Ukrainian Orthodoxy		Orthodoxie ukrainienne

The Mantle of Protection

Dr. Alexander Roman alex.roman@unicorne.org

Today's Feast, the Pokrova or Protection of our Lady the Theotokos, is a national one of the Ukrainian people.

It celebrates the constant intercession and protection given to Christians by the Mother of Christ in Heaven. We are members of the Body of Christ and so Mary is our spiritual Mother who is there, along with all the Saints, to help nurture us in the life in Christ.

This Feast also calls to mind the numerous historical miracles in Ukraine's history when the Theotokos appeared with her Mantle to protect Ukrainians suffering attacks from the Turks and the Tatars, such as at Pochayiv. After the apparition there when the cannonballs flew back at the Turks, a number of Turks became Christians and entered the monastery as monks!

It was the first Evangelizer and Baptizer of Ukraine, Prince Mykola Askold of Kyiv, who first inspired Ukrainians with the story of the protective Mantle.

While on a naval campaign against Byzantium, Askold saw the Archbishop of Constantinople take a cloth, which was the relic of the Mantle, and simply lower it into the waters of the bay surrounding the city. Almost immediately, a storm broke out, destroying many of Askold's ships.

He sued for peace and the Orthodox Patriarch, St Photios, sent Christian missionaries with Askold to Kyiv where numerous people received baptism.

The story of the Mantle was related to one and all by Askold himself. He is a local saint of Kyiv and the famous "Grave of Askold" is a national monument of Ukraine.

The Kozaks had a particular love for the Mantle of Protection of the Mother of Christ. They produced the special genre of the "Kozak Pokrova" where Kozaks feature prominently with their arms and cannon.

The basic structure of the icon of the Protection is a scene in the Cathedral of Byzantium. It was during an attack by Saracens that the people hurried to Church. A Ukrainian, St Andrew and his disciple, St Epiphanius, see the appearance of the Theotokos, flanked by angels and saints, and Andrew points to her, even though only he sees her.

In the centre is St Roman the Melodist. He composed the beautiful Akathist  Hymn to the Theotokos. He initially had a terrible singing voice that depressed him no end. In a dream, the Theotokos appeared to him and placed a sheet of music into his mouth to swallow. The next day, Roman's voice was completely transformed! The first part of the Akathist Hymn became the prayer sung by Christians during attacks by Saracens and Turks . . .

To the left stand St Taras, Patriarch of Constantinople and the Emperor St Leo the Most Wise. The names of all these saints became highly popular among Ukrainians for all time.

Today is a good day to thank God through the prayers of the Theotokos for the grace of Ukraine's religious and political freedom. While Ukraine has a way to go in terms of its economic development, it enters the 21st century as the free nation of Europe it formerly was.  

We may also pray to God for the souls of our Kozak ancestors who fought and died for their country's freedom, realized fully only now, under the Mantle of the Protection of the Theotokos. They began and ended each campaign of theirs with a prayer service or moleben to her. While other countries refer to St Mary as Queen of their respective nations, her familiar title in our Church is "Mother of the Ukrainian Land.

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