You
may have bowed to and kissed an Icon of Panagia Tricherousa (Panagia
of the Three Hands) and might have wondered why it was painted like
that.
This
Icon is currently located in the Holy Monastery of Hilandari on Mount
Athos.
The
story of the icon is associated with the life of our Saint and
God-bearing father John of Damascus, the known hymnwriter of our
church.
Saint
John was serving in Damascus where he had a great post.From there he
wrote and spoke against the heresy of Iconoclasts.Because of this,he
was slandered by the emperor of Byzantium,Leo the Isaurian,who
informed the Damascus caliph that Saint John was allegedly committing
treasonous acts against him. Then, having believed with no
examination those accusations and slanders, the caliph of Damascus
gave orders to cut off the right hand of John Damascene so that he
could never write again,and then take it to the marketplace and hang
it upon the town square.He did so firstly to imprint his dominion,and
secondly to exemplify those who were envious of him.
John's
hand was finally cut off.In the afternoon of the same day John asked
some of the caliph's acquaintances to beg him and give John the
cut-off hand.After that,the caliph gave the permission and commanded
that John be given his cut-off hand.
Towards
evening Saint John put his cut-off hand to its joint and fell to the
ground before the icon of the Mother of God.He begged tearfully the
Mother of the Most High to heal his hand, which had written in
defence of Orthodoxy,so that he could write hymns to the Theotokos
and keep defending Orthodoxy during those difficult days of
Iconoclasm.:
"Our
Lady Holy Mother ,and God-bearer,
my
hand was cut off,for I defended the divine icons.
You
are not unaware of the reason for which Leo raged like a lion,
and
on account of this I beg You to come as quickly as possible
and
cure my hand.
May
the right hand of the Most High, the encarnate through You,
heal
my right hand through Your beseeching,
so
that I can write again in praise of You and the encarnate ,through
You, Christ,
indite
hymns in harmonious rhythms,
and
contribute to the services of the Orthodox Faith,
since
You have the power to do everything You want,as the Mother of
God.....
.......
While
Saint John passed the night in great pain praying for the aid of the
Most Holy Theotokos,he fell asleep and miraculously Our Lady and
Queen of Angels appeared to him in a vision and gazing mercifully at
him said :
-Thy
hand is now whole; sorrow no more and fulfill your promise...
Having
awakened from sleep John found that his hand had been miraculously
restored,with only a red scar about the wrist ,where it had been
severed,as a testimony to the wondrous healing.
He
then bowed to and kissed the icon of the Mother of God crying tears
of joy and gratitude for Her beneficence and mercy towards him.
He
immediately wrote three hymns to Panagia which are included in the
THEOTOKARION and are chanted to the THEOTOKOS.
In
thanksgiving he had a silver hand attached to the Icon, before which
he had prayed,and ever since this Icon was named "of the Three
Hands".
All
the inhabitants and the caliph of Damascus were astonished at that
miracle and John was honoured. The miracle was soon made known
everywhere and God was glorified and Panagia was venerated. John
abandoned the secular power, the honours and the glory and went to
the Lavra Monastery of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified where he became a
monk and bestowed his icon(of the Mother of God of Three Hands).
This
wonderworking icon remained in the Lavra Monastery of Saint Sabbas
from the mid of the eighth century A.D. to the thirteenth century.
Then,the Lavra presented the Icon "of the Three Hands" in
blessing to Saint Sabbas Archbishop of Serbia.When Saint Sabbas left
Palestine,he took the Holy Icon to Serbia, where it remained in the
Holy Monastery of Stamonitsa till the mid of the thirteenth
century.During the time of an Invasion of Serbia by the Turks,some
Christians, who wanted to protect the Icon, entrusted it to the
safekeeping of Panagia Herself.They placed it upon a donkey which
without a driver proceeded to Athos and stopped in front of the
Hilandari Monastery.
When
the monks of the Monastery saw that unexpected event,they accepted
the precious present in awe and happiness and put the Holy Icon of
the Mother of God in the Monastery's Sanctuary.
We
do not know for how long the holy icon remained in the Sanctuary but
during a time of discord over the choice of Igumen,after the igumen
of the Monastery had died, the Mother of God was dissatisfied and
intervened miraculously in the following way.
During
a service, the monks of the Monastery noticed that the holy Icon was
not in its usual position in the Sanctuary,but it was in the place of
the igumen,in the parathronion(side-throne).
The
monks thought that someone had moved it there,so they replaced it to
its initial position inside the Sanctuary and after that, they shut
the doors of the temple.But the next day, despite the precautions,
the Icon was again found in the parathronion.
Being
in fear,query and awe the monks once again took the Icon back into
the Sanctuary but for the third time the Icon was found in the place
of the igumen,and by divine economy,a hermit monk came to the church
service and mentioned to the monks a vision he had, through which
Theotokos gave the following commandment...:
......Go
and tell the monks,my children,that from now on I am going to head
the Monastery myself
so
that any discord over the choice of Igumen can be avoided....
The
monks thanked the Mother of God in tears and prayers and from that
time Her Holy Icon has occupied the igumen's place in the temple.At
the Hilandari Monastery there is chosen only a vicar and the monks
take a blessing for every obedience from the Icon.
In
the Icon Panagia has an expressive look full of affection and at the
same time austerity and She is Rightholding ,that is, She is holding
our Lord on Her right arm.It is considered by experts to be one of
the icons that St. apostle Lucas had painted and presented to the
Mother of God in order to thank Her and Panagia blessed them saying
,:...May the grace of the Lord be with them..
It
is 110×90cm and has a silver and gold covering and precious gems as
oblations by Christians, who received and relished miracles from the
Icon.
May
all of us,who read its story and honour it reverently,have its
blessing and have the Mother of God as our cohabitant and fellow
traveller in all our days and reach unity in the faith and honour the
MOTHER OF GOD,AMEN.....
Apolytikion
of the Icon of Panagia Tricherousa in the Fourth Tone
From
the Palestine,godly-minded Sabbas brought unto us thy venerable Icon,
which is known as
"Of
the Three Hands",O all-holy Bride of God.Wherefore, since the
monks of Hilandari now possess it as their boast, they send up hymns
of praise and thanksgiving, while crying out with fervour:
Rejoice,thou
who art full of grace.
Kontakion in the Plagal of the
Fourth Tone
Come,let
us worship the famed Icon of the Queen of all called : Of the Three
Hands,for the fearful marvel which it wrought;and with fervent faith
and longing,come ,let us cry out : O pure Maiden , keep the monastery
and thy flock from all dangers , tribulations,and adversities,for we
cry to thee :
Rejoice,thou
help and defence of all,Most Holy Theotokos save us.
Megalynarion
Blessed
Virgin,Thy newly-constructed monastery in Africa, which has in its
bosom Thy holy icon :
of
the Three Hands,was named after Thee; in faith we worship and magnify
Thee.
