Prayer Before the Icon of the Mother of God "Of the Three Hands"
O all-holy and all-blessed Theotokos and Virgin Mary! We fall down and do thee homage before thy holy icon, mindful of thine all-glorious miracle of the healing of the severed right hand of the venerable John of Damascus, which was wrought through this icon, the token whereof is still visible thereon in the form of the third hand affixed to thy depiction. We pray and entreat thee, the most good and most compassionate helper of our race: Hearken unto us who supplicate thee, and as thou didst heed the blessed John who cried out to thee in sorrow and pain, so look upon us who sorrow and are in pain from the multifarious wounds of the passions, and who earnestly have recourse unto thee with contrite and humble hearts. Thou seest our infirmities, our afflictions, our wants, our need of thy help and assistance, O most merciful Lady, how were are surrounded on every side by enemies, and that there is no-one to help us or come to our aid if thou wilt not have compassion upon us, O Mistress. Yea, we beseech thee: Hearken to our cry of pain, and help us to keep blamelessly the Orthodox Faith of the holy fathers to the end of our days, to walk in the commandments of the Lord without straying, ever to offer God true repentance for our sins, and that we be vouchsafed peaceful, Christian ends and a good answer before the dread tribunal of thy Son and our God, Whom do thou entreat in our behalf in thy maternal supplication, that He not judge us according to our iniquities, but that He have mercy upon us according to His ineffable mercy. O thou who art most good, hearken unto us, and deprive us not of thy mighty aid, that, having received salvation through thee, we may hymn and glorify in the land of the living thee and our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ Who was born of thee, to Whom is due glory and dominion, honor and worship, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
About the Icon
The Icon “of the Three Hands” is a memorial of the healing of the severed right hand of Saint John of Damascus. Saint John, who had defended the veneration of the holy icons by word and his writings, was slandered by Emperor Leo the Isaurian to the Caliph of Damascus. The Caliph, without investigating the case properly, ordered the slandered hand to be cut off and hung up in the city square as an example to others.
In the evening of that day, the blessed one, learning that the wrath of the Caliph had abated, sent his friends to him with the following message: “My pain increaseth and tormenteth me inexpressibly, and I can find no surcease until my hand, which hangeth in the bazaar, is given back to me.” The Caliph had the hand returned to John, and he shut himself in his room to pray. When he had finished, John fell asleep, and in a dream beheld the Mother of God, who informed him that his hand had been restored to health.
In gratitude for his miraculous healing, the saint had a model of his hand wrought of silver and attached to the icon of his helper. Ever since, this image has been called the “Icon of the Three Hands”.
In commemoration of this event, Saint John wrote the following hymn:
Thy victorious right arm hath in godly manner been glorified in strength; for as almighty, O Immortal One, it smote the adversary, fashioning anew the path of the deep for the Israelites.
He later incorporated this hymn as the beginning of the first canon of the resurrection found in The Octoechos.