Image of Lady of the Burning Bush - Christening Gifts

"Kupina" is a burning and incombustible bush of thorns, in which the Lord appeared to Moses near Mount Horeb (Ex 3: 2-5). The burning bush is preserved in a church built by Emperor Justinian I on Sinai and dedicated to the Theotokos. The Old Testament symbol of the bosom of Moses is the prototype of the Incarnation: as the Divine Spirit, descending upon the Most Holy Virgin at the moment of the Annunciation, did not sing it out, nor did the Divine fire that entered the thorn bush change its nature. The image of the burning bush is present in the text of the prayer to the Holy Communion of Simeon the New Theologian: "Take fire, Communion, grass, and a strange miracle, irrigate neopally, as though the slaughter of the tree were burning hotly neopal." A Christian who accepts the Holy Mysteries takes on Christ Himself and is sprinkled with Divine fire, as if by life-giving dew.

The icon of the Blessed Virgin with the Child surrounded by fiery seraphim, placed in the center of the eight-pointed star formed by two rhombuses - green and red (the color of the leaves of the bush and fire) was sometimes combined with the stories about Moses and other Old Testament righteous people. The earlier iconography of the "Burning Bush", characteristic of the medieval paintings of Sinai, portrayed the Blessed Virgin in the image of Oranta with arms raised and the Infant Christ in the medallion (the Sinai icon of 1224 with the Mother of God, the Prophet Moses and the patriarch Euphemia).

The image of the Burning Bush from Vladimir Mikhailov reproduces the iconographic canon of the 16th-17th century: The Virgin and Child surround the Celestial Powers and the images of the four Evangelists in the form of allegorical symbols. John corresponds to the eagle, Matthew - the angel, Mark - the lion, Luka - the body. These allegories go back to the Old Testament vision of the prophet Ezekiel, who saw Christ before His incarnation. The symbols of the vision of the prophet Ezekiel are connected with the icon of the Theotokos because the meaning of the image is interpreted in the context of prophetic revelations associated with the incarnation of the Son of God.

Before the image they pray for deliverance from passions, for reverent acceptance of the Life-Creating Mysteries, for deliverance from the fiery ignition in the house.
The liturgical memory of the icon falls on September 17 on a new style.