the unwritten and divinely written image is victorious leading to Thy false incarnation, we honor him with kisses.

The first legend about the relationship of Christ with Abgar is found in the father of church history (d. 340); according to him in my own words he entered this legend into his history, based not only on legends, but also on written documents he found in the Edessa archives. Eusebius is followed from the 4th century, from the 5th century. Armenian historian Moses Khorensky and from the 6th century. - Procopius. The Armenian historian of the 5th century, Moses Khorensky, describes the incident thanks to which Abgar heard about Jesus Christ, namely: Abgar learned about Christ from his ambassadors, whom he sent to the Roman tribune governing Phenicia, Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia - the ambassadors on the way back were in In Jerusalem and here they saw the miracles of the Savior. The 10th-century writer Constantine Porphyrogenitus (d. 959), in whom we find the most detailed account of the origin of the Image Not Made by Hands, reports that Abgar was informed about Christ by his servant Ananias, who returned from a trip to Egypt.

They object to the authenticity of the letters of Abgar to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ to Abgar. They say: 1) The Gospel is silent about this event. But the Gospel says: “Jesus did many other miracles before His disciples, which are not written in this book.”(). According to the Gospel, rumors about Jesus Christ spread to Syria and from there they brought the sick (). 2) Writers of the first three centuries before Eusebius are silent. But this evidence is negative, like the first. Cicero's essay on the Republic was discovered only in 1822; What’s surprising is that the Eastern Greek writers, many of whose very works were not a part of, did not know about this message. However, George Syncellus, under 215 A.D., says that he spoke about St. Abgar. husband king in Edessa, also from Moses of Horen (5th century book 2, chapter 9). 3) Blessed Jerome is silent. But Eusebius is worth Jerome. He himself saw these acts and published them on Greek in its church history. 4) says that Jesus Christ did not write anything. He says this in a dispute with the Manichaeans, who relied on writings allegedly written by Christ Himself about Himself, and in general understands that Jesus Christ did not set forth and did not have the intention of setting out in writing teachings about Himself, and this cannot apply to the short letter of Jesus Christ to Avgar. Jesus Christ wrote on earth before the Pharisees, who brought a harlot wife to Him. 5) In the letter of Jesus Christ there is an indication of John (XX, 29). Not on John, but on the prophecy of Isaiah (6.9. 50. 15, 65, 2). 6) For Eusebius, the year of the death of Jesus Christ, according to the Seleucid era 340, falls on the 30th year of His life (15 Tiberius). Eusebius gives not his own chronology, but that of the Edessians; There was an opinion among many in ancient times that Jesus Christ suffered in the first year of His ministry, i.e. 30 of your life. However, it is known that errors in numbers in ancient manuscripts are common. 7) Pope Gelasius, by decree, recognized this work as apocryphal; but this meant that it was not included among the canonical writings; however, not all writings recognized as apocryphal are unworthy of belief. – In the Slavic menaion it is said that Ap. Thaddeus rested in Virita, a Phoenician city. In the work on the Apostles attributed to Hippolytus or Hippolytus, the martyrdom in Virita is attributed to Thaddeus of the 12 Apostles or Judas (June 19).

The legend recorded by Constantine the Porphyrogenitus reports that when Ananias, returning to his homeland, reached the city of Hierapolis, he stopped outside the city and hid the image of the Face of Christ in a pile of freshly made bricks. Around midnight, the city's inhabitants saw fire surrounding the place and found a hidden shrine here; at the same time, it turned out that the image of the Savior was displayed on one of the bricks. The inhabitants of Hierapolis kept this brick, but Ananias was released. Constantine notes that this brick was still preserved in Hierapolis in his time.

Constantine Porphyrogenitus describes the transfer of the Image not made by hands from Edessa and the letter of Christ to Abgar to Constantinople in 944. The image not made by hands was kept in Constantinople until 1204. As for the brick with the image not made by hands, then, according to the testimony of Zonara (d. 1118), it was transferred Emperor Nikephoros Phocas (963–969) in 968. Zonara calls him yeron ke fion ektipora(sacred and divine image). – According to one legend, around 1362, the Icon Not Made by Hands was given by John Palaeologus to the Genoese general Leonardo de Montalto for delivering the Greek Empire from the attack of the Saracens, and Montalto gave it to the monastery of St. Bartholomew in Genoa, where he remains to this day. According to another, more probable legend, during the reign of the Crusaders in Constantinople in 1204–1261. kidnapped by the Venetian Doge Dandorlo, but the ship on which he was with other sacred objects sank in the Propontis.

Church Tradition tells about the Syrian king Abgar, who ruled in the city of Edessa during the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ. The king was stricken with leprosy all over his body. The rumor about the great miracles performed by the Savior spread throughout Syria (Matthew 4:24) and reached Abgar. Not seeing Christ, Abgar believed in Him as the Son of God and wrote a letter asking him to come and heal him. With this letter, he sent the royal artist Ananias to Palestine, instructing him to paint an image of the Savior. Ananias came to Jerusalem and saw the Lord surrounded by people. He could not approach Him because of the large crowd of people listening to the Savior’s sermon. Then he stood on a high stone and tried to paint the image of the Lord Jesus Christ from afar, but he never succeeded. Christ himself called him, calling him by name, and handed over a short letter for Abgar, in which he praised the faith of the ruler and promised to send His disciple for healing from leprosy and guidance to salvation. Then the Lord asked to bring water and ubrus (canvas, towel). He washed his face, wiped it with rubbish, and His Divine Face was imprinted on it.

Ananias brought the ubrus and the letter of the Savior to Edessa. Abgar accepted the shrine with reverence and received healing; only a small part of the traces of leprosy remained on his face until the arrival of the disciple promised by the Lord. He was the apostle of the 70 St. Thaddeus, who preached the Gospel and baptized Abgar who believed and all the inhabitants of Edessa. Having written on the Icon Not Made by Hands the words “Christ God, whoever trusts in You will not be ashamed,” Abgar decorated it and installed it in a niche above the city gates. For many years, residents maintained the pious custom of worshiping the Image Not Made by Hands when they passed through the gate.

One of the great-grandsons of Abgar, who ruled Edessa, fell into idolatry. He decided to remove Ubrus from the city wall. Christ appeared in a vision to the Bishop of Edessa and ordered that His image be hidden. The bishop came to the gate at night, lit a lamp in front of the Icon and covered it with a clay board and bricks. Many years passed, and the residents forgot about the shrine. This was the case until 545, when the Persian king Khosroes I besieged Edessa. During these days, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to Bishop Eulavius and commanded him to remove from the walled niche an Image that would save the city from ruin. Having dismantled the niche, the bishop found the Holy Image unchanged: a lamp was burning in front of him, and on the clay board that covered the niche was a similar image. After a religious procession with the Image Not Made by Hands along the city walls, the Persian army retreated.

In 630, the Arabs took possession of Edessa, but they did not interfere with the worship of the Image Not Made by Hands, the fame of which spread throughout the East. In 944, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (912-959) wished to transfer the Image to Constantinople and bought it from the emir, the ruler of Edessa. With great honors, the Miraculous Image of the Savior and the letter that He wrote to Abgar were transferred to the capital of the empire. On August 16, the Image of the Savior was placed in the Faros Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

There are several legends about the subsequent fate of the Miraculous Image (Ubrus). According to one, it was kidnapped by the crusaders during their rule in Constantinople (1204-1261), but the ship with the shrine sank in the Sea of Marmara. According to other legends, the Image Not Made by Hands was transferred around 1362 to Genoa, where it is kept in a monastery in honor of the Apostle Bartholomew. It is known that the Miraculous Image repeatedly gave exact imprints of itself. One of them, the so-called “on ceramics” (on tiles), imprinted when Ananias hid the image near the wall on the way to Edessa; the other, imprinted on the cloak, ended up in Georgia.

During the time of the iconoclastic heresy in Byzantium (8th century), defenders of icon veneration, shedding blood for holy icons, sang a troparion to the Image Not Made by Hands. As proof of the truth of icon veneration, Pope Gregory II (715-731) sent a letter to the Emperor of Constantinople, in which he pointed out the healing of King Abgar and the presence of the Icon Not Made by Hands in Edessa as a well-known fact. The Miraculous Image was depicted on the banners of the Russian troops, protecting them from enemies. In the Russian Orthodox Church there is a pious custom, when a believer enters the church, to read, along with other prayers, the troparion to the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands.

The celebration in honor of the transfer of the Image Not Made by Hands is called the Third Savior, “Savior on Canvas”. Special veneration of this holiday in the Russian Orthodox Church was expressed in icon painting; The icon of the Image Not Made by Hands is one of the most common.