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In the first half of the 10th century, the great ascetic Andrew the Fool lived in Constantinople, who was granted miraculous spiritual visions and great revelations.
One day he came to the famous Blachernae Church, where the robe of the Mother of God with Her omophorion and part of Her belt were kept.
An omophorion is a veil that Jewish women used to cover their heads and that reached down to their feet.
Blessed Andrew came to the church to attend the all-night vigil. He was accompanied by a young admirer of his, Epiphanius, who later became Patriarch of Constantinople under the name Polyeuctus. Blessed Andrew usually remained in churches long after the end of the service. This time, however, the all-night vigil lasted a long time. At four o'clock in the morning, Epiphanius saw the Most Holy Theotokos coming from the Royal Doors in great glory. She was supported by John the Baptist and the Apostle John the Theologian. A multitude of saints in white and shining robes surrounded the Most Holy Theotokos, all singing spiritual hymns. The Most Holy Mother of God approached the ambo.
Thinking whether this vision was a temptation for him, Blessed Andrew asked Epiphanius:
— Do you see the Lady and Queen of the world?
"I see and I am horrified," replied Epiphanius. Meanwhile, the Most Pure Mother of God knelt and prayed for a long time, tears streaming down her cheeks. The Mother of God went into the altar and prayed there for a long time for the people. Then she emerged, removed the veil she had been wearing, and, solemnly holding it in her hands, spread it over all the worshipers, as if covering them with it. St. Andrew and Epiphanius watched all this until the vision faded. Andrew related it to the people, and his account made a powerful impression.
In Greece, the Feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God did not become widespread. This can be explained by the unrest that afflicted the imperial and patriarchal thrones at the time. The Feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God is not even mentioned in the Greek calendar.
But the Russian soul, venerating the Mother of God, was touched and struck by this event, which so vividly expressed the prayerful intercession of the Heavenly Queen for humanity. In an ancient Slavic Prologue, a prince or bishop writes: "When I heard this, I thought: how terrible and merciful this vision, and beyond our hope and intercession, could have been without celebration... I desired that Thy holy Protection, O Most Gracious One, not be left without celebration!" The establishment of the holiday in Russia is also proven by the words of the church song for the Feast of the Intercession, which indicates both the circumstances of the vision in the Blachernae Church and the veneration of this event by the Russians: “O Lady, with the honorable and glorious prophets, with the supreme apostles, and with the holy martyrs, and with the bishops, pray to God for us sinners, glorifying the Feast of Your Intercession in the Russian land.”
At the end of the 14th century, there was a Russian clerk, Alexander, in Constantinople who saw in the Blachernae Church an icon of the Holy Mother of God, “which Saint Andrew saw in the air, praying for the world.”
In Russia, both the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God and the icon of the Protection—a touching symbol of Our Lady's tireless intercession for humanity—have found particular traction. Although not one of the twelve Great Feasts, the Feast of the Protection is celebrated in folklore no less than the twelve. There is an entire district town in the Vladimir province named Pokrov. In Moscow alone, there is the Pokrovsky Monastery, the Pokrovsky Community of Sisters of Mercy, and the Pokrovsky Cathedral, commonly known as St. Basil's Cathedral. This cathedral was founded by Tsar Ivan the Terrible after his return from the Kazan campaign to commemorate the capture of Kazan, as the Russians stormed the city on the Feast of the Protection and captured it.
The icon of the Intercession usually depicts the pulpit of the Church of the Virgin Mary at Blachernae, from which a deacon, extending his hand with the orarion, pronounces the litany. Near the pulpit are the worshipers, and among them, Blessed Andrew, dressed in rags, points out to Epiphany the Virgin Mary standing in the clouds, surrounded by saints and angels. She holds her omophorion in her outstretched arms. Such an image of the icon of the Intercession can be seen, for example, on the ceiling of the dome of the church of the St. Petersburg Pedagogical Institute.
Churches and entire monasteries dedicated to the Protection of the Mother of God have existed in Russia since ancient times. According to legend, the blessed Grand Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky built a Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in the town of Bogolyubovo, near Vladimir. In Novgorod, in the 12th century, there was a Zverinsky Monastery dedicated to the Protection of the Mother of God.
Here are some of the venerated icons of the Intercession in Russia:
In Moscow: in the Cathedral of the Intercession of St. Basil the Blessed; in the Church of the Resurrection in Barashi, and in the Church of the Intercession in Krasnoe Selo.
In Kharkov, in the Church of the Nativity of Christ, beyond the Lopan River, it became famous for helping residents during the cholera crisis.
In the Minsk province: in the city of Novogrudok, in the St. Nicholas Cathedral, and in the village of Zhukov.
In the Yaroslavl province, three miles from Uglich, on the other bank of the Volga, in the Intercession of St. Paisius Monastery.
In the Vologda province, in the Dionisievo-Glushitsky Monastery, written by the founder of the monastery, St. Dionysius of Glushitsky, who lived at the beginning of the 15th century.
The Pokrovsky Dobry Monastery, near the town of Likhvin in the Kaluga Diocese, also houses a venerated icon of the Protection of the Mother of God. Every year at the end of August, the icon is ceremoniously brought to Likhvin, where it remains for about a month, visiting residents' homes, and then returns to the monastery for its feast day.