By Fr. George Dorbarakis
The hymnography of the Church, through the pen of Saint Theophanes the Hymnographer, is devoted, on the feast of Venerable Mary, to the description of her astonishing transformation: from debauchery to the heights of spiritual life, as well as to the recording of her experiences from the corresponding periods of her “before Christ and after Christ” life. One hymn, in fact, from Ode 3 presents the Venerable one in her former sinful life as Eve, who disobeyed the will of God and sinned, but in her later sanctified life as the thirsty deer that runs to the springs of the waters. And what is the point that is common in both periods? The wood. The first wood, the tree, which through sin led to the initiation of death: what happened with the first-created humans; the second, the wood of the Cross of the Lord, which led to deep faith in Christ and the finding of true life. “Having approached the wood of sin,” says the Holy Hymnographer specifically, “and having been initiated into deadly knowledge, you ran to the wood that gives life, to the Cross of the Lord, crying out to Him: You are our God, and there is none righteous besides You, O Lord.”
Where did the problem lie in the first period of Mary’s life? In the turning of her mind only toward evil, which means the cultivation of those improper, passion-filled thoughts that always result in the impurity of the soul and its enslavement to the passions and to the devil (Ode 1). Mary, influenced by the ancient serpent, had literally taken the downward path and her descent into the abyss of perdition (Ode 1). She did not take her Creator into account at all, and thus she unfortunately became a means of destruction for many others as well, especially young people (Ode 1). Her condition was such that it is expressed by the Lord in the most dramatic and absolute way: “Woe to him through whom the scandal comes,” woe to the one who becomes the cause of another’s spiritual stumbling, and: “It would be better for such a person to tie a millstone around his neck and depart from this life!”
And yet, in such a person — lost and dead — there evidently existed, in the depths of her soul, a good disposition. And how does this good come to light? In an unexpected way and entirely discreetly from the Heavenly Father: without anyone understanding anything, His action closes the way for Mary into His Temple! That is, a temptation, a “denial” and “punishment” from God becomes for the prodigal girl the occasion of the complete transformation of her soul, of her great repentance — how often a supposed difficulty constitutes the greatest benefaction of God for us! Thus, “the woman filled with every kind of fornication appeared through her repentance as a bride of Christ, desiring the life of the angels” (Kontakion). And decisive was the intervention of the Theotokos! Just as the Church constantly calls us, through Her hymns and prayers, to turn to the Great Mother so that she may intercede and obtain repentance for us from her Son and God — “and using your maternal boldness, entreat your Son and our Master and Lord, that He may… turn me toward repentance…” (Prayer of Compline) — so it was also for Mary: even the supplicating gaze of her contrite heart toward the Heavenly Mother became the occasion for the full manifestation of that Mother’s love toward her wayward child. One can imagine it: with tears in her eyes, with praiseworthy boldness, she gazed intently at the All-Pure One, invoking her intercessions (Ode 4 and 6). And the miracle occurs: “Receiving strength from saving grace and opening her eyes and heart to the divine and light-bearing radiance, she was able to approach the all-holy Cross and be saved” (Ode 4).
From that point on, in the desert where she found herself, her struggle was how to erase the images of the passions from her soul and to place in their stead the concepts of the virtues (Vespers Stichera), which means that “with all her powers she was captivated by the eros of the presence of Christ, and thus was able to overcome the assaults of the passions” (Ode 6). The result? To surpass countless others in holiness, so much so that even the great and illustrious Zosimas marveled at her. The God-minded Zosimas, who was counted worthy in spirit to see the beauty of her soul, to bring her the immaculate Mysteries for Holy Communion, and himself to be filled with inexpressible joy that such creatures of God exist! (Ode 8 and 9). Now, together with this great Venerable one, she beholds the throne of the Almighty Lord, interceding also for us that the Lord may be propitious for our own sins (Ode 9).
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
