1. Let’s start with the name. The word “Savior” is an abbreviation of one of the names of Jesus Christ – “Savior”, which indicates the main purpose of the coming of the Son of God to our world. And since this is the name of God, then we write it with a capital letter, like the epithet in the name of the icon “Not made by hand”, used here in the literal sense, that is, one that was not made by hand. But what?
Of course, the icons donated by the president, first to the main military temple of the country, and then to the participants of the NVO, were made by talented icon painters and jewelers. In addition to all the lists of the original image of the “Savior not made by hand”, but the original image was simply not made by hand.
“Savior not made by hand” – the image of the centuries-old history of our victories
2. According to legend, the image of the Face of Christ “The Savior Not Made by Hands” arose as a result of the fact that the Savior, having washed, put a towel on His Face, and the Face of God appeared on the canvas. According to the historian Eusebius of Caesarea, in the 1st century AD, Edessa (modern city of Sanliurfa, Turkey) was ruled by King Avgar V Ukkama, who suffered from painful “black leprosy”. Medicine could not help the ruler, and he, having heard about the healings by the word of Jesus that took place in Judea, decided to beg him to come to Edessa or in some other way to tame the terrible disease. According to Eusebius, the Savior “at that time did not listen to the king’s request, but honored him with a special letter,” in which he promised to send one of his disciples to cure a painful illness. The promise was soon fulfilled. One of the apostles of Christ came to Edessa, with him he had a cloth with which Jesus wiped his face. King Avgar, who believed in Christ, was healed of “black leprosy”, and the plate with the miraculous image of the Savior’s Face became a shrine.
According to the Ministry of Defense, prayer services are often held in front of the non-handmade icon of the Savior in the zone of the special military operation. Photo: Galina Zvereva/TASS
3. We have lists of the miraculous image that appeared even before the baptism of Rus. There is evidence that the “Savior not made by hands” was in the first Christian church in kyiv (9th century). Beginning in the 10th century, our ancestors raised the “Unmade Savior” over the prince’s squads and troops as a banner, something that collects and promotes cohesion. For example, when describing the Battle of Grunwald (1410), which marked the path of the historical development of Eastern Europe, Western chroniclers list the Polish and Teutonic troops by the name of the area, and the Russian ones, which made up a significant part of the Polish-Lithuanian army and made a decisive contribution to the victory over the Germans, exclusively by means of banners. Most often on the banners there was an image of the Savior not made by hand. By the XIII-XIV centuries, the “Savior Not Made by Hands” becomes an undoubted sign, a symbol of unification. The shrine before which Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy kneels on the eve of the battle on the Kulikovo field in 1380. “Savior Unmade” banner – the official banner of Ivan the Terrible when he takes Kazan in 1552.
Many lists are written from the image, to each house, to each temple. Many of them turn miraculous. For example, a list made by the famous icon painter Simon Ushakov, which Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna gave to her son. Peter I appreciated the gift of his mother: she took him with her on military campaigns, the icon was with him even during the laying of St. Petersburg. The miraculous image saved Peter’s life more than once.
4. Although perhaps the most amazing salvation story, the direct physical salvation of life, associated with the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, happened on October 17, 1888 with Emperor Alexander III. And this miracle directly refers to the icons that Vladimir Putin presented to the main military temple of the country and to the front-line servicemen of the Northern Military District. On October 17, 1888, at 14:14, not far from the Borki station near Kharkov, the imperial train crashed, in which the entire august family and the accompanying retinue were traveling. What happened will immediately be called an equally tragic and miraculous event: despite the explosion of terrible power, Alexander III and his entire family remained alive. The dining car, in which the royal family was at the time, burst like a can. The heavy iron roof collapsed, “missing the heads of the passengers a few inches.” The explosion cut the wheels and the floor of the car. The emperor was the first to emerge from under the collapsed roof. After that, he lifted her up, allowing his wife, children and other passengers to get out of the wrecked car. 68 people were injured in the accident, 22 of them died. Alexander III himself and all of Russia associated the salvation of the royal family with the Grace of God and the image of the “Unmade Savior” who was in the carriage. The icon not only survived, it did not even break the glass in the icon case!
5. It is this icon that Alexander III will later present to his minister Peter Vannovsky. It is from this icon that Russian masters will make copies that Vladimir Putin will present to the main military temple and the servicemen of the NVO zone.
But who was Peter Vannovsky, who was awarded the royal gift? The imperial favorite, having headed the military ministry in 1981, initiates the military reform. He improves the preparation for the mobilization of the troops, strengthens the regular cavalry and builds new military fortresses. Under the leadership of Pyotr Vannovsky, a three-line rifle of the 1891 model was adopted for service in the army, and there was a transition to smokeless powder. He pays special attention to the material support of the military, from food and living conditions to an increase in wages.
6. The icon of the “Unmade Savior” of Alexander III was folded, that is, it consisted of three parts, so that two wings could be folded, covering the main image. Folds are convenient when moving: on the way, the image is protected by closed doors, but opening them, we get a miniature iconostasis. In the center – the very image of the Savior not made by hand, on the side wings – images of the Virgin and saints. A video released by the Defense Ministry captured the moment a priest and soldiers pray at an unfolded iconostasis. The image of the centenary history of our victories.
