The Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom in Novgorod, Archbishop John’s cathedral, built on the orders of Vladimir of Novgorod, eldest son of Yaroslav the Wise of Kiev, between 1045 and 1050. The Znamenie (‘sign, portent’) icon was moved here in 1992, where it stands in front of the main iconostasis: the notch where the icon was affixed to a pole so it could be lifted up in the sight of the people and their adversaries is still clearly visible.
AS he prayed, John heard a voice reminding him of the icon of Christ’s mother Mary kept in the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyina street.* Next morning, he sent his deacon to bring it first to the Cathedral and then to the gaol. Prayers continued until the morning of February 25th, the fourth day of the siege, when, with arrows raining over the city walls, Mstislav attacked.
Two things then happened at once. One was that John noticed tears rolling down Mary’s cheeks; gently he used his vestments to dry them. The other was that Mstislav’s men wavered, and began stumbling about blindly, fighting amongst themselves. At that, the Novgorodians remembered their courage, and running out of the city gates took some of their enemy prisoner and slew others; the rest fled in panic.
John immediately proclaimed a public holiday. A monastery was built on the site of the gaol,* and the icon remains to this day, in the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom.
Based on ‘The Novgorod Chronicle’ and ‘Слово О Знамении Святой Богородицы В Год 6677 (1169)’ at the Institute of Russian Literature (the Pushkin House), Russian Academy of Sciences.
A church still stands on the site, though the building is fourteenth century. See a picture at Wikimedia Commons. It is decorated with icons by Theophanes the Greek (?1340-1410), an artist born in Constantinople but living in Novgorod and subsequently Moscow, who was the tutor of Andrey Rublev.
The Desyatinny Monastery, or Monastery of the Tithes, thought to be have been founded soon after the miracle. It was considerably enlarged and developed over the centuries, but like so many monasteries it was evacuated and vandalised by the Communists, and is now no longer in use. See a picture at Wikimedia Commons.
Précis
As he prayed, Archbishop John experienced a vision which prompted him to send for an icon of Mary in a nearby church. Following his instructions, he raised the icon in the sight of the people and their adversaries. The icon began weeping, and at the same moment a blind panic filled Mstislav’s forces, allowing the Novgorodians to defeat them. (59 / 60 words)
As he prayed, Archbishop John experienced a vision which prompted him to send for an icon of Mary in a nearby church. Following his instructions, he raised the icon in the sight of the people and their adversaries. The icon began weeping, and at the same moment a blind panic filled Mstislav’s forces, allowing the Novgorodians to defeat them.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, if, not, or, ought, unless, until, whereas.
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Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Army. Prince. Slough.
2 Begin. But. District.
3 Arrow. Follow. Rain.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Verb and Noun Find in Think and Speak
Many words can serve as noun or verb depending on context: see if you can prove this with the examples below. Nouns go well with words such as the/a, or his/her; verbs go well after I/you/he etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Run. 2 People. 3 Fight. 4 Command. 5 Blind. 6 Tear. 7 Attack. 8 Map. 9 Man.
Variations: 1.if possible, use your noun in the plural, e.g. cat → cats. 2.use your verb in a past form, e.g. go → went. 3.use your noun in a sentence with one of these words: any, enough, fewer, less, no, some.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
brts (5+1)
aborts. berates. berets. brats. brutes.
bruits.
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