Rare scenes in the iconography of the resurrection of Christ. Holy Sunday: the meaning of prayer, the icon, what helps

14.10.2019

On the icons of the Resurrection of Christ, the ancient canonical Orthodox iconography depicts us, oddly enough, not the sacrament of the Resurrection itself, but "The Descent of our Lord Jesus Christ into hell." Until the end of the XVI century. in Russian icon painting, this was the only iconographic solution for depicting the Resurrection of Christ. The beginning was laid back in the Byzantine icon-painting tradition. The corresponding iconography has evolved since the 7th century. it was based on the Second Epistle of the Apostle Peter (2 Pet.3, 9-13), the Psalter and some other church books.

There are other familiar iconographic images dedicated to the Resurrection of the Savior. For example, "Myrrh-bearing women at the tomb of the Lord." Here we see the scene of the arrival of myrrh-bearing women to the tomb in the morning for anointing with incense (aromas), but they see only an open empty tomb, the body of the Savior is no longer in it.

There are only funeral sheets, and then the Angel of the Lord (or two Angels) appeared and informed them that the One whom they are looking for - Jesus Crucified, He is not among the dead, He is risen! The eyes of the wives are turned to the coffin and the burial sheets, to which the Angel points. Sometimes the resurrected Lord himself is depicted in the background.

Probably the most common icon-painting type is actually the image of the “Resurrection of Christ”, where Christ is depicted as ascending from an open tomb (sarcophagus) or leaving a burial cave, or standing on a rolled off tombstone, next to him sleeping or in horror running guards of the high priest. Sometimes in the hands of the Savior there is a white banner with a red cross, next to it are two Angels as witnesses of the Resurrection. This tradition was adopted in the second half of the 17th century. from Western Catholic realistic painting, however, over time it “dressed” in a more canonical form and technique. So, it is quite Orthodox, although it does not have ancient roots and symbols, but only illustrates the gospel words iconographically.

However, the most theologically correct is the icon we mentioned above “The Descent of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Hell”. It is more theologically rich and more accurately conveys the meaning of the feast of the Resurrection of Christ. In Russia, a similar iconography of the Resurrection of Christ has been known since the 11th century. In the center of this composition, Christ, in a halo of glory, stands on the destroyed wings of the gates of hell above the black abyss. In addition to the destroyed gates, broken locks, keys, chains are sometimes depicted. Its prince is placed in hell - the figure of Satan, bound by the Angels. On both sides of Christ are the righteous being delivered from hell: kneeling Adam and Eve, led by Christ by the hands from the tombs, behind are kings David and Solomon, as well as John the Baptist, the prophet Daniel and Abel ...

Christ on this icon seems to be absolutely static. He holds the hands of Adam and Eve. He is only preparing to bring them out of the place of affliction. The climb hasn't started yet. But the descent has just ended: the clothes of Christ are still fluttering (as after a rapid descent). He has already stopped, and the clothes are still falling after Him. Before us is the point of the ultimate descent of Christ, from it the path will go up, from the underworld to Heaven. Christ broke into hell, and the gates of hell crushed by him, broken, lie under His feet.

The "descent into hell" shows us how the victory of Christ is accomplished: not by force and not by magically authoritarian influence, but through maximum self-exhaustion, self-belittling of the Lord. The Old Testament tells how God was looking for man. The New Testament, right up to Easter, tells us how far God had to go to find His Son.

The entire complexity of the iconography of the Resurrection is connected with the need to show that Christ is not only the Resurrected, but also the Resurrector. She talks about why God came to earth and accepted death. On this icon, the moment of a turning point is given, the moment of the meeting of two differently directed, but united in purpose, actions: the ultimate point of the Divine descent turns out to be the initial support of human ascent. “God became man so that man might become God”—such is the golden formula of the Orthodox patristic understanding of man. These (previously closed) possibilities of transformation open up for a person rapidly - “in one hour". “Easter” means, translated from the Old Testament Hebrew, “transition”, a swift deliverance. In the Old Testament times, Passover bread was unleavened bread - unleavened bread made hastily from dough that had no time even to leaven. The liberation of mankind (already of all mankind, and not just the Jewish people) from slavery (no longer Egyptian pharaoh but death itself and sin).

The main meaning of the iconography of the Resurrection is soteriological, that is, testifying to the salvation of man. "The word is true: if we die with Him, we shall also live with Him" (2 Tim. 2:11). “Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too must walk in newness of life. For if we are united to Him in the likeness of His death<в крещении>we must also be united in the likeness of the resurrection, knowing that our old man was crucified with Him… that we no longer be slaves to sin” (Rom. 6:4-6). So says the apostle Paul.

The resurrection of Christ is the victory given to us. Or the victory of Christ over us. After all, we did everything so that Life would not “dwell in us”: we brought Christ out of the city of our soul, nailed Him to the cross with our sins, placed guards at the tomb and sealed it with the seal of unbelief and lovelessness. And - in spite of us, but for our sake - He still resurrected. Therefore, the icon painter, whose task is to convey the experience of the Paschal Church, cannot simply imagine the Savior's departure from the tomb. The icon painter needs to connect the Resurrection of Christ with the salvation of people. Therefore, the Easter theme finds its expression precisely in the image of the descent into hell. Crucified on Friday and Risen on Sunday, Christ descends into hell on Saturday (Eph. 4:8-9; Acts 2:31) to bring people out of there, to free the captives.

The first thing that catches your eye in the icon of the Descent is that there are… saints in hell. People in halos surround Christ, who descended into the underworld, and look at Him with hope. Before the coming of Christ, before He united God and man in Himself, the way to the Kingdom of Heaven was closed to us. Since the fall of the first people, a shift took place in the structure of the universe, which broke the life-giving connection between people and God. Even in death, the righteous did not unite with God. The state in which the soul of the dead was, in the Hebrew language is denoted by the word "sheol" - a formless place, a twilight and formless place in which nothing is visible (Job 10:21-22). It is rather a state of heavy and aimless sleep (Job 14:12) than a place of any specific torment. This "kingdom of shadows", this imaginary in its haze hid people from God. The oldest Old Testament books do not know the idea of a posthumous reward, they do not expect paradise. In this regard, in atheistic literature there is a statement that there lies an impassable gulf between the Old and New Testaments: the New Testament orientation to the immortality of the soul does not find confirmation in the Old Testament and contradicts it. Thus, at a very important point, the unity of the Bible is called into question. Yes, the Ecclesiastes hopelessly peers into the limits human life. The psalmist David weeps about the fleeting nature of human life: “A man is like grass, his days are like a green flower, so bloom, as if the spirit will pass in him and will not be” ... And Job asks, obviously not expecting an answer: “When a person dies, then will he live again? (Job 14:14). Yes, the existence of life after death was not clearly revealed to the people of the Old Testament. They could have anticipated it, longed for it, but apparently nothing had been said to them. After all, to say that life in God awaits them after death, the Kingdom of Heaven means to console and reassure them, but at the cost of deception. For before Christ it could not yet absorb the world into itself, and no one from the world could contain it into itself. But also to tell people Old Testament the truth about Sheol meant provoking in them bouts of hopeless despair or hysterical epicureanism: "Let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we'll die!"

And now the time has come when hopes, seemingly deceived, were nevertheless justified, when the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled: “On those living in the land of the shadow, the light of death will shine” (Is. 9.2). Hell was deceived: he thought to accept his lawful tribute - a man, a mortal son of a mortal father, he prepared to meet the Nazarene carpenter Jesus, Who promised people the New Kingdom, and now He Himself will be in power ancient kingdom darkness - but hell suddenly discovers that not just a man, but God has entered it. Life entered into the abode of death, into the center of darkness — the Father of Light.

However, we will not be able to convey both the meaning and the eventful mood of Easter better than St. John Chrysostom did: “Let no one weep about his misery, for the common Kingdom has appeared. Let no one mourn over sins, for forgiveness has shone forth from the Tomb. Let no one be afraid of death, for the death of the Savior has freed us. Christ is risen and Life abides. Christ is risen and the dead is not one in the tomb!

"The light of Christ enlightens all." Perhaps this is what the ancient icon painter wanted to say, placing on the icon of the Resurrection among the people meeting the Savior not only with halos, but also without them. In the foreground of the icon we see Adam and Eve. These are the first people to deprive themselves of communion with God, but they waited the longest for its resumption. Adam's hand, by which Christ is holding him, sagged impotently: man himself, without the help of God, has no strength to escape from the abyss of God-estrangement and death. “Poor man I am! who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24). But his other hand is resolutely stretched out to Christ: God cannot save a person without the person himself. Grace does not force. On the other side of Christ is Eve. Her hands are outstretched to the Deliverer. But - a significant detail - they are hidden under clothing. Her hands once committed a sin. With them she plucked fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. On the day of the fall, Eve thought to receive communion with the Highest Truth, not loving the Truth itself, not loving God. She chose the magical path: “taste and become”, replacing them with the difficult commandment of “cultivation” ... And now before her again the Truth incarnate - Christ. Communion with Her again can save a person. But now Eve knows that communion cannot be approached with self-confidence... Now she understands: the whole being of a person must be pierced by "reasoning" - to whom he is allowed to take communion... And Eve does not dare to touch Christ without authorization. But praying, waiting for him to turn to her.

Before, in paradise, the clothes of people were Divine Glory. Having stripped it off after the fall, after an attempt to acquire the fullness of this Glory in an inglorious technical way, the need for material clothing actually appeared. The light began to expose the nakedness of people from good deeds - and protection was required from it, because in this light, which has now become external to them and from the outside, revealing, "they knew that they were naked" (Gen. 3:7). Clothing served the same thing that cities would later serve - self-isolation, which, alas, became necessary (the city - from "to fence, enclose"). The fact that now (at the moment depicted on the icon) Eve is completely covered from head to toe is also a sign of her repentance, an understanding of her complete separation from God (clothes were given to people after the fall). But that is precisely why Eve was saved. Saved - for she repented. The icon painter always, when it is necessary to show the meeting of man and God - Eternal and temporal - seeks to reveal not only the very fact of the meeting, but also the meaning of man in it: his personal, choosing, believing attitude towards the Met. In this case, this is indicated not only by the face or gestures, but also by the clothes. And since this introduces the theme of repentance, the icon in the soul of the praying person combines Great Saturday(when the Descent into Hell was) and Easter Sunday. It combines the penitential feelings of the final days of Great Lent and the all-dissolving joy of Easter.

The Resurrection of Christ is not "mythology" or "theoretical theology". After all, what is more in line with human nature: the Christian testimony of Easter miracle or the ponderous rationality of the human mind - it is easy to establish empirically in the coming Easter days. Just come to the temple on Easter night and to the priestly exclamation from the open gates: “Christ is Risen!” - will your heart shake in response: “Truly He is risen!” - or will you order him to keep silent? .. Better - believe your heart!

The main dogma of the Christian faith is the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ the Savior on the third day after death on the cross. The Easter holiday is considered the central celebration of the annual liturgical cycle. An invariable attribute of any event glorified by the church is its picturesque image. Thanks to the possibilities of printing production, the icon " Christ's Resurrection” is one of the most common today. However, the appearance of the now popular image was associated with a centuries-old history of hymnography and dogmatic creativity of the Church Fathers. The complexity of the formation of a picturesque plot lies not only in the saturation of the composition with numerous figures, but also in the fact that the evangelists have no descriptions of this event. It cannot be otherwise: the apostle disciples were not present at the same time, and the miracle itself is incomprehensible to the human mind. The image of the Resurrection is considered indescribable, therefore, events directly related to it are displayed in painting. In the order of the Liturgy of John Chrysostom there are such words: "in the tomb of the flesh, in hell with a soul like God, in paradise with a thief." The text describes to some extent the events leading up to the resurrection. Apocryphal writings also left their mark.

Picturesque images of the first three centuries were allegorical and symbolic. The nascent church art was marked by cruel persecution by the pagans. Under these conditions, the shrines had to be carefully protected from desecration. Major event christian church depicted in the form of Old Testament types. The most common was the image of the prophet Jonah in the womb of a leviathan. Just as Jonah spent three days in the womb of a whale, and then was cast out into the world, and Christ was in the tomb for three days, and then resurrected. This event is sung in Easter hymns.

Iconographic types

It is impossible to depict the very moment of the resurrection of the flesh, because the human consciousness is unable to even speculatively imagine this process, let alone express it graphically. In Christian iconography, there is a limited number of storylines that embody the greatness of the event for believers. The image of classical orthodox origin is not called the icon "Christ's Resurrection", but "The Descent of Christ the Savior into Hell." The Western tradition has introduced into liturgical use two more comprehensible to the consciousness of the layman now widespread pictorial images: "The Resurrected Christ at the Tomb" and "The Appearance of the Resurrected Savior to the Myrrh-Bearing Women." There are variations on these main themes, for example, the icon "The Resurrection of Christ with the holidays."

Unique Fact

Every action in the church must be consistent with the charter and justified dogmatically. Modern theologians compare church teaching with a turtle that has a strong shell for protection. This armor has been developed in the fight against many heresies and false teachings over the course of many centuries. Activities in the field of art are also strictly regulated. On an icon, each brushstroke must be justified. But the icon "Christ's Resurrection" is based on not quite canonical sources of information. Namely, on the texts of the source of the 5th century, the so-called gospel of Nicodemus, rejected by the canonical thought of the church.

Icon of the Resurrection of Christ. Meaning

The picturesque image tells of great and incomprehensible events. It is the Gospel of Nicodemus that is, perhaps, the only ancient handwritten source that tells about what happened to Christ from the moment of burial to the rising from the tomb. This apocrypha describes in some detail the dialogue between the devil and the underworld and the events that followed. Hell, anticipating its collapse, orders the unclean spirits to tightly "lock the gates of brass and iron bars." But the Heavenly King crushes the gates, binds Satan and betrays him into the power of hell, commanding him to be kept in bondage until the second coming. After that, Christ calls all the righteous to follow Him. As the centuries passed, dogmatists clothed non-canonical texts in orthodox teaching. The Creator has no measurement of time, for Him every person who lived before the preaching of Christ, His contemporaries and us living today is valuable. The Savior, having descended into the underworld, brought out of hell all who desired it. But now living must make their own choice. The icon shows the omnipotence of the Creator, who freed the captives of the underworld. And over time, He will appear in order to carry out judgment and finally determine the measure of punishment for evil and the eternal reward of the righteous.

Serbian fresco

In the male monastery of Mileshev (Serbia) there is an ancient temple of the Ascension of the XIII century. One of the images of the medieval ensemble of wall paintings is the icon "Christ's Resurrection". The fresco depicts an angel in shining clothes, which corresponds to the description of these events by the Evangelist Matthew. The heavenly messenger sits on a stone that has been rolled away from the door of the cave. Near the tomb lie the burial sheets of the Savior. Next to the angel are placed women who brought vessels with the world to the coffin. This version has not received much distribution among Orthodox icon painters, but Western realistic painting willingly uses it. It is interesting that in this case the event is depicted without its main participant - Christ.

The oldest canonical image

In 1081 a church was built on the outskirts of Constantinople. According to its location, it received the name of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in the Fields. In Greek "in the fields" - ?ν τ? Χ?ρ? (en ti choir). So, the temple and the monastery built later are still called "Chora". At the beginning of the 16th century, a new mosaic covering of the interior was arranged in the temple. Among those that have survived to this day is the icon of the Resurrection of Christ, the descent into hell. The composition depicts the Savior standing on the broken gates of hell. Christ is surrounded by an almond-shaped halo. By the hands He holds Adam and Eve rising from the tombs. Behind the progenitors of the human race are the righteous of the Old Testament. This rendition is most widely used in iconography.

What is on the icon?

The image is the dogma of the church, expressed in pictorial form. According to church teaching, paradise for the righteous was closed until the Savior's death on the cross and His glorious resurrection. The composition of the icon includes images of the most famous saints before the era of Christ. The Savior stands on the cross-folded gates of hell. tools and extracted nails are sometimes depicted near them. Adam and Eve, as a rule, are located on opposite sides of Christ. Behind the foremother are Abel, Moses and Aaron. To the left of Adam are John the Baptist, Kings David and Solomon. The figures of Adam and Eve can be located on one side of Christ. At the bottom of the composition, the underworld can be depicted with angels oppressing unclean spirits.

Icon of the Resurrection of Christ. Description

The image, which is of Western origin, is not a symbolic composition, but a pictorial display of gospel events. As a rule, an open cave-coffin is depicted, an angel sits on a stone or is next to a sarcophagus, in the lower part of the composition there are defeated Roman soldiers and, of course, Christ in shining robes with a sign of victory over death in his hands. A red cross is placed on the banner. Wounds from nails driven into the flesh during crucifixion are depicted on the arms and legs. Although the icon of the "Resurrection of Christ" was borrowed in the 17th century from the Catholic realistic tradition, but clothed in orthodox canonical forms, it is quite popular with believers. It does not require any theological interpretation.

Holidays holiday

The Holy Resurrection of Christ is considered by the church charter not just a holiday, but a special celebration, the glorification of which continues for forty days. Moreover, the celebration of Easter itself lasts seven days as one day. Such an exalted attitude of believers to the rise of the Savior from the tomb was also reflected in church art. The original line of development of the pictorial tradition is the icon "The Resurrection of Christ, the descent into hell with the Twelve Feasts." This image contains in the center the image of the main event in the life of the church, and around the perimeter in the hallmarks are plots of the twelve most important holidays associated with the earthly life of Christ and the Virgin. Among these shrines, there are also very unique specimens. Events are also shown. Passion Week. In practice, the icon "The Resurrection of Christ with the Twelfth Feasts" is a summary of the gospel events and the annual cycle of worship. On event images, the descent into hell is depicted with many details. The composition includes the figures of the righteous, a whole line of which Christ brings out of the underworld.

Icon on the lectern

In the center of the temple there is a pedestal with an inclined board, called an lectern. It is believed to be the image of a saint or a holiday to which the service is dedicated on this day. The icon of the Resurrection of Christ is found on the lectern most often: during the forty days of the celebration of Easter and at the end of each week. After all, the name of the day off has a Christian origin, the last day of the week is dedicated to the glorification of Christ's victory over death.

The most outstanding temples in honor of the Resurrection

One of the grandest churches in Russia is the Resurrection Cathedral of the New Jerusalem Monastery, built in 1694. With this building, Patriarch Nikon wanted to reproduce the Church of the Resurrection in the Holy City and emphasize the dominant position of the Russian Church in the Orthodox world. For this, drawings and a model of the Jerusalem shrine were delivered to Moscow. Another, although less ambitious, but not inferior in monumentality, is the Church of the Savior on Blood in St. Petersburg.

Construction began in 1883 in memory of the assassination attempt on Emperor Alexander II. The uniqueness of this cathedral is that the interior decor is made of mosaics. The mosaic collection is one of the largest in Europe. It is unique in its quality. On clear sunny days, iridescent multi-colored tiles create a unique feeling of celebration and involvement in spiritual world. In the temple itself there is an image of amazing beauty. Outside, above one of the entrance portals, there is also an icon of the Resurrection of Christ. The photo, of course, cannot convey the fullness of sensations, but it creates a complete picture of the splendor of the decoration.

The temple is alreadyRussian and ready for service,but everyone needs to get out of it. And the doors must be closed. Now in our minds the temple is the Life-Giving Sepulcher of the Savior. And we ourselves go to him, as once myrrh-bearing women.

Solemn bell

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The basis of the world is the week. The number six indicates the created world, and the number seven reminds us that the created world is covered with blessing. Here is the key to understanding the celebration of the Sabbath. On the seventh day, i.e. On Saturday, God blessed what He created, and, resting on Saturday from daily affairs, a person had to reflect on the affairs of the Creator, praise Him for the fact that He arranged everything miraculously. On Saturday, a person was not supposed to show his hair.

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Without faith in the Risen Christ, there is no Christianity. That is why all the opponents of our faith are persistently trying to shake the truth of the Resurrection.

The first objection: Christ did not die on the cross: He only fell into a deep faint, from which he later woke up in a cave, got up from His bed, rolled away a huge stone from the doors of the tomb and left the cave ... To this ...

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From the day of Holy Pascha to the feast of the Ascension (the 40th day), the Orthodox greet each other with the words: "Christ is Risen!" and answer "Truly Risen!"

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ABOUT PARTICIPATION

BRIGHT WEEK

The entire Bright Week is the brightest days of the church year, when the Divine Liturgy is served every day with open royal doors. And only this week (week) after each after each Divine Liturgy committed procession with an icon, Banners, Artos.

One-day fasts are canceled on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Features of Divine Services of the Holy Week:

Most people consider Christmas to be the main Christian holiday, but in fact it is Easter. The essence of the great day is symbolically narrated on the icon of the Resurrection of Christ. The main doctrine of Christians has been depicted in the form of frescoes and paintings since ancient times. Orthodox icon painting, after centuries of development, adopted the main points from the Byzantine school. There are also Western versions of images of the main event of human history, but they all tell about one thing.

Why are there few icons of the Resurrection in Orthodoxy?

It may seem strange that during the period of the brightest Feast, icons that are incomprehensible in composition and outwardly dissimilar to each other are brought to the center of the temple. This requires a very deep understanding of the theme of the Resurrection. In fact, Orthodox icons capture and convey the very essence.

Give short description the icon "Resurrection of Christ" will not work. If only because today there are 2 traditional types of such images.

Descent into hell.
Sunday with holidays.

In both cases, the composition of the image is quite complex. Paradoxically, it has a lot of characters. Although only one God-man was resurrected, this touched each of those who knew Him then and all who live on earth. No wonder even our chronology begins with the Nativity of Christ. What is the name of the last day of the week? Indeed, reminders of that Sunday accompany people throughout their lives.

In the first centuries of Christianity, iconography experienced some difficulties: after all, the Gospels do not contain a description of the very moment of the resurrection. But symbolic images have been found since ancient times - at first, artists painted Jonah in the belly of a huge whale.

Ancient icons of the Resurrection of Christ depicted the gospel events in different ways. For example, there are 2 warriors standing near the tomb, one of which is sleeping. Either an angel appeared to women, or the already resurrected Christ appears before Mary Magdalene. However, such plots did not reflect the fullness of the theological meaning of Easter. Therefore, the “Descent into Hell” type appears, which today is often found on the icons of the “Resurrection of Christ”. Composition highlights:

Christ holds the hands of the first people (they symbolize everyone who has been in hell up to this point) - Adam and Eve are preparing to leave the vale of sorrow.

The Son of God, in search of man, descends to the lowest point of the universe, from where only one way is possible - upward, to Heaven.

Under the Savior's feet are the broken gates of hell.

On Christ - clothes of white (sometimes - red) color, this is the Lord's color in the Church. White vestments are put on all the holidays associated with Christ - except for Easter. Adam and Eve stretch out their hands to Him, as to the most long-awaited guest. On the side are usually depicted the Old Testament righteous. Sometimes defeated demons are painted below. Mountains are visible in the background, and the abyss of hell is also blackened.

The first images of this type are found from the 10th century. - for example, on Athos. It is believed that the apocryphal "Gospel of Nicodemus" became the basis of the plot. Its text was known in Russia in the translation of St. Macarius. However, there are numerous references to the descent into hell in the prophetic books, in the Psalter, in the Apostle Paul.

The meaning of the holiday is the meaning of the whole Christian life

Each icon reflects the essence of a certain holiday, or recalls the feat of a saint. The meaning of the icon of the Resurrection of Christ is to show not only the very fact that Christ conquered death. For every true believer, he is beyond doubt. No, the image does not at all try to convince those who are skeptical. Here the event has already taken place. The resurrected son of the carpenter is presented not only as the redeemer of original sin, but also as the One who Himself resurrects.

Is it necessary to say that Easter is the central event not only of Christianity, but of every specific human destiny? Could a man live in peace knowing that his best friend died for him? But here we are not just talking about a man - about God, who descended from heaven to give eternal life everyone without exception.

Why was the very moment of the Resurrection not portrayed? The holy fathers considered this sacrament so great that the image could only belittle it. Iconography was supposed not only to show the risen Christ, but also to connect this event with the salvation of the human race, which is the main task of this type of art.

The saints were in hell because the way to heaven was closed. Sin severed the connection between God and his creation, and for this Christ came - to restore the lost harmony of the Heavenly Father and His prodigal children.

Famous churches in the name of the Resurrection of Christ

Prayer at home is an important part of the spiritual life, but a person needs living communication with those who have the same hope as himself. A visit to the temple provides an opportunity to participate in common church prayer, to join the shrines of cultural and spiritual value.

The Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Sokolniki is famous for its rare collection of icons that were transferred here from other communities during times of persecution. The most famous is Iverskaya - a miraculous copy of the Athos image. The rich salary was made on the donations of grateful parishioners who received an answer to their prayers. The small ark, located on the icon, contains a part of the coverlet from the Holy Sepulcher.

The church was built at the beginning of the 19th century. The erection was accompanied interesting history. One merchant wanted to donate funds to the temple. In a dream, he saw the apostles Paul and Peter, who told him where to take the money. The next day, the man appeared to the rector of the Resurrection Church. He just needed funds to pay the workers.

Oak icon cases made in the Byzantine style are of particular beauty.

The orientation of the altar of the temple is unusual - it is directed to the south, to the Holy Sepulcher.

During the construction of the temple, there was a constant shortage of funds. Once the abbot gave shelter to an elderly wanderer, who left a significant amount in the cell the next morning. Since then, St. Nicholas is one of the most revered temple saints.

The main shrine of the entire Christian world is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It was erected over the places where all the most important events of Holy Week took place. It was the very first Christian temple in history, built by Emperor Constantine. Before he accepted the new faith, the followers of Christ were subjected everywhere to persecution, torture and death. This is still happening in some countries today.

How to pray at the icon of the Resurrection

The central event of Christ's ministry is worthy of special prayerful reverence on the part of believers. Everyone who has ever been in the service remembers the Sunday hymn “Seeing the Resurrection of Christ ...” It would be very appropriate to sing it at home.

The icon "The Resurrection of Christ" helps to remember the main goal of a person's life - he must become like Christ in everything. Open your heart to Him, accept those changes that are inevitable in order for the soul to be transformed. And after it, life will change. It can be joyful, regardless of the level of wealth. To do this, you need to fill your heart with love. There is only one way to do this - through prayer. First of all, it must be constant.

The main prayers of every Christian are "Our Father", the Creed, the prayer to the Holy Spirit. One should regularly refer to the Psalter, where King David collected songs for all occasions. All of them can be read before the image of Christ, because through Him the whole Holy Trinity is revealed to us. Lord in Holy Scripture promised to fulfill any request of a person, which will sound in the name of Jesus.

You should not try to abuse this promise, trying to get all earthly goods. The Lord is not stupid, he established the laws of life so that people use them for others for good, and not for harm. You can ask for spiritual gifts, help in work, in difficult situations about the health of loved ones, the upbringing of children.

Prayer before the icon of the Resurrection of Christ

Sunday Hymn: Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. We worship Thy Cross, O Christ, and we sing and glorify Thy Holy Resurrection: Thou art our God, unless we know Thee otherwise, we call Thy name. Come, all faithful, let us bow down to the holy resurrection of Christ: behold, the joy of the whole world has come by the Cross. Always blessing the Lord, let us sing of His resurrection: having endured the crucifixion, destroy death by death.

Prayer for Holy Easter:

Oh, Most Holy and Greatest Light of Christ, Resplendent throughout the world more than the sun in Your Resurrection! In this bright and glorious and saving laziness of Holy Pascha, all the angels in heaven rejoice, and every creature rejoices and rejoices on earth, and every breath glorifies Thee, its Creator. Today, the gates of paradise are opened, and the dead I am freed into hell by Your descent. Now all is filled with light, heaven is earth and the underworld. May Your light also come into our gloomy souls and hearts, and may it enlighten our existing night of sin there, and we will shine with the light of truth and purity in the bright days of Your Resurrection, like a new creature about You. And thus, enlightened by Thee, we will come forth enlightened in meeting Thy, who proceeds to Thee from the tomb, like the Bridegroom. And as thou hast rejoiced on this most bright day with the appearance of Your holy virgins in the morning from the world to Your tomb who came, so now enlighten the night of our deep passions and shine on us the morning of dispassion and purity, so that we can see Thee with the hearts of the eyes red more than the sun of the Bridegroom and let us hear still your longed-for voice: Rejoice! And having tasted the Divine joys of Holy Pascha while still here on earth, may we be partakers of Thy eternal and great Pascha in heaven in the non-evening days of Thy Kingdom, where there will be inexpressible joy and an unceasing voice of celebrating and inexpressible sweetness of those who see Your Face inexpressible kindness. Thou art the true light, enlightening and illuminating every one, Christ our God, and glory befits you forever and ever. Amen.

However, the appearance of the now popular image was associated with a centuries-old history of hymnography and dogmatic creativity of the Church Fathers. The complexity of the formation of a picturesque plot lies not only in the saturation of the composition with numerous figures, but also in the fact that the evangelists have no descriptions of this event.

It cannot be otherwise: the apostle disciples were not present at the same time, and the miracle itself is incomprehensible to the human mind. The image of the Resurrection is considered indescribable, therefore, events directly related to it are displayed in painting.

In the order of the Liturgy of John Chrysostom there are such words: “in the tomb of the flesh, in hell with a soul like God, in paradise with a thief.” The text describes to some extent the events leading up to the resurrection. Apocryphal writings also left their mark.

The first images Picturesque images of the first three centuries were allegorical and symbolic. The nascent church art was marked by cruel persecution by the pagans. Under these conditions, the shrines had to be carefully protected from desecration. The most important event of the Christian church was depicted in the form of Old Testament types

. The most common was the image of the prophet Jonah in the womb of a leviathan. Just as Jonah spent three days in the womb of a whale, and then was cast out into the world, and Christ was in the tomb for three days, and then resurrected. This event is sung in Easter hymns.

iconographic types.

The image of classical orthodox origin is not called the icon "Christ's Resurrection", but "The Descent of Christ the Savior into Hell". The Western tradition has introduced into liturgical use two more comprehensible to the consciousness of the layman now widespread pictorial images: “The Risen Christ at the Sepulcher” and “The Appearance of the Risen Savior to the Myrrh-Bearing Women”. There are variations on these main themes, for example, the icon "The Resurrection of Christ with the holidays." A unique fact Every action in the church must be consistent with the charter and justified dogmatically

. Modern theologians compare church teaching with a turtle that has a strong shell for protection. This armor has been developed in the fight against many heresies and false teachings over the course of many centuries. Activities in the field of art are also strictly regulated. On an icon, each brushstroke must be justified.

But the icon "Christ's Resurrection" is based on not quite canonical sources of information. Namely, on the texts of the source of the 5th century, the so-called gospel of Nicodemus, rejected by the canonical thought of the church. Icon of the Resurrection of Christ. Significance The picturesque image tells of great and incomprehensible events.

It is the Gospel of Nicodemus that is, perhaps, the only ancient handwritten source that tells about what happened to Christ from the moment of burial to the rising from the tomb. This apocrypha describes in some detail the dialogue between the devil and the underworld and the events that followed. Hell, anticipating its collapse, orders the unclean spirits to tightly “lock up the gates of brass and locks of iron.” But the Heavenly King crushes the gates, binds Satan and betrays him into the power of hell, commanding him to be kept in bondage until the second coming.

After that, Christ calls all the righteous to follow Him. As the centuries passed, dogmatists clothed non-canonical texts in orthodox teaching. The Creator has no measurement of time, for Him every person who lived before the preaching of Christ, His contemporaries and us living today is valuable. The Savior, having descended into the underworld, brought out of hell all who desired it. But now living must make their own choice. The icon shows the omnipotence of the Creator, who freed the captives of the underworld. And over time, He will appear in order to carry out judgment and finally determine the measure of punishment for evil and the eternal reward of the righteous.

Serbian fresco.

The oldest canonical image

In 1081 a church was built on the outskirts of Constantinople. According to its location, it received the name of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in the Fields. In Greek "in the fields" - ἐν τῃ Χώρᾳ (en ti chora). So, the temple and the monastery built later are still called “Chora”. At the beginning of the 16th century, a new mosaic covering of the interior was arranged in the temple. Among those that have survived to this day is the icon “The Resurrection of Christ, the Descent into Hell”. The composition depicts the Savior standing on the broken gates of hell. Christ is surrounded by an almond-shaped halo. By the hands He holds Adam and Eve rising from the tombs. Behind the progenitors of the human race are the righteous of the Old Testament. This rendition is most widely used in iconography.

What is on the icon?

Icon of the Resurrection of Christ.

Description The image, which is of Western origin, is not a symbolic composition, but a pictorial display of gospel events. As a rule, an open cave-coffin is depicted, an angel sits on a stone or is next to a sarcophagus, in the lower part of the composition there are defeated Roman soldiers and, of course,

Christ in shining robes with the sign of victory over death in his hands. A red cross is placed on the banner. Wounds from nails driven into the flesh during crucifixion are depicted on the arms and legs. Although the icon of the Resurrection of Christ was borrowed in the 17th century from the Catholic realistic tradition, but, dressed in orthodox canonical forms, is quite popular with believers. It does not require any theological interpretation.

Holidays holiday.

An original line of development of the pictorial tradition is the icon “The Resurrection of Christ, the Descent into Hell with the Twelve Feasts”. This image contains in the center the image of the main event in the life of the church, and around the perimeter in the hallmarks are plots of the twelve most important holidays associated with the earthly life of Christ and the Virgin.

Among these shrines, there are also very unique specimens. The events of Passion Week are also depicted. In practice, the icon “The Resurrection of Christ with the Twelfth Feasts” is a summary of the gospel events and the annual cycle of worship. On event images, the descent into hell is depicted with many details.

The composition includes the figures of the righteous, a whole line of which Christ brings out of the underworld. Icon on the lectern In the center of the temple there is a pedestal with an inclined board, called the lectern. It is believed to be the image of a saint or a holiday to which the service is dedicated on this day. The icon of the Resurrection of Christ is on the lectern most often: during the forty days of the celebration of Easter and at the end of each week. After all, the name of the day off has a Christian origin, the last day of the week is dedicated to the glorification of Christ's victory over death.

The most outstanding temples in honor of the Resurrection.

In the temple itself there is an image of amazing beauty. Outside, above one of the entrance portals, there is also an icon of the Resurrection of Christ. The photo, of course, cannot convey the fullness of sensations, but it creates a complete picture of the splendor of the decoration.