South Ossetian Orthodox are celebrating today the feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God. In honor of the feast in the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin in Tskhinval took place the solemn liturgy served by priests of the Alan Diocese. As the news agency "Res" was informed by the priest Jacob Khetagurov, the Intercession of the Mother of God is a great feast, instituted by the church in memory of the miraculous appearance of the Mother of God in Vlaherna Church of Constantinople in the 10th century.
"This wonderful event happened in the Byzantine Empire, when Constantinople was surrounded by people of other religions. During the night service, among the believers was of one of the Scythians, the blessed Andrew Fool- for-Christ`s sake. During the prayer, he saw a walking on air the Blessed Virgin Mary, surrounded by angels and saints," - said Father Jacob.
Virgin Mary was praying for the people, and at the end of the prayer she took her headscarf off and spread it over the people.
"Then, the city sank into the thick fog, which signified the whole Christian world protection from visible and invisible enemies," - said Father Jacob.
The priest has underlined that for residents of South Ossetia this holiday is especially precious, because in August 2008 the Virgin Mary covered Tskhinval with her headscarf and saved it from the enemy.
"A few people have even seen the Virgin looking at Tskhinval from the heights, and the city was as if in a fog. Then the Virgin Mary saved us from certain death from enemy bullets, covered us with her headscarf, and we were protected. On this day, we thank the Virgin Mary for the salvation and pray to the Queen of Heaven to protect our country and us from all evil,"- said Father Jacob.
On the feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God the whole family goes to church to implore the intercession of the Mother of God.
