Show all images on one page	#007880 Title: Icon: The Softener of Evil Hearts Artist: Rizhskaya Valeriya Size: 9x11x2 Size (inches): 3.5x4.25x0.75 Price: $325

Talented artist Rizhskaya Valeriya has painted this interesting icon.It shows Our Lady of Sorrows.The seven arrows are the Seven Sorrows of Mary.
Our Lady of Sorrows (Latin: Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows (Latin: Mater Dolorosa), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to in relation to sorrows in her life. As Mater Dolorosa, it is also a key subject for Marian art in the Catholic Church.
The Seven Sorrows of Mary are a popular Roman Catholic devotion. In common religious Catholic imagery, the Blessed Virgin Mary is portrayed in a sorrowful and lacrimating affect, with seven daggers piercing her heart, often bleeding. Devotional prayers which consist of meditation began to elaborate on her Seven Sorrows based on the prophecy of the Rabbi Simeon. Common examples of piety under this title are Servite rosary, or the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady and the Seven Joys of Mary and more recently, "Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary".
The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is liturgically celebrated each 15 of September, while a feast of Friday of Sorrows was also commemorated before the changes of the Second Vatican Council.
On February 2, the same day as the Great Feast of the Meeting of the Lord, Orthodox Christians and Eastern Catholics commemorate a wonder-working icon of the Theotokos (Mother of God) known as "the Softening of Evil Hearts" or "Simeon's Prophecy".
This icon has been painted in the village of Kholui on the wooden base.
According to the tradition of Russian icon painting, the work is painted in egg tempera paints and detailed with brilliant gold paint. The leaves of gold is also used to create a frame around the depicted Godmother.
Very often Palekh, Mstera and Kholui artists paint icons, and this decision isn't influenced by a fashion or a public demand. It is a century-old tradition. The schools of Palekh, Kholui, and Mstera appeared under the influence of icon painting.