December 16, 2011
New York: A Sermon by Archimandrite Ioann (Magramm) on the feast day of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign

"Come, all ye nations, unto the temple of the Lord! Let us gather together and hymn the all-praised Mother of our God, and let us fall down with faith before her Icon, for she hath given now a deposit of salvation unto the Russian land; therefore, radiantly celebrating this feast, let us cry aloud unto the Theotokos: Rejoice, O ready help unto the world, the rejoicing and salvation of our souls."

Thus does the Russian Church call unto us on this feast day of the Protectress of the Russian Diaspora – the wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign.

Our Synodal Cathedral also celebrates it patronal feast day today. But it is not only the feast of our cathedral, but the feast of the whole Orthodox Diaspora, and not only, but also the feast of our homeland, the House of the Most Holy Theotokos, as our Russian Orthodox people once loved to call their country.

For over 700 years the Kursk Icon has been performing countless miracles, drying the tears of the sorrowful and needy, and healing many souls.

In 1295, in the woods of the Kursk region, the wonderworking Icon of the Sign appeared to one pious man, lying face down at the root of a large tree. When he but lifted the icon off the ground, at once a spring flowed fourth from the spot where it had lain. Word of this quickly spread, and the Prince of Rylsk ordered that the Icon be brought to the city, but the Icon constantly vanished from the church by miraculous means, returning to the forest, to the tree where it was found.

The people decided that the Mother of God had graced that spot, and built a chapel, where they then left the Icon. A priest named Bogolyub was assigned to the spot, where he lived permanently. The faithful came to venerate the Icon, from which flowed countless miracles.

In 1383, the Kursk region was laid to waste by the Tartars, who burned the chapel, chopped the Icon in half, throwing one half in the fire and the other half to the side, and took the priest prisoner.

Some time later, emissaries of the Muscovite Tsar, riding past the Tartar encampment, heard Russian singing to the Most Holy Theotokos and, discovering the imprisoned priest, purchased his freedom.

Fr. Bogolyub returned to the previous spot; he found one half of the Icon at the chapel, while the other he found off to the side; when he put the two together, they miraculous reunited.

Over the course of the following centuries, the Icon was famous for its many miracles. The Icon even protected against an explosion in the Cathedral of the Sign in 1898.

The terrible year 1918 eventually came, and with it the rise to power of the Soviets, who covered the Russian land in blood.

Arcchbishop Averky (Taushev) wrote, that revolution is a result of many people abandoning their faith in the Church and their true reverence of the Theotokos. Only through terrible sufferings could the Russian people cleanse themselves of their terrible sin.

In 1920, Bishop Theophan of Kursk brought the Icon to Greece from Russia, and later to Serbia.

In 1950, the Kursk Root Icon of the Sign arrived in the U.S. and was kept safe under a specially built awning here in the Synodal Cathedral.

Archbishop Averky maintained that the veneration of the Theotokos in Russian was greater than that of other nations. The virtues of the Most Holy Virgin are especially close and dear to the Russian heart.

For her humility and obedience, her dedication to God’s will, the Russian people revere her all the more tenderly and piously, and she, in turn, revealed the Sign of her Intercession for the Russian people.

Life was difficult for Russians in exile. A service was written for the Kursk Icon here in the Church Abroad, a service that acutely describes the sorrows and hopes of the Russian Orthodox people:

Come, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden,
Come, ye that cry and mourn,
Come, ye that patiently suffer,
Come, ye needy and infirm,
Fall down before the icon of the Most Pure Virgin
And each receive according to his need.
For behold, the all-hymned Theotokos gives generously unto all,
Healing to the sick,
Sweetest comfort to those who dwell in sorrows,
Forgiveness to sinners and salvation to all who flee unto her with faith.

O Venerable Father Seraphim, who prayest unceasingly for the Russian land,
Behold our sincere zeal,
Hear the prayer we offer up before the icon of the Most Pure,
And call unto the Theotokos for us,
That for thy sake she will accept our supplications.

And you and I must always be grateful to her for remaining with us here, and if we will but turn to her with faith and hope, then she will be merciful unto us. Amen.

Archimandrite Ioann (Magramm)
December 10, 2011
New York

See Also:
New York City: Historic Joint Concelebration by Hierarchs of OCA & ROCOR in the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese