This icon is based on a story from a popular Yaroslavian collection of spiritual readings, “The New Heaven.” One of the readings tells of a bishop who prayed to the Mother of God every day, singing about the joys of her earthly life. Mary came to Bishop Thomas in a dream and asked him to praise her life in heaven as well. Thomas composed a song for her and every line of the song starts with the word, “Rejoice.” The fourteen scenes on the icon illustrate the verses of the song.
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