Bulgarian icon | Triptych | 24918

Mother of God Iverskaya

On the icon, the Blessed Mother is holding the child in her left arm. The right hand points to the child in prayer. The Redeemer’s head is raised and his face is turned a little to Our Lady, who bows her head to Him. On the right cheek of the Blessed Mother there is a wound from which blood flows. It’s the mark by which Iverskaya can be recognized.

Left wing:

Saint Martyr Nikolai (March 9)

Nikolaj was one of the forty martyrs of Sebaste. Forty Christian soldiers of the Legio fulminata, the Legion Donner, stationed at Melitene – present-day Battalgazi near Malatya – were sentenced to death by freezing under Emperor Licinius: they had to stand naked on a frozen pond on a freezing winter night. Only one apostatized and escaped, the bodies of the others being burned.

Saint Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria (November 24)

Saint Catherine the Great Martyr was probably born in Cyprus and died around 307 in Alexandria, Egypt. Her name means “pure” from the Greek. According to legend, Catherine was the daughter of King Costus of Cyprus. When the emperor’s son wanted to marry the beautiful, highly educated and immeasurably rich woman, she saw in a mirror that the suitor did not match her in terms of nobility, beauty, wealth and wisdom. She also proudly rejected other men. A hermit pointed them to Jesus Christ as the true bridegroom. She was baptized and saw a vision of the baby Jesus putting the engagement ring on her finger.

Right wing:

Saint John, the Poor (January 31)

At the time of the persecution of Christians, John set out for Jerusalem, came across Cyrus, who was a monk in a monastery on the Red Sea, and stayed there. Athanasia and her daughters were captured by Greeks for being Christians; When Cyrus and John heard this, they went to the women at Canopus to uphold their steadfastness in the faith, were also taken prisoner, tortured, and finally beheaded along with the women.

Saint Prince Rastislav (May 11)

He was the second known ruler of Moravia (846-870). Although he began his rule as a vassal of Louis the German, King of East Francia, he consolidated his rule to the extent that he was able to repel a series of Frankish attacks after 855. On his initiative, the brothers Cyril and Methodius translated in 863 by the Byzantine Emperor Michael III. were sent, the most important Christian liturgical books into Slavic. Rastislav was dethroned by his nephew Svatopluk I of Moravia, who handed him over to the Franks.

Inscribed on front: “Jesus Christ triumphs”.