The
Orthodox Church celebrates the great feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos on
15th August, and so in our Church the month of August is specially dedicated to
the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos. Orthodox
Christians have always honoured the Mother of our Lord with special veneration.
Countless icons depict her with the infant Christ, and thousands of hymns
praise her. In today's talk, Dr Kariatlis focused on the place of the Theotokos
in our Orthodox Christian Faith.
The
following hymn is said by the priest in our church services many times:
Remembering our most holy, pure, blessed, and glorious
Lady, the Theotokos and ever virgin Mary, with all the saints, let us commit
ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.
This hymn
really captures what life in the Church is all about. The focus is always
Christ, not only giving our whole selves to him but also one another. The
centre of our worship is the Divine Liturgy, the worship of the Church as a
whole community. This community includes all of us, and also the Theotokos and
all the saints, whom we commemorate and set before ourselves as examples.
This hymn
also includes many names that we use for the Virgin Mary. Although our church
had never really formed any dogmas concerning the Virgin Mary, the names that
we give her in our daily worship contain many teachings about what we believe
about her and indeed about Christ.
The first
name is "Παναγία", which means
"All-holy". This term is the most common name given to Mary, and has
been in use since the 2nd Century AD. As Orthodox Christians, we believe that
Mary was truly "all-holy",
that because of the constant overshadowing presence of the Holy Spirit
over her life, she was free from actual sin. In 1854, the Roman Catholic Church
formed the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, stating that the Virign Mary
was immaculately conceived. The Eastern Orthodox Church is uncomfortable with
this doctrine, because in a way it sets her apart from the rest of humanity. We
believe that Mary was conceived naturally from both a man and a woman, just
like every other human being. This is why she is the ultimate example for us
because being human just like us, she reached perfection in this life, being
free from actual sin throughout her whole life, and was worthy to become the
bearer of the Son of God.
The
second name is "αειπάρθενος",
"ever-virgin". The great miracle of Christ's incarnation is that Mary
remained a virgin even though Jesus was conceived in her womb and she gave
birth to Him as a human infant. However Christ was not conceived from a male
seed, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, as we say in the Creed, "was
incarnate of the Holy Spirit." In other words, Jesus had no human father.
This is because Jesus, although fully human, was not an ordinary human being,
but the Son of God, none other than the second person of the Holy Trinity.
And the
final and most important term is "Θεοτόκος". This literally means
"the one who gives birth to God". Some of the Protestant faiths are
uncomfortable that we actually give such a huge power to Mary, who was a human
being. However, the term "Theotokos" has enormous theological
significance, and must be understood correctly. In fact it is really saying
what we believe about Christ himself. In the 5th century, the patriarch of
Constantinople Nestorius disagreed with this term, arguing that it is
inconceivable and blasphemous to claim that Mary actually gave birth to God
himself, proposing instead the name "Christotokos." This sparked an
enormous controversy in the Byzantine empire, with faithful Christians who had
always paid special reverence to the Virgin Mary speaking out against the
claims of Nestorius.
In order
to settle the controversy, the Third Ecumenical Council of 431 AD was gathered
in Ephesus. The Council of bishops set down the Theotokos as the accepted title
of the Virgin Mary. Among other things, Nestorius believed that Mary did not
give birth to God Himself, but to a mere human, over whom divinity descended at
some later point in His life. This was condemned as a heresy. The fact that
Mary did give birth to God is extremely important, not only for how we venerate
her, but it points to what we believe about Christ Himself.
Through
His Incarnation, Christ's plan of salvation for the human race was made
possible by his assumption of our whole human nature. For this to take place,
Jesus had to remain unchanged in His divine nature as God but at the same time
to become fully human. So Mary conceived The Son of God in her womb, incarnate
of the Holy Spirit, and she carried in her body and gave birth to a human
person who was none other than the second Person of the Holy Trinity. Mary gave
birth to God Himself. This awesome mystery, beyond comprehension for us humans,
is expressed in the word "Θεοτόκος".
Through
our veneration of Panagia, we are called to imitate her example, and to strive
to realise our ultimate purpose in this life, which she completed in
perfection: to become "theotokoi", to allow for God to be born into
our very selves, by submitting our wills, just like the Virgin Mary, to His
divine will.
In
conclusion we look briefly at the feast of the Dormition, the "falling
asleep" of the Theotokos, when she died a natural death as a human being,
but as the birth-giver of God she was taken up by her Son into heaven, both
body and soul, to reign with Him and to intercede for us and protect us. The
greatness of this true celebration of our Church is summed up in this hymn from
the Vespers service of the 15th August:
By the command of God, the God‐
bearing Apostles everywhere were transported through the skies on clouds. And
reaching your all‐immaculate body,
that origin of Life, they kissed it in grand veneration.
The supreme Hosts of heaven arrived with their Master.
Seized with awe, they ushered your inviolate body, which had hosted God. High
above the earth, they went before you, and invisibly they shouted to the
angelic orders above them, ʺBehold, the
Queen of all, the Maid of God, has arrived.
ʺLift up the gates, and give a
formal heavenly reception to the Mother of the everlasting Light.
ʺFor the salvation of all
humanity came through her. We are unable to gaze on her, and it is impossible
to bestow worthy honor on her.
ʺFor her excellence surpasses
all understanding.ʺ
Therefore, O immaculate Theotokos, as you now live forever
with the life‐ bearing King
who is your Son, intercede unceasingly, that He guard us, your children, and
that He save us from every hostile assault, since we are under your protection.
And to the ages with splendor we call you blessed.
The
entire text of this service in Greek and English can be downloaded from these
links:
Apart
from the beautiful hymns, which contain the tradition and dogmas of our Church,
there are also 3 readings from the Old Testament which are read at the vespers.
In the Orthodox Church, the Old Testament is read and interpreted in the light
of the New Testament. The readings from the Book of Proverbs about Wisdom, from
the Prophecy of Ezequiel about the Gate of the temple which remains shut, and
from Genesis about Jacob's dream of the divine ladder, all are interpreted to
be foretelling the coming of the Theotokos and the huge role she will play in
the salvation of the human race.
There are
countless beautiful hymns and services that our Church offers to Panagia, and
every day of the first two weeks of August the service of the paraklesis is
chanted in ours churches. This can also be downloaded here:
We saw a
glimpse today of what the Theotokos has to offer us, both as a Church and on a
personal level. Let us learn from her example and strive to follow her in the
road to perfection.
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