To the Victorious Commander, who has delivered us from evil, we, Your servants, sing a song of thanksgiving to You, O Mother of God; and since You have invincible power, free us from all our troubles, that we may cry to You: "Rejoice, O Bride Unwedded."
Kontakion of the Feast of the Annunciation, Tone 8
Our earthly life, the state of our salvation, and our partaking in the life to come depend on our faith and our service to God. A humble soul, in deeds and in words, draws God’s favour and goodwill; and we all need that grace to walk the right road. Among the Orthodox of our land, the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God has ever called forth deep feelings of tenderness and awe. In answer to their supplications, the Lord has more than once altered the tide of earthly events through the Theotokos’ intercession. Thus did the Good Tidings enter the lives of our forefathers, becoming part of the fabric of their days. They came through trials with faith made stronger, with trust in Divine Providence, and with confidence in His mercy.
Surely, it is not without cause that the mightiest bells tolling on great feasts* are called bearers of good tidings, and the ringing that tells us the divine service is to begin is called a good news bell. High above the gates of cities and monasteries — where defensive walls rose several metres thick — people would often raise churches dedicated to the Annunciation. This was done so that, as Yaroslav the Wise proclaimed: "Through these gates good tidings might come into the city by the prayers of the Most Holy Mother of God and of the holy Archangel Gabriel — the herald of joy." Many icons of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God in Russia are known to work miracles. One such image appeared in the sixteenth century on the walls of the Moscow Kremlin.
The Annunciation Tower in the southern wall — one of the 19 towers of the Moscow Kremlin
Nineteen towers, put up to defend the fortress wall between 1485 and 1516, still ring the Kremlin today, looking much as they did in ancient times. For five hundred years, workmen have only repaired and restored them. One of these towers, rising from the banks of the Moskva River to guard the Kremlin’s southern side, carries the name of the Annunciation Tower. It differs from the others by a strip of white brick at its base, perhaps kept from an earlier "white stone age."** Up on its very top, the weathervane holds not a flag, but a willow branch with little birds. The tower owes its name to the miraculous appearance of the icon of the Annunciation on its western wall under Tsar Ivan IV, often called Ivan the Terrible.
Annunciation Tower, modern view
In times past, this tower by the Grain Court*** held a dark prison. Near to it stood narrow gates, where the palace washerwomen passed to scrub clothes in the river. There, an innocent commander, unjustly condemned, was cast into the dungeon. Unable to clear his name, he spent his days and nights lifting prayers to God, His Most Pure Mother, and the saints. The Most Holy Virgin appeared to the sufferer in a dream and bade him ask the Tsar for mercy. Yet the commander, knowing full well the hard and bitter will of his master, dared not beg for his own life. Then the Queen of Heaven came to the prisoner a second time and, giving him courage, promised her help and protection. Fortified by hope in the intercession of the Mother of God, the commander sent a plea for pardon to Tsar Ivan IV. The tsar flared up with fury when he heard of the request and at once ordered the guards to put the condemned man to death.
Image of the Icon of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God, revealed on the wall of the Kremlin tower, in G. V. Yesipov’s book "The Church of the Annunciation of the Mother of God, at the Zhitny Court in the Moscow Kremlin," 1896.
As the guards came to the tower to carry out their orders, an image of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God appeared on the wall facing the royal palace. They rushed to tell the tsar of this miraculous sight, and Ivan IV, struck with wonder by this miracle, set the captive free from his prison.
From that day on, everyone called the tower the Annunciation Tower.
The wonder-working icon of the Annunciation drew crowds of worshippers, and before long a wooden chapel rose near the tower. In 1731, Empress Anna Ioannovna ordered a stone Church of the Annunciation to be raised on the site of the wooden chapel, so that the revealed icon ended up inside, behind the right kliros, while the Annunciation Tower became the belfry. For this church, the empress offered the Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God, dressed in a robe sewn by her own hand. The holy image remained there until the early twentieth century.
Kremlin embankment between 1911 and 1917, Annunciation bell tower and stone Annunciation church
From the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, the "self-painted" icon of the Annunciation was one of Moscow’s most treasured relics. People brought gifts of precious jewellery and pendants and offered them up before it. Then, in 1742, a candle suddenly lit itself before the image, lit by no human hand. Empress Elisabeth Petrovna, who came to Moscow that same year, ordered a silver riza and a golden crown to be made from the donated treasures. Yet, in 1812, Napoleon's armies swept into the city, and greedy hands stole those lovely gifts. It was not until 1816 that a new robe was made for the icon.
As recorded in the inventories of the Church of the Annunciation from 1831 and 1871, an icon measuring 190 by 120 cm was clad in a silver-gilt embossed riza, set with pearl crowns and ornaments. A carved and gilded wooden frame went all around the image, with two columns on stands at either side and a cornice above. In 1891–1892, thankful hands built a new altar inside the Annunciation Tower dedicated to St John the Merciful. They raised this altar out of glad relief, remembering how God had saved Emperor Alexander Alexandrovich and his dear ones from terrible harm when their train crashed in the autumn of 1888. On the north wall of this altar, just opposite the "self-painted" image, a painting showed "the appearance of the Mother of God to the prisoner in this tower", and beside it was written a "chronicle" telling the whole story. Until 1917, the Church of the Annunciation at the Grain Court also housed the beloved wonderworking icon of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy," now held in St Elijah’s Church on Ostozhenka.
Church of the Annunciation at Zhitny Court. Postcard, 1900s
Then came 1932. In that year, the Church of the Annunciation at the Grain Court was pulled down, along with many other ancient holy places of the Kremlin. In place of the cross on the Annunciation Tower, a weathervane was fixed. To this day the fate of the icon of the Annunciation revealed upon the tower wall remains unknown. Its ancient riza, too, is lost to us. But if we hold in our hearts the memory of the mercy and prayers of the Most Holy Mother of God, then we too can welcome the Annunciation into our lives. Just like our ancestors, then, let us cry out in reverence: "Rejoice, O Gracious One, the Lord is with you!"
That which from ages past was a mystery is revealed today, and the Son of God becomes the Son of Man: having taken the worse upon Himself, He bestows the better. Adam, once deceived, and God, desiring to be, was not; Man becomes God, that he may make Adam a god. Let creation rejoice; let nature exult, for the Archangel stands before the Maiden with awe and — saying "Rejoice" — brings what drives away sorrow. For the mercy of our God made flesh, glory be to You.
Sticheron of the Annunciation on the Praises, Tone 2
Prepared by the team of the website obitel-minsk.ru
Photographs from the internet
The following sources were used in preparation:
1. "Monuments of Ancient Moscow," including an essay on the monumental history of Moscow and ancient views and plans of the ancient capital / By Ivan Snegirev, a member of the Imperial Society of History and Antiquities. — Published by Avgust Semen. — Moscow: Printed by Avgust Semen, 1842. — 358, 28, IV, II pp.
2. [Yesipov G. V.] The Church of the Annunciation of the Mother of God at the Zhitny Court in the Moscow Kremlin [3rd ed., revised]. Moscow: Typo-Lithography of I. Efimov, 1896.
3. "A Description of All Miraculous Icons of the Most Holy Mother of God and Various Lives of Saints..." — National Library of Moscow State University. Department of Rare Books. Manuscript collection 1714–1716 (10535-22-71). Folio 4 back.
4. Kremlin. The Church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God at the Grain Court, Tverskoy (Central Administrative District (CAD)), photograph. Archival photograph of the Annunciation Tower of the Kremlin and the Annunciation Church, 1917–1933 (viewing direction — east) from pastvu.com
5. Museums of the Moscow Kremlin: Architectural Ensemble of the Kremlin / Historian
*In ancient times, it was considered a matter of honour for a church bell tower to have a bell weighing at least one and a half tonnes. The largest old bell still used in services today is the Assumption Bell on the Assumption belfry of the Moscow Kremlin, cast in 1817. It weighs 65.5 tonnes.
**In the fifteenth century, under Tsar Ivan III, the white-stone Kremlin walls were taken down and rebuilt in red fired brick.
***Zhitny Court existed until the mid-eighteenth century. Every autumn, after the harvest, rye, hay, oats, and goods from the state estates were brought to its storehouses. It was also the place where government officers were paid their wages in bread.
