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28-514: The convent is located on a site known as Pühitsetud ("blessed" in Estonian) since ancient times. According to a legend, a shepherd from the village of Kuremäe witnessed a divine revelation near a spring of water to this day venerated as holy. Later in the 16th century, locals found an ancient icon of Dormition of the Mother of God under a huge oak tree . The icon still belongs to the convent. In 1888,

56-584: A 16th-century legend, near the local village of Kuremäe , a shepherd witnessed a divine revelation of the Theotokos near a spring of water that is to this day venerated as holy and is famous for many miracles and healings. The icon, which was painted much later, is known as the Pühtitsa icon of the Mother of God "To the spring" (Russian: Пю́хтицкая ико́на Бо́жией Ма́тери «У исто́чника» , romanized : Pyúkhtitskaya ikóna Bózhiyey Máteri “U istóchnika” ). In

84-513: A magnificent church on this site, dedicated to the Theotokos , and the water continued to work miraculous cures, as well as resurrections from the dead , through the intercession of the Theotokos , and therefore it was called "The Life-Giving Spring." Historians Procopius and Cedrenus state that Emperor Justinian erected a new church, larger than the first, in the last years of his reign (559-560), utilizing materials that had remained after

112-720: A reduced capacity. Following the establishment of the rival Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe, the title " Autokrator " (Gr. Αὐτοκράτωρ) was increasingly used. In later centuries, the Emperor could be referred to by Western Christians as the "Emperor of the Greeks". Towards the end of the Empire, the standard imperial formula of the Byzantine ruler was "[Emperor's name] in Christ, Emperor and Autocrat of

140-518: A small chapel remained at the site of the church. Twenty-five steps led down to the site of the spring, surrounded by a railing. In 1547 the French humanist Petrus Gyllius noted that the church no longer existed, but that ailing people continued to visit the spring of holy water . As a result of the Greek War of Independence of 1821, even the little chapel was destroyed and the spring was left buried under

168-512: A spring was believed to be sacred . In old Russia , continuing Greek traditions, there was a custom to sanctify springs that were located near churches , dedicate them to the Holy Mother , and paint icons of her under the title The Life Giving Spring . A similar revelation of the Theotokos occurred in Estonia in the 16th century. The Pühtitsa Convent is located on a site where, according to

196-566: Is an epithet of the Holy Theotokos that originated with her revelation of a sacred spring (Ancient Greek: ἁγίασμα , romanized:  hagíasma ) in Valoukli , Constantinople, to a soldier named Leo Marcellus, who later became Byzantine Emperor Leo I (457-474). Leo built the historic Church of St. Mary of the Spring over this site, which witnessed numerous miraculous healings over

224-629: The Byzantine Rite . Additionally, the icon of the Theotokos the "Life-giving Spring" is commemorated on April 4 / 17 in Slavic Orthodox churches. Outside the Imperial City of Constantinople, near the Golden Gate ( Porta Aurea ) used to be found a grove of trees. A shrine was located there with a spring of water, which from early times had been dedicated to the Theotokos . Over time,

252-461: The Ecumenical Patriarch , Constantius II consecrated the church on February 2, 1835, celebrating with 12 bishops and an enormous flood of the faithful. On September 6, 1955, during the anti-Greek Istanbul Pogrom , the church was one of the targets of the fanatic mob. The building was burned to the ground while the abbot was lynched, and 90-year-old Archimandrite Chrisanthos Mantas

280-764: The Russian Orthodox Church sent a nun from the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma to establish a convent in Pühtitsa. The katholikon was built to Mikhail Preobrazhensky 's designs in the Russian Revival style. It was consecrated in 1910. There are six churches in the convent dedicated to a number of Orthodox Christian Saints such as St. Sergius of Radonezh , St. Simeon the Receiver of God , St. Nicholas , St. Anna

308-668: The Soviet Union in 1944, the convent managed to survive despite the uneasy co-existence with the Communist authorities. Patriarch Alexius II who was the bishop (later the archbishop ) of Tallinn and Estonia in the 1960s was instrumental in the fight to keep the convent from closure. The Pühtitsa Convent and the Pskov-Caves Monastery were the only monasteries in the Soviet Union that did not suspend their activities throughout

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336-527: The grove had become overgrown and the spring became fetid. The traditional account surrounding the feast of the Life-Giving Spring is recorded by Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos , the last of the Greek ecclesiastical historians, who flourished around 1320. It begins with a miracle that occurred involving a soldier named Leo Marcellus, the future Byzantine Emperor Leo I . On April 4, 450, as Leo

364-770: The 20th century. By 1991, the Pühtitsa monastic community consisted of 161 nuns. In 1990 it was placed under the direct authority of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia . 59°12′09″N 27°32′11″E  /  59.20250°N 27.53639°E  / 59.20250; 27.53639 Life-giving Spring The Mother of God of the Life-giving Spring or Life-giving Font ( Ancient Greek : Ζωοδόχος Πηγή , romanized :  Zōodóchos Pēgḗ , modern pronunciation: [zo.oˈðoxos piˈʝi] ; Russian : Живоно́сный Исто́чник , romanized : Zhivonósny Istóchnik , IPA: [ʐɨvɐˈnosnɨj ɪˈstotɕnʲɪk] )

392-651: The 9th century, Joseph the Hymnographer gave the title 'Life-giving Spring' ( Zōodóchos Pēgḗ ) to a hymn ( Theotokíon ) for the Mother of God for the first time. Apolytikion (Tone 3) Kontakion (Plagal of Tone 4) Byzantine Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire , which fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only

420-579: The Prophetess and others. Prince Sergei Shakhovskoy  [ et ] , the Governor of Estland, was the convent's patron and protected it from local landowners, mostly German Lutherans , who opposed the spread of Orthodoxy in Estland. It was the first Orthodox monastery built in Estonia (to the delight of mostly Orthodox local peasants of Jõhvi county). In 1919, after Estonia became independent from Russia ,

448-543: The Roman Empire in 395. Emperors listed below up to Theodosius I in 395 were sole or joint rulers of the entire Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire continued until 476. Byzantine emperors considered themselves to be Roman emperors in direct succession from Augustus ; the term "Byzantine" became convention in Western historiography in the 19th century. The use of the title "Roman Emperor" by those ruling from Constantinople

476-533: The Romans" (cf. Ῥωμαῖοι and Rûm ). Dynasties were a common tradition and structure for rulers and government systems in the Medieval period. The principle or formal requirement for hereditary succession was not a part of the Empire's governance; hereditary succession was a custom and tradition, carried on as habit and benefited from some sense of legitimacy, but not as a "rule" or inviolable requirement for office at

504-599: The centuries, through her intercessions , becoming one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Greek Orthodoxy . Thus the term "Life-giving Font" became an epithet of the Holy Theotokos and she was represented as such in iconography . The feast day of the Life-giving Spring is celebrated on Bright Friday in the Eastern Orthodox Church , and in those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow

532-511: The emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised sovereign authority are included, to the exclusion of junior co-emperors ( symbasileis ) who never attained the status of sole or senior ruler, as well as of the various usurpers or rebels who claimed the imperial title. The following list starts with Constantine the Great , the first Christian emperor, who rebuilt the city of Byzantium as an imperial capital, Constantinople, and who

560-670: The erection of the Hagia Sophia . After the erection of the sanctuary, the Byzantines named the Gate that was situated outside the walls of Theodosius II " Gate of the Spring " ( Ancient Greek : Πύλη τῆς Πηγῆς , romanized :  Pýlē tês Pēgês ). After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the church was torn down by the Turks , and the stones used to build a mosque of Sultan Bayezid . Only

588-608: The feast are combined with the Paschal hymns, and there is often a Lesser Blessing of Waters performed after the Divine Liturgy on Bright Friday. There is also a commemoration of the Icon of the Theotokos the Life-giving Spring observed on April 4 ( Julian Calendar ) / April 17 ( Gregorian Calendar ). This type of icon spread throughout the Orthodox world , particularly in places where

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616-404: The grove, take the water which you will find and give it to the thirsty man. Then take the mud [from the stream] and put it on the blind man's eyes.... And build a temple [church] here ... that all who come here will find answers to their petitions ." Leo did as he was told, and when the blind man's eyes were anointed he regained his sight. After his accession to the throne, the Emperor erected

644-556: The new government confiscated most of the convent's land and transferred the convent to the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church , independent of Moscow. During the Second World War the battlefront was at times only a few kilometres away from the convent and Germans organized a concentration camp for Russian prisoners of war inside the monastery compound. Following the second invasion and occupation of Estonia by

672-535: The rubble. In 1833 the reforming Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II gave permission for the Christians to rebuild the church. When the foundations of the original church were discovered during the course of construction, the Sultan issued a second firman permitting not only the reconstruction of the small chapel, but of a large church according to the original dimensions. Construction was completed on December 30, 1834, and

700-606: Was assassinated by the mob. Another small chapel has been rebuilt on the site, but the church has not yet been restored to its former size. The spring still flows to this day and is considered by the faithful to have wonderworking properties. The feast day is observed on Bright Friday , that is, the Friday following Pascha (Easter). It is the only feast day which may be celebrated during Bright Week, as all other commemorations which happen to fall during this time are usually transferred to another day. The propers (hymns and prayers) of

728-633: Was not contested until after the papal coronation of the Frankish Charlemagne as Holy Roman emperor (25 December 800). The title of all Emperors preceding Heraclius was officially " Augustus ", although other titles such as Dominus were also used. Their names were preceded by Imperator Caesar and followed by Augustus . Following Heraclius, the title commonly became the Greek Basileus (Gr. Βασιλεύς), which had formerly meant sovereign , though Augustus continued to be used in

756-438: Was passing by the grove, he came across a blind man who had become lost. Leo took pity on him, led him to the pathway, seated him in the shade and began to search for water to give the thirsty man. Leo heard a voice say to him, "Do not trouble yourself, Leo, to look for water elsewhere, it is right here!" Looking about, he could see no one, and neither could he see any water. Then he heard the voice again, "Leo, Emperor , go into

784-459: Was regarded by the later emperors as the model ruler. Modern historians distinguish this later phase of the Roman Empire as Byzantine due to the imperial seat moving from Rome to Byzantium, the Empire's integration of Christianity, and the predominance of Greek instead of Latin. The Byzantine Empire was the direct legal continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire following the division of

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