DOI: 10.11649/sm.1252 Slavia Meridionalis 17, 2017 Article No.: 1252 Citation: Lubanska, M. (2017). Life-Giving Springs and The Mother of God Zhivonosen Istochnik / Zoodochos Pege / Balŭkliyska. Byzantine- Greek-Ottoman Intercultural influence and its aftereffects in iconography, religious writings and ritual practices in the region of Plovdiv. Slavia Meridionalis, 17. https://doi.org/10.11649/sm.1252 Magdalena Lubanska Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology University of Warsaw Life-Giving Springs and The Mother of God Zhivonosen Istochnik / Zoodochos Pege / Balŭkliyska. Byzantine-Greek-Ottoman Intercultural Influence and Its Aftereffects in Iconography, Religious Writings and Ritual Practices in the Region of Plovdiv1 This article looks at the veneration of healing springs in Orthodox Christian churches and monasteries in the region of Plovdiv and Asenovgrad (Bulgaria) to raise the problem of its connections to Byzantine, Greek and Ottoman religious cultures2 of Constantinople/Istanbul. My argument is based on fieldwork and 1 This work was supported by the National Science Centre in Poland under grant DEC-2011/03/D/ HS3/01620 titled Anthropological Theories and Social-Religious Life of Orthodox Believers in Local Communities of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. Working team: Centre for Anthropological Studies on Orthodox Christianity. Principal Investigator: dr. Magdalena Lubanska. 2 The focus in this text is predominantly on the religious habitus that contributed to the emer- gence of this cult, rather than on the related modern religious practices. Those are obviously touched on in passing here, and I plan on examining them at length in a separate article. This work was supported by the National Science Centre in Poland under grant DEC-2011/03/D/HS3/01620. Competing interests: no competing interests have been declared. Publisher: Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 PL License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/pl/), which permits redistribution, commercial and non- -commercial, provided that the article is properly cited. © The Author(s) 2017. Magdalena Lubanska Life-Giving Springs and The Mother of God Zhivonosen… research I conducted in 2012–2014 to seek an answer to a research question that had kept me intrigued for over a decade: namely, what is the meaning, in practical terms, of the claim frequently made by Orthodox Christians that the various religious rituals they engaged in (with the exception of funerary ones) were practiced “for health” (za zdrave). It is reportedly “for health” that holy icons are kissed, food gets ritually shared, and devotees make ablutions using holy water or offer sacrifices. In fact, it is with that purpose in mind that most religious activities are performed. I found that interesting, especially given how Bulgarian scholars of Orthodox religious life tend to take the problem completely for granted and regard it as being too obvious to merit commentary or explanation, consequently failing to account for the religious imageries involved in the practice (Шнитер, 2015). In Bulgarian Orthodox Christianity the strong connection between health and various forms of religious practice is a unique amalgamation of practices of varied provenance combining pre-Christian influences (e.g. healing ritu- als involving water from healing springs), Byzantine practices (incubation in holy shrines, physical contact with healing icons and relics, healing practices involving spring waters from so-called ayazma3 or holy springs), Ottoman practices (the kurban or animal sacrifice practiced as a healing practice), and modern neo-pagan influences (the practices of Theosophy-inspired religious movements such as the White Brotherhood of Peter Deunov). This article focuses primarily on ablutions using water from ayazma as practiced by Orthodox devotees “for purposes of health” (both spiritual and physical). In this I hope to reveal the connections between the practice and the Byzantine religious imagery which has been revived and processed by icon painters and clergymen in the period of the Bulgarian national revival, notably in religious writings intended for popular use and in symbolic monu- ments such as monumental paintings and iconographic depictions, as well as in rituals practiced by the Orthodox Church (baptism, Malŭk (minor) and Golyam (major) vodosvet rites4) and certain religious holidays in which ablu- tions involving the use of holy water play a significant part. 3 Bulgarian: ayazmo. It is difficult to tell whether the term was borrowed in Bulgarian directly from the Greek word hagiasma (from which it ultimately derives), or the Turkish ayazma. 4 The vodosvet is a church ritual involving the blessing of water. The “major” vodosvet is held on the feast of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan (6 January), and “minor” vodosvets are part of the celebrations held on every major Church holiday. Devotees are sprinkled with holy water, which they also take home in bottles to be used for healing rituals throughout the year. Page 2 of 27 Magdalena Lubanska Life-Giving Springs and The Mother of God Zhivonosen… The centrality of health aspects to Bulgarian Orthodox Christianity may suggest a certain archaic, longue durée quality of local religious life. Before the fall of Constantinople local medieval religious culture had remained within the sphere of Byzantine influence, preserving, in a Christianized form, many practices adopted from Judaism and ancient pagan religions. Incubation in shrines practiced for health purposes (probably introduced under Emperor Justinian) with miraculous interventions of saints in the lives of believers is an obvious calque of the ceremonies once held in ancient asclepeions5 (Wickkiser, 2008, p. 1; Sulikowska, 2013, p. 202). The practice of situating sacred buildings next to healing springs in which devotees would bathe to seek healing from vari- ous ailments has a similar provenance. The practice of using water for healing purposes was also known in Judaism, and later in Christianity, as attested by the story in the Gospel of St. John, where a paralyzed man is healed at a pool called Bethesda, a subject to which I shall return later in the article. The cult of healing waters was also known to the Thracians and proto-Bulgarians once inhabiting the lands of modern-day Bulgaria (Мутафов, 1992, p. 79). The legitimation of the cult of healing waters in Near Eastern and Medi- terranean cultures occurred on the linguistic as well as practical levels, and it would be difficult to indicate which of those two semiotic vehicles played a more important role. For the purposes of this article, my account of the phe- nomenon will focus on religious culture in the geographical area covered by my field research, and will identify directions for potential further in-depth research efforts. In my field research I was often intrigued by the way my respondents described water from ayazmo as being “zhivotvorna” (life-giving). In verba- lizing their belief with the use of that concept the devotees were conveying what I consider a fundamental quality of their form of religiosity. The same epithet was used to describe miracle-working icons. Thanks to that concept (with its attendant visual and physical counterparts) I came to understand that performing certain activities “for health purposes” related not merely to physical healing, but also to becoming open to life-giving (zhivotvorno, zhivo- nosno) forces, a number of which can be at play at any one time in anyone’s life 5 Asclepius was known in the ancient Philipopolis (Plovdiv), as attested by historical monuments including the 2nd-century Plovdiv frieze “The health-bearing family of Asclepius”, depicting Asclepius and his daughters Yaza, Panakeya and Higia, his sons Mahaon, Podalerios and Telesfor, and his wife Epione (picture 10: Мутафов, 1992). Page 3 of 27 Magdalena Lubanska Life-Giving Springs and The Mother of God Zhivonosen… regardless of one’s physical condition. Bulgarian devotees believe that water can produce physical, mental, and spiritual healing because it “brings life”, and physical contact with sacred objects available in the monastery or ablutions performed at ayasmos provide a way of achieving that effect. I believe that the specific nature of that conceptual category can be grasped not only through fieldwork (my findings based on field research in the area will be discussed in a separate article), but also through the complex network of a historical and theological background. The meaning of “life-giving” effects as a conceptual category and its related practices cannot be understood without taking into account the related historical and theological perspectives perpetuated by tradition, and handed down through the generations of Orthodox believers in the area. The theological perspective makes it possible to identify the remote origins and meanings of certain motifs which have been since processed in local religious culture. The term itself, zhivotvornost, was not coined by devotees, but rather became internalized from the language of liturgy6. It is used in the vodosvet and baptism rites, and legitimized by iconographic depictions found in churches. A private recollection is perhaps excusable in this context. In 2013, I was watching Orthodox devotees making ablutions with water from an ayazmo in the Kuklen monastery of SS. Cosmas and Damian. They were sharing stories of the local healings produced by drinking the water, taking baths in the water or pouring it over demoniacs. Witnessing the scene I found myself unable to shake off a certain sense of familiarity: I had already seen a similar scene, depicted in an icon formerly displayed at the old church of St. Petka in Plovdiv (Photo 1). Called The Mother of God of the Life-Giving Spring (Greek: Ζωοδόχος Πηγή, Zoodochos Pege, Theotokos tes Peges, Bulgarian: Bogoroditsa Zhivonosen/Zhivotvoryasht/ Zhivopriemen Iztochnik), that icon was not unlike a snapshot taken at the Kuklen ayasmo, except that it was a simultaneous depiction of a series of scenes that would normally occur as a sequence. The scenes shown in the icon illustrated the practices taking place at such springs on a regular basis, rather than any single particular event. At its center the icon depicted the Virgin holding Christ Emmanuel. The Virgin is shown in a half-length view in a posture of prayer, as 6 My analysis in this text is limited to the category of “life-giving” powers (zhivtvornost), a concept of Byzantine origins, though I realize that it ultimately derives from the Judaistic belief in the living water flowing in the river of paradise (Gen 2, 10–13), a term also applied with reference to God (Psalms 42:2–3), Jesus (John 4:10–14, 37–38), and the Holy Spirit. In the Chris- tian tradition it is likewise accepted that the saved will drink of the living water (Rev. 21, 6). Page 4 of 27 Magdalena Lubanska Life-Giving Springs and The Mother of God Zhivonosen… it were emerging from a bowl-shaped fountain. Water is flowing from the bowl of the fountain into a pool surrounded by various sufferers who are collecting the water into jars or using it for ablutions. Some people are healed immediately, some, too disabled to move on their own, are assisted by caretakers. The group includes dignitaries and ordinary people, adults and children. In researching this phenomenon I realized that the motif was a popular subject in that region of Bulgaria thanks as a result of contributions from two icon painters from the Samokov School of icon-painting7 active in the period of Bulgarian national revival: the frescoes of Hristo Dimitrov (e.g. in the mon- astery of Bachkovo), and the icons of Zahari Zograf (1810–1853), who painted as many as four icons of the Mother of God of the Life-giving spring known in the Plovdiv region8, including an icon in the old church of St. Petka mentioned above (Brisby, 2003, p. 40; Москова, 2002, p. 20). In the 1837 icon by Zahari Zograf, the Virgin appears to be the source of the water streaming down from the fountain, her figure completely filling the bowl of the fountain. The water is flowing from two taps shaped to resemble anthropomorphic fish mouths. There are more fish (usually seven in number) swimming in the healing pool, apparently as evidence of the water’s purity. This indicates that life-giving water must literally contain living things in it. 7 For more information on the development of that iconography and the cultural influences affecting it see Claire Brisby (2003). Brisby identifies as paradigmatic for the development of this iconography a print by Christophor Zefarovic published in 1744 in Vienna (Moutafov, 2001, p. 165) and frequently copied, evincing a clear influence of the Western baroque aesthetic (clouds separating the heavens from the earth, the baby shown cradled on Mary’s left arm rather than in a full-face posture, the dynamic posture of the demoniac in the foreground). On the other hand, the iconographic model came from the hermeneia by Dionysius of Fourna written in the second half of the 18th century, which preserves the “Orthodox visual tradition” (Brisby, 2003, p. 37). In this iconographic model Christ is shown full-face, holding against his chest a gospel scroll bearing the words “I am the living water” (Djonizjusz z Furny, 2003, p. 187). Dionysius of Fourna also painted one of the icons on the same subject, made in 1737 for the Church of the Transfiguration at Fourna. Icon-painters of the Bulgarian Revival drew inspiration from those two models, a fact reflected in their art and hermeneias. For instance, Dicho Zograph’s alternatively replicates the model of Zefarovic and Dyonisyus of Fourna, respectively (cf. Brisby, 2003, p. 36). For more information on hermeneias by Christophor Zefarovic and on the painter himself see Moutafov, 2001. 8 The other icons include one painted in 1836 and displayed in the monaster of St. Petka of Moldova near Asenovgrad, a 1838 icon from the church of SS. Kirik and Yulita in Gorni Voden, and the icon from the Church of Annunciation in Asenovgrad (Москова, 2002; Brisby, 2003, pp. 40–41). Page 5 of 27 Magdalena Lubanska Life-Giving Springs and The Mother of God Zhivonosen… The sufferers are shown getting water from the spring, drinking it, pouring it over their bodies or taking it to those too frail to approach the pool. The people include patriarchs, priests, rulers, and princesses, one man possessed by an evil spirit (with a demon escaping through his mouth), and another man brought back to life when the water is poured over his dead body9. The icon also illustrates the idea that suffering is not something that must be accepted as divine will, but rather a condition in need of reparation using the material vehicles of divine grace, which were created for that purpose10. This is aligned with the semiotic message of St. John’s Gospel with its story of a paralytic healed by a pool (Bulgarian: kupalniya) called Bethesda (beth hesda (אדסח תיב), “house of mercy or “house of grace”), a passage customarily read out during the rite of vodosvet11 or blessing of water. The reading directly anchors the Christian justification of the cult of healing waters in the authority of the gospels. According to that evangelical passage, invalids would lie by the pool near the Sheep Gate awaiting an occasional moving of the water, “For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water. Whosoever then first stepped in, after the troubling of the water, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had” (John 5:3, KJ21). Significantly, although the story goes on in the gospel, the reading during the rite of vodosvet breaks off at this point in the narrative, the intention being to emphasize the remark- able properties of holy water when agitated by a supernatural power. Accord- ingly, the prayer recited by the priest at this point asks God to make the water wholly through the force, action, and descent of the Holy Spirit and of the Holy Trinity (Требник, 2002, p. 353). At that point the water becomes imbued with a power that is “salutary to bodies and souls, and […] drive[s] out any hostile 9 This refers to a famous story of the Thessalian man to which I will return in my descrip- tion of the apocryphal sources that influenced the evolution of the subject in art. 10 The theological emphasis on spiritual and physical transformation (metanoia) as the fundamental goal of Christian life finds iconographic expression in the icon Transfigura- tion on Mount Tabor, which bolsters the patristic belief that “God became man so that man could become God”, however that subject appears rarely in Bulgarian churches and is not widely noticed or understood by the devotees. This is an aspect of elite religious life that is not particularly emphasized by the Bulgarian clergy. 11 In the rite the priest prays to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Trinity, asking that their grace and agency (deystviye) might descend on the water to “make it salutary to bodies and souls, and to drive out any hostile powers” (Требник, 2002, p. 353). The priest’s prayer also refers to the many healings worked by Christ in the gospels. The healing springs found in monasteries are blessed anew every year as part of the vodosvet rite, and the water gets sprinkled on the devotees. Page 6 of 27 Magdalena Lubanska Life-Giving Springs and The Mother of God Zhivonosen… powers (Требник, 2002, p. 353). The scene shown in the icon of the Virgin of the Life-Giving Spring is highly reminiscent of the scene in the Gospel of St John, with the exception that in the icon it is the Virgin (rather than an angel) who moves the water to make it blessed (Virgin Mary is herself often likened to a wellspring). Accordingly, some icons as well as the Akathist Hymn treat the Virgin (who is sometimes referred to as the “life-giving wellspring”) as a personification of the healing pool described in the gospel: Rejoice, for thou didst cause the river of many-streams to gush forth! Rejoice, living image of the font! Rejoice, remover of the stain of sin! Rejoice, laver that washes the conscience clean! […] Rejoice, unwedded Bride! (Oikos 11, cited in: Onash & Schnieper, 2002, p. 175; “Akathist to Our Most Holy Lady Mother of God,” n.d.). When looking at the icons it is not always clear whether the Virgin is sit- ting in a bowl filled with water, or perhaps it is the bowl that contains water pouring out of the Virgin’s body. This ambiguity is presumably intentional, emphasizing the mystery of the healing water’s substantiality and its remark- able healing properties. In the Gospel, the water undergoes a process of meta- noia through its contact with the Lord’s angel in the iconographic depictions, the same process occurs through physical contact with the Virgin’s body12. As a result, the water it were becomes transformed into a different substance: life-giving water with a whole new set of physical properties. This connection between ayazma and holy water is a recurrent element in Orthodox theology and tradition. The pool at Bethesda is mentioned in every vodosvet rite, and every ayazmo is blessed in that rite at least once a year. In doing so, the healing properties of the spring become renewed and reinforced. However, what is the connection between the ritual ablutions in ayazma and the icon under discussion here, other than the unmistakable similarity in appearance? Moving away from theological reflection, it is perhaps fitting to mention some of the cultural connections between the cult of life-giving springs in Plovdiv and Constantinople. The image of the Mother of God of the Life-giving Spring (Greek: Ζωοδόχος Πηγή) and its veneration goes back to Constantinople, where a small shrine 12 This is similar to the motif of the Mystical Winepress frequently found in Western iconography, though in that case the juice flowing from the grapes is unambiguously shown to be the blood of Christ. Page 7 of 27 Magdalena Lubanska Life-Giving Springs and The Mother of God Zhivonosen… became dedicated to the Mother of God of the Life-giving Spring13 as early as the fifth century on account of a healing spring located in the vicinity, whose miraculous properties were attributed to an intervention of the Mother of God. It is not known what kind of image of the Virgin (if any) was originally placed at that spring, but we do know the details of a later fresco painted in the first half of the 14th century14 and placed in that shrine upon its renovation15, as attested by a contemporary monk and church historian named Nikephoros Kallistos Xhan- thopoulos (1256–1335). Reportedly, the image was painted on a dome placed above the healing pool, and could be seen reflected in the water16, a vivid visualization of the fact that the Mother of God was the source of the healing waters in the pool (cf. Teteriatnikov, 2005, p. 226). The Virgin in the fresco was portrayed in a posture of prayer with the Christ Child, the “life-bearing source, who bubbles forth from her bosom, the most beautiful and eternal infant in the likeness of transparent and drinkable water which is alive and leaping”17 (Xhanthopoulos, cited in Teteriatnikov, 2005, p. 225). The fresco may have served as the model for later depictions of that kind (Janocha, 2010, p. 132), and according to modern Byzantine scholarship was itself modeled on the depiction of the praying Mother of God in the church of Blachernae (likewise containing a healing spring). This topic appears to have only recently attracted scholarly attention in modern Byzantine Studies (from Alice-Marie Talbot (2012), Natalia 13 The shrine had a complicated history: destroyed by earthquakes several times during the Byzantine period, it was rebuilt on the initiative of various emperors. In the period of the crusades it came into Latin hands in the 13th century (no miracles occurred in that period according to the Greek sources). In the 15th century the shrine was supposedly destroyed by Muslims, and the material was used to build the Sultan Bayezid II Mosque. However, the shrine was later rebuilt under Sultan Mehmed II and re-consecrated in a solemn ceremony in 1835, attended by the Ecumenical Patriarch Constantius II of Constantinople. In 1955, the church was destroyed again during popular unrest aimed at the Greek inhabitants of Istanbul. It was replaced by a modest shrine with an underground healing spring visited to this day, mainly by Greek devotees Pierre Gilles (“Church of the Life-Giving Font of the Theotokos (Istanbul),” 2011). 14 Painted under Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282–1328) (Teteriatnikov, 2005, p. 225; Talbot, 1994, pp. 135–165). 15 It has been speculated that this depiction was made in connection with the shrine’s restoration at some point between 1306 and 1313, when the worn-out stairs in the shrine col- lapsed (Teteriatnikov, 2005, p. 227). 16 Especially when the tap was turned off. When the tap was on, Mary appeared to be hidden behind a cloud from which water would stream into the pool (Xanthopoulous, cited in Teteriatnikov, 2005, p. 226) 17 The earliest scenes did not therefore depict pilgrims gathered at the pool. Page 8 of 27 Magdalena Lubanska Life-Giving Springs and The Mother of God Zhivonosen… Teteriatnikov (2005), Rodoniki Etzeoglou (2005); Dejan Medaković (1971)) and art history (Claire Brisby (2003), Ivanka Gergova (Гергова, 2012), Svetla Moskova (Москова, 2002), Alexiei Lidov (2014)), whose efforts provide anthros- pologists with better insights into the religious culture under discussion. According to Natalia Tetariatnikov, the earliest surviving depiction of that kind can be traced to the monumental paintings of Mistra in the early 14th cen- tury church of the Aphendiko18 (Teteriatnikov, 2005, p. 226). Dejan Medaković argues that an earlier fresco on the same subject is known, located in the Boyana Church in Bulgaria dated to 1259 (Medaković, 1971, p. 159). Surprisingly, how- ever, this is not mentioned by the scholars listed in the following paragraph, and I have been unable to find independent confirmation for his claim. According to the Bulgarian historian Ivanka Gergova, the subject had not gained popularity in Bulgaria until the 18th century (Гергова, 2012, p. 67). Gergova lists only a few examples of similarly themed images in Bulgaria pre- dating that period. Two are dated to the 16th century (a fresco from the church of St. Charalambos in the region of Melnik, and a scene depicting the patron in a niche over the southern entrance of the church of St. Stephen, known as the Nova Mitropoliya or “new bishopric” in Nesebar). Three more come from the 17th century: an icon from the monastery in Karlukovo and the church of St. Nicholas in the village of Zhelezna near Chiprovtsi (Гергова, 2012, p. 67). Outside of Plovdiv and Asenovgrad, depictions of the same subject are also found in the Troyan and Rila monasteries, near Tryavna19 (Brisby, 2003, p. 41), and in the port cities of Varna and Sozopol (Попова, 2008, p. 65; Мутафов, 1992). It should be emphasized that Zoodochos Pege was “a place of worship much favoured by the Byzantines” (Etzeoglou, 2005, p. 239), attracting worshippers for centuries20 even notwithstanding the shrine’s destruction in the mid-16th century21 (Talbot, 2012, p. XVIII). 18 Art historians suggest a time frame of 1312–1328 (Teteriatnikov, 2005, p. 227). 19 For instance, the icon of Zahari Tsanuv of Triavna, first half of the 19th century. 20 There is no general agreement on this, as the cult was arguably discontinued in certain periods. Claire Brisby suggests that this applies to the period from the 15th to the 18th centuries. It was revived in 1727 when the “Ottomans again authorised worship at the site and the cult was revived by Metropolitan Nikodim (Brisby, 2003, p. 30). In 1833 a small new shrine was built, which stands to this day. 21 “Mother of God of the Life-Giving Spring,” n.d. In the 15th century, after Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks the building was supposedly demolished, and the build- ing materials were used to build the Sultan Beyazıt Mosque. Only the chapel remained, which Page 9 of 27 Magdalena Lubanska Life-Giving Springs and The Mother of God Zhivonosen… Without a doubt, the abovementioned account by Xhanthopoulos contrib- uted to the fame of the place. Xhanthopoulos not only described the image, but also initiated a holiday generating the Mother of God, The Life-giving Spring, a name he gave to the church in Pege, previously known simply as the “Virgin of the spring” (Etzeoglou, 2005, p. 240). The epithet of “life-giving spring” initially appeared only in hymns to the Virgin22, and was only used as the name of the church itself by Xhanthopulous (Etzeoglou, 2005, p. 240). The life-giving spring is therefore one of the epithets describing Mary, and serves as a name of a holiday dedicated to her celebrated on the first Friday after Easter (also known as Bright Friday/Svetli Petŭk23), with a liturgy that celebrates life by focusing on the miracle of resurrection24. According to apocryphal sources invoked in the synaxarion25 reading for Bright Friday, the spring in Constantinople devoted to the Mother of God was revealed by Mary herself to the future Emperor Leo I26, at that time still an ordinary soldier who found himself unable to help a thirsty blind man. Leo was showed a spring by the Mother of God, and as he offered water from it to the blind man, and he followed the Virgin’s advice and applied mud from the water to the blind man’s eyes. The man was healed, and the Virgin requested too was destroyed in 1821. With the Sultan’s permission, a rebuilding effort got under way in the 1830s. In 1833, the existing church was (Talbot, 2012, p. XVIII). 22 The Virgin was referred to by a similar epithet (“fountain/river of life”) in the 5th- century hymns by Proklos of Constantinople, so it appears to have been an early title that enjoyed popularity in medieval Byzantium after the Council of Ephesus declared Mary as Theotokos (Mother of God). 23 As noted by Svetla Moskova (Москова, 2002, p. 21). The holiday was instituted in the 14th century (Teteriatnikov, 2005, p. 225). 24 A description of the utrenya and vechernya liturgy for Bright Friday/Пятница Свет- лой седмицы. Живоносный источник can be found here: “Пятница Светлой седмицы: Живоносный источник: В четверток вечера Светлыя седмицы,” n.d.; “Пятница Светлой седмицы: Живоносный источник: В пяток Светлыя седмицы на Утрени,” n.d.; “Пят- ница Светлой седмицы: Живоносный источник: На Литургии, антифоны Пасхи,” n.d.; “Bright Friday,” n.d. 25 Никифор Каллист Ксанфопул (n.d.); Синаксарь на Пресвятую Госпожу Владычицу Богородицу, живоприемный источник in “Пятница Светлой седмицы: Живоносный источник: В пяток Светлыя седмицы на Утрени,” n.d. 26 He reportedly erected the house of prayer, a small shrine called Kataphyge or Refuge (Etzeoglou, 2005, p. 239; Talbot, 2012, p. XIV). In his hermeneia, Dicho Zograf argues that Leo I is depicted in the icon of the Mother of God of the Living Spring as the person leading a blind man (Дичо Зограф, 1976, p. 94). Page 10 of 27