In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
Dear brothers and sisters!
The glorification of the Mother of God began even before she gave birth to Christ the Savior. She was given glory and honor by the Archangel Gabriel during the Annunciation. She was glorified by the Righteous Elizabeth when they met, who called her the Mother of the Lord and blessed her for her firm faith and the truth announced to her from the Lord by the mouth of the Archangel Gabriel. The Holy Church calls her more honorable than the Cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim. Even the angels bow before her as before the Queen of Heaven. In her person, human nature is exalted above the angels. The Church venerates the Mother of God daily, in every Church service. Among the countless names with which the Church praises the Mother of God is “Champion Leader.”
What does “Champion Leader” mean? Many think it means a military commander. Of course not. Precisely translated from Greek, it means “mighty laborer.”1 This is how Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow translated it into Russian. She is called this because she victoriously helped and helps Orthodox Christians in the battle with enemies. The Theotokos was first called “Champion Leader” in the Akathist composed in her honor in the seventh century under Emperor Heraclius, in gratitude for deliverance from enemies who had besieged Constantinople from land and sea.
The efforts of the Greek army to repel their foes were in vain until the Mother of God herself became the defender of the Greek capital. Patriarch Sergius carried the icon of the Mother of God and her robe in procession to the seashore. As soon as he plunged her sacred robe into the waters of the sea, a terrible storm arose, dispersing the enemy ships. At the same time, those besieging the city by land were also routed. In this case, the Most Holy Theotokos revealed herself as the victorious Leader, in the fullest sense of the word, and the Church wrote hymns of victory to her, known as the Akathist, beginning with the words: “To Thee, the Champion Leader, we Thy servants dedicate a feast of victory … O Theotokos.”
The Mother of God has rendered such victorious help to our motherland, Holy Rus’ and its Orthodox people many times. Thus, through prayers before the wonderworking Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, Moscow was saved from the Tatar invasion. By the intercession of the Mother of God, by prayers before her Tikhvin Icon, the Tikhvin Monastery was delivered from the invasion of the Swedes and the threat of the enemy’s further advance into the depths of Russia was averted.
One celebration of the Most Holy Theotokos in honor of her Kazan Icon was established in memory of the deliverance of Moscow and all of Russia from the invasion of the Poles on October 22/November 4, 1612. The beginning of the seventeenth century is known in the history of Russia as the Time of Troubles. The country was facing attack by Polish invaders who mocked the Orthodox faith and looted and burned churches, cities, and villages. They managed to seize Moscow by deception. At the call of His Holiness Patriarch Germogen, the Russian people came out to defend their motherland. The wonderworking icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was sent from Kazan to the militia headed by Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky.
St. Dimitry of Rostov says in his Homily on the Feast of the Appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God in Kazan: “The Mother of God delivers not only the righteous from great troubles and evil, but also sinners. But which sinners? Those who return to the Heavenly Father, as a prodigal son; they sigh, ‘beating their chests,’ like the publican; they weep at the feet of Christ, as the sinful woman who soaked His feet with tears; they offer their confession to Him, as the thief on the cross.” The Most Pure Mother of God beholds such sinners and sends them speedy aid, “and delivers them from great troubles and evils.”
Knowing that this tribulation was permitted because of our sins, all the people and the militia imposed a three-day fast upon themselves and prayerfully turned to the Lord and His Most Pure Mother for Heavenly aid. And their prayer was heard. News came from St. Arseny, who was in Polish captivity, that it was revealed to him in a vision that God’s judgment had changed to mercy through the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin. Encouraged by the news, the Russian troops liberated Moscow from the Polish invaders on October 22, 1612. This celebration in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was established in 1648.
Dear brothers and sisters! In all of these cases, the Most Holy Theotokos manifested herself as the Champion Leader.
And she helps not only in battles with external, visible enemies, but also with spiritual, unseen enemies—that is, with evil spirits. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph. 6:12). These enemies ceaselessly battle against us, arousing evil and impure thoughts, feelings, and desires in our souls, or strengthening them if they have arisen in us independent of the enemy’s temptations. The machinations of these evil tempters are all the more dangerous, all the more destructive for us, because they are by their very nature unseen.
The struggle against demonic temptations is so difficult that our own strength alone is insufficient. We need the grace of God for this fight. Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us to implore the Heavenly Father to grant us grace to deliver us from demonic temptations with these words: “And lead us not into temptations, but deliver us from the evil one.” And this help is given to us in many cases through the prayers of the Theotokos, because due to her maternal relation with her Son and God, she is given the grace to pray for us, to intercede for us.
By faith in the power of her intercession, according to the guidance of the Church, we entreat her to implore the Lord that He “might gird us with His power from above against our enemies visible and invisible.” But hoping in her help, we ourselves must exert our own strength to overcome demonic temptations, for help is given only to those who labor, and not to the lazy. It is only under this condition that we can hope to attain victory over the enemies of our salvation under the banner of the Champion Leader.
Amen.
From Archimandrite Iliya (Reizmir), Homilies, Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, 2008. Pp. 374-377
