What icons do pilgrims bring from the Holy Land?
The Holy Land is a place where the soul of every believer strives. Having visited here, pilgrims return home not with ordinary souvenirs, but with real Shrines filled with spiritual meaning.
But today I want to talk specifically about icons, about those images that Orthodox believers most often bring from the Holy Land , and which can be found in pilgrimage shops in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth.
ICON "Holy Family"
In the Holy Land of Jerusalem, this image is especially revered and can be found in every church, temple and souvenir shop.
The icon of the Mother of God with the infant Jesus Christ and her husband Joseph the Betrothed is intended to serve as a reminder of the inviolability of marital bonds and to protect the family hearth, to bless for advice and love.
But not only married couples turn to this image, people also come to it with requests for a wife or husband with whom they can spend the rest of their lives in love and understanding.
ICON "Our Lady of Jerusalem"
The Jerusalem Icon, according to tradition, was painted by the holy evangelist Luke in the 15th year after the Ascension of the Lord in Gethsemane, that is, in the year 48. It became the first of seventy lifetime images of the Mother of God painted by the Apostle Luke.
According to legend, the icon was blessed by the Mother of God herself and “Grace will be bestowed upon all who pray before it.”
Icons are consecrated on the Stone of Anointing in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - this makes them especially dear to the heart and strengthens the prayerful connection with the places where Christ stepped.
These icons become not only a memorial shrine, but also a prayerful consolation in the home, before which a lamp is lit daily and a petition or gratitude is offered.
ICON "Our Lady of Bethlehem"
The distinctive feature of this icon is the smile of the Mother of God. This is the only icon of the Mother of God in which the Blessed Virgin is depicted smiling.
The second name of the icon is "In Joy". It is believed that the smile of the Holy Mother of God promises those praying before her hope for help, intercession and healing from illnesses.