Address on the Feast of our Most Holy Theotokos

All too often the “remembrance of the righteous which is accompanied by encomia” is an opportunity to censure the person praising if he falls short of expressing the worth of the person being praised- because the address is not always, nor in all circumstances, equivalent to reality. But how can I speak of the Mistress of all the righteous, the Mother of God Who is the King of Righteousness, or touch very lightly on even a part of her real worth, since it is my intention to praise her memory?

On the Nativity of the Theotokos

According to the ancient tradition of the Church, the Theotokos was born of barren and aged parents, Joachim and Anna, about the year 16 or 17 before the birth of Christ. Joachim was descended from the royal line of David, of the tribe of Judah. Anna was of the priestly tribe of Levi, a daughter of the priest Matthan and Mary, his wife.

Saint John the Damascene: On the Chaste Couple Joachim and Anna

Anna was to be the mother of the Virgin Mother of God, and hence nature did not dare to anticipate the flowering of grace. Thus nature remained sterile, until grace produced its fruit. For she who was to be born had to be a first born daughter, since she would be the mother of the first-born of all creation, in whom all things are held together. Joachim and Anna, how blessed a couple! All creation is indebted to you. For at your hands the Creator was offered a gift excelling all other gifts: a chaste mother, who alone was worthy of him.

August 31: The Holy Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos

According to Sacred Tradition and the history of our Church, after three days from the burial of the Most Holy Theotokos, Thomas, along with the rest of the Holy Apostles, opened up her grave and didn’t find her body. The Most Holy Theotokos revealed herself to Thomas and handed her holy belt to him as a proof of her bodily transportation to the heavens.

Transition to Life

Every time we celebrate the Dormition of the Mother of God, it’s as if we’re having Easter – the Easter of the summer. Our Lady the Mother of God prepares Easter for us. A glorious crossing “from death to life”. A second Easter, holy spotless, life-giving for the human race, because today “the laws of nature are overcome”.

The Witness of the Most Holy Theotokos

On this day of our commemoration of the Feast of the Dormition, our hearts are filled with hope as we reflect on the holy repose and miraculous translation of the Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary. We have hope in Christ our Lord because the Theotokos offers us a superb witness of His power. Certainly, her calling to bear the Son of God was unique, but in all aspects of her life and death she offered a beautiful example of how the power and grace of God can transform us from death to life.

The Most Exciting Person in History

Indeed the Panagia has a uniqueness. First, she is the greatest benefactor of mankind. Through her our Lord the God-man took human nature and made it possible for every person to have communion with Him. Second, she is the closest creature to God with the greatest boldness before Him, “for the prayer of a Mother avails much to the good will of the Master”. Third, she is the nearest to each of us individually. She is closer to us than our closest relatives, closer to us even than our guardian angel, and she is more of a mom than our mother.

August: The month of the Most Holy Theotokos

Our Mother, the Church, is again inviting us to celebrate the Dormition of the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary and Mother of our God. Events relating to the lives of the Saints are a cause for joy, sacred contemplation, and opportunities for prayer and the worship of God glorified in Trinity. The month of August is a remarkable one for the Orthodox Church, for during this month we celebrate two great and historic events.

On the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary

The two articles that follow below, «On the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary» and «On the ancestral sin of the holy and ever virgin Mary», are the chapters 50 and 51 of the Treasury of Orthodoxy of Bishop Theophilos of Campania (1749 1795). We place them here at this time so that we may be go deeper into the Mystery of the Theotokos and the Incarnation of the Son of God which constitute the Chapter of our Salvation.