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For healing his daughter, Emperor Gordias rewarded Tryphon with lavish gifts, which he gave away to the poor on his way home. He did not preach Christ, but news of his miraculous healings in His name was spreading.
The Orthodox Church approaches the Great Lent which will start on March 3rd according to the Julian calendar. In order to prepare for the Lenten journey, the Church gives us four pre-lenten weeks to help us understand why we fast.
Believers invoke the icon praying for the help of the Holy Theotokos in meeting their basic needs, avoiding droughts, gathering a good crop, and daily sustenance. Saint Ambrose of Optina left us his short prayer before this icon.
The Optina Monastery is a famous stauropegion of the Russian Orthodox Church, located in the Kaluga region. A stauropegion is a church or monastery exempt from the jurisdiction of the local bishop and directly subject to the highest authority…