Hand painted icon of Mother of God of Jerusalem According to tradition, the first image of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God belonged to St. evangelist Luke and is an authentic portrait painted from nature. When he showed her the image, she liked it and blessed it with the words: "May the grace of the Born of Me and My mercy dwell in these icons." The icon was painted in Gethsemane 15 years after the ascension of Jesus Christ. Later, the icon was transferred to Constantinople, in the temple "The Virgin Pigia", built by the emperor Leo I the Great Makela. Then it was given as a gift to Prince Vasily of Kiev. From Kyiv, the icon went to Novgorod and Moscow, and after the French took the treasures of the Kremlin during the Patriotic War, the icon ended up in Paris. It is kept in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. Over the centuries, many copies of the icon were made. Various miracles are associated with many of them - such as the protection of cities from invasions and healings from cholera, after group prayers and liturgical processions. That is why the icon is called miraculous. It is believed to help with eye ailments, natural disasters and home invasions. In 2000, the Jerusalem icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is kept in the underground temple "Assumption of the Mother of God" in Jerusalem, was exhibited for worship in Bulgaria. It was painted 100-120 years ago by a Russian icon painter nun in the monastery in Jerusalem. The Mother of God appeared to her in person, asking her to paint her image.