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Question:
When I was in NY in April to see the Byzantine
exhibit at the Met Museum, I picked up a postcard of an icon of
the battle of Novgorod and Suzdal, also called the Miracle of
the Virgin Orans icon. Are such narratives all pretty much
generic: city under siege by the heathen, miracle icon is
displayed on city walls, the heathen are confounded...?
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Answer:
Very
Rev. Ihor Kutash
kutash@unicorne.org
This most interesting Icon raises a
whole series of questions worth reflecting upon. There is indeed a
typical quality to the account, but not in the sense you mention (I am
not aware, in fact, of any such "generic" accounts - this is not to say
that they do not exist). Alas the battle appears to have been one of
those nasty internecine things which so weakened Kyivan-Rus' and made it
vulnerable to the invading Asian hordes.
As a matter of fact it appears that the attackers from Suzdal were led
by the renowned Kniaz' Andrei Boholiubsky. So this story is about the
Mother of God protecting Christians from other Christians! Perhaps the
key word is "protection". Had they been the attackers it may have been
the other way around.
An interesting point is that in the lower part of the icon (by the way I
found the full icon on the following website:
http://www.laboratory.ru/refer/hist/erh083.htm ) the defending
Novgorod army riding out against the attackers from Suzdal is led by,
among other saints, the brothers Sts. Boris and Hlib who themselves were
victims of internecine conflict - in fact killed by their brother
Sviatopolk the Accursed (Okayannyi). The prime evidence of their sactity
which made them candidates for canonization is their refusal to take up
arms in defense against their kin. They surrendered themselves to God
and by their deaths started the special rank of Orthodox Saints known as
"Strastoterptsi" or "Passion-bearers". (The most recent Orthodox Saint
known as "Passion-bearer" is the late Nicholas II of Russia, who is
considered to have abdicated in order to bring peace to his domain).
A feature of the Icon, perhaps unintended by those who commissioned it,
but certainly in keeping with the teachings of Christ, may be an
admonition against internecine strife. The Holy Brothers, although not
physically present, prayerfully intercede for those who are victims of
such attacks. As does the Holy Mother. And God responds by sending
darkness upon the attackers. A projection into time/space of the
spiritual darkness that provokes such attacks in the vain scramble to
build an empire in an ever-shifting locale where no empire - save that
erected by love and generosity (and then it would be no human empire as
we know it) - can stand. The closing hymn at a funeral proclaims:
"Today all deceptive victories of earthly vanity are laid waste". Death,
the enemy, becomes an ally who puts an end to injustice and prompts one
to evaluate the principles one bases his/her life upon. St. John
Chrysostom encouraged Christians to constantly reflect upon the hour of
our death. What, at that moment, could give true comfort?
There are, alas, equally typical accounts of invading armies also
carrying Icons and crosses into battle. Perhaps even the Suzdal invaders
did so? One wonders.
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