#Exhibit of the Month

The history of this icon traces back to the 10th century at the Protaton Monastery on Mount Athos. In one of the cells named "The Dormition of the Mother of God," an elderly hieromonk lived with his disciple. They preserved a superb depiction of the Virgin Mary. This old icon became renowned through the revelation of the prayer "It Is Truly Meet."
Between the years 980-982, on a Saturday evening before an all-night vigil, the elder monk left for the nearby church, instructing his disciple to continue the religious routine in the cell. Being obedient, the disciple followed the instructions. When he reached the 9th Ode of the Canons, "More Honorable Than the Cherubim...," he suddenly heard someone beginning to chant alongside him: "It is truly meet to bless thee, O Theotokos..." It was a mysterious pilgrim monk who had appeared unexpectedly and joined in the prayers. At that moment, the icon began to radiate light, as if it were broad daylight. Astonished by the events, the disciple asked the mysterious monk to write down the verses. The monk wrote them on a tile with his finger as if it were soft wax and said, "From now on, this is how you Orthodox Christians should chant," and, saying this, he vanished. Left alone, the disciple realized he had witnessed a great miracle. Enlightened, he understood that the pilgrim was none other than the Archangel Gabriel, who had come, as he had before, to deliver the word of the Highest to humanity.

The icon was transferred from the cell to the Holy Altar of the Protaton Church, where a similar icon is preserved to this day. The tile with the divine hymn was taken to Constantinople and included in the Orthodox Church's liturgical books. Soon after, Archangel Gabriel's prayer was incorporated into the Divine Liturgy, immediately following the Consecration of the Gifts of Bread and Wine. The valley with the cells has since been called Adin, meaning "to chant," "chanting."

The icon "It Is Truly Meet" is of inestimable value and has become the protector of Mount Athos. The icon is celebrated on June 11/24, commemorating the miraculous appearance of the Archangel, and on July 13/26, in honor of the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel.

This icon, of the Eleusa type, portrays gentleness and tenderness in its central figures. The Virgin holds the Child with her right hand, while her left hand, placed beneath His feet, grips the hem of His tunic. The small Jesus wears a short tunic reaching His knees and holds a scroll in His right hand inscribed with the words of the Axion hymn. His left-hand slips under the veil of the Virgin towards her left shoulder. Both figures are crowned with golden halos. Two angels flank the Virgin's halo, while the Almighty in an open heaven blesses with both hands.

Crafted using tempera on wood, the icon is adorned with gold leaf and multicolored enamel, giving the image a unique delicacy. The inscription on the lower frame indicates that the icon was created by the painter Ioasaf in 1905.

The painter monk Ioasaf Berghie (1862-?) of the New Neamț Monastery resided there between 1887 and the 1940s, occupying three rooms to set up his studio, where he worked continuously on icons and church artworks. Born into the family of a church teacher in Jabca village, Ștefan Berghie, Ioan Berghie developed a passion for sacred iconography from an early age. In 1890, Andronic, the abbot of the New Neamț Monastery, blessed him to paint icons. Taking monastic vows in 1895 under the name Ioasaf, he traveled by foot to visit major ecclesiastical centers nearby and further afield, learning the art of iconography. Starting with naive-style interpretations, he eventually mastered professional painting techniques and acquired new decorative skills. His works became highly popular throughout Bessarabia and abroad. Painting a significant number of icons, they were often mistakenly sold as coming from major artisan workshops. To prevent such confusion, he received the abbot's blessing to sign his works, earning recognition and fame for his name.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

„Monuments of the Great Union”

November 27 - December 31, 2018

The photodocumentary exhibition „Monuments of the Great Union"National was opened in the upper lobby by the National Museum of History of Moldova in partnership with the National Institute of Heritage in Bucharest. The exhibition aims to promote the monuments relevant to the Great Union, silent witnesses of events and actions that prepared the act of December 1, 1918.

The project is to highlight the role of the major capitals - Alba Iulia, Arad, Bucharest, Iaşi, Chişinău, and the historical and political personalities participants in the national movement and the achievement of the Great Union.

Alba Iulia represents the place where the Great Union was made. Later, in Bucharest, the capital of the old kingdom, the Union Act of 1918 was confirmed. Iuliu Maniu, Iuliu Hossu, Miron Cristea, Gheorghe Pop de Băsești, Alexandru Vaida Voievod, Iosif Jumanca, Aurel Lazăr, Elena Pop are one of the key personalities in the organization of the Great National Assembly in Alba Iulia, as well as other events that have prepared the Union. Along with these, it is also important the participation of local personalities from Alba Iulia, such as the lawyers Zaharia Muntean, Camil Velican, Rubin Patiția and photographer Samoila Mârza.

Arad was the center where the plebiscite was thought and prepared. Personalities such as Vasile Goldiş, Ştefan Cicio-Pop and Ioan Suciu were at the head of the Central Romanian National Council, which set the date and place of the Great Assembly. The national movement of the Transylvanian Romanians from Arad attracted the attention of both Romanian and Hungarian and German media. This brought about the move of the political nucleus to Arad, where, in 1908, the Romanian National Party moved its headquarters.

In Bucharest, on May 7, 1918, was signed the Treaty of Peace by which Romania gave up the Romanian territories in Austro-Hungary, while the territory of Bucovina was to be enlarged with some the parts of Hotin, Herţa, Dorohoi and Dorna. On the day when the Great Assembly took place in Alba Iulia and was proclaimed the Union of Transylvania with Romania (18 November / 1 December), King Ferdinand and Queen Maria arrived in the liberated capital. Thus, the previous treaty was invalidated by the defeat of the Central Powers by the Entente.

Iași, the „capital of war", was the capital of Romania at the beginning of the First World War, when the royal family and the government left Bucharest, increasingly threatened by a military occupation. For two years, the Royal House, the Government, the Senate and the Parliament of Romania have been working in Iași. During this time under the leadership of the Prime Minister Ion I. C. Brătianu, reforming laws were adopted which laid the foundations for the formation of the Romanian unitary national state.

Chișinău, the heart of Bessarabia, was the place where the meetings of Sfatul Țării took place on March 27, 1918, when 86 deputies voted for the Union Act, in which was written that: "The Moldovan Democratic Republic (Bessarabia), within its boundaries Prut, Nistru, the Black Sea and the old borders with Austria, ripped off by Russia a hundred and more years ago from the body of old Moldavia, based on the power of historical law and nation law, based on the principle that the peoples alone should decide their fate, today and forever unites with its mother, Romania. Long live the Union of Bessarabia with Romania forever and ever!" On behalf of Sfatul Țării, the Declaration of the Union was signed by Ion Inculeț, President, Pan Halippa, Vice-President, and Ion Buzdugan, Secretary of Sfatul Țării.

At the exhibition opening on November 27 participated: Andrei Chistol, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research of the Republic of Moldova; Dana Mihai, Program Director, National Institute of Heritage in Bucharest; Alexandru Mureşanu, Deputy Ambassador of Romania to the Republic of Moldova; Ion Negrei, historian; Elena Postică, deputy director of the National Museum of History of Moldova.

#Exhibit of the Month

The Mother of God “It Is Truly Meet” (“Axion Estin”)

„Monuments of the Great Union”

November 27 - December 31, 2018

#Exhibit of the Month