Theotokos of Jerusalem icon

$ 19.00

Mounted on wood Sizes

3 X 5 4 X 6 5 X 7 6 X 8 8 X 11 11 X 17 17 x 24

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Orthodox icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Jerusalem.

This 19th century painted icon has its own miraculous story: According to Holy Tradition this miraculous icon was painted through the revelation of the Holy Theotokos to a nun named Tatiana from the Holy Monastery of St. Mary Magdalene, around 1870 AD. In 1870, there lived a monastic iconographer called Tatiana. One night, a lady appeared to her in a vision saying, "Sister Tatiana, I have come so that you can paint me." Tatiana replied, "Let it be, Blessed Sister; however, I am an iconographer and not a painter." The lady replied, "... well then, you should paint me using your iconographic style."

Sister Tatiana was furious with the boldness of this lady's response and said, "I do not have any plank of wood to use." The lady then gave her the plank of wood the sister would need and told her to "paint." In obedience to her guest, the sister started her iconography. Sister Tatiana glanced at her guest, and she noticed the guest's appearance transfigure in front of her. The lady's mantle started to turn into gold and her face was glowing intensely.

This change in the appearance of the lady worried Tatiana but the lady spoke to her, saying: "O Blessed Tatiana, you are the only person, after the Apostles and the Evangelist Luke, to have this opportunity to write an icon of me again." Sister Tatiana then realised that she was in the presence of our Holy Mother the Theotokos. In shock she awoke from her vision. She immediately went and informed her Mother Superior of the vision in detail. The abbess did not believe in the story but told her to go to sleep and the following day she could paint an icon of the Panagia with her blessing.

Tatiana returned to her cell and before entering she noticed a bright light shining through the door. She hastened to the abbess, once again, to bring her to her cell to witness this light and understand that she was not lying about the visions. Together they returned to Tatiana's cell. Inside, they could smell a beautiful and heavenly fragrance and the light was so bright that only then did they realise that the aroma and the light were coming from an icon of the Virgin Mary.

The mysterious and miraculous appearance of the icon had the sisters in shock but our Holy Mother the Theotokos appeared once more to Tatiana and said, "Now take me from here down to my home in Gethsemane of Jerusalem." This is what the abbess and the sister did. In iconography, this is termed "acheiropoieto" (Gr. an image not painted by hands) and is now located exactly where the Panagia wanted it to be, in her "home," her final resting place at her holy tomb in Gethsemane.

The name "Ierosolymitissa" has since been adopted since it means the Most Holy Lady from Jerusalem and is extremely miraculous.

We find this name of our God in two Biblical Books. The first is in the Book of Daniel and it was a vision that Daniel's had: "I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire."A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the books were opened”.

The second is in the book of Revelation 1/A 12-18: "I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lamp stands and among the lamp stands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."

In the art of the orthodox iconography, sometimes Christ portrayed as an Elderly, as the “Ancient of the Days”, to symbolically show His existence in eternity and some times like a young “person” to demonstrate His incarnation. This tendency of hagiography appeared in the 6th century AD, especially in the Eastern Byzantine Empire.

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