Celebration in honor of the icon of the Mother of God «Unexpected Joy» (22/12)

Icon of the Mother of God «Unexpected Joy» is named in memory of the healing of a certain sinner through the holy icon through the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God.

The legend about the miracle described by St. Demetrius of Rostov talks about how a certain sinner, spending his life in sins, had, however, the habit of bowing before the icon of the Mother of God and bringing her the Arkhangelsk greeting: «Rejoice, Graceful!». The Mother of God did not reject his prayers. She began to pray to God for mercy for the sinner. And the Lord gave him repentance.

One day, intending to do a sinful deed, that man, as usual, stood up for prayer in front of the image of the Mother of God. Suddenly he saw that blood was flowing in streams from the Child’s rib, arms and legs, as it once was on Calvary. The Mother of God revealed to the wicked that he and other sinners crucify Her Son again and again when they commit sins.

Shocked to the core, with a broken heart, man prayed to the Most Holy Theotokos to be his Intercessor before God and the Intercessor for the forgiveness of his sins.

The Mother of God did not stop Her prayers for the sinner until she heard the word from the Lord Jesus Christ: «Today your sins are forgiven to him for the sake of».

That man realized the depth of his fall and, with the help of God, left a sinful life. Until the end of his days, with tears and gratitude, he prayed to the Mother of God, at whose intercession he received the unexpected joy of repentance and forgiveness of sins from the Lord and Our Savior Jesus Christ.

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