One of the most common questions that comes up in discussions with people coming to Holy Orthodoxy, especially those with an established Protestant background, is why the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church honor Mary, the Mother of God, in the way that we do? Is this understanding of her holiness something that came about later, or was it in the mind and heart of the Church in the beginning? Can I fully appreciate and have a full relationship with the Incarnate Christ, if I pay no mind or attention to my relationship with His Mother?
To answer to all of these questions, we don’t need to go find homilies from the 4th or 5th century saints, nor do we even need to look at early Christian books like the protoevangelium of James. We simply need to look at the Gospels themselves. In the Gospel of St. Luke, we hear the narrative of the Annunciation. Archangel Gabriel comes to an unsuspecting 13-year-old girl, and says to her: “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you: Blessed are you among women!” To my knowledge, and throughout all of Holy Scripture, I cannot think of one other instance where an Archangel is greeting someone like that! He uses the word “Charitou”, meaning “full of Grace”, and proceeds to tell her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of the Most High will overshadow her!
In the next verses, Mary then proceeds to visit her cousin Elizabeth, now pregnant with John the Baptist. St. Luke recounts how as soon as Mary’s voice is heard by St. John the Baptist, he leaps in the womb of his mother out of joy! The next words come from Elizabeth herself, exalting the Mother of God!
“Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.”
Mary’s response?
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my savior. For he has regarded the lowly estate of His maidservant: For behold, henceforth, all generations (until around 18th century) will call me blessed!”
Fast forward in Luke to when Christ is presented to the temple, 40 days after His birth. He is taken into the arms of the righteous Simeon, who not only offers a prophecy about Christ, but also an important one about His Mother!
“Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed”.
St. Simeon describes a unique relationship that Mary the Theotokos will have as the Mother of God. She will participate in the crucifixion in a way that no one else can measure…as Who could more fully feel the pain of a Child than that of His Mother?
In the Gospel of John, we hear the narrative of Christ’s first public miracle. He is invited to a wedding feast where they run out of wine. Keep in mind, no public miracles have occurred. Jesus has lived a relatively secluded and quiet life for 30 years. The only person that truly knows Who He is, and What He has come here to do is His Mother. She tells her Son: “They have no wine”.
Jesus answers her: “Woman…”. This term is not an insult like we would hear it in modern ways, but was rather a word used to convey respect. “Woman…What is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” Jesus is looking at His mother, the one who knows Who He is, and says: “it’s not time…this doesn’t have to begin yet.”
Mary doesn’t respond to Jesus, but rather turns to the servants and says: “Do whatever He tells you”, and we know the rest of the story. From that moment, Christ begins a path to Golgotha and to the Tomb. Right next to Him the entire way, awaiting the piercing of her own heart as St. Simeon had Prophesied, is His Mother
When we look at the Holy Scripture’s witness to the Theotokos, especially as it relates to our own personal relationship with her, we have to ask ourselves:
How can we not venerate the one who’s voice John the Baptist greeted with a leap of joy in the womb, because it was that voice that heralded the presence of Christ in his midst?
How can we not echo the words of the Archangel in recognizing her as one that is full of Grace…and that she will be called blessed by all generations?
How can we call ourselves Christian and weep for our sins before the Crucified Christ, while ignoring the soul-pierced Mother?
Dear ones, all of us have an earthly mother from whom we learn about and experience love. During the first weeks of August, the Church calls for this period of fasting and reflection on the relationship we have with our heavenly mother…the ultimate example of what it truly means to love God. May we spend these days, not just reading about her, but rather by imitating Christ in developing a unique and personal relationship with a woman, who unlike her ancestor Eve, said “Yes” to God. Let us spend these days remembering the one who is “More honorable than the Cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim.” Through the witness of the Orthodox Church, may the entire world more fully embrace a relationship with She Who God chose to be the instrument which would combine the flesh of mankind to His Divinity.
Through the Prayers of the Theotokos, Have Mercy on Us and Save us