Orthodox icon | Mother of God "Assuage my Sorrow" | 24907

The Christ child sits on the left arm of the Mother of God . The mirror-inverted drawing can often be found on icons of this representation. Christ holds in his hands an opened scroll with the inscription from the canon of the cross: “Judge just judgment”. She holds her right hand over the child’s legs, with her left hand she supports her head.

According to legend, it was brought to the Nikolaus Church in Moscow by the Cossacks during the reign of Tsar Alexej Michajlowitsch. The worship of the icon increased especially during the plague in 1771. Festivity day: January 25.

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Saint Martyr Euphemia of Chalcedon, born in Rome, died on September 16, 287 or 303 in Chalcedon, today the district of Kadıköy in Ístanbul, Turkey.

Euphemia lived under the reigns of Emperors Diocletian and Maximian in the 3rd century and was a Roman patrician, daughter of a senator in Chalcedon. Because she openly confessed to her faith during the persecution of Christians, she was to be tortured on the orders of the proconsul Priscus. According to legend, Euphemia was hanged by the hair and pressed between stones for seven days. She was denied food. An angel fed her during this time, then the stones crumbled to dust and Euphemia was free. She was thrown into a pit with wild animals in the Hippodrome of Byzantion, but they did not harm her. An executioner who jumped into the pit and stabbed Euphemia with a dagger was mauled by the animals. Euphemia was buried with all honors. Remembrance Day: September 16.