In the light of the doctrines, which the handbook discussed today, there are two icons that are particularly interesting and illustrative. The first is referred to as "Life-Giving Fountain." The other is the "Inexhaustible Cup." I believe that these two icons show us the mystery of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces in a pictorial form.
First of all, let's consider the "Life-Giving Fountain." This icon is commemorated every year on the Saturday after Pascha. It shows the Mother of God sitting in a great cup with her Son in her arms. The cup has holes cut into it and water abundantly pours from the holes into a large basin below the cup. The basis of the icon is the story recounted by the Byzantine historian Xanthopoulos that Leo Marcellus, the future Emperor Leo I was travelling past a grove of trees near the city of Constantinople when he encountered a blind man wandering aimlessly in the area, confused and disoriented. Leo rescued the man and took him into the grove where he found a spring. He gave the man water from the spring. He was also moved by divine inspiration to take the mud from the spring and anoint the man's eyes. The man's sight was miraculously restored. After Leo became Emperor, he had a lavish church built on the spot, which housed the miraculous spring that continued to pour forth miracles, even raising the dead. The existence of the spring is a symbolic representation of the truth that all of God's graces pour forth from the Mother of God. This is the reason why, in the icon, the Virgin is pictured seated in the cup, holding Christ in her arms, while all the living water flows from her.
The icon of the Inexhaustible Cup is somewhat different. In this image, we have the Mother of God standing before an altar in an orant position. Before her there is a chalice. Standing in the chalice is the figure of her Son with His hands extended in blessing.
This second image shows to us that the Most Holy Mother of God is not the Life-Giving Cup, but she is its minister. It is she who dispenses to us the gifts of that chalice in answer to our prayers. This icon is venerated throughout the Eastern Christian world as an anti-addiction icon. This inexhaustible cup is said to satisfy the thirst of those who seemingly have unquenchable passions.
It seems to me that there are two relevant questions when we gaze upon these holy images. First, how do I drink from the life-giving contents of this cup, depicted in these two icons? Second, how do I draw others to satisfy their thirsty souls with the sole source of God's grace? The answer to these two questions is essentially the same. We partake of this life-giving source through faith and prayer. Prayer and faith are a loop. It is true that we advance in prayer because of our faith, but it is also true that our faith is deepened because of our prayer. The more we pray, the stronger our faith. The stronger our faith, the more we open ourselves to God's interior, ineffable and miraculous action. The greater our faith, the more others will be attracted to attain what we have. This is especially true when others perceive that faith is free of meaningful cost, that there is only gain in the ways of faith, because of the inherent generosity of God.
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