October: Day 1: Teaching 3: Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos

October: Day 1: Teaching 3:
Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos
 
(What is the Basis of our Faith in the Mother of God and our Veneration of Her?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The event that gave rise to today's feast took place not here in Russia, but in Greece. It happened more than a thousand years before our time. During the reign of the Greek emperor Leo the Wise, the Saracens invaded his empire and wrought devastation. The Orthodox Greek people offered sincere prayers to God for deliverance from their enemies. Such a prayer was once offered by the Greeks in Constantinople at the Blachernae Church during the all-night vigil on the eve of the Lord's Day. And so, Saint Andrew, the Fool for Christ's sake, amidst fervent prayers, lifted his eyes to heaven and saw the Mother of God, amidst the Forerunner of Christ and the Apostle John the Theologian, with a multitude of angels and saints, praying for all mankind and covering the people with the omophorion she held in her hands. Saint Andrew, filled with the greatest joy, turns to his disciple, Saint Epiphanios, and asks him if he has seen the wondrous vision. Epiphanios replies, "I see it, Father, and I am terrified." All the people learned of this vision, gave thanks to God, and expressed their firm hope in the protection of the heavenly Intercessor. The Greek army was inspired, and the enemy was driven back. In memory of this event, a feast was established in Greece, called the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, which has come to us in Russia. Orthodox Russia itself has witnessed many examples of the miraculous intercession shown to our fatherland by the heavenly Intercessor, and therefore, with true reverence, celebrates the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God and firmly preserves the faith entrusted to us that the Ever-Virgin Mary can provide help and protection for us all — that She intercedes for us all to Her Son, Christ our God, and grants salvation to all who seek refuge under Her sovereign protection. And our faith in the power of the Mother of God has never been and will never be in vain, nor our hope in Her and prayer to Her in vain.

II. Despite all this, some Christians ask the question: on what is our faith in the Mother of God and our veneration of Her based?

a) Our veneration of the Mother of God is founded on Her extraordinary motherhood. From all of humanity, the purest and holiest Virgin was chosen to become the receptacle of the Incomprehensible One, to become the Mother of Him Who is the Father and Lord of all men, to nourish and nurture Him Who with five loaves of bread could feed thousands, to call as Her Son Him Who is the only-begotten Son of God from before all ages. To what extraordinary heights was the Divinely chosen Virgin Mary thus elevated! Is not the Christian Church right in recognizing that the Mother of God should be revered not only above all earthly beings, but even above the cherubim, seraphim, and all the heavenly powers? Can anyone who venerates the God-man Jesus Christ fail to honor His Mother, who served in the great mystery of the Incarnation? Having served this great mystery, the Most Holy Virgin Mary became closer than anyone to Her Son, our Lord. Who could be closer to Her Son than His Mother? Therefore, She can ask Her Son for everything necessary for our good and salvation; She can intercede for us before Him and ask for deliverance from all the troubles and evils that make this life easier for us. We pray to Her with all our hearts: "Most Holy Theotokos, save us!" and with all our hearts we cry out to Her: "O all-praised Mother, deliver us all from all misfortunes and save us from future torments." And we truly believe that she hears our fervent prayers and protects us from troubles. Is it possible, brethren, not to believe this? The Mother of God stood at the Cross of her Son and witnessed his suffering: she saw how those around Him laughed and mocked Him, spat on Him, and beat Him. The earth trembled, and the sun darkened, to cover with darkness the terrible, dark deed of human malice. For whom did the innocent Jesus endure such grievous suffering? Surely the Mother of God knew, as all the Holy Apostles did, that Her Son had sacrificed Himself for the salvation of all mankind. Have not all believers in Jesus Christ become as dear to Her as children? Having become the Mother of the Lord, having suffered with Him until at the very foot of the Cross and His burial, has She not become the mother of all His faithful children? The voice of the Lord to John from the Cross: "Behold your Mother!" is not this a voice proclaiming to us all: "Behold your Mother! Turn to Her in your troubles and sorrows. Pray to Her for protection and shelter, and ask Her for all good things for both temporal and eternal life." And our hearts hear this commandment of the Savior. We pray and cry out with all our hearts to the Mother of God: “Dear Intercessor, Mother of the Most High Lord, protect us all, O Lady, Queen and Mistress, in adversity and sorrow.”

b) But why am I speaking of this to you, Orthodox brethren? I have no doubt that sincere prayer to the Mother of God has more than once been torn from your hearts, and that you will never cease to offer prayers to Her. You have undoubtedly felt Her mercy toward you more than once in your lives. I say all this to warn you that false teachers have appeared among us who say that the Mother of God should not be venerated, since such veneration is supposedly nowhere mentioned in Holy Scripture. Would an Orthodox tongue dare utter such blasphemy? With such teachings, as has long been the case, foreigners and non-believers approach us, and through their simplicity and insufficient knowledge of the Orthodox Faith, even Orthodox people sometimes fall into their nets. Holy Scripture has said enough about the Mother of God to establish and strengthen the Orthodox teaching about Her. Recall the Gospel accounts of the Annunciation, the Nativity of Christ, the Meeting in the Temple, the Flight into Egypt, and other passages that speak of the Blessed Virgin Mary. If something in Holy Scripture is left unsaid, as some non-believers believe, it means there was no need to explain what is self-evident. Holy Scripture is God's revelation to man; it reveals what God has willed to be taught. And does anyone need to be taught that, while extolling the greatness of the Son, we must also render due honor to His wondrous Mother? Let us not forget, brethren, that God knows better than we what we should teach people.

Moreover, here our dispute with the unbelievers moves on to another question: that the source of our doctrine is not only the Holy Scripture, but also, along with it, the Holy Tradition, which taught us to honor the Mother of God.

III. Let us conclude our teaching with the words of Holy Apostle John the Theologian: "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God" (1 John 4:1). And you, brethren, do not believe everyone who tries to teach you, without being appointed by anyone to the work of teaching in the Church, and beware lest you be ensnared in the nets of some godless, heretical sect, hostile to the Holy Church and even to Jesus Christ Himself. Amen.

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.