By Panagiotis S. Martinis
With two articles we will deal with the above title. In the first, on the occasion of the feast of the Annunciation (March 25), and in the second, on the occasion of the Service of the Akathist Hymn (during the period of Great Lent).
A. The Theotokos in the Biblical and Patristic Tradition
The Orthodox Catholic Church “received” and “preserves” the Theotokos at the center of its worship, just as the “beloved” disciple of the Lord, John, “took her into his own home,” as the most precious thing he had after Jesus, and just as the disciples, “continuing with one accord in prayer,” had her at the center of their gathering, according to the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1, verse 14.
This is the reason why the “mystery” of the Virgin in Orthodoxy is a liturgical “mystery,” and only through divine worship is it possible to discern the multitude of passages, both of the Old Testament and of the New, that refer to Her. For this very reason the hymnographer expresses this “mystery” in one of the Stichera of the Praises on Sunday:
“Lord, though the tomb was sealed by the lawless, You came forth from the sepulcher, just as You were born from the Theotokos. Your bodiless angels did not know how You were incarnate… but the miracles have been revealed to those who worship in faith the mystery…”
The Evangelists indeed write in the sacred texts what is necessary for the “certainty of the words” (Luke 1:4), and leave the rest to be lived by the Church in her worship.
What concerns them is to present Christ, that is, to make clear the Economy of salvation. It is characteristic that whatever relates to the Economy of salvation and refers to the Theotokos is noted by all four Evangelists with particular emphasis. Thus they underline the fact that Mary descends “from the house of David” (Luke 1:27), that is, that she recapitulates in her person the Old Testament; that she is a Virgin and gives birth “by the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:28–35); that she is present at the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, where she even takes an active part (the miracle at Cana, John 2:1–11), but also at the end, when her Son is on the Cross (John 19:25–28). Moreover, she is present at Pentecost, which is the establishment and manifestation of the Church, since “these all continued with one accord… with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14).
Beyond these central points, however, there are also other more or less clear expressions, which provide, if not a complete, at least a sufficient biblical image of the Mother of God. It is enough to recall her hymn, “My soul magnifies the Lord…” (Luke 1:46–55), in which is expressed the application to the person of the Panagia of the most fundamental prophecies of the Old Testament. And, to limit ourselves to the beginning and the end, in the especially expressive 12th chapter of Revelation, where the “great sign in heaven,” the “woman clothed with the sun,” is she who “gave birth to a male child, who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron” (Rev. 12:1–6). In the same line, the Orthodox interpreter easily understands that Mary is the woman whose seed crushed the head of the “ancient evil serpent” (Gen. 3:15); that she is the true “Ark of the Covenant” (Exod. 25:9 and following), “the gate facing east that is shut” (Ezek. 44:1), the “rod of Aaron that budded” (Num. 17:23); in a word, the recapitulation of Sacred History, the fulfillment of the “types” and the “shadows” of the Old Testament. For this very reason, the Orthodox do not accept that there are insufficient biblical data concerning the Theotokos — a position accepted with excessive ease by Protestants and Roman Catholics; the former denied every veneration of the Theotokos, while the latter created a theology about the Virgin that is “extra-biblical.”
Also, the patristic tradition concerning the person of the Theotokos and her contribution to the mystery of salvation begins very early, already from the Apostolic Fathers, that is, from the immediate successors of the Apostles. First, Saint Ignatius of Antioch (+110) writes:
“For our God Jesus Christ was conceived by Mary according to the dispensation of God, from the seed of David, and of the Holy Spirit… The virginity of Mary and her childbirth, likewise also the death of the Lord, are three mysteries of proclamation, which were accomplished in the silence of God” (Epistle to the Ephesians, 18–20).
Then Saint Justin Martyr (2nd century) writes:
“For Eve, being a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word from the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary, having received faith and grace, brought forth life.”
This very relationship—contrast between Mary and Eve was developed especially and in depth by Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (late 2nd century), who notes that just as the disobedience of Eve brought corruption and death into the world, so the obedience of the New Eve, that is, the Virgin, granted life to the world.
In the 3rd century A.D., the two great ecclesiastical writers Clement of Alexandria (+215) and Origen (+253) are categorical in describing Mary as the Virgin Mother, indeed ever-virgin and all-virtuous. Origen writes:
"Those who say this wish to preserve the dignity of Mary in virginity until the end, so that that body which was judged to have served the Logos ... should not experience a sexual relationship with a man after the Holy Spirit came upon her and the power from on high overshadowed her."
The following centuries, the 4th and 5th, are decisive for Marian theology. First, Saint Alexander of Alexandria (+328) uses, in a clear and persistent way, the term “Theotokos” in addressing the nuns of his diocese. He is followed by Athanasius of Alexandria (+373), his successor on the patriarchal throne, in his beautiful letter titled "To Virgins". Finally, Saint Epiphanios of Salamis (+403), in his works, calls the Panagia the “source of life” and the “Mother of the living.”
However, a decisive milestone for theology concerning the person of the Theotokos is the 5th century, specifically the year 431, when the Third Ecumenical Synod was convened in Ephesus to condemn Nestorianism. As is known, Nestorius denied the full and unconfused union of the divine and human natures in Christ, and therefore used for the Panagia the terms “Christotokos” and “Anthropotokos.” The Synod of Ephesus condemned these views of Nestorius as heretical and confirmed the theological positions of Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria, establishing them as its dogma:
“We confess the holy Virgin as Theotokos, because God the Word was made flesh and became man, and from the very conception united to Himself the temple taken from her.”
Thus, the Third Ecumenical Synod provided the impetus for the development of Marian theology in the centuries that followed and for the establishment of the “Theometoric feasts,” which in turn gave rise to countless homilies concerning the Mother of God.
If, however, every era has its own richness, it is undeniable that after the 5th century the preeminent “Theometoric” century is the 14th, during which resound the doctrinal voices of Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, Nicholas Cabasilas, and Theophanes of Nicaea. These three fathers establish theologically three points at once:
(a) the absolutely personal holiness of the Theotokos and her eschatological position after the Holy Trinity;
(b) her fundamental Christological significance; and
(c) her entirely central place in the Economy of salvation, that is, her active role in the mystery of the Incarnation and her eternal presence at the center of the mystery of the Church.
Thus, the honor given to the person — and above all to the role — of the Theotokos in the event of salvation is manifested very early also in the worship of the Church. For this reason, throughout the entire ecclesiastical year, the Panagia is honored with the “Theometoric feasts,” as mentioned above, as well as with others connected with miracles attributed to her grace.
But also during the period of the Triodion and especially of Great Lent, the Theotokos is honored.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
(To be continued)