Prayer to the belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Prayer to the belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary, what they pray for

Complete collection and description: prayer to the Mother of God for her children for health for the spiritual life of a believer.

Life is not complete without illness. When a person loses his health, he most often turns to the Lord.

The Church has long had a tradition of serving prayers “For the healing of the sick,” which can also be joined by a prayer to the Mother of God for health. As a merciful Mother, the Most Pure Virgin conveys to the Lord the petitions of loved ones for the healing of an ill family member.

One pious monk had a vision: many Angels and saints standing at the Throne of God. But among them he did not see the Mother of God. “Lord, where is the Most Pure One?” - the monk was surprised. “She walks the earth, healing the sick, clothing the poor and comforting the mourning,” answered the Lord. The plot of this parable is depicted on the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”: the Mother of God extends her most pure hands to the unfortunate people around her.

The Church also venerates other icons in which prayers are offered to the Mother of God for health: the Healer, the Queen of All, the Deliverer, the Quick to Hear, etc.

Water Blessing Prayer to the Mother of God

Prayer services with the blessing of water appeared in the Church in connection with miraculous healings that took place in the 5th century. at the source dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The spring was located near Constantinople and, after the healing of a blind man, was constantly visited by Christians. The priests served prayer services with sprinkling of healing water and singing of the Mother of God.

In memory of these events, the icon “Life-Giving Source” was painted, the feast of which is celebrated on Easter days. The chants mention a woman who was healed of breast cancer.

The water-blessing prayer ends with a chant in honor of the Mother of God:

Blessings to my queen, my hope to the Mother of God, friend of the orphans and strange representatives, the sorrowful with joy, the offended patroness! See my misfortune, see my sorrow, help me as I am weak, feed me as I am strange. Weigh my offense, resolve it as you will: for I have no other help except You, no other representative, no good comforter, except You, O God of God, for you will preserve me and cover me forever and ever. Amen.

A request for health must be accompanied by the repentance of the sick person for sins with which he could anger the Mother of God.

Belt of the Virgin Mary

Throughout the Christian world, a powerful shrine is known - the Belt of the Virgin Mary.

This is part of the robe of the Most Pure One, glorified by miracles since the 10th century. Healings from the Belt occurred regularly. At the ark with the Belt they pray for healing from cancer and infertility.

Oh, Blessed Mother of God, Most Immaculate and Joyful, may we, Thy weak people, rejoice, for by Thy Power and Power we have crushed all our enemies, visible and invisible, and let us glorify and magnify Thee, as the Invincible Victory of the All-Powerful.

Icon of the Mother of God “Healer”

This is the image of the Blessed Virgin bending over the bed of a sick person. The source was the miraculous healing of the sexton of the Neverninsky Church (Moscow) at the end of the 18th century.

Lists of the “Healer” are placed in hospital churches and chapels, and turning to the Healer helps to overcome serious illnesses.

O Most Holy Lady Queen Theotokos, the highest of all heavenly powers and the holiest of all saints! We fall down and worship You before Your all-honorable and wholesome image, remembering Your wondrous appearance to the sick clergyman Vincent, and earnestly pray to You, the all-powerful intercessor and helper of our family: just as in ancient times you gave healing to that cleric, so now heal our souls and bodies, sick with the wounds of sins and many different passions, deliver us from all misfortunes, troubles, sorrows and eternal condemnation, save us from soul-destroying teachings and unbelief, from the flattering and arrogant attacks of invisible enemies, grant us a Christian death, painless, peaceful, shameless, to partake of the Holy Mysteries and vouchsafe us to the impartial judgment of Christ stands at the right hand of the All-Righteous Judge and hear His blessed voice: “Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Amen.

Healing of Seraphim of Sarov

The famous Russian saint St. Seraphim of Sarov more than once received the mercy of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Illnesses haunted him since childhood, and his mother prayed to the Most Pure One for the child’s recovery. When a religious procession took place near the house, she carried Seraphim in her arms and placed it next to the image of the Mother of God. The next morning my condition began to improve.

Later, Venerable himself. Seraphim began to heal the sick, but claimed that this was happening “by the will of the Mother of God.”

His favorite icon was the Mother of God “Tenderness”; in front of her the monk prayed for his children who were overcome by infirmities.

O Most Holy Lady Lady, Virgin Mary! Accept our unworthy prayers, save us from the slander of evil people and from vain death, grant us repentance before the end, have mercy on our prayers and grant joy in sorrow a place. And deliver us, O Lady Lady Theotokos, from every misfortune, adversity, sorrow, illness and all evil, and vouchsafe us, Thy sinful servants, to the right hand at the second coming of Thy Son, Christ our God, and make us heirs to be vouchsafed the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life with all the saints for ever and ever. Amen.

Help from the Most Pure St. Gabriel Sedmiezersky

The Most Pure Mother of God did not forsake another ascetic, St. Gabriel of Sedmiezersk, with Her mercy.

While performing monastic obedience, Gabriel received a serious injury. Without hope of recovery, he prepared for death, praying to the Blessed Virgin. And She did not refuse to help Her prayer book, although the illness lasted 5 years.

The ascetic made a petition to the Mother of God on behalf of the sick man.

Most Holy Theotokos Virgin, who lives and saves Thy inheritance forever after death, hear the sighing of my soul, calling upon Thee for help!

Descend from heaven, come and touch my mind and heart, open the sight of my soul, so that I will see You, my Lady, and Your Son, the Creator, Christ and my God, and I will understand what His will is and what I am deprived of. Hey, my Lady, strive for Thy help and pray to Thy Son to greet me with His grace, so that the bonds of His love chained at His feet will remain forever, even in wounds and illness, even if sick and weakened in body, but at His feet.

To receive mercy from the Queen of Heaven, you do not have to wait for illness. In all of the above cases, while still in health, the saints prayed to the Mother of God every day.

The angelic greeting “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary” is suitable for daily prayer. It is advisable to pronounce it when passing by the image of the Mother of God.

Prayer for sick babies

They traditionally pray for the recovery and growth of babies in front of the rare image of the Mother of God “Mammal”. This prayer can be offered in front of any icon, the main thing is to apply love and faith.

Receive, O Lady Theotokos, the tearful prayers of Your servants who flow to You: we see You on the holy icon, carrying in your arms and feeding with milk Your Son and our God, the Lord Jesus Christ: even though You gave birth to Him painlessly, yet motherhood weighs the sorrow and infirmity of your sons and the daughters of men, see: with the same warmth falling upon Thy whole-bearing image and tenderly kissing this, we pray to Thee, all-merciful Lady: we sinners, condemned to give birth to illnesses and to nourish our children in sorrows, mercifully spare and compassionately intercede, and our babies, also those who gave birth Deliver them from serious illness and bitter sorrow, grant them health and well-being, and their nourishment from strength will increase in strength, and those who feed them will be filled with joy and consolation, for even now, through Your intercession from the mouth of a baby and those who piss, the Lord will bring His praise. O Mother of the Son of God! Have mercy on the mother of the sons of men and on Your weak people: quickly heal the illnesses that befall us, quench the sorrows and sorrows that are upon us, and do not despise the tears and sighs of Your servants, hear us on the day of sorrow who fall before Your icon, and on the day of joy and deliverance accept the grateful praise of our hearts, lift up our prayers to the throne of Your Son and our God, may He be merciful to our sin and weakness and add His mercy to those who know His name, as we and our children glorify You, merciful intercessor and true hope our race forever and ever. Amen.

Nativity of the Virgin Mary, petitions for children

The Mother of God was born from elderly parents who were no longer able to have children. All their lives they remained childless in order to receive great mercy from God at the end of their days. Despite the infertility, the marriage of Joachim and Anna did not collapse, held together by joint prayer.

On Her birthday they pray to the parents of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Virgin Herself for the gift of children, for their health, for love. They ask for help for all occasions.

O Most Holy Lady, God-chosen Mother of Christ our Savior,

asked from God with holy prayers, dedicated to God and beloved by God!

Whoever does not please You or who does not sing Your glorious Nativity.

Your Christmas was the beginning of the salvation of people, and we, sitting in the darkness of sins, see You, the dwelling of the Impregnable Light.

For this reason, the florid tongue cannot sing songs about Thee according to the heritage.

Thou art more exalted than the Seraphim, O Most Pure One.

Otherwise, accept this present praise from Your unworthy servants and do not reject our prayer.

We confess your greatness, we bow down to you in tenderness and boldly ask the child-loving and compassionate Mother who is quick to intercede:

pray to Thy Son and our God to grant us, who have sinned a lot, sincere repentance and pious living, so that we may be able to do everything pleasing to God and useful to our souls.

Let us hate all evil, strengthened by Divine grace in our good will.

You are our shameless hope in the hour of death, grant us a Christian death,

a comfortable procession through the terrible ordeals of the air and an eternal legacy

and the ineffable blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven, may we, together with all the saints, silently confess Your intercession for us and may we glorify the one True God,

in the Holy Trinity we worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

How to pray for loved ones for a sick person

You can pray to the Mother of God for the health of your loved ones in church and at home. Relatives order prayer services and go to the Holy Springs. The patient is given blessed water and particles of the Mother of God prosphora brought from the church.

Upon recovery, you must thank the Mother of God and continue to remember to praise Her daily.

Medical help is considered a gift from God and it is unreasonable to refuse it, relying only on prayer services. But believers accompany any healing effect by turning to God and the Most Pure Virgin.

Maternal prayers for the health of the child are the most powerful and effective

The most powerful prayer for the health of children is the prayer that comes from the very depths of a mother’s heart. Why specifically maternal? Because only the mother knows her child 9 months longer than other people. Because there is a close, inextricable connection between mother and child. When a baby is sick, his mother is sick along with him, but her pain is stronger, since she is sick in spirit. In moments when a child suffers from illness, Orthodox prayers for the health of the children can come to the mother’s aid.

Holy helpers to the mother of a sick child

Of course, if a child is ill, you should not neglect traditional drug treatment - medicine has now made enormous progress and is able to cope with many, even serious, diseases.

We should not forget about faith, about the holy heavenly helpers - their support and assistance can alleviate the patient’s condition and speed up his healing. The best way to appeal to higher powers has always been, is and will be sincere prayer.

Orthodox prayers simply must be read during illness. The Lord is the main helper to the mother of a sick child, for His possibilities are limitless. God also has his own companions - these are saints who know how to heal body and soul. Therefore, you can turn to the Almighty with a request for health through His saints - the Creator listens to their opinion and through them provides His help.

In addition to the Lord himself, most often with prayer for the health of children they appeal to:

  • Holy Mother of God;
  • Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker;
  • Blessed Matrona of Moscow;
  • Saint Panteleimon the Healer.

A mother’s prayer for health (whether for her son or daughter), directed to the listed saints, has truly miraculous powers and can sometimes become the only salvation in a critical situation.

5 most powerful and rare prayers for children

Below is a selection of powerful maternal prayers for children - they include both the most popular prayer texts and quite rare ones, known to a narrow circle of believers. However, all of them have repeatedly confirmed their effectiveness in practice and have helped many children suffering from one or another disease.

Prayer for the health of children to the Lord

Prayers for the health of children addressed to the Lord have amazing power. If her child is ill, a mother can ask for a speedy recovery for him using the following prayer text:

Important: if the child is not yet 7 years old, the words “servant of God” should be replaced with a phrase “child of God”. This condition is necessary, since it is believed that all children under 7 years of age (inclusive) are the Lord's babies, His angels.

Prayer to the Most Holy Mother of God (Theotokos)

No one will understand the thoughts, feelings, hopes, despair and suffering of a mother better than the same mother. That is why many mothers during illness turn to the Mother of God with prayer for the health of their child. The healing text addressed to her sounds like this:

In addition to this miraculous prayer, you can also use another church text to ask for the health of your child. Despite its brevity, it has great power. His words are:

Prayer for the health of the child to Matrona of Moscow

Among Orthodox believers, one of the especially revered saints is the Blessed Elder Matrona of Moscow. You can ask Matronushka for health for your child using this prayer:

This prayer would be most preferable for the youngest children. If the child has already reached adolescence or young age, you need to pray to the Blessed Elder for his (her) health using a different text. His words:

The energy and effectiveness of the prayer to the Matrona of Moscow will increase significantly if you place a small icon of the old woman in the room or next to the bed of a sick child.

Prayer to Nicholas the Wonderworker for the health of the child

Saint Nicholas the Pleasant also helps the mother of a sick child. They ask him for healing like this:

Prayer for the health of children to Panteleimon the Healer

The patron saint of all the sick is the holy great martyr Panteleimon the Healer. During his lifetime, he was a talented healer and became famous for his examples of miraculous healing. To contact a saint, it is better to purchase his image in a church shop and read the following prayer before him 3 times:

Rules for reading a prayer for a child

Even the most unpleasant symptoms of the disease will subside if there is a loving mother next to the sick person, who will support her child and can choose the right words of prayer.

The greatest effect for the healing and health of the child will be achieved if the prayer appeal is carried out within the walls of the temple. The most powerful prayer is the one that is read sincerely, from the bottom of your heart. Every word of hers must be passed through the soul and find a response in it. And then the disease will quickly recede, especially if both the mother and the sick child are baptized.

It is advisable to reinforce the prayer ritual with a magpie for the health of a sick person - it is ordered in the church. It’s good if the mother goes to church, puts candles in front of the icons of the Lord and saints, and draws holy water - you can add it to the sick child’s food and drink, just give it to him, wash his face and hands. If the mother is unable to leave the bedside of the sick person, relatives or friends can go to church.

Orthodox prayers for health can be said even if the child is not baptized. Praying is allowed at home, but for these purposes it is recommended to buy icons of those saints to whom a petition for health has been sent. Higher powers are merciful to the sincere prayer of a mother, for whom there is nothing and no one more valuable than her child.

Prayers for health should be wisely combined with traditional medical care. When the symptoms of the disease worsen, you should definitely contact a doctor, and when the child’s condition improves, say prayers.

Priests recommend reading prayers for health as often as possible, and doing this not only during illness, but also when the child is healthy - in this case, prayer will serve a preventive function. The words of the petition should be memorized, and during the reading process, do not be distracted by extraneous factors, and fully concentrate on the main goal. Visualization will also help speed up the recovery of a sick child. The mother should concentrate on the image of happy and joyful children, and most importantly, completely healed of their illness.

There is nothing worse than the illness of your own child. The heart bleeds. I’m ready to do anything so that the baby doesn’t get sick and is healthy. Thanks for the prayers! I will definitely use them.

Orthodox prayers for health really have great power. I always read them if my children are sick. Then the disease progresses more easily and recovery occurs faster. I recommend it to all mothers!

Oooooh, thank you so much for your prayers, how they helped me during the treatment of my daughter! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

My son Vladimir is very sick, my heart bleeds when I see his torment, I pray to all the saints that his illness will go away, my family will pray for my son so that the illness will recede, Lord, I ask you to forgive him his sins, I trust in you, Lord!

GOD! GIVE OUR CHILDREN HEALTH!! FORGIVE US OUR SINS

Thank you so much for the prayers. I read prayers every evening so that my grandson gets better soon.

God. Give health to my son Maxim!! And make sure that children are not responsible for the sins of their parents. Amen

Lord... I ask you, merciful one, give health and strength to my son Pavel... my boy is sick... Help him cope with his illness... Help all sick children...

Lord forgive us sinners! Save and preserve our children!

Lord, help my daughter to heal. Give her the strength to cope with everything. Thy will be done Amen

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The Virgin Mary gives the belt to the Apostle Thomas

Which today is divided into three parts, is the only surviving relic of her earthly life. According to Tradition, the belt was woven from camel hair by the Virgin herself, and after the Dormition during the Ascension, she gave it to the Apostle Thomas.

In memory of the miracle that occurred and the double position of the honorable belt, the Feast of the Position of the Honorable Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary was established.

The position of the honorable belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Blachernae Church of Constantinople was under the emperor Arcadius (395-408). Before that, the great shrine, entrusted to the Apostle Thomas by the Mother of God herself, after Her Dormition, was successively kept in Jerusalem by pious Christians. Many years later, during the reign of Emperor Leo the Wise (886-911), the belt of the Mother of God performed a miracle of healing his wife Zoe, who was suffering from an unclean spirit.

The Empress had a vision that she would be healed of her illness when the belt of the Mother of God was placed on her. The Emperor made a request to the Patriarch. The Patriarch removed the seal and opened the ark in which the shrine was kept: the belt of the Mother of God turned out to be completely intact, undamaged by time. The Patriarch placed the belt on the sick empress, and she was immediately freed from her illness. A solemn prayer of thanks to the Most Holy Theotokos was served, and the honorable belt was put back into the ark and sealed with a seal.

In the first centuries of the Christian era it was located in Jerusalem. It is known that in the 4th century it was kept in the Cappadocian city of Zela, and in the same century Emperor Theodosius the Great again brought it to Jerusalem. From there his son Arkady delivered the Belt to Constantinople.

At first, the shrine was placed in the Chalkopration temple, from where in 458 Emperor Leo I moved it to the Blachernae Church.

During the reign of Leo VI the Wise (886-912), they brought him to the imperial palace, and with his help, the basileus' wife Zoe was healed.

She was overwhelmed by an unclean spirit, and the emperor prayed to God for healing. She had a vision that she would be cured of her weakness if the Belt of the Virgin Mary was placed on her. Then the emperor asked the patriarch to open the shrine.

The Patriarch removed the seal and opened the shrine in which the relic was kept. The belt of the Mother of God turned out to be intact and undamaged by time. The Patriarch applied the Belt to the sick empress, and she immediately got rid of her illness.

As a sign of gratitude to the Mother of God, the Empress embroidered the entire Belt with gold thread. This is how it acquired the appearance it has today. With hymns of thanksgiving, he was again placed in the shrine, and the shrine was sealed.

In the 12th century, during the reign of Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180), the holiday of the Holy Belt was officially established, held on August 31. Before that, he was honored on July 1, in a joint celebration with the Honest Robes of the Virgin.

The belt remained in Constantinople until the end of the 12th century. But among the consequences of the defeat of Isaac Angel from the Bulgarian king Asan in 1185 was that the Belt was stolen and taken to Bulgaria. Later he fell to the Serbs.

Prince Lazar I gave the Belt along with a piece of the true Cross as a gift to the Vatopedi Monastery. Since then, it has been kept in the sanctuary located in the katholikon, the main monastery cathedral.


Troparion of the Position of the Honorable Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary

voice 8

Ever-Virgin Mother of God, covering of men,/ the robe and girdle of Thy most pure body,/ Thou hast granted sovereign taxation to Thy city,/ by Thy seedless Nativity, incorruptible,/ for Thy nature is renewed and time is renewed./ In the same way, we pray to Thee to grant peace to Thy city/ and to the souls to our great mercy.

Kontakion of the Venerable Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary

voice 2

Your God-pleasing womb, Mother of God,/ Your generous, honorable belt/ the power of Your city is unconquerable/ and the treasure of good things is endless,/ the only one who gave birth to the Ever-Virgin.

The Most Holy Theotokos is the Helper, Intercessor and Patroness of all people. She is revered more than anyone who has walked the earth, and they pray for every need, in every trouble they call on her name.

In every sorrow and trouble, the Holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Lord, helps us, including people reading a prayer to the Mother of God for the health of soul and body. Considering the many holy icons that depict the Mother of God, various properties were inevitably attributed to them, including healing ones.

Many icons do not mean many Mothers. The Most Holy Theotokos is one, she must be honored as the Queen of Heaven and Earth, and many images were created due to the special veneration of the Holy Virgin Mary.

Painters, showing respect for God and His Most Pure Mother, painted her Image taking into account and referring to local color, cultural, historical and aesthetic features of the area and era. A large number of icons were revealed in miraculous ways without the use of a brush or paint.

Thus, the image of the Mother of God “The Queen of All” (called “Pantanassa” in Greek) helps those suffering from cancer.

There are icons that are traditionally prayed in front of for problems with conception and birth, and those that are resorted to in other cases.

What should I do to get help?

First, you need to cleanse your mind and thoughts of all evil. You need to pray to the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, sincerely, and you should not think about foreign objects. Here lies a certain danger of ready-made prayers - there is a possibility of “addiction”.

When the same text is read over a certain period of time, the brain does not perceive it so freshly, and therefore a problem arises with concentration of attention, and, as a result, with the sincerity of the request. This needs to be monitored.

What prayers should I use?

The prayer to the Mother of God for health is not a single text, but a broad concept that includes many different prayer chants in front of various images, against various ailments, for various people (for example, there is a mother’s prayer for the health of a sick child - if you do not have a son or daughter, then the meaning in such a prayer disappears).

Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos “For Health”

“Oh, Most Holy Lady Theotokos! With fear, faith and love, falling before Thy honorable icon, we pray to Thee: do not turn Thy face away from those who come running to You, beg, O merciful Mother, Thy Son and our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, to keep our country peaceful, His Church
He will preserve the holy and unshakable from unbelief, heresies and schism. There are no other imams of help, no other imams of hope, except You, Most Pure Virgin: You are the all-powerful Helper and Intercessor of Christians. Deliver all who pray to You with faith from the falls of sin, from the slander of evil people, from all temptations, sorrows, troubles and from vain death. Grant us the spirit of contrition, humility of heart, purity of thoughts, correction of sinful lives and the remission of sins, so that we all sing gratefully of Your greatness and mercy, let us be worthy of the Heavenly Kingdom and there with all the saints we will glorify the most honorable and magnificent name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen."

Among the great variety of prayers, it is very easy to get confused - therefore, if you cannot find a prayer that is customary to read in your particular case, ask the advice of a priest or an experienced Orthodox person. Do not be deceived by false experience - many people who call themselves Orthodox Christians cover up bad intentions and aspirations with religiosity.

If there is no prayer for health for your illness, pray to the Virgin Mary with the prayer that was originally intended for the image of the “Healer”.

Prayer for the icon “Healer”

“Accept, O All-Blessed and All-Powerful Lady Theotokos the Virgin, these prayers, now offered to You with tears from us, Your unworthy servants, who send up to Your celibate image the singing with tenderness, as if You yourself are here and heed our prayer. At anyone's request
you create fulfillment, you alleviate sorrows, you grant health to the weak, you heal the weakened and sick, you drive away demons from demons, you deliver the offended from insults, you cleanse lepers and have mercy on little children; Moreover, O Lady, Lady Theotokos, you free us from bonds and prisons and heal all manifold passions: for all things are possible through Your intercession to Your Son, Christ our God. Oh, All-Singing Mother, Most Holy Theotokos! Do not cease to pray for us, Your unworthy servants, who glorify You and honor You, and who worship Your Most Pure Image with tenderness, and who have irrevocable hope and undoubted faith in You, the Ever-Virgin, Most Glorious and Immaculate, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."

By the way, if you could not find such an icon, do not be upset, you can ask the Most Holy Theotokos for help in front of any of Her icons.

How to pray correctly?

The main criterion for the “correctness” of a prayer is its sincerity. If you believe in the Lord, His Blessed Mother and the saints, boldly ask for any mercy, for the health of a child, for success in a matter that is important to you, and the Lord will not leave you with His mercy.

It is difficult to believe so sincerely; a person is sinful and subject to doubt and temptation. But this is a prerequisite for the effectiveness of prayer.

Faith is the main driving force, Scripture says: have faith the size of a mustard seed, and command the mountain to move from place to place - and it will fulfill your words.

What to do? The Gospel tells us an instructive story about this about a man whose child was sick, and he came to ask Jesus to give health to the sick one. “Do you believe that I can heal your child?” - asked the Lord.

“I believe, Lord, help my unbelief,” answered the pious husband. So we, following the father of a sick child, must, in every need, resorting to God, ask Him, first of all, to grant us Faith.

Current page: 1 (book has 10 pages in total)

Nadezhda Zarina
The Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary will help you

Introduction

It so happened that I am familiar first-hand with the miracles performed by the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos. And now on the table in front of me is a photograph of my wonderful nephews, Lisa and Borenka - as a real evidence of a miracle... And in the family of my sister Svetlana and her husband Nikolai, a linen ribbon brought from the Vatopedi Monastery, in Greece, on the Holy Mountain, is kept as a shrine. Athos - brought at a time when here, in Russia, not many knew about the existence of the miraculous Belt of the Virgin Mary.

Now that Lizonka is seven and Borya is nine, they already know about the miracle of their birth. And together with their parents they fervently pray to the Mother of God, thanking her for the gift of life. Which might not have happened...

For fifteen years, the spouses Svetlana and Nikolai have not had children in their marriage. But everyone considered them an ideal couple, destined for each other by God. Both were treated for a long time, earnestly, with hope, but without success. My whole life turned into some kind of endless examinations, tests, procedures. But in the end, the doctors just threw up their hands - they did everything they could, all that remains is to come to terms with the inevitable.

The state in which Svetlana found herself after the doctors’ verdict is difficult to describe. To say that she was depressed is an understatement. Her life has lost all meaning. Even the love of a loved one, her husband, who was next to her in the most difficult trials, almost did not save her from that huge black hole into which it seemed she was falling. There are women who, it seems, are simply destined to be an outstanding mother. An all-consuming love for children, a passionate desire to have them, plus the enormous unspent potential of some incredibly enormous maternal love. Svetlana is exactly like that. Mother from God, ideal mother! Doctors, psychologists, and just friends advised: get a dog. What does the dog have to do with it...

Age was approaching, hopes were fading before our eyes, and there seemed to be no way out. And then Nikolai’s work colleague, returning from vacation, said that he had been to Greece. Sharing his impressions and showing spectacular photographs, he also mentioned that on the way back he got into conversation with our compatriots, who had gone on a pilgrimage trip to Mount Athos not for the first time. We also visited the monastery, where a piece of the Belt of the Virgin Mary is kept, famous for the miraculous healings it performs, including for infertility.

At home I told my wife, she instantly got excited about the idea: to go, immediately, right now! But what if Athos has long been closed to women? This is the tradition of this “monastic state”, where only male monasteries are located. The decision was made instantly: Nikolai would go. And he did not hesitate for long, despite the fact that he considered himself an unbeliever, far from religion. And, as if God wanted it so, everything worked out like clockwork. Within a few months, Nikolai went on a trip that was not just a tourist trip, but a pilgrimage one. From which he returned as a completely different person. I have never seen changes happen in a person so quickly! It was as if some kind of soft light was coming from him. Being next to him, everyone could feel some kind of special peace, as if Heavenly light was pouring into the soul. He said that he experienced the very real grace of God on Athos, and what it is is impossible even to describe in words.

And most importantly, not only did he himself touch the shrine, the Belt of the Virgin Mary, but he also brought a linen ribbon, a belt consecrated on the Belt of the Virgin Mary, the same one that is given to all pilgrims. Svetlana tied a ribbon around her waist and wore it without taking it off for many, many days. And most importantly, both Svetlana and Nikolai began to pray and go to church for confession and communion.

A year later, our entire large family congratulated them on their first child! There was no limit to happiness. And when Liza was born two years later, I realized that there was not and could not be a happier person in the world than my sister Svetlana...

But then my research led me to an amazing discovery. Yes, yes, for me it was a real discovery - as, I think, for many Muscovites.

You can venerate the Belt of the Virgin Mary not only on Mount Athos! A piece of it is located in the Moscow Church of Elijah the Prophet “Ordinary” at the address: 2nd Obydensky Lane, 6. It is next to the Kropotkinskaya metro station, less than half a kilometer from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

And yet the Athonite relic is special. It is on Mount Athos that the largest piece of the Belt of the Virgin Mary existing in the world is stored. In addition, it was she who became especially famous for her numerous miracles. Probably because Holy Mount Athos is one of the inheritances of the Mother of God, that is, the place where Her apostolic ministry took place during her lifetime, and which to this day is under Her special protection.

But for one and a half thousand years no woman has set foot on Athos, and the Belt of the Virgin Mary has not left the monastery on the Holy Mountain for more than two hundred years. He had never been to Russia at all. It seemed impossible to even dream that someday we, Russian women, would have a chance to fall before the shrine...

But a miracle happened - the very one for which it was difficult to hope. More than three million people venerated the shrine, which in forty days visited eleven cities of Russia, scattered throughout its vast territory from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. Moreover, the route of the Belt of the Virgin Mary was designed so that on the map of Russia the route of the shrine would form a cross, stretching across the entire territory of the country. It was as if the Mother of God herself had overshadowed Russia with the sign of the cross. And that’s how it is!

Three million people across Russia have taken the Belt - this means that three million families have received hope for happiness, health, and the well-being of themselves and their children. After all, the Belt is known not only for the miracles of giving children to infertile couples - it also helps to safely bear and give birth to a healthy baby, and thanks to the Belt, many people have received a cure for the most serious diseases, including cancer.

All troubles and trials are given to us only so that we can quickly come to God. And as soon as this happens, as soon as we sincerely, with all our hearts, open up to God’s providence, not limiting our lives to worries only about vain, material things, then God gives us children, and health, and all other blessings.

Pray, ask, believe in miracles! Ask our Mother Theotokos for intercession - and she will definitely help you. You will see - a miracle will enter your life.

The power of the shrine is in great love

Why do we worship shrines

Many Christian shrines exist in this world, and pilgrims come and go to them, coming from all over the Earth... What are we looking for, what do we want from shrines? Yes - a miracle, yes - healing from physical and mental illnesses, yes - benefits for yourself and your loved ones. But still, the most important thing that we receive by touching shrines is not of a material nature. The power of any shrine lies in the fact that it contains a huge charge of Divine love. No, the shrine is not an amulet or some kind of talisman, and not a magic wand that works miracles and fulfills wishes. And you shouldn’t expect a miracle for someone who doesn’t open their heart to God. But touching the shrine, even closed, hardened hearts suddenly open, thaw, and God enters these hearts, overshadowing them with his great love.

God is always good, God is always full of love - for everyone and everyone, no matter what! Another thing is that not every person is ready to open the door in his heart to meet God and let God into his life. Shrines help us, first of all, because something changes inside us when we come to the shrines. God's love bursts into our open hearts - and the strength of this love is enough for us to overcome our illnesses and cope with troubles. That's when the real miracle happens. And this miracle is created in ourselves, in our soul - not by the shrine as such, but with its help.

Many people, touching a shrine, feel how the love and grace of God enters them. And the power of this love and grace is almost as tangible, material, as those material things that we are accustomed to seeing with our eyes and considering the only reality. Shrines show us that there is another reality - a spiritual one. And only he can become happy and change his life for the better, who has accepted this spiritual reality and put it in first place, and not material goods.

The power of the shrine is not that it is a material object, but that it contains living love, allowing each of us to feel: both the Most Holy Virgin and Her Son - here they are, next to us, have never left us, always ready to lend a helping hand to us. You touch the shrine and the canonized images come to life. And we understand: all this is real, we live on the same Earth on which the Mother of God walked, we breathe the same air, and now we touch the same things that Her hands touched... And we get a feeling of the living presence of God, and we touch His strength, and we receive help and support, and we feel how light and grace enter our hearts.

Touching the shrines, filled with the enormous power of grace, light and love that is inherent in them, you begin to understand what real faith is: not following memorized rituals, not just the habit of praying and making the sign of the cross - but a living feeling of a deep heartfelt connection between us , mere mortals, and a loving Heavenly Father, as well as all our intercessors and patrons who live in Heaven, among whom the First is Jesus, and the First after the First is the Mother of God. When you feel their living presence, when you feel their living love, then the prayers sound different, because we feel with all our souls: they will hear us, they will help us, they will overshadow us with love and grace, and they will invisibly extend a helping hand.

It is a well-known truth: it is given to us according to our faith. By faith and love. And if we approach the shrine with sincere faith and love, then it will help us, take us away from trouble, guide us on the right path, and bestow us with Divine strength, which can cope with any illnesses and adversities.

Those who love the Mother of God with all their soul, who pray to her tirelessly, understand me: it is for them that the Athos shrine, the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, is now revealing all its miraculous power to the fullest - and miracles are happening in millions of Russian families.


The main miracles for which the Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary became famous:

♦ healing from infertility;

♦ getting rid of problems during pregnancy and childbirth;

♦ assistance in the birth of a healthy child;

♦ healing from all diseases, including cancer;

♦ military success, help in the fight for justice.

But you can pray over the shrine for any other help - in your personal life, family affairs, solving everyday, material problems, etc. There are no special rules on how to express respect for the shrine: you can touch it with your hand, kiss, and even just standing or walking nearby. Important: it is not the Belt that is asked for help, but the Most Holy Theotokos.


Pray to the Mother of God, love her! And a new, amazing world full of light and love will open to you.

What and how to pray to the Mother of God

In case of any troubles and adversity, prayer to our Queen of Heaven, the Mother of God, helps. Whatever happens in your life - serious illness or minor everyday troubles, whether you are in poverty, need, loneliness, whether you feel abandoned, whether you suffer from evil people, whether you are tormented by melancholy, despondency, or feel weak, helpless, or the weight of sins weighs on you, or there is confusion in your feelings and thoughts, and there is no clarity or order - ask for help from the Most Holy Theotokos, and she, like the most loving mother, will respond, respond, take away your sorrows, and give you strength to overcome adversity, on the true path will instruct. After all, she is our Heavenly Mother, and we are her children. And who better than a loving mother understands her children, sympathizes with them and always lends a helping hand, no matter what they have done, and no matter what happens in their lives!

Always remember that our Heavenly Mother loves us as we are, never punishes us, never condemns us for anything, and always forgives us for everything. Her love is so great that all our sins and adversities begin to seem small and simply melt away in the Divine rays of this great love.

With this in mind, begin and end each day with prayers to our beloved intercessor, the Mother of God, the Most Holy Theotokos. The main one of these prayers is the “Song of the Most Holy Theotokos.”

Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Virgin Mary, Rejoice, O Blessed Mary, the Lord is with You; Blessed are You among women and blessed is the fruit of Your womb, for You have given birth to the Savior of our souls.

Many people read this prayer in queues to the ark with the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, and above the Belt itself, falling to it (or simply passing under it, as was the case in some churches), and continue to read, wearing ribbons consecrated on the Belt.

According to the rules of the Russian Orthodox Church, there are also special prayers that must be read just before venerating the shrine. Here they are.

Troparion of the Position of the Venerable Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary, tone 8

Ever-Virgin Mother of God, the covering of men, the robe and girdle of Your most pure body, You bestowed the sovereignty on Your city, Who by Your seedless Nativity is incorruptible, for in You both nature and time are renewed. We also pray to You to grant peace to Your city and great mercy to our souls.


Kontakion of the Venerable Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, tone 2

Your God-pleasing womb, Mother of God, Your generous belt, Your honorable power, Your city is invincible and the treasure of good things is endless, the only one who gave birth to the Ever-Virgin.


Kontakion of the Venerable Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, tone 4

Today Your honorable belt celebrates Your position, the Praising Temple, and diligently calls upon You: Rejoice, O Virgin, praise to Christians.


This is the troparion and kontakion of the feast of the Position of the Honorable Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, which is celebrated on September 13 (August 31, old style) - but they are not necessarily read only on this day, it can be on any other, both over the Belt itself, and over the ribbon consecrated on Belt, and whenever you need help and support from the shrine, and through it - from the Mother of God herself.

There are many other prayers to the Mother of God that help in a variety of situations in life, which can also be read, asking for help through the Belt of the Virgin Mary. Here are a few of them.


Prayer to Our Lady

What should I pray to You for, what should I ask of You? You see everything, you know it Yourself: look into my soul and give it what it needs. You, who have endured everything, overcome everything, will understand everything. You, who entwined the Baby in a manger and took Him with Your hands from the Cross, You alone know all the heights of joy, all the oppression of grief. You, who have received the entire human race as adoption, look at me with maternal care. From the snares of sin, lead me to Your Son. I see a tear watering Your face. It is above me that you shed it, and let it wash away the traces of my sins. Here I have come, I am standing, I am waiting for Your response, O Mother of God, O All-Sung, O Lady! I don’t ask for anything, I just stand before You. Only my heart, poor human heart, exhausted in longing for truth, I cast at Your Most Pure feet, Lady! Grant to all who call You to reach the eternal day by You and worship You face to face.


Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos, protecting from despair

Lady, my Most Holy Theotokos. With your all-powerful and holy prayers before our Lord, take away from me, your sinful and humble servant (name), despondency, foolishness and all nasty, evil and blasphemous thoughts. I beg you! Take them away from my sinful heart and my weak soul. Holy Mother of God! Deliver me from all evil and unkind thoughts and actions. Blessed be you, and may your name be glorified forever and ever. Amen.


Prayers of repentance to the Most Holy Theotokos

First prayer

Most Holy Lady Theotokos, the only one most pure in soul and body, the only one who surpasses all purity, chastity and virginity, the only one who has completely become the abode of the complete grace of the all-holy Spirit, the most immaterial power here has incomparably surpassed the purity and holiness of the soul and body, look upon me, vile, unclean, soul and the body that has been denigrated by the filth of the passions of my life, cleanse my passionate mind, make immaculate and order my wandering and blind thoughts, put my feelings in order and guide them, free me from the evil and vile habit of unclean prejudices and passions that torment me, stop all sin acting in me, grant to my darkened and damned mind sobriety and prudence to correct my inclinations and falls, so that, freed from sinful darkness, I will be vouchsafed with boldness to glorify and sing songs to You, the only Mother of the true Light - Christ, our God; because you, alone with Him and in Him, are blessed and glorified by every invisible and visible creation, now, and always, and unto ages of ages. Amen.


Second prayer

Undefiled, Unblessed, Imperishable, Most Pure, Unbridled Bride of God, Mother of God Mary, Lady of Peace and My Hope! Look upon me, a sinner, at this hour, and from Thy pure blood Thou hast unknowingly given birth to the Lord Jesus Christ, make me merciful through Thy motherly prayers; The one who has been condemned to maturity and wounded in the heart with the weapon of sadness, wound my soul with Divine love! The mountaineer who mourned him in chains and abuse, grant me tears of contrition; With His free conduct to death, my soul was seriously ill, free me from illness, so that I may glorify You, worthily glorified forever. Amen.


Prayer three

O zealous, compassionate intercessor of the Lord Mother! I come running to You, a cursed man and a sinner above all others: listen to the voice of my prayer, and hear my cry and groaning. For my iniquities have exceeded my head, and I, like a ship in the abyss, am plunging into the sea of ​​my sins. But You, All-Good and Merciful Lady, do not despise me, desperate and perishing in sins; have mercy on me, who repent of my evil deeds, and turn my lost, accursed soul to the right path. On You, my Lady Theotokos, I place all my hope. Thou, Mother of God, preserve and keep me under Thy roof, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.


Petitionary prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary

First prayer

To whom shall I cry, Lady? To whom shall I resort in my sorrow, if not to You, Queen of Heaven? Who will accept my cry and my sighing, if not You, Most Immaculate, the hope of Christians and refuge for us sinners? Who will protect You more in adversity? Hear my groaning and incline Your ear to me, the Lady Mother of my God, and do not despise me who requires Your help, and do not reject me, a sinner. Enlighten and teach me, Queen of Heaven; do not depart from me, Thy servant, Lady, for my grumbling, but be my Mother and Intercessor. I entrust myself to Your merciful protection: lead me, a sinner, to a quiet and serene life, so that I may weep for my sins. To whom shall I resort when I am guilty, if not to You, the hope and refuge of sinners, inspired by the hope of Your ineffable mercy and Your bounty? O Lady, Queen of Heaven! You are my hope and refuge, protection and intercession and help. My Queen, Most Offering and Speedy Intercessor, cover my sins with Your intercession, protect me from enemies visible and invisible; soften the hearts of evil people who rebel against me. O Mother of the Lord my Creator! You are the root of virginity and the unfading color of purity. O Mother of God! Give me help to those who are weak with carnal passions and those who are sick at heart, for one thing is Yours and with You the intercession of Your Son and our God; and through Your wonderful intercession may I be delivered from all misfortune and adversity, O Most Immaculate and Glorious Mother of God, Mary. The same with hope I say and cry out: Rejoice, full of grace; Rejoice, Delighted One; Rejoice, Most Blessed One: the Lord is with You!


Second prayer

My Blessing Queen, my hope, Mother of God, Friend of the orphans and the strange, the Representative of the grieving, the Joy of the offended, the Patroness! See my misfortune, see my sorrow, help me as I am weak, feed me as I am strange. Weigh my offense, resolve it as if you will: for I have no other help except You, no other Representative, no good Comforter, only You, O Mother of God, for you will preserve me and cover me forever and ever. Amen.


Prayer three

O Most Holy Virgin, Mother of the Lord Most High, Intercessor and Protector of all who resort to You! Look down from Thy holy height upon me, a sinner (name), who falls before Thy most pure image; hear my warm prayer and offer it before Your Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; beg Him to illuminate my gloomy soul with the light of His Divine grace, to deliver me from all need, sorrow and illness, to grant me a quiet and peaceful life, physical and mental health, to pacify my suffering heart and heal its wounds, to guide me for good deeds, may my mind be cleansed from vain thoughts, and having taught me to fulfill His commandments, may He deliver me from eternal torment and may He not deprive me of His Heavenly Kingdom. O Most Holy Theotokos! You, “Joy of all who mourn,” hear me, the sorrowful one; You, called “Quenching of Sorrow”, quench my sorrow; You, “Burning Kupino”, save the world and all of us from the harmful fiery arrows of the enemy; You, “Seeker of the Lost,” do not allow me to perish in the abyss of my sins. According to Bose, all my hope and hope is in Tyabo. Be a temporary Intercessor for me in life, and an Intercessor for eternal life before Your Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Teach me to serve this with faith and love, and to reverently honor You, Most Holy Mother of God, Most Blessed Mary, until the end of my days. Amen.


Prayer four

Virgin Lady Theotokos, who bore in her womb the Savior Christ and our God, I place all my hope in You, I trust in You, the highest of all Heavenly powers. You, Most Pure One, protect me with Your Divine grace. Direct my life and guide me in accordance with the holy will of Your Son and our God. Grant me remission of sins, be my refuge, protection, protection and guide, leading me into eternal life. In the terrible hour of death, do not leave me, my Lady, but hasten to help me and deliver me from the bitter torment of demons. For in Your will you also have power; Do this as truly the Mother of God and sovereign over all. Accept the worthy and worthy gifts offered to You alone by us, Your unworthy servants, most merciful, all-holy Lady Mother of God, chosen from all generations, who turned out to be the highest of every creature in heaven and earth. Since through You we came to know the Son of God, through You the Lord of hosts became with us, and we were made worthy of His holy Body and Blood, then blessed are You throughout all generations, most blessed of God, most holy of the Cherubim and most glorious of the Seraphim; and now, praying, O All-Holy Mother of God, do not cease to beg for us, Thy unworthy servants, to free us from every wiles of the evil one and from every extreme, and to keep us unwounded in every poisonous attack. Even to the end, through Your prayers, keep us uncondemned, so that, saved by Your intercession and Your help, we will always send glory, praise, thanksgiving and worship to the one God in the Trinity and the Creator of all. Good and most blessed Lady, Mother of the good, all-good and all-good God, look upon the prayer of Thy unworthy and indecent servant with Thy merciful eye, and act with me according to the great mercy of Thy ineffable compassion and do not look at my sins, both in word and in deed, and with every feeling done, voluntarily and involuntarily, with knowledge and in ignorance, and renew me all, making me the temple of the all-holy, life-giving and sovereign Spirit, Who is the power of the Most High, and overshadowed Your all-pure womb, and dwelt in it. For You are the helper of the weary, the representative of the needy, the savior of the distressed, the haven of the troubled, the protector and intercessor of those in extremity. Grant to Your servant contrition, silence of thoughts, constancy of thought, a chaste mind, sobriety of soul, a humble way of thinking, a holy and sober mood of spirit, a prudent and well-ordered disposition, which serves as a sign of spiritual composure, as well as piety and peace, which our Lord gave to His disciples. May my prayer come to Thy holy temple and to the dwelling place of Thy glory; May my eyes be drained of sources of tears, and may You wash me with my own tears, whiten me with streams of my tears, cleansing me from the filth of passions. Blot out the handwriting of my sins, dispel the clouds of my sorrow, darkness and confusion of thoughts, remove from me the storm and desire of passions, keep me in serenity and silence, expand my heart with spiritual expansion, rejoice and rejoice me with unspeakable joy, unceasing joy, so that in the right paths of the commandments I followed Thy Son faithfully and with a blameless conscience I lived an untroubled life. Give me, praying before You, pure prayer, so that with an undisturbed mind, unwandering meditation and with an insatiable soul, I may constantly study the words of the Divine Scriptures day and night, sing in confession, and in the joy of my heart bring prayer to the glory, honor and magnification of the only begotten Son. Yours and our Lord Jesus Christ. To Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, now, and always, and unto the ages of ages! Amen.


Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos, recited on Sunday, by St. Nile of Sora

O all-merciful Virgin Mother of God, Mother of generosity and love for mankind, my most beloved hope and hope! O Mother of the sweetest, firstborn and all-surpassing love of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Lover of mankind and my God, Light of my darkened soul! I fall down to You, a great sinner, and I pray to You, the source of mercy and the abyss of generosity and love for mankind: have mercy on me, I cry out to You painfully, have mercy on me, all the wounded, who fell into cruel robbers, and from clothes, clothed me in nakedness, Father, woe is me, naked In the same way, my wounds became stale and rotten in the face of my madness. But, my Lady Theotokos, I humbly pray to You: look at me with Your merciful eye, and do not disdain me, all that is darkened, all that is defiled, all that is immersed in the mire of pleasures and passions, that is fallen in the rage and cannot rise: have mercy on me, and give me a helping hand, raised me from the depths of sin. O my joy! Deliver me from those who have bypassed me; enlighten Thy face upon Thy servant, save the perishing, raise up the fallen: for thou canst do all things, as the Mother of the Almighty God. Pour upon me the oil of Thy mercy, and give me the wine of tenderness; You truly have only one hope in the acquisitions of my life. Do not reject me, who flows to You, but see my sorrow, O Virgin, and the desire of my soul, and accept this and save me, Intercessor of my salvation.


Song of praise to the Most Holy Theotokos

We praise you, Mother of God; We confess You, Mary, the Virgin Mother of God; The whole earth magnifies You, the Eternal Father's Daughter. All Angels and Archangels and all Principalities humbly serve You; All Powers, Thrones, Dominions and all the highest Powers of heaven obey you. The Cherubim and Seraphim stand before You rejoicing and cry out with an unceasing voice: Holy Mother of God, the heavens and earth are full of the majesty of the glory of the fruit of Your womb. The Mother praises the glorious apostolic face of her Creator to you; The Mother of God magnifies many martyrs for you; The glorious host of confessors of God the Word gives you a temple; To you the ruling Poles preach the image of virginity; All the heavenly hosts praise you, the Queen of Heaven. Throughout the entire universe the Holy Church glorifies you, honoring the Mother of God; He extols thee true King of heaven, the Maiden. You are the Angel Lady, You are the door of heaven, You are the ladder of the Kingdom of Heaven, You are the palace of the King of glory, You are the ark of piety and grace, You are the abyss of bounties, You are the refuge of sinners. You are the Mother of the Savior, you received freedom for the sake of a captive man, you received God in your womb. The enemy has been trampled upon by you; You have opened the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven to the faithful. You stand at the right hand of God; You pray to God for us, Virgin Mary, who will judge the living and the dead. We therefore ask You, Intercessor before Your Son and God, Who redeemed us with Your blood, so that we may receive the reward in eternal glory. Save Thy people, O Mother of God, and bless Thy inheritance, for let us be partakers of Thy inheritance; preserve and keep us even unto the ages. Every day, O Most Holy One, we wish to praise and please You with our hearts and lips. Grant, Most Merciful Mother, now and always to preserve us from sin; have mercy on us, Intercessor, have mercy on us. May Your mercy be upon us, as we trust in You forever. Amen.


Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos by St. Ephraim the Syrian

Virgin, Lady Theotokos, who, more than nature and word, gave birth to the only begotten Word of God, the Creator and Ruler of all visible and invisible creation, the One of the Trinity of God, God and Man, who became the abode of the Divine, the receptacle of all holiness and grace, in which, by the good pleasure of God and the Father , with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the Fullness of the Divinity dwelt bodily; incomparably exalted by divine dignity and superior to every creature, Glory and Consolation, and the indescribable joy of the Angels, the royal crown of the apostles and prophets, the supernatural and wonderful courage of the martyrs, the Champion of exploits and the Giver of victory, preparing for the ascetics eternal and divine rewards, honor and glory saints, infallible Guide and Teacher of silence, the door of revelations and spiritual secrets, the Source of Light, the gate of eternal life, the inexhaustible river of mercy, the inexhaustible sea of ​​all divine gifts and miracles, we ask and implore You, most compassionate Mother of the philanthropic Master, be merciful to us, the humble and to Thy unworthy servants, look compassionately on our captivity and humility, heal the contrition of our souls and bodies, scatter visible and invisible enemies, be for us, unworthy, in the face of our enemies a strong pillar, a battle weapon, a strong militia, a Commander and an insurmountable Champion, show us now Your ancient and wonderful mercies, so that our lawless enemies may know that Your Son and God alone is King and Master, that You are truly the Mother of God, who gave birth to the true God in the flesh, that everything is possible for You, and whatever You desire, Lady, You have the power to accomplish all this in Heaven and on earth, and for every request to grant what is useful to anyone: health to the sick, peace to those living at sea and good navigation. Travel and protect those who travel, save captives from bitter slavery, comfort the sad, alleviate poverty and any other bodily suffering: free everyone from mental ailments and passions, invisible by Your intercessions and suggestions, so that, having completed the path of this temporary life well and without stumbling, we will improve through You and these eternal blessings in the Kingdom of Heaven. Strengthen the faithful, honored by the terrible name of Your Only Begotten Son, who trust in Your intercession and in Your mercy and in everything who have You as their Intercessor and Champion, invisibly against the surrounding enemies, dispel the cloud of despondency that envelops their souls, deliver them from their spiritual situation and give them light complacency and joy, establishing peace and serenity in their hearts. With Your prayers, Lady, save this flock primarily dedicated to You, the entire city and country, from famine, earthquake, flood, fire, sword, invasion of foreigners, internecine warfare, and turn away every righteous wrath that has been brought against us, by the good will and grace of the only begotten Son and Your God, to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, with His Beginning Father, with His Co-Eternal and Life-Giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The most detailed description: prayer to the belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary, what they pray for - for our readers and subscribers.

On September 13, Orthodox Christians celebrate the position of the honorable Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The story of the discovery, travel and miracles of this shrine is breathtaking.

Consolation of the Apostle Thomas

As you know, the Apostle Thomas did not participate in the burial of the Virgin Mary - at that time he was in the region of India and spread the Good News there. Only on the third day did he arrive in Jerusalem. Grieving and wanting to say goodbye to the Mother of God, he asked the apostles to open her tomb. Having opened it, the apostles were amazed, because the tomb turned out to be empty. Only the funeral shrouds remained in it, from which a wonderful fragrance emanated. “Kissing the funeral shroud remaining in the tomb with tears and reverence, they prayed to the Lord to reveal to them where the body of the Most Holy Theotokos had disappeared?” – writes Dmitry Rostovsky. In response to their question, the Mother of God appeared to the apostles at supper and greeted them with the words: “Rejoice! “For I am with you always.”

However, there is a legend that on the third day, that is, before this appearance, the Mother of God appeared to the Apostle Thomas through his prayer. To console him, she threw her belt to him from the sky. This tradition is depicted on Orthodox icons, and on the holy Mount Athos there is a 6th-century fresco depicting Thomas bringing the belt to the other disciples.

Empress Zoe and the Evil Spirit

The Golden Ark, in which the belt, revered as a great shrine, was enclosed for a long time, was first discovered at the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century during the reign of Emperor Leo the Wise. This was done with the permission of the patriarch for the emperor’s wife Zoe, who was overwhelmed by an unclean spirit. The emperor prayed to God for the healing of his wife. And a vision occurred that she would be cured of her weakness if the belt of the Virgin Mary was placed on her. When the ark was opened, it turned out that the belt, which had lain in it for almost ten centuries, had not decayed. The Patriarch applied the Belt to the sick empress, and she immediately got rid of the unclean spirit. As a sign of gratitude to the Mother of God, Zoya embroidered the entire Belt with gold thread. After these events, Saint Euthymius, the emperor’s confessor and Patriarch of Constantinople, composed a Homily “in honor of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, in remembrance of the miracle that occurred from Her Honorable Belt, by grace, mercy and love for mankind, Christ our God was born from Her.”

Belt division

In the 10th century, the Belt of the Virgin Mary was divided into parts, which eventually ended up in Bulgaria, Georgia (Zugdidi) and Cyprus (Trooditissa Monastery).

Helena, the niece of the Byzantine Emperor Romanos III Argir (Argyropoulo), received healing from the belt of the Virgin Mary. When in 1028, after the war with Georgia, the emperor made peace with her, he married Helen to the Georgian king Bagrat IV Kuropalates in order to seal the political alliance. With the permission of the emperor, the bride brought part of the Belt with her to a distant country. It is known that at the beginning of the 19th century, the ruler of Megrelia Nino, the daughter of the Georgian Tsar George XII, after accepting Russian citizenship, sent the shrine as a gift to the Russian Emperor Alexander I. The reaction of the Russian Tsar is surprising. Having decorated the ark with precious stones, he sent it back and ordered to build a stone church in Zugdidi to store the shrine. And to this day this part of the Belt is kept in the Cathedral of the Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God in a precious icon case.

Vatopedi Monastery

The Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos in Greece contains a part of the belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which the Byzantine emperors took with them on military campaigns and which the Bulgarians once recaptured from the Byzantines. This is a gift from the Serbian prince Lazar Hrebelianovich, who ruled in the 14th century - the last independent ruler of Serbia. This prince is glorified among the saints of the Serbian Orthodox Church as a great martyr.

The history of the monastery is so closely intertwined with the history of the Belt that it can no longer be thought of separately from it. This is evidenced by the nickname “Agiazonites” (that is, “holy belts”), given to the Vatopedi monks on Athos.

Temple of the Belt of the Virgin Mary in Syria

In the city of Homs (ancient Emesa) there is a temple dedicated to the Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the famous “Umm Zunnar”. According to the tradition of these places, the shrine was placed in a silver flower on a stand. In the center of the plant, surrounded by openwork petals under glass, lies a thin woolen belt made of camel hair and gold threads, about 60 centimeters long, twisted into a ring. According to legend, this is part of the belt of the Virgin Mary. It was found in 1953 after an ancient manuscript in Aramaic was discovered in a monastery in Mardin (modern Turkey). This manuscript indicated the place where half of the belt was kept, which Thomas took with him. Numerous healings also occur from this part of the shrine through the prayers of believers. In “Umm Zunnar”, next to the niche decorated with fresh flowers, where the Belt of the Virgin Mary is kept, there is a jug. Believers throw notes into it addressed to the Heavenly Intercessor.

Lots of belts

Orthodox believe that the copy from the miraculous icon is as holy as the original, that a stone from a holy place brought home can work a miracle according to the faith of the pilgrim. Likewise, the small belts made by the monks of the Vatopedi Monastery and consecrated on the belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary have the same power as the belt itself - the power of faith of the person praying. People pass these belts on to each other, divide them into parts, and send them to different countries. Many write about healings not only from the “original”, but also through these simple belts and their parts sent to them. It is believed that in a pilgrimage the path is important, in line to the shrine - prayer (pre)standing in this line - that is, preparation, prayer and meeting with the shrine are one thing.

Divine measure and miracle of healing

The Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not only a relic and a shrine, but also a standard, a divine measure that was used in the construction of cathedrals. For example, the proportions of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Diveyevo Monastery are determined by the belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, the length of which is 1 meter 20 cm, and are twenty belts wide (24 m), thirty long (36 m), fifty high (60 m). Twenty, thirty and fifty, added together, are equal to one hundred, that is, the monastic centenary, which is performed using the rosary. The belt became a measure for the construction of a number of Theotokos churches in Rus', including the Assumption Church in Rostov and the Assumption Church in Suzdal.

Many testimonies of miraculous healings from the belt of the Virgin Mary have been known since ancient times. Miracles continue in our time. Through people's prayers, their troubles of all kinds are resolved. But most of the evidence related to the belt comes from people who suffered from infertility and were cured (the flow of letters with photographs of newborns does not dry up at the Vatopedi Monastery) and from those who were healed from serious illnesses, including cancer.

In Russia, parts of the belt of the Virgin Mary are kept in the Serapion Chambers of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, in the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg and in the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Obydensky Lane in Moscow, where you can venerate them at any time.

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Nadezhda Zarina - (The Saints will help you). The Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary will help you

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The saints will help you - the Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary will help you

The Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary will help you

It so happened that I am familiar first-hand with the miracles performed by the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos. And now on the table in front of me is a photograph of my wonderful nephews, Lisa and Borenka - as a real evidence of a miracle... And in the family of my sister Svetlana and her husband Nikolai, a linen ribbon brought from the Vatopedi Monastery, in Greece, on the Holy Mountain, is kept as a shrine. Athos - brought at a time when here, in Russia, not many knew about the existence of the miraculous Belt of the Virgin Mary.

Now that Lizonka is seven and Borya is nine, they already know about the miracle of their birth. And together with their parents they fervently pray to the Mother of God, thanking her for the gift of life. Which might not have happened...

For fifteen years, the spouses Svetlana and Nikolai have not had children in their marriage. But everyone considered them an ideal couple, destined for each other by God. Both were treated for a long time, earnestly, with hope, but without success. My whole life turned into some kind of endless examinations, tests, procedures. But in the end, the doctors just threw up their hands - they did everything they could, all that remains is to come to terms with the inevitable.

The state in which Svetlana found herself after the doctors’ verdict is difficult to describe. To say that she was depressed is an understatement. Her life has lost all meaning. Even the love of a loved one, her husband, who was next to her in the most difficult trials, almost did not save her from that huge black hole into which it seemed she was falling. There are women who, it seems, are simply destined to be an outstanding mother. An all-consuming love for children, a passionate desire to have them, plus the enormous unspent potential of some incredibly enormous maternal love. Svetlana is exactly like that. Mother from God, ideal mother! Doctors, psychologists, and just friends advised: get a dog. What does the dog have to do with it...

Age was approaching, hopes were fading before our eyes, and there seemed to be no way out. And then Nikolai’s work colleague, returning from vacation, said that he had been to Greece. Sharing his impressions and showing spectacular photographs, he also mentioned that on the way back he got into conversation with our compatriots, who had gone on a pilgrimage trip to Mount Athos not for the first time. We also visited the monastery, where a piece of the Belt of the Virgin Mary is kept, famous for the miraculous healings it performs, including for infertility.

At home I told my wife, she instantly got excited about the idea: to go, immediately, right now! But what if Athos has long been closed to women? This is the tradition of this “monastic state”, where only male monasteries are located. The decision was made instantly: Nikolai would go. And he did not hesitate for long, despite the fact that he considered himself an unbeliever, far from religion. And, as if God wanted it so, everything worked out like clockwork. Within a few months, Nikolai went on a trip that was not just a tourist trip, but a pilgrimage one. From which he returned as a completely different person. I have never seen changes happen in a person so quickly! It was as if some kind of soft light was coming from him. Being next to him, everyone could feel some kind of special peace, as if Heavenly light was pouring into the soul. He said that he experienced the very real grace of God on Athos, and what it is is impossible even to describe in words.

And most importantly, not only did he himself touch the shrine, the Belt of the Virgin Mary, but he also brought a linen ribbon, a belt consecrated on the Belt of the Virgin Mary, the same one that is given to all pilgrims. Svetlana tied a ribbon around her waist and wore it without taking it off for many, many days. And most importantly, both Svetlana and Nikolai began to pray and go to church for confession and communion.

A year later, our entire large family congratulated them on their first child! There was no limit to happiness. And when Liza was born two years later, I realized that there was not and could not be a happier person in the world than my sister Svetlana...

But then my research led me to an amazing discovery. Yes, yes, for me it was a real discovery - as, I think, for many Muscovites.

You can venerate the Belt of the Virgin Mary not only on Mount Athos! A piece of it is located in the Moscow Church of Elijah the Prophet “Ordinary” at the address: 2nd Obydensky Lane, 6. It is next to the Kropotkinskaya metro station, less than half a kilometer from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

And yet the Athonite relic is special. It is on Mount Athos that the largest piece of the Belt of the Virgin Mary existing in the world is stored. In addition, it was she who became especially famous for her numerous miracles. Probably because Holy Mount Athos is one of the inheritances of the Mother of God, that is, the place where Her apostolic ministry took place during her lifetime, and which to this day is under Her special protection.

But for one and a half thousand years no woman has set foot on Athos, and the Belt of the Virgin Mary has not left the monastery on the Holy Mountain for more than two hundred years. He had never been to Russia at all. It seemed impossible to even dream that someday we, Russian women, would have a chance to fall before the shrine...

But a miracle happened - the very one for which it was difficult to hope. More than three million people venerated the shrine, which in forty days visited eleven cities of Russia, scattered throughout its vast territory from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. Moreover, the route of the Belt of the Virgin Mary was designed so that on the map of Russia the route of the shrine would form a cross, stretching across the entire territory of the country. It was as if the Mother of God herself had overshadowed Russia with the sign of the cross. And that’s how it is!

Three million people across Russia have taken the Belt - this means that three million families have received hope for happiness, health, and the well-being of themselves and their children. After all, the Belt is known not only for the miracles of giving children to infertile couples - it also helps to safely bear and give birth to a healthy baby, and thanks to the Belt, many people have received a cure for the most serious diseases, including cancer.

All troubles and trials are given to us only so that we can quickly come to God. And as soon as this happens, as soon as we sincerely, with all our hearts, open up to God’s providence, not limiting our lives to worries only about vain, material things, then God gives us children, and health, and all other blessings.

Pray, ask, believe in miracles! Ask our Mother Theotokos for intercession - and she will definitely help you. You will see - a miracle will enter your life.

The power of the shrine is in great love

Why do we worship shrines

Many Christian shrines exist in this world, and pilgrims come and go to them, coming from all over the Earth... What are we looking for, what do we want from shrines? Yes - a miracle, yes - healing from physical and mental illnesses, yes - benefits for yourself and your loved ones. But still, the most important thing that we receive by touching shrines is not of a material nature. The power of any shrine lies in the fact that it contains a huge charge of Divine love. No, the shrine is not an amulet or some kind of talisman, and not a magic wand that works miracles and fulfills wishes. And you shouldn’t expect a miracle for someone who doesn’t open their heart to God. But touching the shrine, even closed, hardened hearts suddenly open, thaw, and God enters these hearts, overshadowing them with his great love.

God is always good, God is always full of love - for everyone and everyone, no matter what! Another thing is that not every person is ready to open the door in his heart to meet God and let God into his life. Shrines help us, first of all, because something changes inside us when we come to the shrines. God's love bursts into our open hearts - and the strength of this love is enough for us to overcome our illnesses and cope with troubles. That's when the real miracle happens. And this miracle is created in ourselves, in our soul - not by the shrine as such, but with its help.

Many people, touching a shrine, feel how the love and grace of God enters them. And the power of this love and grace is almost as tangible, material, as those material things that we are accustomed to seeing with our eyes and considering the only reality. Shrines show us that there is another reality - a spiritual one. And only he can become happy and change his life for the better, who has accepted this spiritual reality and put it in first place, and not material goods.

The power of the shrine is not that it is a material object, but that it contains living love, allowing each of us to feel: both the Most Holy Virgin and Her Son - here they are, next to us, have never left us, always ready to lend a helping hand to us. You touch the shrine and the canonized images come to life. And we understand: all this is real, we live on the same Earth on which the Mother of God walked, we breathe the same air, and now we touch the same things that Her hands touched... And we get a feeling of the living presence of God, and we touch His strength, and we receive help and support, and we feel how light and grace enter our hearts.

Touching the shrines, filled with the enormous power of grace, light and love that is inherent in them, you begin to understand what real faith is: not following memorized rituals, not just the habit of praying and making the sign of the cross - but a living feeling of a deep heartfelt connection between us , mere mortals, and a loving Heavenly Father, as well as all our intercessors and patrons who live in Heaven, among whom the First is Jesus, and the First after the First is the Mother of God. When you feel their living presence, when you feel their living love, then the prayers sound different, because we feel with all our souls: they will hear us, they will help us, they will overshadow us with love and grace, and they will invisibly extend a helping hand.

It is a well-known truth: it is given to us according to our faith. By faith and love. And if we approach the shrine with sincere faith and love, then it will help us, take us away from trouble, guide us on the right path, and bestow us with Divine strength, which can cope with any illnesses and adversities.

Those who love the Mother of God with all their soul, who pray to her tirelessly, understand me: it is for them that the Athos shrine, the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, is now revealing all its miraculous power to the fullest - and miracles are happening in millions of Russian families.

The main miracles for which the Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary became famous:

Healing from infertility;

Getting rid of problems during pregnancy and childbirth;

Help in giving birth to a healthy child;

Healing from all diseases, including cancer;

Success in war, help in the fight for justice.

But you can pray over the shrine for any other help - in your personal life, family affairs, solving everyday, material problems, etc. There are no special rules on how to express respect for the shrine: you can touch it with your hand, kiss, and even just standing or walking nearby. Important: it is not the Belt that is asked for help, but the Most Holy Theotokos.

Pray to the Mother of God, love her! And a new, amazing world full of light and love will open to you.

What and how to pray to the Mother of God

In case of any troubles and adversity, prayer to our Queen of Heaven, the Mother of God, helps. Whatever happens in your life - serious illness or minor everyday troubles, whether you are in poverty, need, loneliness, whether you feel abandoned, whether you suffer from evil people, whether you are tormented by melancholy, despondency, or feel weak, helpless, or the weight of sins weighs on you, or there is confusion in your feelings and thoughts, and there is no clarity or order - ask for help from the Most Holy Theotokos, and she, like the most loving mother, will respond, respond, take away your sorrows, and give you strength to overcome adversity, on the true path will instruct. After all, she is our Heavenly Mother, and we are her children. And who better than a loving mother understands her children, sympathizes with them and always lends a helping hand, no matter what they have done, and no matter what happens in their lives!

Always remember that our Heavenly Mother loves us as we are, never punishes us, never condemns us for anything, and always forgives us for everything. Her love is so great that all our sins and adversities begin to seem small and simply melt away in the Divine rays of this great love.

With this in mind, begin and end each day with prayers to our beloved intercessor, the Mother of God, the Most Holy Theotokos. The main one of these prayers is the “Song of the Most Holy Theotokos.”

Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Virgin Mary, Rejoice, O Blessed Mary, the Lord is with You; Blessed are You among women and blessed is the fruit of Your womb, for You have given birth to the Savior of our souls.

Many people read this prayer in queues to the ark with the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, and above the Belt itself, falling to it (or simply passing under it, as was the case in some churches), and continue to read, wearing ribbons consecrated on the Belt.

According to the rules of the Russian Orthodox Church, there are also special prayers that must be read just before venerating the shrine. Here they are.

Troparion of the Position of the Venerable Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary, tone 8

Ever-Virgin Mother of God, the covering of men, the robe and girdle of Your most pure body, You bestowed the sovereignty on Your city, Who by Your seedless Nativity is incorruptible, for in You both nature and time are renewed. We also pray to You to grant peace to Your city and great mercy to our souls.

Kontakion of the Venerable Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, tone 2

Your God-pleasing womb, Mother of God, Your generous belt, Your honorable power, Your city is invincible and the treasure of good things is endless, the only one who gave birth to the Ever-Virgin.

Kontakion of the Venerable Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, tone 4

Today Your honorable belt celebrates Your position, the Praising Temple, and diligently calls upon You: Rejoice, O Virgin, praise to Christians.

This is the troparion and kontakion of the feast of the Position of the Honorable Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, which is celebrated on September 13 (August 31, old style) - but they are not necessarily read only on this day, it can be on any other, both over the Belt itself, and over the ribbon consecrated on Belt, and whenever you need help and support from the shrine, and through it - from the Mother of God herself.

There are many other prayers to the Mother of God that help in a variety of situations in life, which can also be read, asking for help through the Belt of the Virgin Mary. Here are a few of them.

What should I pray to You for, what should I ask of You? You see everything, you know it Yourself: look into my soul and give it what it needs. You, who have endured everything, overcome everything, will understand everything. You, who entwined the Baby in a manger and took Him with Your hands from the Cross, You alone know all the heights of joy, all the oppression of grief. You, who have received the entire human race as adoption, look at me with maternal care. From the snares of sin, lead me to Your Son. I see a tear watering Your face. It is above me that you shed it, and let it wash away the traces of my sins. Here I have come, I am standing, I am waiting for Your response, O Mother of God, O All-Sung, O Lady! I don’t ask for anything, I just stand before You. Only my heart, poor human heart, exhausted in longing for truth, I cast at Your Most Pure feet, Lady! Grant to all who call You to reach the eternal day by You and worship You face to face.

Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos, protecting from despair

Lady, my Most Holy Theotokos. With your all-powerful and holy prayers before our Lord, take away from me, your sinful and humble servant (name), despondency, foolishness and all nasty, evil and blasphemous thoughts. I beg you! Take them away from my sinful heart and my weak soul. Holy Mother of God! Deliver me from all evil and unkind thoughts and actions. Blessed be you, and may your name be glorified forever and ever. Amen.

Prayers of repentance to the Most Holy Theotokos

Most Holy Lady Theotokos, the only one most pure in soul and body, the only one who surpasses all purity, chastity and virginity, the only one who has completely become the abode of the complete grace of the all-holy Spirit, the most immaterial power here has incomparably surpassed the purity and holiness of the soul and body, look upon me, vile, unclean, soul and the body that has been denigrated by the filth of the passions of my life, cleanse my passionate mind, make immaculate and order my wandering and blind thoughts, put my feelings in order and guide them, free me from the evil and vile habit of unclean prejudices and passions that torment me, stop all sin acting in me, grant to my darkened and damned mind sobriety and prudence to correct my inclinations and falls, so that, freed from sinful darkness, I will be vouchsafed with boldness to glorify and sing songs to You, the only Mother of the true Light - Christ, our God; because you, alone with Him and in Him, are blessed and glorified by every invisible and visible creation, now, and always, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Undefiled, Unblessed, Imperishable, Most Pure, Unbridled Bride of God, Mother of God Mary, Lady of Peace and My Hope! Look upon me, a sinner, at this hour, and from Thy pure blood Thou hast unknowingly given birth to the Lord Jesus Christ, make me merciful through Thy motherly prayers; The one who has been condemned to maturity and wounded in the heart with the weapon of sadness, wound my soul with Divine love! The mountaineer who mourned him in chains and abuse, grant me tears of contrition; With His free conduct to death, my soul was seriously ill, free me from illness, so that I may glorify You, worthily glorified forever. Amen.

O zealous, compassionate intercessor of the Lord Mother! I come running to You, a cursed man and a sinner above all others: listen to the voice of my prayer, and hear my cry and groaning. For my iniquities have exceeded my head, and I, like a ship in the abyss, am plunging into the sea of ​​my sins. But You, All-Good and Merciful Lady, do not despise me, desperate and perishing in sins; have mercy on me, who repent of my evil deeds, and turn my lost, accursed soul to the right path. On You, my Lady Theotokos, I place all my hope. Thou, Mother of God, preserve and keep me under Thy roof, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Petitionary prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary

To whom shall I cry, Lady? To whom shall I resort in my sorrow, if not to You, Queen of Heaven? Who will accept my cry and my sighing, if not You, Most Immaculate, the hope of Christians and refuge for us sinners? Who will protect You more in adversity? Hear my groaning and incline Your ear to me, the Lady Mother of my God, and do not despise me who requires Your help, and do not reject me, a sinner. Enlighten and teach me, Queen of Heaven; do not depart from me, Thy servant, Lady, for my grumbling, but be my Mother and Intercessor. I entrust myself to Your merciful protection: lead me, a sinner, to a quiet and serene life, so that I may weep for my sins. To whom shall I resort when I am guilty, if not to You, the hope and refuge of sinners, inspired by the hope of Your ineffable mercy and Your bounty? O Lady, Queen of Heaven! You are my hope and refuge, protection and intercession and help. My Queen, Most Offering and Speedy Intercessor, cover my sins with Your intercession, protect me from enemies visible and invisible; soften the hearts of evil people who rebel against me. O Mother of the Lord my Creator! You are the root of virginity and the unfading color of purity. O Mother of God! Give me help to those who are weak with carnal passions and those who are sick at heart, for one thing is Yours and with You the intercession of Your Son and our God; and through Your wonderful intercession may I be delivered from all misfortune and adversity, O Most Immaculate and Glorious Mother of God, Mary. The same with hope I say and cry out: Rejoice, full of grace; Rejoice, Delighted One; Rejoice, Most Blessed One: the Lord is with You!

My Blessing Queen, my hope, Mother of God, Friend of the orphans and the strange, the Representative of the grieving, the Joy of the offended, the Patroness! See my misfortune, see my sorrow, help me as I am weak, feed me as I am strange. Weigh my offense, resolve it as if you will: for I have no other help except You, no other Representative, no good Comforter, only You, O Mother of God, for you will preserve me and cover me forever and ever. Amen.

O Most Holy Virgin, Mother of the Lord Most High, Intercessor and Protector of all who resort to You! Look down from Thy holy height upon me, a sinner (name), who falls before Thy most pure image; hear my warm prayer and offer it before Your Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; beg Him to illuminate my gloomy soul with the light of His Divine grace, to deliver me from all need, sorrow and illness, to grant me a quiet and peaceful life, physical and mental health, to pacify my suffering heart and heal its wounds, to guide me for good deeds, may my mind be cleansed from vain thoughts, and having taught me to fulfill His commandments, may He deliver me from eternal torment and may He not deprive me of His Heavenly Kingdom. O Most Holy Theotokos! You, “Joy of all who mourn,” hear me, the sorrowful one; You, called “Quenching of Sorrow”, quench my sorrow; You, “Burning Kupino”, save the world and all of us from the harmful fiery arrows of the enemy; You, “Seeker of the Lost,” do not allow me to perish in the abyss of my sins. According to Bose, all my hope and hope is in Tyabo. Be a temporary Intercessor for me in life, and an Intercessor for eternal life before Your Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Teach me to serve this with faith and love, and to reverently honor You, Most Holy Mother of God, Most Blessed Mary, until the end of my days. Amen.

Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos, recited on Sunday, by St. Nile of Sora

O all-merciful Virgin Mother of God, Mother of generosity and love for mankind, my most beloved hope and hope! O Mother of the sweetest, firstborn and all-surpassing love of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Lover of mankind and my God, Light of my darkened soul! I fall down to You, a great sinner, and I pray to You, the source of mercy and the abyss of generosity and love for mankind: have mercy on me, I cry out to You painfully, have mercy on me, all the wounded, who fell into cruel robbers, and from clothes, clothed me in nakedness, Father, woe is me, naked In the same way, my wounds became stale and rotten in the face of my madness. But, my Lady Theotokos, I humbly pray to You: look at me with Your merciful eye, and do not disdain me, all that is darkened, all that is defiled, all that is immersed in the mire of pleasures and passions, that is fallen in the rage and cannot rise: have mercy on me, and give me a helping hand, raised me from the depths of sin. O my joy! Deliver me from those who have bypassed me; enlighten Thy face upon Thy servant, save the perishing, raise up the fallen: for thou canst do all things, as the Mother of the Almighty God. Pour upon me the oil of Thy mercy, and give me the wine of tenderness; You truly have only one hope in the acquisitions of my life. Do not reject me, who flows to You, but see my sorrow, O Virgin, and the desire of my soul, and accept this and save me, Intercessor of my salvation.

Song of praise to the Most Holy Theotokos

We praise you, Mother of God; We confess You, Mary, the Virgin Mother of God; The whole earth magnifies You, the Eternal Father's Daughter. All Angels and Archangels and all Principalities humbly serve You; All Powers, Thrones, Dominions and all the highest Powers of heaven obey you. The Cherubim and Seraphim stand before You rejoicing and cry out with an unceasing voice: Holy Mother of God, the heavens and earth are full of the majesty of the glory of the fruit of Your womb. The Mother praises the glorious apostolic face of her Creator to you; The Mother of God magnifies many martyrs for you; The glorious host of confessors of God the Word gives you a temple; To you the ruling Poles preach the image of virginity; All the heavenly hosts praise you, the Queen of Heaven. Throughout the entire universe the Holy Church glorifies you, honoring the Mother of God; He extols thee true King of heaven, the Maiden. You are the Angel Lady, You are the door of heaven, You are the ladder of the Kingdom of Heaven, You are the palace of the King of glory, You are the ark of piety and grace, You are the abyss of bounties, You are the refuge of sinners. You are the Mother of the Savior, you received freedom for the sake of a captive man, you received God in your womb. The enemy has been trampled upon by you; You have opened the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven to the faithful. You stand at the right hand of God; You pray to God for us, Virgin Mary, who will judge the living and the dead. We therefore ask You, Intercessor before Your Son and God, Who redeemed us with Your blood, so that we may receive the reward in eternal glory. Save Thy people, O Mother of God, and bless Thy inheritance, for let us be partakers of Thy inheritance; preserve and keep us even unto the ages. Every day, O Most Holy One, we wish to praise and please You with our hearts and lips. Grant, Most Merciful Mother, now and always to preserve us from sin; have mercy on us, Intercessor, have mercy on us. May Your mercy be upon us, as we trust in You forever. Amen.

Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos by St. Ephraim the Syrian

Virgin, Lady Theotokos, who, more than nature and word, gave birth to the only begotten Word of God, the Creator and Ruler of all visible and invisible creation, the One of the Trinity of God, God and Man, who became the abode of the Divine, the receptacle of all holiness and grace, in which, by the good pleasure of God and the Father , with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the Fullness of the Divinity dwelt bodily; incomparably exalted by divine dignity and superior to every creature, Glory and Consolation, and the indescribable joy of the Angels, the royal crown of the apostles and prophets, the supernatural and wonderful courage of the martyrs, the Champion of exploits and the Giver of victory, preparing for the ascetics eternal and divine rewards, honor and glory saints, infallible Guide and Teacher of silence, door of revelations