Weeping “Ilyin Chernigov” Icon of the Mother of God

The Il'insk (Prophet Elias)-Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God was painted in 1658 by the iconographer Gregory Dubensky (Gennadios in monasticism). The history of the Icon's creation and its miracles are described by a witness of these events, Saint Demetrios, Metropolitan of Rostov, in the works "A Miracle of the Most Holy and Most Blessed Virgin Mary," and "The Bedewed Fleece" (Руно орошенное). Some miracles are also mentioned by Saint John (Maximovich), Metropolitan of Tobolsk (June 10) in a poem "To the Virgin Theotokos." In 1662 there was a miraculous flow of tears from the Il'insk-Chernigov Icon, which continued from April 16-24, in connection with which a Feast Day was appointed for the Icon. In the same year, Chernigov was attacked by the Tatars, who ravaged the city and its environs, including the Holy Trinity-Il'insk Monastery, but, as Saint Demetrios testifies, the Icon and its precious oklad remained unharmed. The brethren who had taken refuge in the underground caves were also spared.

From the XVII century, cases of miracles from the Il'insk-Chernigov Icon were recorded with particular care. In "The Bedewed Fleece," Saint Demetrios described in detail 24 miraculous healings (one every hour) from all sorts of ailments of the residents of Chernigov and its environs. The list of miracles was augmented when the book was reprinted. Thus, by 1696, there were 56 cases of healing (5 from blindness, 3 from a disease of the legs, 3 from "gostza" (rheumatism). 1 from paralysis, 15 from demonic possession, 14 from clouding of the mind, 15 from various chronic diseases, and 1 instance of a boy raised from the dead. In the XIX century, several healings were observed: a Romny bourgeois from a fever (1865), a Chernigov girl from a mental disorder (on the Icon's Feast Day in 1874), and an infant from a high fever (1887 or 1888), the son of a Poltava landowner from diphtheria (until 1898), and a staff captain from Sveaborg from a chronic illness (until 1898), and several others.

Before HolyTrinity Cathedral was built in the Monastery (1679-1695), the Icon was kept in the church of the Prophet Elias near the caves, to the right near the pillar closest to the iconostasis. In 1786-1794, in connection with the planned opening of the University of Holy Trinity-Il'insk Monastery at Chernigov, but this did not occur, so the Icon was placed in the Dormition Cathedral of the Yelets Chernigov Convent, which was dedicated to the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. In the XIX century, the Icon was in the cathedral, but only during the summertime. In winter, the Icon was transferred to the heated church of the Nativity of Christ, and placed in a special case behind the right kliros. At the beginning of the XX century, in winter, the Il'insk-Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God was kept in the Sretensky church in the Bishop's residence, and a substitute icon was left in the cathedral. The wonderworking Icon disappeared after the closure of Holy Trinity-Il'insk Monastery in 1924.

At the end of the XVII century, by the initiative of Archbishop Lazarus (Baranovich) and at the expense of Hetman I. S. Mazepa (whose initials and coat of arms were on the case), a silver oklad and a kiot were made (these have not been preserved). A crown with precious stones was donated by the Chernigov Colonel V. Dunin-Borkovsky, who received healing from the Icon in 1687 The dimensions of the Icon (1 arshin, 5 vershkas by 14.5 vershts – 93.37×64.45 cm) were increased when placed in the kiot because it was overlaid with a frame covered with silver plates with additional images engraved on them (2 arshins 2 vershkas by 1 arshin 6 vershks (151.24×97.8 cm) together with the frame). Attached to the case were plaques with inscriptions: "This holy image of the Mother of God, called Il'insk-Chernigov, was painted in 1658" and "The miraculous flow of tears from the Icon apparently occurred in 1662, from the 16th to the 24th day of the month of April." "In 1662 the Tatars invaded the city of Chernigov, but the hands of the impious Saracens could not touch this wonderworking Icon." In 1897 the oklad was replaced by a new one, made in Moscow by M. N. Ryndin with donations from the residents of Chernigov. There was an inscription on it: "This silver riza was made to replace the old one, which had fallen into disrepair, with the blessing of Bishop Anthony of Chernigov and Nizhyn, with the zeal of the benevolent donors of Chernigov. Hierodeacon Varlaam was sent to Moscow to order this riza from the master M. N. Ryndin, 1897, the weight of this riza is 33 ф. 29 з."

Revered copies of the Il'insk-Chernigov Icon, made at the end of the XVII-XVIII centuries, were in all the churches of Chernigov. At present, two copies are venerated in the Yelets Dormition Monastery in Chernigov.

The wonderworking copy of the Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God, which was kept in the Gethsemane Skete of Holy Trinity-Saint Sergius Lavra, became famous in 1869.

The Icon belongs to the traditional Hodegetria type. The Child blesses with His right hand, and a scroll in his left. He sits on the left hand of His Mother. The heads of the Mother of God and the Child are slightly inclined toward each other, the Child's legs are tightly together. The figure of the Mother of God has an almost generational edge, characteristic of the southern and western Russian iconography of the Mother of God of the XVII century. The Child is dressed in a white shirt with a collar. A distinctive feature of Il'insk-Chernigov iconography. The Icon is a gesture of the Infant's hand stretched forward. Identical or fairly similar compositional solutions are present in a number of other wonderworking Icons of the Mother of God associated with Belarus and Ukraine (Borkolabovskaya, Trigorskaya, Poddubetska, Gerbovetskaya Icons of the Mother of God).

In copies of the wonderworking Icon, crowns were often depicted on the heads of the Mother of God and her Child, which were absent on the Icon itself, but were present on its oklad. For the first time, crowns were depicted in an engraving of 1683 in Saint Demetrios of Rostov's book "The Bedewed Fleece." Obviously, this engraving became a model for Ukrainian and Russian icons, and on such copies the identifying inscription at the bottom was usually repeated (icon of 1778, Chernigov State Icon, Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve).