Disillusioned with modern medicine, people find healing around miraculous faces. A cure for many diseases is granted by the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God.

The Mother of God, who lived her earthly life, knowing well human needs, did not leave without Her protection the people for whom the blood of Her beloved Son Jesus Christ was shed on Golgotha.

The Holy Virgin Mary reveals Herself to people in images, which are then embodied in saving icons.

Not forgotten by God's grace and the Yaroslavl region, where the icon appeared Mother of God"Tolga".

An image born in fire

It was August, 1314. According to the legend of the elders, Bishop Prokhor of Rostov traveled around the lands entrusted to him of the Belozersky limits, decided to go down the Sheksna River, and then along the Volga, to visit the glorious city of Yaroslavl.

Only 7 miles remained for the saint to Yaroslavl, when night came, which caused a stop. The right bank of the Volga was chosen as the place of overnight stay, or rather, a piece of land near which the Tolga River flowed into the Volga.

It was midnight when the campsite was illuminated by the brightest light emanating from a column of fire. The glow spread from the opposite bank, illuminating the bridge that had come from nowhere. Heavenly power attracted the Elder to the pillar, the light of which radiated the image Holy Mother of God with a baby. The bishop walked to them over a fiery bridge.

Often God Himself reveals Himself to people in the form of burning fire, as was the case with Moses when he saw the fireproof bush.

Before the miraculous face of the Virgin Mary with the Child, Bishop Prokhor fell to his knees and spent the rest of the night in prayer.

Upon returning to the parking lot, after conducting the morning service, the saint discovered that his staff had remained near the pillar of fire.

The sent servants quickly not only found the left rod, but found an icon of the Mother of God near the thickets, about which they informed the bishop. Saint Prochorus immediately recognized his night vision. The bishop himself, all the people accompanying him knelt down, fervently praying, glorifying God, giving Him praise for the miraculous gift.

The divine power of the icon of the Mother of God filled the builders who arrived from Yaroslavl. In one day they erected a temple, which was consecrated that same evening. At the end of the service, all the sick were healed.

For almost 6 centuries there was a monastery near Togla, monastery around her. All this time, the path of the suffering, the sick, those wishing to receive the help of the Holy Virgin Mary did not overgrow.

Since 1926, when Soviet authority closed the monastery, placed a colony of juvenile delinquents in its place, until 2003 the miraculous image was kept in the Yaroslavl Museum. Since 2003, the Bright Face has been illuminating the Tolga monastery, leaving it only 2 times a day. a short time.

Large icon of the Tolga Mother of God

Healing and liberating power of the icon

The great Tsar Ivan the Terrible, who was suffering from severe pain in his legs, heard about the healing power of the icon of the Mother of God. The king ordered to transfer him to the Tolga monastery. For a long time, fervently, John prayed before the Holy Face, received healing, going out to his subjects with his feet.

What other icons pray for healing:

In 1392, after the announcement of the kontakion, right hand The Mother of God began to stream myrrh, after a while myrrh appeared on the left leg of the Infant. Thus, the Blessed Mother of God gave Her divine sign to the weak people.

For 7 centuries, the miraculous power of the Holy Face has helped people who come with a pure heart, faith in the healing power of Jesus Christ.

Reverent silence reigns in the temple, where pilgrims, on their knees, ask the Mother of God for the healing of the spirit, soul, body:

• save from godlessness;
• protect during famine;
• heal from diseases;
• get rid of celibacy;
• free from addiction: drunkenness, smoking, fornication and drug addiction.

Important! Faith, fasting, and reverence for God help people receive the miraculous deliverance bestowed by the Mother of God.

The grace-filled power of the icon of the Mother of God "Tolgskaya" is the protective cover of Yaroslavl. The bright face of a loving Mother gives hope to the fallen spirit, heals and relieves addictions.

Description of the Tolga face of the Mother of God

Assumption Cathedral of Yaroslavl is the custodian of God's jewels. It is here that the Big Tolga Icon of the Mother of God with the Child is located.

About other temples of Yaroslavl:

Connoisseurs of iconography have not come to a consensus about the authorship of writing the Holy Face, but most of them tend to Yaroslavl origin.

The icon is made on a linden board.

It depicts the Blessed Virgin sitting on a throne, covered with a veil with flowing folds, adorned with silver and pearls. The high back of the throne is decorated with an exquisite ornament depicting climbing plants near the openings of the arches.

At first glance, the sad eyes of the Virgin Mary are striking, in which all the pain for humanity is collected. The head of the Virgin is adorned with the sign of Divinity, inherent in this particular icon.

The baby, in a red shirt and a blue cloak, comfortably settled down on the left knee of the Mother of God, gently pressing his cheek to the Mother's cheek and wrapping her arms around Her, as if supporting the Virgin during her suffering.

Tenderness emanates from the face of the Child, Divine love, filling the prayers with peace and tranquility.

Very often, patients who come on crutches are healed, throw away crutches, leave on their own feet, constantly thanking the Virgin Mary, glorifying the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Babies, old people, men, women are healed. They are healed by their own prayers, petitions of mothers and loved ones.

It is difficult to count all the miracles bestowed on people after tireless prayers and faith in receiving what they ask for, but the prayer of thanksgiving to the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary and all the Saints constantly flows to God.

The Apparition Icon of the Tolgskaya Mother of God

Prayer before the face of the Mother of God

Prayer and akathist before the bright image of the Virgin Mary with the Child echoes the prayer "Our Father", saying which with all their hearts and minds people ask:

• about the power of God;
• protection from the arrows of the evil one;
• cover of God

“O Most Holy Lady, Virgin Mother of God, above Cherubim and Seraphim and most holy of all saints! You, Omnipotent, on Tolga, Thy multi-healing icon to the blessed Saint Tryphon favored the fiery manifestation of Thou, and with it many and inexpressible miracles Thou hast done, and now You are doing it, according to Thy unspeakable mercy to us. Before Your most pure image, we bow down and pray, Blessed Intercessor of our kind: in this earthly wandering, many-sorrowful and many-rebellious, do not deprive us of Your intercession and protection of God.

Save and protect us, Lady, from the fiery arrows of the crafty enemy of our salvation. Strengthen our weak will to do the commandments of Christ, soften our petrified hearts with love for God and our neighbors, grant us contrition of the heart and true repentance, yes, cleansed from sinful filth, we will be able to bring to the Creator the fruits of good deeds pleasing to Him and we will be honored with a peaceful Christian death and answer right at His terrible and impartial Judgment. Hey, Lady All-Merciful!

In a terrible mortal hour, most of all, show us Your powerful intercession, then hasten to help us, the helpless, and with Your sovereign hand, free us from the power of the fierce world-ruler, for truly, Your prayer before the Lord can do a lot, and nothing will stop Your intercession, only admiration . Also, looking at Your holy image with tenderness before it, as if You live with us, worshiping, with good hope for ourselves, and each other, and our whole belly to You, according to God, we prayerfully commit and magnify You with our Savior born from You, The Lord Jesus Christ, to Him, with His Beginningless Father and the Most Holy Spirit, all glory, honor and worship is due, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen".

Watch a video about the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God

For many centuries, among Orthodox Christians, the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God has been revered, in which it helps people. Temples, monasteries are built in honor of the miraculous image, numerous lists are written.

The popular veneration of the image begins already from the 13th-14th century. The oldest of them is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery, another miraculous one is in the Tolgsky Monastery in Yaroslavl, the third one is in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. There are other copies of the prototype, for example, in Moscow - in the Novospassky Monastery, as well as in the Vysokopetrovsky and Nikolo-Perervinsky cloisters.

When the icon of the Tolga Mother of God was painted and by whom - it is impossible to get answers to these questions, they have long been lost in the space of the past centuries. On the other hand, the people's memory has carefully preserved and brought to us the legend of the amazing acquisition of the miraculous face of the Mother of God.

In 1314, Vladyka Prokhor, not having reached the city of Yaroslavl for about six versts, got up for the night on the banks of the Volga River. Dark, even if the eye, the night fell on the Yaroslavl forest. Somewhere in the darkness the waters of the Volga River splashed, and near the bishop's tent the servants snored briskly, exhausted from the long journey that began from the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. Those were peaceful lulling sounds, under which one sleeps so sweetly and well.

But the Bishop of Yaroslavl, disturbed by something, threw back his thin blanket and sat down on the couch with a pounding heart. The peaceful sleep of the lord was disturbed by the light that penetrated from the midnight forest and flooded the tent with an unbearably bright radiance. The source could only be the flames licking the trees around.

"Lord have mercy! Fire!" Vladyka groped for the bishop's staff with fingers clumsy from sleep, rushed to the exit from the tent, and froze in shock. There were no flames around. But marvelous! On the opposite bank, where the Tolga River flows into the Volga, overshadowing full moon and a scattering of stars, a pillar of fire rose from the earth to the sky.

A bridge stretched from it to the very episcopal feet. “Our Father, who art in heaven…,” Vladyka whispered, making one sign of the cross after another. Having completed the prayer and strengthened in spirit, he fearlessly stepped onto the wonderful bridge.

One step, one more step, one more - that's the pillar of fire. In its amazing radiance, the bishop saw an unprecedented icon of the Mother of God with the Christ Child in her arms. Tears welled up in Vladyka's eyes and words of prayer poured out by themselves.

Seeing the image of the Mother of God in such great glory, Vladyka knelt down and began to fervently pray not only for the land of Yaroslavl, Rostov, but for all of Orthodox Rus'. And when, finally, he returned to the parking lot along the same bridge, he began to doubt and believe that it was only a vision, and only for him alone.

But when a cell-attendant approached him in the morning and asked where to look for his staff, since he had already lost his feet and could not find it, Vladyka saw the will of God in this and mechanically pointed to the opposite bank of the river. Of course, there was no longer any bridge. They got into boats, crossed over to the other side and found the icon of the Mother of God, already standing on the ground. And near it stood the bishop's staff. And when they told Vladyka that they had found not only a staff, but also a miraculous image of the Mother of God, he decided to build a temple on this site in honor of the found icon, so that the name of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Lord Jesus Christ would be glorified here.

Vladyka consecrated the newly built church in honor of the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple. Later, a monastery arose on this site, main shrine which has become miraculous icon Tolga Mother of God.

Iconography

On the Tolga icon, the Mother of God is depicted with her head bowed mournfully. Little Jesus rests his cheek against his mother's cheek. The Mother of God, as if asking for alms, stretches out her open palm to her Divine Son. And the Savior hugs Her head with one hand, and the second reaches out to grab her neck more tightly. Oh, how much infantile insecurity and spontaneity is in this movement! How much love of the Son of God for His Most Pure Mother and the whole human race is in it.

The iconographic scheme of this image of the Mother of God classifies it as “Tenderness” (the Greek version is “Sweet Kiss”). It includes two figures, the Mother of God and the Child, clinging to each other in a single spiritual impulse. This iconographic type of the Theotokos faces is the most lyrical, revealing to us the intimate side of the relationship between the Theotokos and her Son.

Note! The image contains a deep theological implication: here the Mother of God is a symbol of the soul, clinging to God with love and tenderness.

Prayer tradition

And in our time, the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God in Yaroslavl performs many miracles. People know about this and with deep faith and hope come to the Theotokos. Young girls or families turn to the miraculous image of the Mother of God.

The Mother of God gives childbearing to those who do not have children. And now there are so many childless, in which the Mother of God is their last hope for a miracle. The Tolga image is famous for healing from headaches, as well as from diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

One boy miraculously recovered from a broken spine. It happened like this. In front of the miraculous face of the Mother of God in the temple, an elderly woman sobbed uncontrollably. One of the sisters of the monastery, unable to stand it, went up to her and sympathetically asked why she was crying so much. To which the old woman said that her only beloved grandson had a secondary fracture of the spine, and the condition was so hopeless that the doctors did not want to take up treatment. And now he has one way out - to remain a cripple for life. And the hump has already grown, at his age.

Lampadas are always placed near the miraculous image of the Mother of God. The sister gave the sobbing woman oil taken from one of them, ordered to rub it into her hump. And she ordered that the boy himself began to pray to the Tolgsky face of the Virgin, and do it as diligently as possible. And after a week, the hump became much smaller, and soon disappeared altogether. This miracle was recorded in the monastery chronicle.

Miraculous healing of Ivan the Terrible

On a spring day in 1553, the Ascension Church, in the Yaroslavl Tolgsky Monastery, seemed empty. Outside the doors of the temple, pilgrims were noisy, eager to bow to the miraculous image of the Mother of God. In the middle of the temple, an emaciated young man dressed in rich clothes hunched over in a light armchair.

Even the warm glow of the candles could not add color to the pale face. His feet lay limply on the stone floor, not obeying young man. After the fiery disease, many days and nights spent in delirium, he could neither stand up nor walk on them. “Decapitated,” the doctors shook their heads. “Oh, what a disaster! Trouble! the young man whispered and pursed his lips angrily.

For this malice that bubbles in his heart from the cradle, he will eventually receive the nickname Terrible. In the meantime, the conqueror of Kazan, the tsar of all Rus', raised his eyes to the face of the Virgin. Through the dark church silence they looked at each other, the All-Merciful Queen of Heaven and Her suffering child. A tear rolled down John's pale cheek and tangled in his tousled beard.

A thin hand flew into sign of the cross. "Mother! Help!” the poor man piteously called, and fell silent, silently appealing to the mercy of the All-good Comforter. At the request of the sick, the monks of the Tolga monastery served a miraculous prayer service before. As soon as the last sound rang out and melted away in the church walls, John smiled uncertainly and timidly.

“Look! Look everyone!” he shouted admiringly and shook his right leg. Then he flew up like a bird from his disgusted chair and pounded his heels on the floor. Right, left. Then he froze, trembling like a goose string, slowly, slowly crossed himself on the holy image of the Mother of God and bowed before him in prostration: “Thank you, Blessed Virgin!”

Pilgrimage to the icon

From all sides of our country, pilgrims flock to the monastic monastery, which is hiding in the Yaroslavl forests. Here, in reverent silence, they descend before the miraculous image of the Virgin. Their searching eyes meet the mournful gaze of the Mother of God.

What do they pray to the Blessed Virgin, mainly about the gift:

• rest;
• help;
• strengthening faith;
• protection from hunger and drought;
• salvation from the godless;
• well-being for family and friends;
• deliverance from spiritual and bodily diseases.

And today a lot of people come to thank the Queen of Heaven. She hears all prayers and helps. And the faithful thank the Mother of God, whoever can. Inside the shrine of the holy image, above the lamps, there are many expensive gold jewelry that the parishioners bring as a token of gratitude to the Queen of Heaven. This is a clear evidence that people received help and comfort from Her.

Attention! Believers come to the icon-painting face and to the Novospassky Monastery. The Tolga icon of the Mother of God is also in this holy monastery.

Useful video

Summing up

For seven hundred years, believers have been going in endless streams to the miraculous image. Prayer to the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God still brings healing, insight and relief to those who suffer. As before, the Mother of God pours out on all who flow to her, boundless mercy and grace from God.

In contact with

Icon of the Mother of God of Tolga

Surrounded by a relic cedar grove, the domes of the Tolga Svyato-Vvedenskaya monastery shine over the Volga waters. By the providence of God, she became the first convent opened on the territory of Russia after many decades of persecution and devastation. Since January 1988, here, a little higher than Yaroslavl and on the northern bank of the great Russian river opposite this city, the first sisters-nuns settled, whose deliberate service was caring for the elderly and lonely servants of the Church. Over time, the honest relics of St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), a subtle religious thinker and psychologist, who in his writings brought the centuries-old ascetic experience of Orthodox asceticism closer to understanding, were transferred to Tolga. modern man. In his earthly life, St. Ignatius was not particularly connected with Tolga: he died and was buried in another Upper Volga monastery, the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery, which stood halfway from Yaroslavl to Kostroma.

The original shrine of Tolga for almost seven centuries was the miraculous myrrh-streaming icon Tolga Mother of God, taken to the Yaroslavl Art Museum in the mid-1920s. Once upon a time, religious processions with the Tolga icon were made from here to Yaroslavl, and to Rostov Veliky with its neighbor Borisogleb, and to Rybinsk, and to the northern districts bordering Vologda.

In 1314, when Yaroslavl was ruled by Prince David Fedorovich, the local bishop Prokhor (in the schema Tryphon) was returning from the monastery of St. Cyril of Belozersky to his cathedral city. The path, which ran first along the Sheksna, then along the Volga, was long and difficult, and, having not reached Yaroslavl only seven miles, Vladyka and his companions were forced to stop for the night on the right elevated bank. The weary travelers were long asleep when a bright light suddenly seeped into the bishop's tent. Vladyka went outside and saw a marvelous pillar of fire rising on the opposite bank, at the mouth of the Tolga River, where a dense forest stood in those days. The reflection of the pillar in the Volga water formed a light path like a moonlight. Falling on his knees before this mysterious sign, the archpastor crossed himself and, leaning on his hierarchal baton, stepped on the unearthly light, humbled water and walked on it as if on dry land. Having crossed to the other side, Vladyka saw that on the top of the fiery pillar hovered the image of the Most Pure One with the Eternal Child.

With tears of tenderness, the bishop began to pray: “Mistress, You look after Your children and do not forget Your heritage! What shall we repay, what gifts shall we bring to Thee?” Exhausted, he returned by the same marvelous fiery bridge to his tent and fell asleep until morning. When it was time to set off, Vladyka realized that he had forgotten his hierarch's staff on the opposite bank. And then, having told his unsuspecting companions about the night vigil, he crossed with them into the forest beyond the river and saw an icon already standing on the ground with a staff lying in front of it. Convinced that everything that happened at midnight was not a sleepy vision, the archpastor fell before the revealed image, and then took an ax in his hands and began to cut down the forest. And until Vladyka and his servants built a wooden temple on the site of the appearance of the Most Pure One, they did not return to the city. Having heard about the miracle, the Yaroslavl crowds rushed to Tolga to join the builders, so that by noon the church was ready, and by evening it was consecrated in the name of the Introduction.

More than half a century has passed. Around the church, a monastery had already been formed for a long time, where pious monks and pilgrims who had heard about the miracles from the icon flocked to. On September 16, 1392, Abbot Herman proclaimed at Matins the usual words from the liturgical rite: “We will exalt the Theotokos and Mother of Light in song,” and suddenly, at that very moment, myrrh began to flow from the right hand of the Most Pure One, whose fragrance spread throughout the cathedral. When the astonished monks began to serve a prayer service on the occasion of a new miracle, then while singing the words “Lady, accept the prayers of Thy servant,” myrrh appeared on the left leg of the Infant. The pilgrims collected it and carried it around the surrounding cities and villages, and everywhere the Tolga myrrh brought healing to the sick and mournful.

However, soon the wooden buildings of the monastery perished in the flames of the fire, and the cathedral church could not resist the fire. The icon was then considered dead, and what was the surprise of the monks when they saw the unharmed miraculous, standing in the branches of one of the monastery cedars.

Soon the monastery was restored. In 1553, Tsar Ivan Vasilievich the Terrible visited Tolga on his way and received an unexpected cure from the pain in his legs that tormented him. As a sign of gratitude, the sovereign built a stone cathedral in the monastery.

The Tolga icon became famous for many miracles in subsequent times; many sovereigns donated for the improvement of the monastery after Grozny: Mikhail Fedorovich, Feodor Alekseevich, John Alekseevich, Peter I, Anna Ioannovna, Pavel Petrovich. Making her trip along the Volga, Catherine II, having defended a prayer service at the miraculous, walked in a cedar grove.

Old guidebooks along the Volga mention a pious custom: every passenger steamer sailing along the main road of Russia would certainly stop at the monastery pier so that travelers could attend a prayer service at the miraculous.

The men's monastery existed on Tolga until 1926. Soon, a colony for juvenile delinquents moved into its walls (it was here until 1987), and in the mid-1930s, nearby, near the village of Norskoye, the construction of a dam began with the forces of the Gulag. The reservoir raised by her would have flooded many cities and villages up the Volga, including ancient Uglich. However, this project was soon abandoned and the construction was moved near Rybinsk, to the mouths of the Sheksna and Mologa; only the name of the village next to Tolga - Volgostroy - recalls the original plan.

The miraculous one was given to the museum. According to its iconographic type, it is "Eleusa" or "Tenderness". The image of the All-Pure One is half-length, the Savior touching Her cheeks fell on the left shoulder of His All-Pure Mother, and embraces Her by the neck with a shuytsey. According to the composition, Tolgskaya is similar in everything to the palladium of the neighboring Kostroma - the Fedorov Mother of God - but only in a mirror image. For a long time, lists were made from Tolgskaya, especially revered among them were icons in the maiden monastery in Nizhyn, in the Resurrection Church in the Vologda village of Podkubenskoye, in the Peter and Paul Monastery of Mtsensk and in the town of Illukste in the Courland province.

Troparion, tone 4

Today, Your image shines brightly on Tolga, Most Pure Virgin Theotokos, and, like the unsetting sun, always giving to the faithful, seeing it in the air, invisibly Angels, as if by no one, hold, His Grace Bishop of the city of Rostov Tryphon flow to the revealed luminous pillar of fire, and on the waters , as if on dry land, passe, and praying to Thee is true for the flock and for the people. And we, flowing to You, call: Most Holy Virgin Theotokos, save those who glorify You faithfully, our country, bishops and all Russian peoples from all troubles, by Your great mercy.

Prayer

O Most Holy Lady, Virgin Mother of God, Supreme Cherubim and Seraphim and Most Holy of all saints! You, Omnipotent, on Tolga, your multi-healing icon to the blessed Saint Tryphon favorably showed you, and you have done many and inexpressible miracles with it and now you are doing it, according to Your indescribable mercy to us. To you, before your most pure image, we bow down and pray, Blessed Intercessor of our kind: in this earthly wandering, many-sorrowful and many-rebellious, do not deprive us of Your intercession and protection of the sovereign. Save and protect us, Lady, from the kindled arrows of the crafty enemy of our salvation. Strengthen our weak will to do the commandments of Christ, soften our petrified hearts with love for God and our neighbors, grant us contrition of the heart and true repentance, but having cleansed ourselves from the filth of sin, we will be able to bring the Creator pleasing to Him the fruits of good deeds and be vouchsafed a peaceful Christian death and a right answer at His Terrible and impartial Judgment. Hey, Lady All-Merciful! In this terrible hour, this mortal, most of all, show us Your powerful intercession, then hasten to help us helpless and with Your sovereign hand, rescue us from the power of the fierce peacekeeper, for truly, Your prayer can do a lot before the face of the Lord, and nothing is impossible for Your intercession, if only you rejoice. Meanwhile, Thy holy image is tenderly looking and before it, as if living Thy being with us, worshiping, with good hope, we prayerfully commit ourselves and each other and our whole life to You according to Bose, and we magnify Thee with our Savior born from You, the Lord Jesus Christ, To him, with His Beginningless Father and the Most Holy Spirit, all glory, honor and worship is due, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen.

21 / 08 / 2005

The Tolga Icon of the Mother of God helps to heal from ailments: On the miraculous Tolga Icon of the Mother of God there are many chains with crosses, rings, and medallions. All this is the gratitude of those people who asked her for healing or a solution to their problems and received it. The nun of the Tolga Monastery, Mother Smaragda, keeps a chronicle of these miracles. She shared some of them with us. Healing from drunkenness It was in Kaluga. The nuns arrived there with a list from the icon of the Tolgskaya Mother of God. And the next year they returned there again. A woman came up and said that after she prayed at the Tolga icon last year, she stopped drinking. After praying at the Tolga Mother of God, she had a dream: - A majestic woman descended the high stairs, looked sternly at me and said: “Svetlana, from this moment I cast out the demon of drunkenness from you. From now on, don't drink a drop." It became very hard for me. I sat down on the floor. All strongly squeezed. I thought that now the soul will come out. And then I woke up, and there was an extraordinary joy in my heart. Since then, I have stopped drinking. Healing from a Serious Illness A woman from Rybinsk arrived with a serious illness. The doctors said that even if she underwent surgery, she would not survive. She came with her mother to the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God. We prayed. On the way back, they met a man who offered to drink her herbs. Six months later, they took a picture - it showed recovery. Healing from a fracture of the spine The young man grew a hump at the site of the fracture. Together with his mother, he came to the Tolga Monastery. The nun gave her mother oil from the lamp that was lit at the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God, and said: “Rub your son on the hump, and let him pray.” Within a week, the boy's hump disappeared. The doctors were very surprised and asked my mother which country she took her son to treat and how much she paid for the treatment. They claimed that in Russia such a spinal injury was incurable. Healing of the Stomach A mother came to the monastery to pray for her son. Doctors diagnosed the child with a polyp in the stomach. The day for the operation had already been set. The woman sobbed at the icon, asking for recovery for her child. And when the woman arrived home, she was met by a joyful son. It turned out that at the moment when she was crying at the icon, the boy's temperature rose sharply, he began to vomit, and the polyp that had to be carefully cut out broke off and came out. who had a bone disease in his legs. He could not walk and could only stand on crutches. His mother fervently prayed at the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God and carried obediences (performed various work in the monastery). After a while, the son recovered and left the monastery already on his own feet. (Many other examples could be given)

In Orthodoxy, the Mother of God is revered more than all the saints. She helps people in all pious deeds, there are icons of the Mother of God in any Orthodox home. Moreover, if usually the saint is depicted in any one way, then there are thousands of images of the Mother of God. they are called differently so that there is no confusion, but each has its own, only its own characteristics. Thus, although there are many icons, there are still a certain number of them in the world, the Mother of God cannot be written in any way.

How did all these icons appear and why are there so many of them? The image of the Mother of God - the first icons of the Christian world. According to legend, the very first image was written by the Evangelist Luke, and he wrote it from the original. But all the other images were not a copy from that first image. They appeared in the world the most different ways: painted by icon painters, and then glorified by miracles, appeared in the most unexpected places (in such cases, the image is considered miraculous).

For example, the Kazan icon of the Mother of God was found in a conflagration, and the Tolga icon of the Mother of God was found on a knot of a tree, high above the heads of all people. Such images are revered from the moment of their acquisition, they are considered miraculous.

The icon of the Mother of God of Tolga was acquired by Bishop Prokhor, after a short time a monastery began to be built nearby.

The icon itself is named after the place of appearance and current stay. It was not far from a small river in Tolga that the icon of the Mother of God of Tolga was found. Almost 700 years have passed since its acquisition, the image is considered very ancient and valuable.

Before the revolution, it was male, but over the decades that have passed since the start of perestroika, it has been restored as female. The beginning of its revival was laid at the dawn of the nineties, the community gathered with difficulty. But the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God helps the nuns of the monastery. Gradually all material difficulties were overcome, repair work finished. The Tolga icon is not the only shrine of the monastery. Here rest the relics whose books began to be republished in last years. Now the icon of the Mother of God Tolgskaya is located in Yaroslavl region, in the Tolgsky monastery. And in Soviet times the icon was kept in the city museum, but in the nineties it was transferred back to the monastery. At first, it was brought here on holidays: the image is ancient and extremely valuable, so the transportation was carried out in a special car with security. But now in the monastery it was possible to create the conditions necessary for the storage of such an ancient icon. Therefore, the icon of the Mother of God of Tolga now resides in the temple, and you can venerate it on any day.

The monastery lives a measured life, akathists are read daily in front of the Tolga Icon, prayer services are served before the relics, and the indestructible psalter is read. The sister nuns write down testimonies of miracles that happened through prayers before the Tolga icon.

Every year the monastery celebrates Tolgin Day - August 21, the day of special veneration of the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God. Many pilgrims flock here. After the Liturgy, the sisters distribute from the relic park - a cedar forest on the territory of the monastery, treat them with monastery kvass. Everyone who comes on this day to pray to the Mother of God at the monastery leaves comforted and joyful.