Believers in Russia celebrate the Feast of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary

In Russia, believers celebrate the Feast of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary. This holiday, which is celebrated in the Russian Orthodox Church on Saturday, is associated with the defeat of the pagan Rus in the conflict with Constantinople. However, it spread especially widely in Rus’ after the adoption of Christianity, which indicates the priority for believers of spiritual kinship over blood kinship.

The Feast of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the twelve main holidays in the Russian Orthodox Church, and its date remains unchanged – October 14. The full name of the holiday sounds like “Protection of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.” This holiday is associated with the events that took place in 910 in the temple of Blachernae in Constantinople. The chasuble, or clothing, of the Virgin Mary has been kept in this temple since the 5th century. According to the life of the Byzantine saint Andrew the Fool, he and his disciple saw the Mother of God herself appear in the temple and cover those present with her scarf, which women wore on their heads and shoulders. According to legend, at that time enemy troops were approaching Constantinople, but thanks to prayers to the Mother of God, they were repelled. Currently, when Russia is faced with military threats and disasters, many turn to the Mother of God with prayers for help. Often, our country is called the inheritance of the Most Holy Theotokos in church texts.

Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, chairman of the educational committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, noted that the history of the Feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos has its own paradoxical and poignant character. He said that it was interesting that the soldiers who attacked Constantinople were representatives of the Rus tribes, that is, the ancestors of our compatriots. Despite the defeat of the Rus, the holiday of the Intercession took particular root in Rus’, and this indicates that for our ancestors the unity of faith and the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos were more important than the unity of blood.

Father Maxim also noted that during the attack on Constantinople, Emperor Leo VI was with the main part of his army in Asia Minor, so there was a real threat of the city’s fall. The inhabitants of Constantinople gathered for an all-night vigil in the Church of Blachernae, and it was there that the Mother of God appeared, supported by Saints John the Baptist and John the Theologian. She entered the temple, walked to the altar and, taking off her scarf, spread it over the people, praying for the salvation of the city from the invasion of enemies. The next day, weather conditions changed, and the barbarians, who were on light ships, were forced to retreat.

The archpriest noted that the Intercession of the Virgin Mary was established as a liturgical holiday in Byzantium in the 10th century, but it became widespread and the significance of the great holiday was in Rus’. Many churches and monasteries were dedicated to the Intercession. The construction of the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl is evidence of the importance of this holiday for our ancestors. This speaks of the depth of their consciousness, where the unity of faith and the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos became more important than the unity of blood.

An associate professor at the Moscow Theological Academy, priest Anthony Borisov, suggested that the defeat of the Rus was one of the reasons for their adoption of Christianity in 988. He noted that in the context of the Christian understanding of the world, following God’s truth is more important than protecting temporary political interests. The Slavs realized that they may have been stronger than the Greeks from a military point of view, but God was on the side of the Greeks. This was one of the reasons that Rus’ later, at the end of the 10th century, adopted Christianity in its Greek guise.