The icon "Guide of sinners" is a visible embodiment of the hope for the forgiveness of the Lord, obtained through the prayers of His Most Pure Mother. The very name of this holy image speaks of the great role assigned to Her by the eternal Son - Jesus Christ, since the word "guarantor" from the Church Slavonic language is translated as "guarantor", "intercessor" or "mediator" between the all-merciful God and people who are mired in in vices and lawlessness. However, before talking about what is the meaning of the icon "Guide of Sinners", and how it helps Christians, let's turn to its history.

Icon in an old chapel

Among the endless forests of Bryansk, there is an ancient, formerly male, and now female Karachay Odrino-Nikolaev monastery, founded, according to the chronicle, at the beginning of the 13th century. Many prayers were lifted up in it for the salvation of human souls and the deliverance of Russia from the troubles with which the national history is so rich. For true piety and a strict ascetic life, the Lord sent His good rewards to her more than once, one of which was the icon of the Mother of God “Guest of Sinners”.

As historical documents testify, the holy image was first glorified in 1843, although its acquisition took place long before that. For decades it was placed in a small wooden chapel that stood at the monastery gates, and did not stand out among other shrines. This icon of the Theotokos was called "The guarantor of sinners."

It was a half-length image of the Most Pure Virgin, holding the Eternal Infant on her left hand, and clutching His fingers with her right hand. Their heads were topped with crowns, which, according to art historians, is typical for the Belarusian or Little Russian school of icon painting. At the bottom of the image was placed an inscription containing the words of the Mother of God, in which She called herself "the surety of sinners." The icon subsequently received its name precisely because of this inscription.

Miracles of Healing

So she would have been lost among the many other icons of the Theotokos, with which every Russian monastery is rich, if in 1843, through the prayers offered before her, several pilgrims did not receive miraculous healing. It began with the fact that the resident of the village of Karachaev Alexandra Pochepina, whose young son suffered from epilepsy, the Mother of God appeared in a dream and ordered him to be taken to the Odrino-Nikolaev Monastery and there to offer a prayer in front of Her icon "The guarantor of sinners." After Alexandra fulfilled the will of the Queen of Heaven, her son was healed of his illness.

Following this, several more miracles were revealed, evidence of which is available in monastic books. So, shortly after the event described above, in front of the icon of the Mother of God "The guarantor of sinners", the Bryansk landowner Orlova, the mother of a paralyzed six-year-old girl, before whose illness all medical luminaries were powerless, prayed tearfully. Her words were heard, and to everyone's amazement, the patient left the monastery on her own feet. Around the same time, there is a record of how the Queen of Heaven, through Her image, bestowed sight on a merchant of the second guild, Nikonorov, blind from a serious illness.

Savior of the people

It is not surprising that after so many healings, manifested through prayers to the icon of the "Guest of Sinners", they began to revere it as miraculous and transferred it to the main church of the monastery, dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. In all its fullness, she became famous thanks to the fact that she saved many people during the terrible epidemic of cholera that hit the surrounding cities and villages in 1846. Entire families then came pilgrims to the Odrino-Nikolaev Monastery and, after long prayerful standings, acquired the intercession of the Queen of Heaven. This episode, described by many contemporaries, went down in history and was repeatedly mentioned in the literature.

Wanderings of the miraculous image

It is generally accepted that the icon of the “Guest of Sinners” stored today in the monastery is the very original that was glorified in the 40s of the 19th century, although for a number of reasons it spent several decades outside the walls of the monastery. The fact is that soon after the Bolsheviks came to power, the Odrino-Nikolaev Monastery was closed, the valuables stored in it were confiscated, and the icons that were of no interest to the “masters of the new life” were partly destroyed, and partly dispersed among the surrounding residents.

The image of the “Guest of Sinners” was then taken by one of the rural residents of the Oryol region, and in the 70s it came to another pious woman, Raisa K., who lived in Bryansk. However, his wanderings did not end there. In the mid-1990s, its keeper moved to Ukraine and there she took the veil as a nun, bringing this miraculous image as a gift to the monastery. Over time, she returned to her homeland and became one of the sisters of the Odrino-Nikolaev Monastery, revived by that time as a convent. The icon remained in Ukraine.

The holy image and its miraculous copy

The icon was returned to its original place in October 1996, and this event can also be considered a miracle, since it happened thanks to the labors of the schemamonk of Mauritius - a man who, according to worldly concepts, is disabled, deprived of legs and moving on a board equipped with wheels. Thanks to the help of the Higher Forces, as well as his own perseverance, the "Guest of Sinners" - the icon of the Mother of God, which was considered forever lost for the Odrino-Nikolaev Monastery, returned to its original place.

It is known that a copy (list) was made from this image, famous throughout Russia, in the middle of the 19th century, which was for a long time in the home collection of a Moscow resident, Lieutenant Colonel D.N. Boncheskul and also gained fame for its miracles. This copy successfully survived all the troubles that befell the church in the 20th century, and is now in the parish church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Khamovniki.

The meaning of the icon "The guarantor of sinners"

According to the established tradition, several types are clearly visible in the writing of the Virgin images, one of which, called "Hodegetria", which in Greek means "Guide", includes a shrine from the Odrino-Nikolaev Monastery. This has a deep meaning, since the name itself in many respects reveals the meaning of the icon "Guide of Sinners". She, as it were, points the way to everyone who wishes, having once left the perishable world, to gain immortality and acquire the Kingdom of Heaven.

In addition, attention should be paid to its name, which can be interpreted as "Guarantee before God for sinful people." It is in the intercession of the Mother of God to the all-merciful and all-forgiving God that the spiritual core of the image is laid, and in it its main meaning.

How does the icon "Guide of sinners" help?

First of all, it should be remembered that, when offering prayers in front of an icon, a believer does not cry out to a board on which this or that sacred image is depicted, but through it comes into contact with the Higher Forces Themselves. Therefore, petitions must correspond to the one to whom they are addressed. Turning to the Most Holy Theotokos, it is customary to call her the “All-good intercessor” and seek her help in all worldly affairs. Given the sincerity of prayers and deep faith in their fulfillment, they will be heard, no matter what the request is.

Petitions to the Blessed Virgin Mary

At the same time, speaking about the help of the icon "Guide of Sinners", we can highlight several of the most mentioned topics. First of all, offering prayers before the icon, they ask the Mother of God to send down health to themselves and their loved ones, as well as, if necessary, healing from illnesses and evil ailments. Further, they pray for the strengthening of faith, without which a person will not be able to gain the Kingdom of God and will be doomed to eternal death.

In addition, they hope to receive strength from the Most Holy Theotokos for deep and sincere repentance for sins, without which the unity of man with his Eternal Creator is impossible. And finally, a vitally important request is the sending down of spiritual insight, from which, according to St. Philemon, love is born, making the heart pure and devoid of destructive passions.