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On the Day of the Dormition
of the Most-Holy Mother of God
"In thy dormition thou didst not forsake the world,
O Theotokos."
St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco the Miracle-worker:
"The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God"
The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God
by St. John, Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco
Keeping the true faith, the Orthodox Church teaches what Sacred
Tradition and Holy Scripture say about the Birthgiver of God
and daily glorifies Her in its churches, entreating Her help
and defense.
Knowing that She is pleased only by those praises which correspond
to Her true glory, the holy Fathers and hymnographers begged
Her and Her Son to enlighten their understanding as to how to
hymn Her: "Restrain my thoughts, my Christ, for I dare
to hymn Thy pure Mother" (Oikos of the Dormition). "The
Church teaches that Christ was truly born of the ever-virgin
Mary" (St. Epiphanios of Cyprus, "True Exposition
of the Faith"). "It is indispensable for us to confess
that the holy, ever-virgin Mary is truly the Birthgiver of God,
so as not to fall into wicked blasphemy. For those who deny
that the Holy Virgin is truly the Birthgiver of God are no longer
believers; they are disciples of the pharisees and sadducees"
(St. Ephraim the Syrian, "To the Monk John").
We learn from tradition that Mary was the daughter of the aged
Joachim and Anna. Joachim was of the royal lineage of David
and Anna was from the priestly line. In spite of such noble
birth, they were poor. Yet this did not grieve these righteous
persons; rather they grieved over the fact that they had no
children and could no longer hope that their offspring would
see the Messiah. Then, on one occasion when they were mistreated
by the Jews because of their childlessness, in bitterness of
soul they both offered their prayers to God: Joachim on a mountainside,
where he had gone into seclusion after a priest refused to offer
his sacrifice in the temple, and Anna at home, in their garden.
While they wept over their childlessness, an Angel appeared
to them and told them that they would give birth to a daughter.
Rejoicing, they promised to dedicate their child to God. After
nine months, their daughter was born; she was named Mary and
from infancy she showed she had the very best qualities of soul.
When She became three years old, Her parents, fulfilling their
promise, solemnly took the little Mary to the temple in Jerusalem,
where She herself mounted the high steps; when the high priest
Zacharias met Her, by divine revelation, She was taken into
the very Holy of Holies, brining with Her the grace of God that
dwelt within Her in that formerly grace deprived temple (Kontakion
of the Presentation). This was the recently rebuild temple in
which the glory of God had not revealed itself, as it had in
the Tabernacle and the Temple of Solomon. She took up residence
in the temple's apartments for virgins, but she spent so much
time in prayer in the Holy of Holies that one could say that
She lived there (see Great Vespers of the Presentation at "Lord
I have cried", stikhira 2 and the doxasticon).
Being adorned with all the virtues, She became an example of
exceptionally pure life. She was obedient and submissive to
all. She offended no one, never said a harsh word to anyone,
was gracious with everyone, and never permitted a single impure
thought (abbreviated from St. Ambrose of Milan, "On the
Ever-Virginity of the Virgin Mary"). "In spite of
the righteousness and blamelessness of the life which the Birthgiver
of God led, sin and eternal death revealed their presence within
Her. It was impossible for them not to show themselves; this
is the precise and the correct teaching of the Orthodox Church
concerning the Birthgiver of God concerning the sin of the forefathers
and death" (St. Ignaty Brianchaninov, "Exposition
of the teaching of the Orthodox Church about the Birthgiver
of God").
While being "free from any fall into sin" (St. Ambrose
of Milan, "Commentary on Psalm 118"), she was not
free from sinful temptations. "For God alone is free from
sin" (St. Ambrose of Milan, ibid.), while man always has
something within himself which has yet to be set aright and
be perfected in order to fulfill the divine commandment: "Be
ye holy as I, the Lord your God, am holy" (Lev. 19: 2).
The more pure and the more perfect a person becomes, the more
he notices his imperfections and considers himself more and
more unworthy. The Virgin Mary entrusted Herself entirely to
God, and while She drove away every approach of anything sinful,
She felt more accutely than anyone else the weakness of human
nature and had a flaming desire for the coming of the Saviour.
In Her humility, She considered Herself unworthy to be even
a servant of the Virgin Who would give birth to Him. So that
nothing would distract Her from prayer and attention to Herself,
Mary offered to God a vow to remain unmarried, so that She could
please Him alone throughout all Her life.
She was betrothed to the elder Joseph, when coming of age no
longer allowed Her to remain in the temple, and She went to
live in his home in Nazareth. It was here that the Virgin was
granted the visitation by the Archangel Gabriel, who announced
to Her that She would give birth to the Son of the Highest:
"Rejoice Thou full of grace; the Lord is with Thee. Blessed
art Thou among women... The Holy Spirit will come upon Thee
and the Power of the Most High will overshadow Thee, and the
one born will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1: 28, 35).
Humbly and submissively Mary accepted the angelic annunciation.
"Then the Word, in a way He alone knows, descended and,
as He willed, was moved and entered into Mary and dwelt within
Her" (St. Ephraim the Syrian, "Exaltation of the all
holy Mother of God").
"Just as lightning lights up hidden places, so Christ purified
the hidden places of nature. He purified the Virgin and then
was born, so as to show that where Christ is present, purity
appears in its highest degree. He purified the Virgin, after
preparing Her by the Holy Spirit, and then Her womb, once purified,
conceived Him. He purified the Virgin when She was already blameless,
and so after His birth She remained Virgin. I do not say that
Mary became immortal, but that once She had been overshadowed
by grace, She was no longer disturbed by sinful desires (St.
Ephraim the Syrian, "Sermon against Heretics", 41).
"Light dwelt within Her, cleansed Her mind, made her thoughts
pure, Her cares chaste, and sanctified Her virginity" (St.
Ephraim the Syrian, "Mary and Eve"). "He made
Her Who was pure according to human standards pure by grace"
(St. Ignaty Brianchaninov, "Exposition of the teaching
of the Orthodox Church about the Birthgiver of God").
Mary did not say anything about the angelic visitation. It was
the Angel himself who revealed to Joseph the miraculous conception
by Mary by the Holy Spirit (Matth. 1: 18-25) and after the nativity
of Christ, together with a multitude of the heavenly hosts,
to the shepherds. The shepherds, when they came to worship the
newly born Infant, told what they had heard about Him. previously,
Mary had endured suspicion in silence, and now she listened
in silence and "pondered in Her heard" the words about
the majesty of Her Son (Luke 2: 8-19). Forty days later She
heard the prayer of praise of Symeon and the prophesy of the
sword that would pierce Her soul. Later She saw how Jesus grew
in wisdom, heard Him teaching in the temple when He was twelve
years old, and "pondered all these things in Her heart"
(Luke 2: 21-51).
While She was full of grace, still She did not fully understand
what the ministry and majesty of Her Son would consist of. The
Jewish concept of the Messiah were close to Her and natural
feelings made Her care for Him, protect Him from excessive,
as they might have appeared, labors and dangers. Thus involuntarily
She at first stood in the way of Her Son, which evoked His pointing
out that spiritual kinship is superior to physical (Matth. 12:
46-49). "He cared for the honor of His Mother, but He cared
far more for Her the salvation of Her soul and the benefit of
the people, for whose sake He had clothed Himself in flesh"
(St. John Chrysostom, "Commentary on the Gospel of John",
Homily 21). Mary understood this, and "hearing the word
of God, She kept it" (Luke 11: 27-28). More than any other
human being, She had the same feelings as Christ (Phil. 2: 5),
without complaint enduring the maternal sorrows, when She saw
Her Son persecuted and suffering. She was filled with joy on
the day of the Resurrection and on the day of Pentecost was
vested with Power from on high (Luke 24: 49).
The Holy Spirit descended upon Her and "taught Her all
things" (John 14: 26) and "instructed Her in all truth"
(John 15: 13). Thus enlightened, She began with even greater
zeal to labor in fulfilling all She had heard from Her Son and
Redeemer, in order to go up to Him and be with Him. The end
of the earthly life of the the most holy Birthgiver of God was
the beginning of Her majesty. "Adorned with divine glory"
(Hiermos of the Canon of Dormition), She stands, as She will
stand also on the day of the last Judgement and the age to come,
at the right hand of the throne of Her Son, reigning with Him
and possessing boldness before Him, as His Mother in the flesh
and of one spiritual disposition with Him, for She fulfilled
the will of God and thus taught others (Matth. 5: 19). Being
full of love and mercy, She shows Her love for Her Son and Her
God in Her love for the human race, intercedes for it before
the merciful One and, going about the earth, helps people.
After experiencing all the heaviness of earthly life, the Mediatrix
for Christians sees every tear, hears every sigh and pray addressed
to Her. Especially close to Her are those who struggle in the
fight against the passions and are zealous for a God-pleasing
life. But She is an irreplacable helper in worldly affairs also.
"Joy of all that sorrow and intercessor for the offended,
provider for the hungry, consolation of the homeless, haven
for those cast about by storms, visitation of the sick, protection
and intercession of the helpless, support of the aged, Thou
art Mother of the God most high, oh all pure One" (Stikhira
of the Hodigitria). "The hope and mediation and refuge
of Christians", "Birthgiver of God, ceaseless intercessor
in prayer", "Who saves by Her ceaseless prayer"
(Theotokion of Tone III), "day and night She doth intercede
for us and the scepters of the Kingdom are confirmed by Her
prayers" (daily midnight office).
There is no mind or words that can express the majesty of Her
Who was born in the sinful human race yet became more honorable
than the Cherubim and more glorious than the Seraphim. "Beholding
the grace of the ineffable mysteries of God and Divinity revealed
and clearly fulfilled in the Virgin, I rejoice and am perplexed
as to how to understand the strange and unutterable way in which
the chosen, pure One alone became greater than all visible and
noetic creation. Wherefor wishing to Her, I am [uzasayucya i/o
uzasayutsya] stricken with great awe in mind and word, yet making
bold I proclaim and magnify Her: She is the heavenly dwelling-place
(Oikos of Presentation).
How lofty is this dwelling-place of God, for having given birth
to Christ the King, She was exalted above the seraphim. O height
which human thought cannot easily praise! Such is the beauty
of this noetic palace of Christ. Listen to these words penned
by the eloquent St. John of Damascus about Her: "She was
offered to God, the King of all, clothed in the majestic beauty
of virtues as if in golden raiment, adorned with the grace of
the Holy Spirit and Her glory is within Her; for just as for
every woman, her glory is her husband, who is from without,
so the glory of the Birthgiver of God is within Her, that is,
the fruit of Her womb".
Further the Damascene addresses Her as follows: "Oh Virgin
filled with divine grace, the holy Church of God spiritually
built by the Solomon (the all-wise Creator of the world) Who
created the world, Who dwelt within Her! She was adorned not
with gold, not with inanimate gems, but instead of gold, She
is radiant with the Spirit and instead of precious stones, She
possesses Christ, the pearl of great price". "Every
tongue is perplexed as to how to render proper praises, even
the other-worldly mind is at a loss as to how to hymn Thee,
Birthgiver of God; yet being kind, do Thou accept faith, for
Thou knowest our divine love; as Thou art the mediation of Christians,
we magnify Thee" (Hiermos of Theophany, Ode IX).
Translated by Schemamonk John (Greece) |
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