The Mother of God of Eleus

Depiction of the Mother of God Hodegetria, see S.12770MŁ, bearing the epithet 'Oh Dignified Mother'; it is also known as the Arabian or Avar Mother of God. The original of the icon, although considered historically remote, is not known and, according to tradition, it originates with St. Thomas the Apostle in relation to his missionary activity in India; according to researchers, it dates back to the beginning of the 4th c. The earliest references to this variant of the image in the area of the Russian Orthodox Church come from the second half of the 12th c.; they are included in the iconography manual of the Siya Monastery, located to the south of Arkhangelsk on the Great Lake Mikhaylovskoye, from which the river Siya flows. The manuals, called 'hermeneia' in Greek and 'podlinniki' in the lands of old Rus, contained visual or descriptive instructions and rules for painting icons. The distinguishing feature of this portrayal is the maphorion (Mary's head covering) decorated with clouds that symbolise Heaven and the depictions of Archangels placed on her shoulders and forehead, who symbolise the Holy Trinity. The epithet 'Dignified', 'Glorious', or 'Mother Worthy of All Praise' was taken from a liturgical hymn praising the Mother of God, which was sung standing up or, from Greek, 'akathist'. The words of the 13th kontakion of this hymn, beginning with "Truly, Mother, You are worthy of all praise", or in Russian "O wsiepietaja Mati…”, are inscribed on the edge of the robes of the Mother of God, which can be seen on the displayed icon. The hymn in honour of the Mother of God, attributed to Romanos the Melodist, who lived in the 6th c., was created in Constantinople and was solemnly sung as a hymn of thanksgiving for the saving of the Byzantine capital from the Avars in 626 and from the Arab siege in 677 Indirectly, this fact could be connected with the descriptions 'Arabic' or 'Avar' applied to the depiction containing the stanzas of the Marian hymn. The icon, widespread in the Russian Orthodox Church since the 18th c., has its feast day on the 19th of September (September 6 in the Julian calendar). Teresa Bagińska-Żurawska https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9243-3967