Homily Two on the Day of the Feast of the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow"
On the Heavenly Help of the Mother of God
By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov
On the Heavenly Help of the Mother of God
By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!
Dear brothers and sisters, today the Church commemorates the icon of the Mother of God called “Joy of All Who Sorrow.” Orthodox Russian people have a firm and deep faith in the heavenly intercession of the Mother of God, and they often turn to Her in their needs, sorrows, and afflictions with warm and fervent prayer. And the Mother of God does not leave this faith unrewarded, but grants speedy help to everyone who asks according to the fervor of his prayer. Therefore, our people love to call the Mother of God by special names: She Who Is Quick to Hear, Searcher for the Lost, Consolation in Sorrows and Afflictions, Deliverance from Misfortunes for Those Who Suffer, Joy of All Who Sorrow…
It is precisely upon the Russian people’s faith in the heavenly, grace-filled help of the Mother of God that the custom of painting icons of “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” sanctified by the Orthodox Church, is based. In these icons, the Mother of God is usually depicted standing at full height, sometimes holding the Pre-eternal Child in Her arms, and sometimes without Him. The principal distinguishing feature of these icons is the depiction of people suffering from various illnesses and afflicted by the sorrows of earthly life. Among those who suffer, angels are also usually depicted, as though distributing blessings in the name of the Mother of God. Copies of this icon are found in various places and cities.
One of these icons became renowned in Moscow at the end of the seventeenth century. The sister of Patriarch Joachim, named Euthymia, who lived on Ordynka Street, suffered from an incurable illness. She had a wound in her side so large that her internal organs could be seen through it. The sick woman was already preparing for death, but she still did not lose hope in God’s help. One morning, wishing to receive Holy Communion, she called upon the Savior and the Mother of God for help for a long time and with great fervor. With particular tenderness of heart and tears, she prayed to the Most Holy Theotokos: “O my most merciful Lady, Mother of God! Hear me, who am weak, and have mercy on me, who am afflicted and already lying on my deathbed. The whole world glorifies You, and all receive Your unfailing mercies; I alone have been deprived of this grace of Yours and, of course, am receiving the punishment I deserve for my boundless iniquities. But, O Most Merciful One, punish me neither with fury nor with anger, but look with compassion upon this terrible infirmity of mine and have mercy on me.” After her prayer, she suddenly heard a voice: “Euthymia! You have suffered for so long; why do you not have recourse to the universal Healer of all?” When Euthymia asked the voice in astonishment, “Where can I find such a Healer?” the voice replied: “In the Church of the Transfiguration of My Son there is an image of Me called ‘Joy of All Who Sorrow.’ Summon the priest of that church to come with this image, and when he has served a prayer service before it with the blessing of water, you will receive healing from your illness. Once healed, do not forget My mercy toward you, but proclaim it to the glorification of the name of My Son, Jesus Christ, and of My own name.” Coming to herself and learning from her relatives that there truly was an icon of the Mother of God called “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in the Church of the Transfiguration on Ordynka Street, she summoned the priest to her home with the icon and, after the prayer service with the blessing of water had been performed, received healing. In commemoration of this miracle, the first miracle from the icon “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” a feast was established in its honor on October 24 (November 6). To this day, this wonderworking image is kept in the church on Ordynka Street.
In the Dormition Lavra of the Kiev Caves, there was an icon of “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in the hospital church, from which many miracles proceeded. There is a story that the watchman at the hospital gate saw a Woman coming to the hospital at night several times and noticed that each time after such a visit, one of the seriously ill patients recovered. When he began asking those who had recovered about this, it turned out that they too had seen the Woman who had come to them. When they asked who She was, She answered: “I am the Joy of Those Who Sorrow.” The watchman then resolved to follow Her. One night, he saw this Woman pass by him like a shadow and make Her way to the hospital, where a monk lay dangerously ill, already prepared and given the last rites for his passage into eternity. The watchman entered the room and saw on the wall above the dying monk what appeared to be a faint image of the Mother of God in the reflection of moonlight. Only then did the watchman understand what Divine Visitor he had been deemed worthy to see, and he fell on his knees before Her and prayed with tears. The sick monk also saw the appearance of the Queen of Heaven and, trembling with reverence, called upon Her with all the strength of his soul to have mercy on him. After this, he fell asleep and slept for several days; when he awoke, he felt completely well. In memory of this event, an Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos is read before this icon in the hospital church every Saturday.
How close to our sorrows and afflictions, and how compassionate toward them, is the Most Pure Lady! Having experienced many sorrows and afflictions in Her own life, She Herself is now always ready to help those who suffer and to offer them consolation and assistance. The Most Holy Lady has ascended into heaven and stands at the right hand of Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, but She does not abandon Her earthly homeland or Her beloved children of God, who are Her own by flesh and spirit and whom the Lord adopted as Her children in the final moments of His life on earth. And one may say that the Most Holy Virgin spends most of Her time on earth, visiting the unfortunate and those who sorrow. When Saint Andrew, the fool for Christ’s sake, was taken up into heaven and saw all the saints of God there in glory, he did not see the Mother of God. When he asked where the Mother of God was, the angel answered that She was not there, for She walks upon the earth, wiping away the tears of everyone who sorrowed. And indeed, the Protection of the Mother of God that was in Constantinople assures us of the Mother of God’s unceasing care for us. What consolation it is for us to have in heaven an Intercessor before the throne of God, our common Heavenly Mother, who loves us so tenderly and fervently!
Dear brothers and sisters, there is no word holier, warmer, or more filled with love than “mother.” What will a mother not do for her child? When a child is ill, his own mother sits beside him through the nights, watching every movement of the sick child, every breath he takes. She is ready to give her soul for her child. Her soul, her life, everything. And happy is the person who has a mother: this means that love and tenderness are always near him. Beside his soul stands a kind and holy guardian. But one who has no mother might be called unfortunate, if such people existed. But they do not exist. There are no people without a mother. Each of us has a common Mother, the Queen of Heaven and Lady. She endured all the anguish, the entire cross of motherhood; more than once, a sword passed through Her soul. She saw that Her Son had nowhere to lay His head, had no shelter such as even the birds and foxes have. She saw the persecution of Her Son; She saw Him fall beneath the heavy Cross; She saw Him upon the Cross. Before Her eyes, the thorns of His holy crown changed from dark to red with His sacred blood. Before Her eyes, Her Son died. She suffered greatly and learned to understand suffering. Like a human being, like all people, She suffered on earth, but now Her sufferings have ended. She is in the glory of Her Son, beside His throne. But memories of Her maternal torments remain with Her, and these memories gave birth in Her holy and most pure heart to eternal love for the suffering younger brethren of Her Son. She is always with them and is always ready to help them, to extend Her hand to them in difficult and sorrowful moments. Her suffering heart refuses no plea. Like a Mother, She hastens to Her children who are sorrowful and wronged. And which of us, Orthodox Christians, has not had recourse to the help and intercession of the Mother of God in moments of grief? Which of us has not asked for Her intercession? Which of us, having prayed to Her with faith, has departed without consolation, rejected by Her? The Lady, the Queen of Heaven, the swift Intercessor for all the weak and infirm, for all Christians who have recourse with faith and fervor to Her wondrous protection—She is a stranger to no one, She disdains no one, She turns no one away. Little is required to be deemed worthy of Her intercession and help: only firm faith and humble prayer are needed. And great, immeasurably great, are the mercies of the Mother of God toward the human race. Wondrous is Her love for us sinners!
In addition to all the innumerable bounties She pours out upon the sinful earth, the Most Merciful Intercessor also desired to give people, as it were, a heavenly pledge of Her love for them: Her venerable icons. The icons of the saints of God, and even of the Lord Himself, have not been glorified by so many miracles as the icons of the Mother of God. Her Divine Son bestowed upon Her a special grace to help people through holy icons. And it seems there is no corner of the entire Christian world where there is not an especially venerated image of the Queen of Heaven; there is not a single Orthodox family in which an immaculate image of the Mother of God cannot be found. Everywhere, the faithful bring their sorrows and tears to Her and find consolation and help. And everyone who approaches Her with faith and a contrite heart, asking Her for help and consolation, will not depart downcast or helpless. One must pray to the Mother of God and ask Her with true, firm, unwavering faith, and with a sincere desire to use for the good and salvation of one’s soul everything She grants according to God’s will, and to imitate Her in pleasing Her Son and God. According to the promise of the Lord Himself, only that prayer is effective which is joined to true and living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ: “Whatever things you ask of the Father in My name, believing, you shall receive” (see Matthew 21:22). Faith, uniting us in one spirit with the Lord, draws upon us the love and favor of His Most Pure Mother as well; unbelief, little faith, and superstition, on the contrary, estrange us from the life of God and thereby deprive us of participation in the gifts of grace poured out upon the Church of Christ through the Mother of God, who has been endowed with grace above all others. “…Let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. Let not that person think that he will receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6–7).
When and in what circumstances should we have recourse to the protection of the Mother of God? At all times and in all circumstances of life, both sorrowful and joyful. Little children turn to their mother in everything and without ceasing: they tell her their sorrows and grievances, share their thoughts and feelings with her, confide in her their desires and intentions, aspirations and hopes, and share their joys and delights with her; for nowhere and in no one do they find, or will they find, such lively and warm, such close and disinterested concern for them as they find in their mother. So too, a Christian will find nowhere and in no one such benevolent and merciful concern for his needs as he will find in his Heavenly Mother, our Lady the Mother of God. She is akin to all of us by nature, and from Her own experience She knows all the weakness and all the needs of our nature.
Therefore, dear ones, let us go to our Intercessor, the Mother of God, and fall down before Her wondrous image with a tender soul and a contrite heart! If some misfortune or spiritual sorrow befalls us, let us hasten to pray to the Lady. If sins or passions torment us, or evil habits gain power over us, let us have recourse to the Joy of All Who Sorrow. If grief, sorrow, or illness weighs upon us, let us remember the most blessed Virgin who stood at the Cross of Her beloved Son, direct our prayerful sighs to Her, and be assured that our sorrows are known to Her, that She sees our grief, that She will pour the healing balm into our sorrowful heart, and that She will warm our aching soul with Her maternal love. She will save us from misfortune and danger.
What obligation does the remembrance of the wondrous help of the Mother of God place upon us, dear ones? The closer, more merciful, and more attentive the Heavenly Lady is toward us, the more carefully and attentively the faithful must conduct themselves. The more that is given to us, the more will be demanded of us. Let us preserve the holy faith in Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and our devotion to His Church, because our Lord Jesus Christ and His Mother are zealous for us in love. Let us beware of provoking this holy zeal, for it may become for us a consuming fire from the Lord.
From the most ancient times, the Russian people have been distinguished by a simple, reverent faith and a sincere, heartfelt love for the Lord Jesus Christ. The reason for the special mercy of the Mother of God lies in this faith of ours and in our love for Her Son. Reverent faith and strong love for Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, undoubtedly bring special joy to His Most Pure Mother in heaven as well. From this comes the fact that Her intercession and help are poured out upon those who from ancient times have devoutly venerated Her, reverently worshiped and confessed the Lord Jesus Christ, and lovingly obeyed the Church He established on earth.
"O Joy of All Who Sorrow, and Intercessor for the Wronged, and Nourisher of the Hungry, Consolation of Strangers, Protection and Intercession of Those Tossed by Storms, Staff of the Aged, You are the Mother of God Most High, O Most Pure One! Hasten, we pray, to save Your servants" [Troparion for the Joy of All Who Sorrow]. Rejoice, O our Joy, protect us from every evil with Your precious omophorion!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
