Celebration in honor of the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, called Shuiskaya (15/11)

On November 15, according to the new style, the Orthodox Church honors the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Shuya (Smolensk), painted in 1654–1655 in the Resurrection parish of the city of Shuya, Vladimir diocese.

In those days, a pestilence raged there, unabated. In this disaster, the population of the city resorted to prayer, asking the Lord for mercy. One pious parishioner of the Resurrection Church advised his fellow citizens to raise funds and order a list from the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, which from ancient times was considered the savior of the Russian people from enemies and troubles, and place it in the temple, which was done. The icon was painted in just seven days; all this time, the people of Shuya fasted and prayed.

When the image was ready, the priest of the Resurrection Church and the people moved it to the church and placed it in a specially equipped place. From that moment on, the pestilence began to subside —, first within the Resurrection parish, and then throughout the city. In 1831, a cholera epidemic also stopped in Shuya.

Later, thanks to this icon displayed in the temple, many miraculous healings were made, especially from eye diseases. There is a legend that from the icon the youth Jacob and many other sick people received healing from the rage.

Interestingly, the iconography of the Shui Mother of God differs from its prototype, in particular the pose of Jesus. On this icon, he sits sideways to the worshipers, placing the foot of his right foot on his left knee, and lifts the captured scroll directly to the face of the Mother of God.

The Shuya Icon of the Mother of God was also revered in the village of Pavlovo, Nizhny Novgorod province, whose residents she saved from the plague that penetrated into these regions from Moldova during the time of Catherine II. The famous Russian researcher Alexey Smirnov wrote about this in his book «Pavlovo and Vorsma —, known for steel and plumbing production in the village of the Nizhny Novgorod province » (1864).

371