Home iconostasis: the icon of Seven-Shot - from what protects?

St. Paul, the apostle Paul, once said: "The absurd and the feminine fables turn away." It is easy to imagine what caused the great Christian missionary, who for many works to be assigned to the apostles, to pronounce these strict words.

Alas, even today, when the time of persecution of the Church has passed, and it is even fashionable to believe in God, people often prefer to believe not written in the Gospel, but somehow their own signs.

Do not stand here, do not go here ...

"Grandma's Orthodoxy" - that's what it's called. No offense to church grandmothers, for whom "candle" work has become the real meaning of life, but some of their expressions and actions seem really wild. It's strange to hear in the icon shop such a question: " Is this the icon of Seven-Years, from what does it protect?" But no less wildly to hear the answer to it. And it's okay, when an ignorant person is "enlightened", claiming that he should hang this icon, which is also called "Softening the Evil Hearts", before the entrance door, as the evil eye, corruption and every "witchcraft" will bypass it by the tenth way. So the poor neophyte is seriously asked to make some kind of semi-lingual manipulation in front of the bright image of the Mother of God ...

Meaning of the icon "Softening the Evil Hearts"

One famous priest once said that the icons are not divided into miraculous and non-miraculous. It's not the holy water that treats this or that disease, but the faith with which a person does all these manipulations.

The theme of the icons is inexhaustible, and the icon of the Seven-Shot is no exception . From what protects? Good question. To give him a decent answer, we need to remember the basic principle of spiritual life: "Save yourself, and others will be saved around you." By the way, he was adhered to by Seraphim of Sarov. If you look closely at the icon "Softening the Evil Hearts", you can see that the points of all the arrows are directed to the chest of the Virgin. Why? Because her heart is bleeding for us. Arrows are our sins, which we are not always in a hurry to get rid of ... That's why Her countenance is so mourned. Probably every orthodox Orthodox Christian to the question: "Is this the icon of the Seven-Shot, from what protects?" Should give an answer, looking inward.

But still...

On the iconostasis of every Orthodox Christian there is an icon of the Seven-Sister. From what protects? If briefly - from evil. Only not from the evil that is outside, though, of course, from him too, but primarily from the evil inside us. In the history of Orthodoxy, an important role was played by the icon of the seven-sided Mother of God.

Its value is difficult to overestimate. It is an unquestionable shrine for any believer. Many righteous people rush to her to bow. And, probably, a modern Christian feels safe, if at home he has the icon of the seven-sided Mother of God. Prayer for us is Her direct duty. She prays for people, asks her Son to forgive our sins.

Now, when there seems to be no direct danger to the life of a believing Christian, when one can freely profess his faith, every person who thinks about the deep meaning of the teachings of Christ, knows that it is not the icons but God that need to be sought for protection. And He is always happy to help, and even when we forget to ask ...