hermitage of Saint Sava of Serbia on Mount Athos in Karyes, while the icon of the Three-Handed Vir- gin and the sceptre of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified are in Hilandar Mon- astery. Staying on that Holy Moun- tain, I came to the realisation that these icons should be gifted further – says Branković. Upon receiving the blessing of His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Ir- inej and Nazarius, Bishop of Kro- nstadt and the abbot of Saint Alex- ander Nevsky Monastery, Olivera Kiseljčić painted a copy of the icon of the Nursing Madonna modelled on the original, while the copy of the Three-Handed Virgin was done by Dušan Rakinac. Both of the icons were overlaid in silver, gold and precious stones by Vojislav Serafi- mović. Branković and his friends fol- lowed the Nursing Madonna on a 10,000-kilometre journey – from the Serbian monastery on Holy Mount Athos, via the holy land to St. Pe- tersburg. The copy of the icon of the Nursing Madonna stayed overnight at the hermitage of Saint Sava of Serbia on Mount Athos in Karyes, where it rested on the coffin of St. Basil of Ostrog, Holy King Stefan of Dečani, on the Stars where Je- sus Christ was born, on the board of anointment, on the tomb of the Vir- gin, on the tomb of Christ ... in it is incorporated all the blessings of the sanctity in which it stayed, all the faith and love of the people it met. In addition to all of the afore- mentioned, the icon of the Nurs- ing Madonna is special because on the back it has the stamps of the 17 monasteries where it resided and the signatures of two patriarchs – Serbian Patriarch Irinej and Jerusa- lem Patriarch Theophilus III. - The hearts of every Serb who comes to the temple of Alexan- der Nevsky will be warmed when they see, next to all the sacred icons that this Lavra has, our icons - says Branković, who was able to realise his dream, but who has not forgot- ten those who helped him selflessly on that path. - This is an expression of love, but also the attention paid by the staff of Air Serbia. They helped the icon of the Three-Handed Virgin and the donors arrive in St. Peters- burg – says Miša, concluding this wonderful story.
“If travellers know how many stones there are in a cobblestone road and how many grains of sand are under the cobblestones, and if they know the names of every tree and all the herbs that grow beside the road - what does all of that knowl- edge help them if they do not know where the road started, and where it will end, and where they set off from and where they’re going?” Thus spoke Bishop Nikolaj Val- imirović, believing that the route of all of us is already determined by God’s will, but that on that great journey we choose our own paths. An unusual life path was chosen by Miša Branković, an artist from Bel- grade. Along with a group of pil- grims from Serbia, he wished to do- nate to the hub of Orthodoxy, great Russia, copies of the miraculous icons of the Bogorodice Mlekopitate- ljnice (Nursing Madonna) and Bo- gorodice Trojeručice (Three-Hand- ed Virgin), for the Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg. Both were gifted on one of the main holidays of this lavra monas- tery – The Holy Trinity. The Nurs- ing Madonna was presented in 2013, during the commemoration of the 300 th anniversary of the found- ing of this monastery in 1713, while the Three-Handed Virgin arrived in June 2016, thanks to Air Serbia’s first flight to St. Petersburg from Belgrade. - According to legend, in the early 13 th century, Serbia’s Saint Sava arrived at the Holy Lavra of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified, Mar Saba, in the Holy Land, thus re- alising a prophecy dating back five centuries. The founder of the monastery predicted upon dy- ing that a prince bearing his name would come from the West and de- vote himself to the temple, and or- dered that the icons of the mirac- ulous Nursing Madonna and the Three-Handed Virgin be surren- dered to him, as well as the scep- tre – the prior’s staff. And so it was – says the inspired Miša Branković, adding that the monastery’s monks surrendered the sacred items to the Serbian Saint Sava. - According to tradition, both of these icons of the Virgin Mary were the work of icon-painter Apos- tle and Evangelist Luke, Christian- ity’s first painter. The icon of the Nursing Madonna is located in the
Patrijarh jerusalimski Teofil III potpisuje ikonu Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilus III signs the icon
Osoblje Er Srbije koje je na letu pratilo ikonu Air Serbia staff members who transported the icon
svete Bogorodice, na Hristovom grobu… U nju je ugrađena sva bla- godat svetinja u kojima je boravi- la, sva vera i ljubav ljudi sa kojima se susrela. Ikona Bogorodica Mlekopita- teljnica, pored svega navedenog, posebna je jer na poleđini ima 17 pečata manastira u kojima je bora- vila i potpise dva patrijarha - srp- skog Irineja i jerusalimskog Teofi- la Trećeg. – Ja sam danas srećan čovek jer će svakom Srbinu koji dođe u hram Aleksandra Nevskog u Pe- trogradu zaigrati srce kad po- red svih svetih ikona koje ima la- vra ugleda naše ikone – kaže nam Miša Branković, koji je uspeo da ostvari svoj san, ali koji ne zabo- ravlja i one koji su mu na tom putu nesebično pomogli. – Ovo je izraz ljubavi, ali i pa- žnje koju nam je poklonilo osoblje avio-kompanije Er Srbija . Oni su pomogli da ikona Bogorodica Tro- jeručica sa poklonicima stigne do Sankt Peterburga – zaključuje Miša ovu divnu priču.
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