“Unburnt Bush” Icon of the Mother of God

One of the Old Testament prototypes pointing to the Mother of God is the Unburnt Bush - the Bush which Moses saw on Mount Horeb. It was on fire, but was not consumed (Exodus 3:2). This Bush signifies the Mother of God's sinless conception of Christ when the Holy Spirit came upon her and she was overshadowed by the power of the Most High (Luke 1:35). Thus the Angel "revealed the Holy Trinity by naming the Holy Spirit, the Power which is the Son (I Corinthians 1:24), and the Most High which is the Father" (Saint Theophylact, Commentary on the Holy Gospel According to St. Luke, chapter 1). The Theotokos was born into a fallen world, yet she was absolutely pure, and did not commit any personal sin. She remained a Virgin before, during, and after giving birth. "As the Bush burned and was not consumed, so the Virgin gave birth to Thee yet remained a Virgin" (Octoechos, Dogmatikon Tone 2, "The shadow of the Law").

An ancient Unburnt Bush Icon shows a bush engulfed in flames. The Virgin, with her Child in her arms, is seen above the Bush. This image is rare. Later Icons depict an octagonal star with the Mother of God in the center with a circle of Cherubim around her. She is shown holding Jacob's Ladder, for she calls us to ascend from earth to Heaven. Sometimes the gate and the rod are depicted as symbols of the Savior, Who in Church hymns is called "a rod from the root of Jesse."

The star is made up of two quadrangles. One is painted red, like a flame; the other is green, the color of the mysterious Bush seen by Moses. In the red points of the star there are four symbols of the Evangelists: a man (Matthew), a lion (Mark), an ox (Luke), and an eagle (John). Between the rays are eight Angels: 1) An Angel shows burning fire, for the earth will be destroyed by fire. 2) The Spirit of wisdom and of the knowledge of God - spring, summer, autumn, and winter. He created all things for man's benefit. 3) The Angel of Thunder shows Christ's second coming, for He shall come in thunder and lightning. 4) The Angel of the spirit of piety. The cutting off of those who proclaim things contrary to the Faith. He holds the cup of the bitterness of God's wrath. 5) The Spirit of the Lord for warmth amid winter, snow, frost, and ice. 6) The Spirit of purification which sends forth dew and mist and rain. 7) The Angel of Thunder and of the fear of God, revealing Christ's second coming, for He shall judge His servants at the end of the world. 8) The Angel of lightning and scorching, i.e. He shall be the righteous Judge, for the lightning shall find all.

In the four corners of the Icon are the Prophets who prefigure the Virgin: Moses and the Unburnt Bush (Exodus chapter 3); Isaiah with the Seraphim touching his lips with a live coal (Isaiah 6:6); Ezekiel's vision of the gate by which no one could enter except the Lord (Ezekiel 44:1), and Jacob's vision of the Ladder (Genesis 28:12-17).

According to popular belief, this Icon protects the homes of the faithful from fire. Once a man happened to witness a great fire which engulfed many buildings. Among them was a wooden house which did not burn. A woman stood there motionless, holding an icon of the Unburnt Bush in her hands. Tears ran down her cheeks, but her face expressed complete calm and unshakable faith. She did not seem to be worried about her home, but she wept for the misfortune of others. The fire was intense, but the woman would not move. The man left, marveling at her faith, but he expected her house to be reduced to ashes by the flames. The next day he returned to the spot. In the devastation of the fire only the woman's house remained standing, guarded by the power of the Icon.

One of the oldest icons of the Unburnt Bush is located in Moscow's Annunciation Cathedral. It was brought to Russia by Palestinian foreigners in 1390 and, according to tradition, it was painted on a piece of the rock where Moses beheld the mysterious Bush.

In the Moscow church of the Unburnt Bush at Khamovniki, there is an Icon which was once in the Palace. The ancient writing is beautiful. The size of the Icon measures 1 arshin 12 vershkov long, and 1 arshin 7 vershkov wide. This Icon is commemorated twice: on September 4, the Feast Day of the Prophet Moses, and on the sixth Sunday after Pascha (the Sunday of the Blind Man), because according to tradition, the Icon was transferred from the Kremlin to the newly-consecrated Khamovniki church on that day.

There was a wondrous event connected with the riza of this Icon, when Russia was attacked by Napoleon in 1812. Before leaving Moscow, a Polish soldier came to Father Alexei Vvedensky, the priest of the Novodevichii Monastery, and gave him the riza from the Unburnt Bush Icon, begging him to return it to the church from which it was taken. The soldier confessed that ever since he took the riza, he had been unable to find peace, and he was tormented by an unbearable melancholia.

In the same church there is an Icon of the Unburnt Bush (which was donated in 1835) and a smaller, especially revered Icon dating from 1837. It depicts someone praying before the Mother of God. In the church there is a special manuscript Service to the Icon with the note: "This Service is chanted on Holy Mount Sinai, whenever someone requests it, or whenever there is terrible lightning."

In 1822, in the city of Slavyansk, Kharkov gubernia, fires caused by arson became more frequent. The residents were at a loss about what to do. Then it was revealed in a dream to a pious old woman named Belnitskaya that if they painted an Icon of the Unburnt Bush, and served a Moleben before it, the fires would stop. Belnitskaya told the Archpriest about her dream, and the Icon was painted right away. After the Liturgy, a Moleben was served before it. On that very day, there was another fire, and the arsonist was caught. A crafty young woman named Maura had set all the fires. Then the fires ceased, and the grateful residents had a kiot made for the Icon with the inscription: "In remembrance of the city's deliverance from fire in 1822." The Icon is in the church of the Holy Trinity.

There is also a revered icon of the Unburnt Bush in the village of Kubenskoye, Vologda Province.