Virgin Mary icon, called "Samonapisavshayasya", with physicians Cosmas and Damian
Size: 6 1/4" x 5"
The celebration in honor of the
Mother of God icon, called Samonapisavshayasya, established in the XIX century. In 1863 the abbot of the Moldovan (Romanian later) hermitage in the name of the holy Prophet John the Baptist, Mount Athos Nifont with some of the brothers set off for the monastery in Moldavia. To this end, the monks began to look for the artist, distinguished by piety and abstinence, to order it the right icon. Such an artist is already advanced age, Georgi Nikolayev, was found in Iasi. With him was a contract that he works hard during the fasted and did not trust the execution of an order to anyone else. But when the clothes were written and he began to write the faces of the Divine, the work stopped: house painter could not write the faces of the well. Athos monks, consoling himself and bewailed
icon painter, advised him to pray to the Mother of God for help. George did just that: it was purely to fast and pray. Once, he spent the whole day in prayer, and the next morning went to the studio. Going to the icon, he was surprised to see that the faces of the Virgin and Infant Christ, on writing of which he so long labored in vain, are ready. Awe came upon the icon painter, and he did not dare to touch a brush to likam, depicted in the icon with full perfection.