Life-giving Spring

The Life-giving Spring or Life-giving Font (Greek Ζωοδόχος Πηγή, Russian Живоносный Источник) is a feast day in the Orthodox Church that is associated with a historic church in Constantinople, as well as an icon of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) which is venerated by the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite.

Outside the Imperial City of Constantinople, near the Golden Gate (Porta Aurea) used to be found a grove of trees. There was located a shrine which from early times had been dedicated to the Theotokos and a spring of water. Over time, the grove became overgrown and the spring became fetid.[1]

Contents

Legend

The tradition surrounding the feast concerns a soldier named Leo Marcellus, who would later become the Byzantine Emperor Leo I. On April 4, 480,[1] as Leo was passing by the grove, he came across a blind man who had become lost. Leo took pity on him, led him to the pathway, seated him in the shade and began to search for water to give the thirsty man. Leo heard a voice say to him, "Do not trouble yourself, Leo, to look for water elsewhere, it is right here!" Looking about, he could see no one, and neither could he see any water. Then he heard the voice again, "Leo, Emperor, go into the grove, take the water which you will find and give it to the thirsty man. Then take the mud [from the stream] and put it on the blind man's eyes.... And build a temple [church] here ... that all who come here will find answers to their petitions." Leo did as he was told, and when the blind man's eyes were anointed he regained his sight.

Church

Main article: Church of St. Mary of the Spring (Istanbul)

After he became emperor, Leo built a church dedicated to the Theotokos of the Life-giving Spring over the site where the spring was located.[2] After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the church was torn down by the Turks, and the stones used to build a mosque of Sultan Bayezid. Only a small chapel remained at the site of the church. Twenty-five steps led down to the site of the spring surrounded by railing. As a result of the Greek Revolution of 1821, even this little chapel was destroyed and the spring was left buried under the rubble.

In 1833 the reforming Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II gave permission for the Christians to rebuild the church. When the foundations of the original church were discovered during the course of construction, the Sultan issued a second firman permitting not only the reconstruction of the small chapel, but of a large church according to the original dimensions. Construction was completed on December 30, 1834, and the Ecumenical Patriarch, Constantius II consecrated the church on February 2, 1835.

On September 6, 1955, during the anti-Greek Istanbul Pogrom the church was one of the targets of the fanatic mob. The building was burned to the ground while the abbot was lynched and the 90 years old archimandrite Chrisanthos Mantas was assasinated by the mob.[3]

Another small chapel has been rebuilt on the site, but the church has not yet been restored to its former size. The spring still flows to this day and is considered by the faithful to have wonderworking properties.

Feast day

The feast day is observed on Bright Friday; i.e., the Friday following Pascha (Easter). It is the only feast day which may be celebrated during Bright Week, all other commemorations which happen to fall during this time are usually transferred to another day. The propers (hymns and prayers) of the feast are combined with the Paschal hymns, and there is often a Lesser Blessing of Waters performed after the Divine Liturgy on Bright Friday. In old Russia, continuing Greek traditions, there was a custom to sanctify springs that were located near churches, dedicate them to the Holy Mother, and paint icons of her under the title The Life Giving Spring.[4]

There is also a commemoration of the Icon of the Theotokos, the Life-giving Spring, observed on April 4 (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian Calendar, April 4 currently falls on April 17 of the modern Gregorian Calendar).

Hymns

Apolytikion (Tone 3)[5]

As a life-giving fount, thou didst conceive the Dew that is transcendent in essence,
O Virgin Maid, and thou hast welled forth for our sakes the nectar of joy eternal,
which doth pour forth from thy fount with the water that springeth up
unto everlasting life in unending and mighty streams;
wherein, taking delight, we all cry out:
Rejoice, O thou Spring of life for all men.

Kontakion (Plagal of Tone 4)[5]

O Lady graced by God,
you reward me by letting gush forth, beyond reason,
the ever-flowing waters of your grace from your perpetual Spring.
I entreat you, who bore the Logos, in a manner beyond comprehension,
to refresh me in your grace that I may cry out,
“Hail redemptive waters.”

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Kovalchuk, Archpriest Feodor S. (1985), Wonder-Working Icons of the Theotokos, Youngstown OH: Central Satates Deanery, pp. 67–70 
  2. ^ The Great Horologion or Book of Hours, Boston MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1997, p. 621, ISBN 0-943405-08-4 
  3. ^ Λιμπιτσιούνη, Ανθή Γ.. "Το πλέγμα των ελληνοτουρκικών σχέσεων και η ελληνική μειονότητα στην Τουρκία, οι Έλληνες της Κωνσταντινούπολης της Ίμβρου και της Τενέδου". University of Thessaloniki. p. 23-24. http://invenio.lib.auth.gr/record/113326/files/LIBITSIOUNI.pdf?version=1. Retrieved 3 October 2011. 
  4. ^ Kristina Kondratieva (Global Art Communications project). Panagia The Life Giving Spring. Yuriy Kuznetsov: Icons of the XXI Century. Accessed: 2011-05-19.
  5. ^ a b Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Bright Friday. Accessed: 2011-05-20.

External links

Russian Orthodox Encyclopedia