The Mother of God

Theotokos Softening of Evil Hearts, Russia, 19th c. On the icon with the depiction of the Theotokos Softening of Evil Hearts, the Mother of God is shown in half-figure; she is holding a shawl pierced with seven swords. In its content, the painting refers to the words of Simeon the Old Man, spoken on the day of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and quoted in the Godpel of Luke: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Luke 2:34-35) This is why the icon is often also called the Testimony of Simeon. The words spoken by the old man direct attention towards the experiences of the Mother of God, who was aware of the mission that the Divine Son was to fulfill. The symbolic number of seven swords shows the entirety of the pain and suffering that the Mother of the Saviour was to experience in her earthly life. On icons of this type, a dead Child is sometimes shown on Mary's lap. There are no historical sources explaining the origin of this portrayal, which probably arose in south-western Russia and was popularised in household-use icons. Praying before this icon was supposed to protect from hostility - both the hostility of others and one's own towards other people. This type of icon of the Theotokos can appear in different variants, depending on the placement of the swords. In the northern regions of Russia, a depiction with three and four swords or arrows on the sides of the shawl, called 'of the Seven Shots', was more commonly used. It was believed that praying before this icon protects from cholera, which struck Russia in 1830. The feast of the icon is celebrated on the 15th of February (February 2 in the Julian calendar) and on the Sunday of All Saints (first Sunday after the Pentecost). Teresa Bagińska-Żurawska https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9243-3967