Church of the Icon of the Mother of God «Unexpected joy»
The Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of the Unwanted” in Maryina Roshcha is an Orthodox church in the Maryina Roshcha district of Moscow. It belongs to the Troitsky nobility of the Moscow diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. It was built in 1899-1904 in the style of Russian temples of the XVII century. In 1912 the belfry was added. A Sunday school for children and adults, parish library, editorial office of the newspaper “Orthodox Moscow” were opened at the church. The church has been functioning without interruption since its construction. The main shrine of the temple is the miracle-working icon of the Mother of God “Joy of Joy Unwanted” (XIX century). The iconography of the image was influenced by the story of a miraculous vision of a sinner described by Demetrius of Rostov in his work “The Fleece Irrigated” (1683). The story, recorded by the saint, tells that a certain man had the custom of praying before an icon of the Mother of God every day, and then going to the evil deed he had planned. But one day while praying he “sees the image moving and the living Virgin Mary with her Son. Looks, opened the sores of the Child on the hands and feet, and in the side, and flows from them blood streams, as on the Cross”. In fear the man asked the Virgin Mary about the sores and wounds of the Divine Child and received the answer that sinners crucify Jesus Christ again and again and make her grieve for their deeds. The sinner persistently asked Our Lady to have mercy on him and pray to Her Son. The Mother of God agreed, but three times Jesus rejected her plea for the sinner’s forgiveness. Then the Mother seated the Son and wanted to grovel at His feet, but the Son cried out: “What do you want to do, O Mother?” – “I will,” she said, “lie at your feet with this sinner until you forgive him his sins. Then said the Son, “The law commands that the Son honour the Mother, but the truth wants the Lawgiver Himself to be the fulfiller of the law. I am your Son, you are my Mother, and I must honour you by listening to your prayers. Let it be as you wish: now his sins are forgiven for your sake. As a sign of forgiveness, let him kiss My sores.” When the sinner kissed the sores of the Divine Child, he came to his senses and the vision disappeared. After that he reformed his life. Forgiveness of sins became for him an “unintentional joy” and gave a name to the iconography of the Mother of God that appeared on the basis of this story.
Address: Moscow, Sheremetyevskaya str., 33, building 1
