TheIntercession of the Theotokos, or theProtection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, is a Christian feast of theMother of God celebrated in theEastern Orthodox andByzantine Catholic Churches on October 14 (Julian calendar: October 1).The feast celebrates the protection afforded the faithful through theintercessions of theTheotokos (lit. Mother of God, one Eastern title of theVirgin Mary).
The feast is commemorated inEastern Orthodoxy as a whole, but by no means as fervently as it is in Russia,Belarus, and, especially,Ukraine. In the Slavic Orthodox Churches it is celebrated as the most important solemnity besides theTwelve Great Feasts andPascha. In Ukraine, it has a special meaning through its connection to the spirituality of theUkrainian Cossacks and, accordingly and more recently, toDefenders of Ukraine Day.
TheProtection of the Theotokos or theIntercession of the Theotokos (Church Slavonic:Покровъ,Pokrov,Ukrainian:Покрова,Pokrova), like the (Greek:Σκέπη,Sképē) has a complex meaning. First of all, it refers to a cloak or shroud, but it also means protection or intercession. For this reason, the name of the feast is variously translated as theVeil of Our Lady, theProtecting Veil of the Theotokos. It is often translated asFeast of the Intercession orFeast of the Holy Protection.
With some reservations, the Intercession icon may be related to the WesternVirgin of Mercy image, in which the Virgin spreads wide her cloak to cover and protect a group of kneeling supplicants (first known from Italy from about 1280).
According to Eastern OrthodoxSacred Tradition, the apparition of Mary theTheotokos occurred during the 10th century at theBlachernae church inConstantinople (modern-dayIstanbul) where several of herrelics (her robe,her veil, and part of her belt) were kept. On Sunday, October 1 at four in the morning,St. Andrew the BlessedFool-for-Christ, who was aSlav by birth, saw the dome of the church open and the Virgin Mary enter, moving in the air above him, glowing and surrounded byangels andsaints. She knelt and prayed with tears for all faithful Christians in the world. The Virgin Mary asked Her Son,Jesus Christ, to accept the prayers of all the people entreating Him and looking for Her protection. Once Her prayer was completed, She walked to the altar and continued to pray. Afterwards, She spread Her veil over all the people in the church as a protection.[1]
St. Andrew turned to his disciple, St. Epiphanius, who was standing near him, and asked, "Do you see, brother, the Holy Theotokos, praying for all the world?" Epiphanius answered, "Yes, Holy Father, I see it and am amazed!"[1]
According to thePrimary Chronicle ofSt. Nestor the Chronicler, the inhabitants of Constantinople called upon the intercession of the Mother of God to protect them froman attack by a largeRus' army (Rus' was stillpagan at the time). According to Nestor, the feast celebrates the destruction of this fleet sometime in the ninth century; according to some other legend, however, the outcome was the adoption of Christianity by the whole host (led byAskold).
Veneration of the Intercession (Pokrov) inRus' (and consequentlyBelarus, Russia, andUkraine) dates back to the 12th century.
The icon of the feast, which is not found inByzantine art, depicts in its upper part the Virgin Mary surrounded by a luminousaureole. She holds in her outstreched arms anorarion or veil, which symbolizes the protection of her intercession.[2] To either side of her stand numerous saints and angels, many of whom are recognizable to the experienced church-goer: theapostles,John the Baptist,Saint Nicholas of Myra, etc. Below, St. Andrew the Fool for Christ is depicted, pointing up at the Virgin Mary and turning to his disciple Epiphanius. Usually, the veil with which the Virgin protects mankind is small and held either in her outstretched hands or by two angels,[3] though a version similar to the Western EuropeanVirgin of Mercy image, with a larger cloak covering people is found in some Eastern Orthodox icons.
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The Feast of the Intercession commemorates the miracle as a joyous revelation of the Theotokos' protection, which is spread over the world, and the Mother of God's great love for mankind.[4] It is a religiousholy day orfeast day of theByzantine RiteEastern Orthodox Churches.[1][5] It is served as anAll-Night Vigil, with many of the same elements as occur on Great Feasts of the Theotokos. However, Pokrov/Pokrova has noAfterfeast.
InUkraine, it is celebrated on October 1 (before 2023: October 14) as a religious, national, and family holiday.[5] The concept ofMother of God as the Intercessor and Protectress (i.e. the Intercession, or 'Pokrova' in Ukrainian, as an aspect ofVirgin Mary) became firmly established amongUkrainians through their history. The Holy Lady of Protection was always considered the heavenly patroness ofZaporozhian Host, and thereforeUkrainian Cossacks. As a legend has it,[6] each of their campaign the Cossacks began withSub tuum praesidium prayer to theHoly Lady (in Ukrainian:«Під Твою милість прибігаємо, Богородице Діво, молитвами нашими в скорботах не погордуй, але від бід ізбав нас, єдина чиста і благословенна!»), by which making reference to the Intercession. Notably, an icon in theNational Art Museum of Ukraine shows the Virgin Mary protecting the Ukrainian cossackhetmanBohdan Khmelnytsky. The singular (as compared to the rest of theChristian world) devotion of Ukrainians to the Intercession feast (for them being the third important, after Easter and Christmas, holiday) was acknowledged inPylyp Orlyk Constitution, where Christmas, Easter and 'Pokrova' were set to be the three designated annual days of convention by the supreme cossack council that was supposed to rule the country. The tradition was referred to again in XX century, when the founding ofthe Ukrainian Insurgent Army was attributed (although retrospectively and probably inaccurately) to October 14, 1942. In 1990s, along with its religious meaning, the Pokrova Feast Day was also commemorated popularly as Ukrainian Cossack Day (Ukrainian:День Українського козацтва); then officiallypromulgated as such by decree of theUkrainian President in 1999.[7] Finally, on October 14, 2014, another President decree (approved by theUkrainian parliament on March 5, 2015) promoted the day to the new public holiday "Defenders of Ukraine Day" (Ukrainian:День захи́сника́ Украї́ни,romanized: Den zakhysnyka Ukrainy), to replace the former "Defender of the Fatherland Day" inherited from theSoviet Union. TheLady of Intercession is regarded as a holy defender of both the Ukrainian nation at large and of theArmed Forces of Ukraine.
Some, but not all, regions of theRussian Federation celebrate the Feast of Intercession as a work holiday.
It is not a part of the ritual traditions of, and therefore is not celebrated by, theOriental Orthodox Churches or some jurisdictions that allowWestern Rite Orthodoxy. Yet the feast is perfectly consistent with the theology of these sister churches. The Western Rite Communities of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) do celebrate this feast on their calendar.[4]
October 1 (in the Julian calendar) is also the feast of St.Romanus the Melodist, so he is often depicted on the same icon, even though he and St. Andrew lived at different times. He is often shown directly below the Virgin Mary, standing on abema, or on akathedra, chanting from a scroll.[3] The scroll represents the variouskontakia which have been attributed to him.
The feast day ofSt. Andrew, the Fool-for-Christ, falls on the following day, October 2 (in accordance with the Orthodox liturgical tradition of theSynaxis).
Churches with that name are numerous in the East Slavic Orthodoxy.
InUkraine, the oldest church dedicated to Pokrova is considered to be theHoly Intercession Church in Sutkivtsi, built in 1476 to also serve as a fortress. The timberSich Pokrova Church [uk] onKhortytsia island nowadays is a stylization for the church thought to have existed there since 1576. Other notable examples includeIntercession Monastery Cathedral inKharkiv,Svyato-Pokrovska Church [uk] inPodil,Kyiv,Pokrova Cathedral [uk] inOkhtyrka, all or them built in theCossack Baroque style, andSvyato-Pokrovska Church in Plishyvets [uk], inNeo-Baroque.
Probably the most famousRussian church named for Pokrov isSaint Basil's Cathedral,Red Square, Moscow, which is officially entitled "the Church of Intercession of Our Lady that Is on the Moat" (Russian:Собор Покрова пресвятой Богородицы, что на Рву) or shortly "Intercession Cathedral upon moat" (Russian:Храм Покрова "на рву").[8] The other one is theChurch of Intercession inBogolyubovo nearVladimir on theNerl River (Russian:Церковь Покрова на Нерли,romanized: Tserkov Pokrova na Nerli). Both churches are on the United Nations'World Heritage List, the latter as part of the siteWhite Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal. There is also a Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin inSt. Petersburg.[9]
Other notable churches commemorating this feast are Intercession of the Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church inManchester, England,[10] and the Russian Orthodox Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin &St. Sergius inGlen Cove, New York.
In north Wales there is the Church of the Holy Protection (Eglwys yr Amddiffyniad Sanctaidd) at 10 Manod Road, Blaenau Ffestiniog, where the liturgy is celebrated partly in Welsh, also English, Greek, and Church Slavonic. The church, under Igoumen Deiniol, is under the omophor of the diocese of Sourozh of the Moscow Patriarchate.
