The tradition of religious processions on the ninth Friday after Easter has been revived. The list or the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "The Sign" Kursk Root is brought in the summer from the Znamensky Monastery in. Kursk. Once again becoming a national holiday, procession to the Root Hermitage attracts thousands of pilgrims from near and far abroad.
A significant event in the life of the Kursk region from the XVII century. is a procession with the miraculous icon of the Kursk Root Mother of God from the Znamensky Monastery to the Root Desert. Thousands of worshippers from the surrounding villages, county towns and from all over Russia gathered in Kursk by the ninth Friday of Easter. The opening of the fair was timed to coincide with the same event.. Only with 1806 Mr. that majestic order of the procession was established, which so amazed the imagination of contemporaries and was reflected in the picture Yi. E. Repin "Procession in the Kursk province".
The very first procession in history from Kursk Korennaya took place in 1618 year, on the ninth Friday after Easter, by the highest Decree of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. On this summer day, the miraculous icon was solemnly transferred from the Znamensky Monastery (founded in 1612 year) in the "desert" that at the root".
The time of the shrine's stay in the Root Desert changed: first – one week, S 1765 this term was extended by the Moscow Patriarch at the request of the hegumen of the Root Monastery of Isaiah to two weeks..
And in 1768 By the Decree of the Holy Synod, it was forbidden to wear the icon to the Root Desert due to violation of the Spiritual Regulations, which resulted in unworthy disputes between the abbots and monks of the Znamensky and Korenny monasteries over the income from the procession and the Root Fair. And during the procession in 1767 there were even riots.
The ban on the procession to the Root Desert existed 22 of the year. It occurred during the reign of Empress Catherine II, who fancied herself standing guard over the morality of her subjects. Procession, had a 150-year tradition, attracted pilgrims to the Root Monastery. After his ban, the authority of the Kursk Fair began to fall., the interests of the merchant people began to be undermined, which in the end caused significant damage to the state treasury.
And only in 1790 a year after numerous requests from the clergy, the Holy Synod heeded the requests of the Kurians and again allowed processions to be held.. After 22 years, in June 1791 of the year, on Friday afternoon Easter miraculous icon, accompanied by thousands of pilgrims, solemnly marched from the Znamensky Monastery to the Root Desert. Among the participants of the renewed procession were pilgrims from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kyiv, Greece, Poland, Wallachia and other countries.
S 1805 the dates of the icon's stay in the Root Desert have also been changed.. This was done by Alexander I in response to the petition of the abbot of the Root Monastery macarius. The Russian Emperor allowed the miraculous icon to be in the Root Desert for more than two weeks, and from the ninth week of Easter to 12 (25) September – feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In the middle of the XIX century (May 1852 of the year) The Council of State decided that, to make the days of the procession non-working. Tradition of the procession, which has been strengthened for centuries, was a well-established order and ceremonial part. After Kursk received the status of the provincial capital (1775 Mr.) and diocesan-administrative center (1833 Mr.) the importance of this rite has increased significantly. Elevated to the rank of a provincial holiday, procession united the Kurians, bringing secular officials closer together, clergy and common people. Besides, participation in the processions of governors and clergy gave this rite a special solemnity and significance..
According to the memoirs of Archbishop Seraphim of Kursk and Belgorod, on the eve of the removal of the miraculous icon, Thursday night, in addition to the bishop's vigil in the Znamensky Cathedral, a people's vigil was also served on a special platform in the middle of the Regional Square. It began after 8 hours of the evening and ended after midnight. Tens of thousands of faces lit up with candles burning in the darkness. A hundred-voiced choir carried sacred songs around the area.. The ringing of monastery bells was picked up by the bell ringers of all Kursk churches. And grace descended on everyone., who gathered for a procession from near and far provinces of Russia and other countries… Very realistically, this state of mind was conveyed by the great AND. E. Repin in his painting "Procession in the Kursk Province".
Ceremonial, observed during the procession:
- Police Honeycombs on Horseback.
- Part of the worshippers of all classes.
- Banners and in the middle of them two church lanterns with lit candles are carried by these deacons..
- Kiot with a list of revealed icons, carried on stretchers by worshippers.
- Two large lanterns with lit candles. Especially arranged for this ceremony, praying mantises carry them on stretchers.
- On both sides are shop badges, carry their craftsmen, belonging to that workshop, and in the middle carries the merchant three crosses.
- Cathedral choristers, and on the sides of their deacons carry banners.
- Clergy with some archimandrites at the back, in full church vestments with Icons, the Gospel and the Cross. Two banners and two large lanterns with lit candles, of the same value from No. 6; banners carried by deacons, and the lanterns are praying mantises..
- Bishop's choristers and on the sides of their shop badges, carry their craftsmen, belonging to that workshop, and on the right side, behind them, Kursk Police Master on Horseback.
- Grand Cross and Banners, carried by deacons.
- Governor and provincial leader of the nobility in ceremonial uniforms, carry the revealed Icon of the "Sign" of the Most Holy Theotokos, and above it the deacons hold the ripids..
- Bishop in full ecclesiastical vestments, and on the sides of it protodeacons and deacons carry banners.
- Officials of the city of Kursk in uniforms, their families, merchants and visiting worshippers of all classes, and on the sides are the lower ranks.
- Two lanterns with lit candles, the same under No. 6, carried by worshippers.
- Two banners, carried by deacons.
- Two Church Banners, carried by citizens of the city of Kursk.
- Two lanterns with lit candles, identical with #6, carried by worshippers.
- Two banners, carried by deacons.
- Two lanterns with lit candles, same as under #6, carried also on stretchers by worshippers.
- Even the last eleventh and twelfth large lanterns with lit candles are the same as no. 6, also carried by worshippers.
- Two banners and two icons, carried by deacons and craftsmen.
- In the whole procession on both sides there is a chain of lower ranks, in some places there are urban police soldiers, so that the people do not crowd the procession of the procession.
Meanwhile, every nonresident worshipper from a simple title has a stick on his shoulders with a small piece of canvas imposed on it at the top of a white or other color., and others see a small bundle of straw on a stick., a branch from a tree and the like; with these signs they reveal themselves to their comrades., coming from one place, and at the end of the Procession, each batch comes together very easily and soon.
A month before the icon was taken to the Root Desert, the holy icon was taken home.. Kuryans said goodbye to their intercessor. Worshippers came in groups and, so as not to get lost, each group carried its own pole, ribboned, Branches, Flowers, why the whole procession acquired a motley, festive view.
About a week before the removal, "12 lanterns" were installed in front of the cathedral in the form of churches with silver-plated heads.. A lot of candles were constantly burning in them.. There was a custom among the chickens to crawl under the lantern., was considered, that it helps with toothache. Besides, every girl wanted to visit the takeaway of the miraculous icon, since only then could one count on a good marriage.
In the night, on the eve of the removal of the icon, on Red Square on a special platform, surrounded by “Lights” served a special “People's Vigil”. The powerful bells of the cathedral and other Kursk churches complemented the singing of the hundred-voiced church choir.. Tens of thousands of people stood with lit candles.
In the morning, with sunrise, on Moskovskaya Street, along which stood a cordon of troops, pilgrims began to move. AT 11 one o'clock in the afternoon from the gates of the Znamensky Monastery took out the largest and oldest "lantern", which carried, alternating, all the way to the Root Desert 40 People. The rest of us took out after him. 11 lanterns with lit candles. After the Liturgy of the Miraculous in Its Most Ancient Robe, a gift from Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, the bishop carried out of the church and entered the high, red cloth covered platform on the square. To the singing and ringing of bells, the bishop blessed the city with an icon on all four sides.. It was the most majestic moment.. Kuryans consider it a miracle, by the gift of the Virgin Mary, that on the day of taking out the miraculous there is always good weather.
Vladyka further gave the icon to the governor and provincial leader of the nobility., who carried it to the old Elijah Church. Ahead were military units with an orchestra, behind them monastics, a bishop's choir of singers in crimson caftans and two rows of priests in festive Easter robes. In the middle was the shrine and patroness of the Kursk region. – miraculous icon.
At the Ilyinskaya Church, the icon was handed over to the mayor and the chairman of the zemstvo government., who carried it to the Church of the Annunciation of the Hospital of the Sisters of Mercy of the Kursk-Znamenskaya Community of the Red Cross. Further, by custom, the icon was carried out of the gates of the city by the governor. In a small chapel behind the Moscow Gate, a short prayer service was served and then, via Yamskaya Sloboda, carried it to the Root Desert. The procession came there to 8 Pm, where she was solemnly greeted and worshipped. The icon returned to Kursk in September, but less solemnly. Only in 1993 Mr. the custom of making a procession was revived in the Kursk region.
In the Root Desert in the XIX century. many perestroikas have taken place. AT 1860 Mr. a cathedral church was built on the mountain in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and with an aisle in honor of st.. John the Baptist. The temple was built in the Byzantine-Russian style. Its vaults were supported by two rows of massive columns.. The lower church in the name of the Life-Giving Spring was also rebuilt., instead of a dilapidated church, built by Count Sheremetev in honor of the victory in the Battle of Poltava. In the middle of the church was a fenced holy well.. On the south side of the temple was added a chapel, built over the roots of that tree, where it was raised in 1295 Mr. miraculous icon.
To the church in the name of the Life-Giving Spring from the upper monastery site led white-stone covered gatherings, built in 1831-1841 years. The gatherings gave the Root Desert a look., reminiscent of the descents to the Kiev caves, or view of the Athonite monasteries.
The façade of the monastery was facing west.. On both sides of the holy gates stretched two-story cell buildings. AT 1875 Mr. on another hill a temple was built in the name of the icon of the "Sign" of the Mother of God. On all sides, the monastery was surrounded by orchards and apiaries.57 Great restoration work is currently underway on the territory of the monastery in the Root Desert..
Processions with the Icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos of Kursk during the War (1914-1916Gg.). The procession was held from 3 April to 8 May 1915 years in the following villages of Kursk uyezd: Nizhnee – Gutorovo – Rîșkovo, Lebyazhye, Konarevo, Nizhneye Shumakovo, Lyubitskoe, Lubyanka, Vorobyovka, Malyshevo, Dubovets- Full Christmas, Novo-Cheremoshnoye; Oboyansky Uyezd: Medvenka, Drachevka, Vyshny Reutets; Kursk uyezd: High, Spasskoe, Gostemlya; Sujan County: Sula; Oboyansky Uyezd: Lipovets, Bashkatovo, Kosinovo, Dolzhenkovo, Rybinsk Budy, Bushmino, Foam, Samarino, White, Cherenovo, Heater, Pavlovka, Uslonka, Trubesh, Wet Solotin, Oboyan city, Kursk.
Processions in the Diocese of Kursk, except permanent, who enjoyed all-Russian fame, took place quite often in rural areas with local church relics. Village processions, substantially, conducted by village priests, at the request of the flock. The reasons for their holding were either droughts., or incessant rains, or what epidemics and other disasters. There were several permanent processions.: in the village of Deryugino, Dmitrievsky Uyezd 23 April, in Yamskaya Sloboda of Suzhdansky Uyezd on Holy Week, in the village of Dirty Tim on the day of the Holy Trinity and 4 September with the icon "Irreparable Bush" in the village of Tim 14 September. Processions were also held in the cities of the Kursk province. This was the case during the war of 1914-1917., when everywhere they were held with prayers and the granting of victory to the Russian army.
The tradition of the procession in the Kursk province was interrupted by events 1917 of the year. After the decree is issued (23.01.1918 Mr.) on the Separation of Church from State and State from Church, as His Holiness Tikhon wrote in those days in his desperate message, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, "The most severe persecution has been erected on the holy Church as well.. Holy temples are subjected to or destroyed through executions from the guns of the deadly… or robbery… godless lords of this age… Power… shows everywhere only the most unbridled self-will and continuous violence against everything and, in particular, over the Holy Orthodox Church".
Monastery, in which the icon was kept, was looted during the Civil War, but the Kursk Root Icon of the Sign of the Mother of God was saved. In October 1919 This shrine was first transported to Belgorod, and then to Taganrog with the direct participation of Bishop Theophanes of Kursk and Oboyansk. And 1 April 1920 The icon left Russia on the steamship "St. Nicholas". The last time the icon was on the territory of Russia in the same 1920 in September-October at the request of General Wrangel in his troops. After that, only a copy of it remained in Russia..
In exile, the icon was in Greek Thessaloniki, serbian town of Beggar, Belgrade, Vienna, Munich. This path she has passed in thirty years and, finally, finally stopped in the New Root Desert near New York City (United States). Since then,, how the icon left Russia (1921 year), The Kursk image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the main shrine of the Russian Orthodox emigration.
The monastery in the Root Desert was closed in 1923 year, and then razed to the ground, looted and desecrated. So Russia lost another of its national shrines., Life-giving source, sanctified by Our Lady herself, tried to wipe it off the face of the earth, pouring it with concrete. But the source made its way to new places.. Not only the monastery suffered, but all those, who did not want to forget the tradition that had existed for centuries. The territory of the monastery was surrounded by a fence four meters high., on all approaches to the monastery were put up vigilantes. A hunt was arranged for literally every pilgrim.; Believers tried to erase the very memory of the procession to the Root Desert.
But it was impossible to eradicate faith by force.. By all means, believers sought communion with their shrine.. Changes occurred only in 1988 year, on the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Rus. This year was followed by the appeal of the ruling bishop of the Kursk diocese Juvenal to Patriarch Pimen of Moscow and All Russia and the head of state M. S. Gorbachev with a request to return the Indigenous Monastery to believers.
After this appeal 7 August 1989 The Executive Committee of the Regional Council of People's Deputies issued a decision on the phased transfer to the diocesan administration of part of the historical and architectural complex "Kursk Root Nativity of the Mother of God Desert". 15 The first on-site worship service was held in August, where before the revolution 1917 The Church of the Most Holy Theotokos towered over the year.
From this moment began the revival of the Kursk Root Desert as a monument of the XVI century. The restoration of this monument was carried out in almost five years.. A belfry was erected on the site of the ruins., Temples of the Root Desert. At the place of the appearance of the icon, the temple was erected again, built at one time by an associate of Peter the Great, Field Marshal Boris Petrovich Sheremetev, at their own expense in honor of the victory over the Swedes at Poltava.
In addition to the main structures of this Orthodox monument, a hermitage with a house church was revived, Hotel, outbuildings, pastures and vegetable gardens, fish pond and barnyard. Ground routes to this historic shrine have been re-established..
Orthodox traditions, once interrupted, were revived. The first procession after a long break took place 15 June 1990 of the year, on the ninth Friday after Easter. It differed in scale from its historical predecessors. (its length was only 900 Metres away), it was carried out inside the monastery fence. Subsequent processions of the cross have acquired their former historical scale.. Becoming a national holiday, the procession to the Root Desert was carried out by thousands of pilgrims from near and far abroad. Atmosphere and all events, that occur, sanctified and carry a huge outfit of spiritual energy.
Who visited this monastery in September 1091 His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia named the Kursk Root Desert the third spiritual center of Russia along with the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and the Diveyevo Monastery of Seraphim of Sarov in the Nizhny Novgorod region..
This holy place to this day does not cease to amaze its pilgrims with miraculous signs.. So, in the year of the 700th anniversary of the appearance of the icon of the Mother of God "Sign" of the Kursk Root Procession was accompanied by a natural miracle. The move took place on Friday. 23 June and was especially crowded and solemn. It was preceded by a week, throughout which heavy rains poured. It rained on the night from Thursday to Friday.. On the day of the procession, early morning, when in the Znamensky Cathedral, before the removal of the miraculous icon, Bishop Juvenal began the Divine Liturgy, the sky suddenly cleared of heavy clouds, and the whole neighborhood lit up with a gentle summer sun, which shone all the way through the procession.
On this day, for the first time after the resumption of the course, the Kurians and guests of the city solemnly carried the patroness of the Kursk Territory through the streets of Kursk to the Vvedensky Church of the Yamskaya Sloboda with thanksgiving prayers in the Upper Holy Trinity and Resurrection-Ilyinsky churches standing in the way of the procession., St. Sergius-Kazan Cathedral.