Pokrova

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Shoshana

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Hello!

I am sure that there is an Orthodox expert or Byzantine who would know the names of all the saints plus the meaning of the details of the icon 'Pokrova, ’ The main “detail” of course is the veil that Mary was holding out over the city; in Russian the word “pokrov” means both veil and protection, and one of Our Lady’s names is therefore “Pokrova,” the “protecting one,” or literally Protection.

Can you find a “reading” as the Byzantines call it of the icon ?

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POKROV MOther of GOD

NB: it should be appreciated that the ikon you have shown is not the Pokrov ikon but the icon Joy of all that Sorrowing, which is somewhat similar appearance. This is what is written (All Sorrowing Joy) on ikon. This ikon of All-Sorrowing Joy was miraculous being found. The ikon of Pokrov is below:

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This ikon is of miraculous appearance of Mother of god in the Blakhern Temple of Konstantinople in the 10th century during reign of emperor Leo VI the Philosoph (886-911), at time of Saracen attack on Byzantine empire. At the time of All-night Wakening Service at the4 th hour of the night, among theose praying in the Temple were found Blessed Andrei, the Iurodivij for the sake of Christ, and his student Epifanij. Raising their eyes to Heaven, Saint Andrei suddenly saw Most Holy Virgin prodeeding in the air with a multitude anagels and saints. Bending her knees, Mother of God long prayed, and then going to the Altar of temple, she took from Her head the veil (Pokrivalo or Pokrov in older) and covered it over the praying people in the Blakhern temple, indicating by this Her defense given to Christian word from seen and unseen enemies.

Pachunky may know more details of each peson - but probably people on Ikon are Andrei, Epifanij and some others as well Saints.
 
The ikon you have posted is not that of the Protection of the Mother of God but one of the Mother of God ‘Joy of All Who Sorrow’.

Here are three examples of Pokrov. The iconography is quite loose and varied and allows the ikon painter a fair degree of freedom in the composition but, in essence, the iconography reflects the synaxarion of the feast and the kontakion:
Today the Virgin stands in the midst of the Church
and with choirs of saints she invisibly prays to God for us.
Angels and bishops worship,
apostles and prophets rejoice together,
since for our sake she prays to the pre-eternal God.
The ikons all clearly show that the event is taking place inside a church, during the service.

In the first example we see the Theotokos hovering above the holy table, deep in prayer. Above her two angels hold out the veil she has taken off and spread in protection above the people. Close to her, at her feet, are the emperor, Leo, and the patriarch, Euthymios. Behind the emperor is Saint John the Forerunner and St John the Theologian, together with others of the apostles; on the patriarch’s side St Peter and St Andrew are prominent amongst the other apostles.
In the lowermost tier we see monks, laymen and clergy to the left; in the centre the singers surround the amvon from which St Romanos the Melodist chants one of his hymns (the Nativity kontakion) composed in honour of the Theotokos. The feast day of St Romanos falls on the same day as the feast of Pokrov, hence his frequent inclusion in the iconography, even though he is from a slightly different period in time – it matters not.
To the right St Andrew the Fool for Christ who experienced the vision) points to the Mother of God and asks his disciple, St Epiphanius, whether he too sees the Mother of God, to which Epiphanius agrees.

In the second example Christ is shown at the top of the ikon, hearkening to his Mother’s prayer, his hands extended in blessing.
The Theotokos is flanked by bishops (Sts John Chrysostom, Basil the Great and Gregory the Dialogist) and angels ministering at the Divine liturgy (even though the vision was said to have occurred during the all night vigil preceding the Liturgy – time is not of the essence here, we are dealing with the eternal and what transcends time and place).
Below we see to the left St John the Forerunner and St John the Theologian with St Andrew and other apostles, as were noted to have been seen by St Andrew the Fool accompanying the Theotokos when she entered the church.
To the right of the royal doors of the ikonostas St Andrew the Fool appears with St Epiphanius and behind then two martyr saints, probably St George and St Demetrius – the choice of the iconographer or the person commissioning the ikon…

The third example should be easy to work out; this time the empress stands beside her husband (lower left); the great hierarchs are easily recognisable, and St Nicholas of Myra appears with them. Sts John the Forerunner and John the Theologian flank the Theotokos who, here, holds her veil herself. A greater number of saints are included, amongst them St Mary of Egypt, some monastic saints and a number of women saints – just as the kontakion tells us. It doesn’t really matter which saints – they are **all **there in the understanding and meaning of the feast.
 
Volodymyr said:
POKROV MOther of GOD

NB: it should be appreciated that the ikon you have shown is not the Pokrov ikon but the icon Joy of all that Sorrowing, which is somewhat similar appearance. This is what is written (All Sorrowing Joy) on ikon. This ikon of All-Sorrowing Joy was miraculous being found. The ikon of Pokrov is below:

http://petr-icons.ru/icon/036.jpg

This ikon is of miraculous appearance of Mother of god in the Blakhern Temple of Konstantinople in the 10th century during reign of emperor Leo VI the Philosoph (886-911), at time of Saracen attack on Byzantine empire. At the time of All-night Wakening Service at the4 th hour of the night, among theose praying in the Temple were found Blessed Andrei, the Iurodivij for the sake of Christ, and his student Epifanij. Raising their eyes to Heaven, Saint Andrei suddenly saw Most Holy Virgin prodeeding in the air with a multitude anagels and saints. Bending her knees, Mother of God long prayed, and then going to the Altar of temple, she took from Her head the veil (Pokrivalo or Pokrov in older) and covered it over the praying people in the Blakhern temple, indicating by this Her defense given to Christian word from seen and unseen enemies.

Pachunky may know more details of each peson - but probably people on Ikon are Andrei, Epifanij and some others as well Saints.
Click to expand...
St. Romanus stands in the center of the icon because the people were celebrating his feast day when Mother of God appeared to them. In Greece and the Mediterranian countries, the Feast is celebrated in honor of St. Romanus and the Feast of the Protection is secondary. In the Slavic countries, the Feast of the Protection is the primary feast and St. Romanus takes a “back seat”.

Hope this helps…
 
Oh my! This has been sooooooo helpful. God bless you immensely. Trying to find the reading of the icon on the internet was very difficult. And research is my forte. Just finsihed researching the meaning of ‘Idiot’ and ‘Beauty will save the world’ in the russian mindset…and this was easier than the icon! What Soloviev, Balthsar and others had to say about this was so illuminating.

Yes, the icon I portrayed was the wrong…my apologies. Must’ve rushed through this. Anyway, thanks for your responses!👍
 
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