Today the Virgin standeth forth in the church, and with the choirs of the saints she invisibly prayeth to God for us. (Kontakion of the feast).
At the beginning of the tenth century, in year 910 after the birth of Christ, during the reign of the Greek Emperor Leo the Wise and Patriarch Tarasios, in the Blachernae Constantinople church, after the vigil the Mother of God and the angelic hosts appeared to the gaze of two chosen men. Covering the people there with her honorable omophorion, she prayed to her Son and God for their salvation from the enemies that threatened the capital city with destruction, and the people with enslavement and death. Through the prayers of the heavenly Intercessor the foe was routed, and the people saved. In memory of the merciful protection of the Mother of the Lord also over our own fatherland, the Russian Orthodox Church has from ancient times established the yearly feast commemorating the Protection of the Mother of God. The kingdom of Russia has existed for a thousand years, and it is difficult to enumerate all the times that the heavenly Intercessor has protected it from disasters by her prayerful intercessions before the Lord of Hosts. However, in protecting so many times a whole country and people, she also spreads her mighty protection over the cities and countryside, and all individuals. Every Orthodox Christian knows this, because by the example of her protection and intercession whole cities, villages, and the lives of very many pious Christians have been saved. In honor of this feast and for your and my own edification, let us talk, brothers, about how greatly we all need the prayerful intercessions of the Mother of God.
We are very far from understanding, brothers, how much we need the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of the Lord for us, and in order to see this necessity we need an eye that is much purer and brighter than our own. Only our most tender mother—from a pure mind the bright Church sees how necessary her intercessions before God are for us, and therefore every time it prays with us to God, it always calls upon her, chosen of all women, highest of all creatures of both heaven and earth, and asks through her intercessions that we be granted some good thing, or be delivered from some misfortune. And so it is hard to find a prayer that does not contain the name of the Most Pure Mother of God. And this is just! Being the Mother of God the Word, and thus being closer than anyone to the throne of the Godhead, she is naturally able to do much to gain the good graces or mercy of the Master. We are sinful and impure, but she is the Most Pure. How can we the impure not be granted mercy for the sake of her prayers—if only we would desire purification and not again add sin to sin? We are proud in our impurity, but she is so humble in all her virtues, all her grandeur. Seeing her humble prayers, how can we the proud and stiff-necked not be granted mercy if we humble ourselves before God and before her! The Mother of God is just like an invincible wall between God and people. She deflects the greater part of threatening heavenly justice—but we think that our safety comes from ordinary things. But let us enter more closely into man’s condition on earth in order to more clearly see how much we need the prayerful intercessions of the Mother of God.
From the time that man lost his innocence, blessedness, and immortality, even till now he is a horrifying picture of calamities both inward and outward, psychological and physical that torment him, so that it is impossible for anyone not to see that a certain heavy yoke is upon the children of Adam, from the day of their coming out of their mother’s womb, until the day of their burial into the mother of all (Sir. 40:1), that is, the earth. Having long ago lost his blessed state, man now believes only weakly in the heavenly blessedness promised him. He does not understand that real life is not life in its own terms, because this life is no more than preparation for life in heaven, and therefore he gives himself complete freedom here, often making his own life a field of wild passions. He plays with it like a toy, without any interest in what happens when it breaks. He never makes use of it in the way that common sense would guide him, that any reasonable person should have a clear, intelligent, and spiritual objective.
How necessary and joyful it would be for us in such a pitiful state to find in heaven a person who would have the most sincere and tender love for us, who has great boldness with God, and by her intercession would work together with us in our prayers by illumining our minds with her heavenly light to tear ourselves away, little-by-little, from the earth, instruct us for our salvation, prevent temptations or help us overcome them, and soften the cruelty of our sorrows, sicknesses, and other misfortunes! Christians have such a radiant person—the Mother of God. The most chosen of all the women of the world, no matter when or where they may have been, she naturally sympathizes with people as one of like passions with them; she sympathizes not only with each individual person, but with all people together, because no human heart is capable of loving all people with the kind of love with which the Mother of God loves us. Only a very pure heart can love all people, and no person has ever had such a pure heart as the Mother of God. We may love some misfortunate person, yet we can’t help him. To the pain of compassion is added a new painful feeling—the impossibility of helping the poor person. With the Mother of God, this cannot happen. If she wants to help a misfortunate person who turns to her with living faith for intercession, then she can only help him. As the Mother of the all-powerful Son and God, she is in a certain way all powerful herself. God has determined that He would have mercy on us for her prayers infinitely more greatly than for the prayers of all the other saints, for by the very height of Her service to the mystery of redemption, He listens to every prayer of His Most Pure Mother, as every one of Her prayers is holy and pleasing to Him.
Thus, if you want to save your souls from eternal death, to be freed from slavery to the passions, to easily and cheerfully endure sicknesses, sorrows, and all the hardships of life, then pray fervently, brothers, to the Mother of God. Ask for her high cooperation, her consolation. Ask ardently, unremittingly, as if you were seeing her before your own eyes in her divine glory—and you will surely receive her help. She will surely mark you with her protection. You yourself will see and feel how easy, peaceful, and happy it will be for you. And if you do not receive this then accuse yourself—it means that you are praying insincerely or unworthily. Brothers, who else is there to intercede for us more, who else is there to hear our prayers more than the Mother of God? Although she is now in heaven in all heavenly glory, she is one of us, from our sinful earth. She lived here just as we do now, and she also experienced much bitterness. How can she not hear us from there, and intercede for her own? Only never forget, brothers, that she is Most Holy and does not like lawlessness. Therefore, in asking in our prayers for her intercession for us before God, let us strive to be far from all sin, for it is impurity that turns our heavenly Intercessor’s eyes and ears away from us and brings the wrath of heaven upon us.
Let us all run to her powerful protection with pure hearts when we are beset by attacks, sorrows, and sicknesses, and trust in her undoubted hope. Amidst the calamities of life let us prepare ourselves to go to the place where there are no troubles, where there is eternal joy and rest. And the Heavenly Queen will take pleasure in helping us and protecting us from misfortunes, and she will instruct us toward the eternal, peaceful heavenly harbor. O Lady, cover us with your honorable protecting veil, and deliver us from all evil, praying to your Son, Christ our God to save our souls! Amen.
From The Complete Collected Work of Archpriest John Ilyich Sergiev. Vol. 1, second edition, (St. Petersburg: V. Erofeyev printing house, 1893) 481–486
