The miraculous icon of Our Lady of Saydnaya. Multifaith worship of a sacred image (12^th – 14^th centuries)

The article considers the little-studied aspects of the medieval cult of the icon of Our Lady from the Syrian monastery of Saydnaya (near Damascus). The specifics of that shrine lies in the multi-confessional nature of its veneration. Such examples were not uncommon in the Holy Land, where Christians and Muslims may have shared a sacred history and topography. Researchers, primarily based on the analysis of Western sources, until recently emphasized the fact that the worship of Our Lady of Saydnaya brought together representatives of different confessions who shared common views on the cult. However, a closer look at Eastern Christian and Muslim sources reveals that each religious group venerated the icon based on its own religious concepts, primarily regarding the doctrine of the Incarnation. While Western Christians believed in the “incarnation” of the Mother of God and viewed the “incarnate oil” and flesh as divine substances, Eastern Christians did not emphasize that aspect of the cult. Muslims rejected the material nature of the worship of icona incarnata and the crude interpretation of the idea of incarnation. At the same time, Western prelates used the experience of multifaith veneration of the sacred image for their own purposes, attempting to persuade Muslims to convert to Christianity, which led to the creation of a legend in medieval Western Christianity about a Saracen who was converted to Christianity under the influence of contemplating the image of Our Lady.

1. Bacci, M. (2006), “A Sacred space for a Holy Icon. The shrine of Our Lady of Saydnaya”, in Lidov, A.M., ed., Ierotopiya: Sozdanie sakral’nykh prostranstv v Vizantii i Drevnei Rusi: Materialy Mezhdunarodnogo simpoziuma [The creation of sacred spaces in Byzantium and Ancient Rus’. Proceedings of the International Symposium, Tsentr vostochnokhristianskoi kul’tury, Moscow, Russia, pp. 1–16.

2. Baraz, D. (1995), “The incarnated icon of Saidnaya goes West. A reexamination of the motif in the light of a new manuscript evidence”, Le Museón, t. 108, éd. 1–2, pp. 181–191.

3. Garosi, E. (2015), “The incarnated icon of Ṣaydnāyā: light and shade”, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 339–358.

4. Hamilton, B. (2000), “Our Lady of Saidnaya. An Orthodox shrine revered by Muslims and knights Templar at the time of the Crusades”, in Swanson, R.N., ed., The Holy Land, Holy Lands, and Christian History, Boydell Press, Woodbridge, USA, pp. 207–215.

5. Hunt, L. (1991), “A woman’s prayer to St. Sergios in Latin Syria. Interpreting a 13th century icon at mount Sinai”, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, vol. 15, pp. 96–145.

6. Immerzeel, M. (2007), “The monastery of Our Lady of Saidnaya and its icon”, Eastern Christian Art, vol. 4, pp. 13–26.

7. Kedar, B.Z. (2001), “Convergences of Oriental Christian, Muslim and Frankish worshippers. The case of Saydnaya and the knights Templar”, in Hunyadi, Z. and Laszlowsky, J. The Crusades and the military orders. Expanding the frontiers of Medieval Latin Christianity, Central European University, Department of Medieval Studies, Budapest, Hungary, pp. 89–100.

8. Luchitskaya, S.I. (2021), Rytsari, krestonostsy i saratsiny: Zapad i Vostok v epokhu krestovykh pokhodov [Knights, Crusaders, and Saracens. The West and the East during the Age of the Crusades], Evraziya, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

9. Meri, J.W. (2002), The cult of Saints among the Muslims and the Jews in Medieval Syria, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

10. Tolan, J. (2003), “Veneratio Sarracenorum: dévotion commune entre Musulmans et Chrétiens selon Burchard de Strasbourg, ambassadeur de Frédéric Barberousse auprès de Saladin”, in Prouteau, N. et Sénac, Ph., éd., Chrétiens et Musulmans en Méditerranée médiévale (VIIIe – XIIIe siècle), Centre d’études supérieures de civilisation médiévale, Poitiers, France, pp. 185–195.