Having entered the Christmas season, we ask those who find the work of the Mystagogy Resource Center beneficial to them to help us continue our work with a generous financial gift as you are able. As an incentive, we are offering the following booklet.

In 1909 the German philosopher Arthur Drews wrote a book called "The Myth of Christ", which New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman has called "arguably the most influential mythicist book ever produced," arguing that Jesus Christ never existed and was simply a myth influenced by more ancient myths. The reason this book was so influential was because Vladimir Lenin read it and was convinced that Jesus never existed, thus justifying his actions in promoting atheism and suppressing the Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union. Moreover, the ideologues of the Third Reich would go on to implement the views of Drews to create a new "Aryan religion," viewing Jesus as an Aryan figure fighting against Jewish materialism. 

Due to the tremendous influence of this book in his time, George Florovsky viewed the arguments presented therein as very weak and easily refutable, which led him to write a refutation of this text which was published in Russian by the YMCA Press in Paris in 1929. This apologetic brochure titled "Did Christ Live? Historical Evidence of Christ" was one of the first texts of his published to promote his Neopatristic Synthesis, bringing the patristic heritage to modern historical and cultural conditions. With the revival of these views among some in our time, this text is as relevant today as it was when it was written. 

Never before published in English, it is now available for anyone who donates at least $20 to the Mystagogy Resource Center upon request (please specify in your donation that you want the book). Thank you.



September 5, 2025

Synaxis of the Orsha Icon of the Mother of God

The Orsha icon of the Mother of God (Feast Day - September 5)

For nearly four hundred years, the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Orsha has been venerated on Belarusian soil. According to tradition, in 1631, the icon was revealed in a miraculous manner on the outskirts of the city of Orsha, near the confluence of the Kuteinka River with the Dnieper, during the construction of the Kuteinsky Theophany Monastery. Since that time, it has safeguarded the eastern 'gate' of Belarus and is regarded as the patroness of the monastery and the city.

Starting from the 17th century, there are numerous testimonies of assistance through prayers to the Mother of God before the Orsha icon. Thus, during the agonizing searches and difficulties in establishing the publishing house, the Orsha printer Spyridon Sobol received strength and comfort from the miraculous icon.

 The church in the Kuteinsky Theophany Monastery where the icon was kept.

The celebration of the icon occurs simultaneously with the commemoration of the Venerable Martyr Athanasius of Brest, who labored for three years in the male Kuteinsky Monastery and was granted special guidance and intercession from the Queen of Heaven through Her Orsha icon. The Mother of God appeared in a dream to the Venerable Martyr, in a manner as if she had come down from the icon. After comforting words, the Most Holy Theotokos directed the Venerable Martyr to labor in the Kupyatich Monastery in Pinsk. The Mother of God also foretold Venerable Athanasius' martyric end.

Unfortunately, the icon revealed in the 17th century has been lost; however, copies made from the original icon have been preserved. A copy of the Orsha icon of the Mother of God, painted in the 18th century, was located in the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Minsk. One of the venerated copies resided in the Dormition Convent of Orsha, but was destroyed during the Soviet era. 
 

In 1842, due to the numerous healings of the sick attributed to the Orsha Icon of the Mother of God, the monastery was transferred to the register of first-class institutions.  
 
On July 13, 2001, the icon was handed over as a gift to the Vitebsk diocese by Metropolitan Philaret, the first Patriarchal Exarch of all Belarus. 
 
Since 2014, the icon has been housed in the Trinity Church of the Kuteinsky Theophany Monastery. In the 19th century, on September 5/18, the day of the celebration of the icon, this icon was carried in a procession from the male monastery (Theophany Monastery) to the female monastery (Dormition Convent), and then in the opposite direction. This tradition has been preserved to this day. During part of its journey, the Orsha Icon of the Holy Mother of God is traversed together with the clergy by waterway – on a motorboat.


The Most Holy Theotokos aids Orthodox Christians in difficult times. Believers turn to the icon of the Mother of God of Orsha with prayers for healing from spiritual and physical ailments, and for the protection of the family hearth. The copy of the icon located in the Kuteinsky Theophany Male Monastery has its own history of miraculous assistance. Numerous jewelry adorns the icon as a sign of human gratitude to the Queen of Heaven for Her ever-abundant mercy towards us, the sinners. According to the testimony of the monastic community, over 10 years ago, a man, whose body was afflicted by cerebral palsy, approached the icon and suddenly straightened up, and bowed before the holy icon. A 36-year-old woman from Orsha, suffering from cancer, was also healed after her entreaties directed towards the Orsha icon of the Mother of God.

Commemoration of the sacred icon was included in the official calendar of the Church since 2013.
 

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