Celebration in honor of the icon of the Mother of God «Liviferous Source» (29/04)

Every year on Friday of Bright Week (Easter Week), the Orthodox Church celebrates the Day of the Miraculous Icon of the Virgin Mary «Liviferous Source». The celebration was established in memory of the restoration of the Church of Constantinople, called the «Life-bearing Source», and the miracles performed here. The temple was erected by Emperor Leo I at a spring whose water had a healing power nourished by the power of the Blessed Virgin. On this day, the rite of blessing of water is performed with the Easter religious procession.

On the icon, the Most Holy Theotokos and the Infant of God are depicted above a huge stone bowl standing in a pond. By a reservoir filled with life-giving water, those suffering from bodily ailments, passions and mental infirmities are depicted. They all drink this life-giving water and receive various healings.

Legend has it that in the 5th century in Constantinople, near the so-called «Golden Gate», there was a grove planted in memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There was a spring in the grove, which had long been glorified by miracles. Gradually this place was overgrown with bushes, and the water was covered with mud...

One day, the warrior Leo Markell, the future Emperor, met a blind man in this place, a helpless traveler who had gone astray. The lion helped the traveler go out onto the path and settle in the shade to rest, and he himself went in search of water to refresh the blind. Leo searched for water for a long time and heard a calling voice several times: «Lev! Don't look far for water, it's close here». Then the same voice showed Leo the way to the source and taught him how to heal the traveler’s illness.

Emperor Marcian was succeeded by Leo Markell (457 - 473). He remembered the appearance and prediction of the Mother of God, ordered to clean the spring and enclose it in a stone circle, above which a temple was built in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Emperor Leo called this spring «Life-giving source», since the miraculous grace of the Mother of God manifested itself in it.

Emperor Justinian the Great (527 - 565) was a man deeply committed to the Orthodox faith. He suffered from water sickness for a long time. One midnight he heard a voice: «You cannot regain your health unless you drink from My source». The king did not know what source the voice was talking about, and became despondent. Then the Mother of God appeared to him already in the afternoon and said: « Arise, king, go to My spring, drink water from it and you will be healthy» as before. The patient fulfilled the will of the Lady and soon recovered. The Grateful Emperor erected a new magnificent temple near the temple built by Leo, which subsequently created a crowded monastery.

In the 15th century, the famous temple of the «Life-Giving Spring» was destroyed by Muslims. A Turkish guard was assigned to the ruins of the temple, who did not allow him to approach this place. Gradually, the severity of the ban softened, and Christians erected a small church there. But it was also destroyed in 1821, and the source was filled in. Christians again cleared the ruins, opened the spring and still drew water from it. Subsequently, in one window, among the wreckage, a sheet half rotten from time and dampness was found with a recording of ten miracles from the Life-Giving Spring, which took place from 1824 to 1829. Under Sultan Mahmud, Orthodox Christians received some freedom to worship. They used it to erect a temple over the Life-Giving Spring for the third time.

In 1835, with a great celebration, Patriarch Konstantin, concelebrating 20 bishops and with a large number of pilgrims, consecrated the temple; A hospital and an almshouse were set up at the temple. The appearance of the Mother of God to Leo Markell took place on April 4, 450.

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