The 'usual miracle' of the Theotokos?

[Florianos]

God bless!!

Can anyone help me ?

I am searching for information about the "Usual Miracle" in constantinopel, in wich patristic writings can I find some information?

IN CHRIST

[Paul Cowan]

Alexander,

Can you describe this more?

[Florianos]

God bless!!

In Constantinopel the Queen of cities,also called Theotokopolis- City of the Theotokos, because the Mother of God was extremly honored,many great churches were dedicated to her.
The Blacherenae Church, Chalkopetria...Her Maphorion, her Belt, and the famous icon THE HODIGITRIA of St. Luke and every Friday Vesper in front of the icon a great miracle appeared, the Holy curatain wich was hung in front to cover the icon because of the holieness (like today in cypress with the kykiotissa) ,was lifted up do discover it by itself, it is said that thousend of people witnessed it every friday!!

That is all I know , and I am searching for some more information,
perhaps someone can help me??

In CHRIST

[Michael Stickles]

Couldn't find anything in the Fathers (which obviously doesn't mean that there's nothing there to find). Here are the two informative references I could find in a short search (I assume nothing about their Orthodoxy or lack thereof).

From a book review of Bissera V. Pentcheva's book Icons and Power: The Mother of God in Byzantium, which has an entire chapter on the "usual miracle":


... a weekly occurrence in the Blachernai, known as the "usual miracle" (it happened every Friday). It involved the lifting of a veil that covered one of the icons at Blachernai, specifically the one found during eleventh-century reconstructions immured in the church apse that represented the Virgin holding a medallion with the Child before her breast. According to the literary evidence, the painted Virgin would appear as if alive animated by the mysterious descent of the Holy Spirit. The author thinks that the Neoplatonic inclinations of the Byzantine audience (and more specifically of those who wrote about the miracle) enabled it to perceive the changes that happened to the painted Virgin as she opened her arms to embrace the astonished viewers. Not equipped with this particular cultural attitude, a Latin pilgrim, who provided one of the accounts about the miracle, did not see any changes in the appearance of the icon; he simply noted that the veil attached to it lifted itself "by the grace of God."

If you have a college or university nearby with a well-stocked library, Ms. Pentcheva also wrote an article entitled "The Icon of the 'Usual Miracle' at the Blachernai," in the Journal of Anthropology and Aesthetics #38 (2000), pgs. 34-55. That probably provided her source material for the chapter in "Icons and Power".

From Maria Vasilike's book Images of the Mother of God: Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium:


By the late eleventh century another Marian image, the covered icon of the 'usual miracle', was displayed in the church. The miraculous act of the lifting of the veil was invested with attributes of divine judgement; moreover, Alexios Komnenos demanded from it an answer to his prayers before departing on campaign. Although Psellos describes in detail the mechanism of the 'usual miracle', he does not give any clear indication about the representation of the covered icon. From a Latin text of the late eleventh century we learn that the lifted veil diclosed the Theotokos holding Christ in her arms. The vague description does not, in our opinion, allow for any identification of the representation.

That book says the full description of the miracle can be found in Eustratios N. Papaioannou's article "The 'Usual Miracle' and an Unusual Image. Psellos and the icons of Blachernai." in the Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik, #51. I don't know if anyone has translated it from the German, but it is referenced by Pentcheva's book. The line about Alexios Komnenos seems to refer to an incident where he was departing on a military campaign, but when the "usual miracle" failed to occur, he turned back (whether temporarily or permanently I don't know).

[Florianos]

God bless you !!!

Thank you very much Mike, may God bless you !!

I am very happy about the information because I`m very interested in!!

It is funnny because I am from austria so its no problem that it is written in german!!
But tell me how you got these informations??
I will look to get these books !!

In CHRIST
Alexander

[Michael Stickles]

But tell me how you got these informations??

Just a few Google searches. Started with "usual miracle" and "icon" as my search terms, then added "Blachernai" and various other terms that popped up on the results pages and looked promising.

In Christ,
Mike