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How many praises, how many festal days the Orthodox Church dedicates to the Virgin Mary, who is born today! We are now spiritually celebrating her birth. Then we glorify the day of her Entrance into the Temple, the day of the Annunciation, and the day of her Dormition. Every day the Church magnifies her as more honorable than the Cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim.
If the example of some who call themselves Christians but don’t follow the Orthodox Church in the glorification of the Mother of God sometimes causes perplexity in others about the sanctity of the Orthodox Church’s tradition, this is no surprise. To what does the example of others not incline us? But we must learn the truth so as not to waver in love for the truth. Let the words of the Most Holy Virgin herself be our lamp: From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed (Lk. 1:48).
Righteous Elizabeth, upon meeting Mary, filled with the Holy Spirit, calls Mary the Mother of the Lord. And Mary, glorifying the Lord Who glorifies her, says, From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. What does this mean? Is this a simple rapture of soul? A rational conjecture? Or is this a true prophecy? After the Evangelist directly said that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit (Lk. 1:41), it would be unnatural to suppose that the subsequent hymn of the Virgin Mary, even if its content were ordinary, was merely the fruit of a natural feeling of joy. The Evangelist didn’t say that Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit only because she had already been called “full of grace,” had already been overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, whereas Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit only upon meeting the Mother of the Son of God.
And without any words from the Evangelist, it’s easy to see that the words of Holy Mary, From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed, were no conjecture of her reason. What did Mary say before that? For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden (Lk. 1:48). Thus, Mary sees herself as but a servant, speaking only of her humble state before the Lord. How, with such a deep sense of humility, could the same Mary make a prediction about her glory? That would mean that both humility and pride, deep self-abasement and the most fanciful vainglory were speaking within one and the same soul at one and the same time. Surely you agree that this is completely incompatible in a soul that is even somewhat attentive to itself, let alone that of the grace-filled Virgin Mary.
And what would Mary have had to base a guess about her future universal fame on? Because she was from the line of kings? But the glory of the line of David had long since ended and Mary was among the most obscure daughters of Israel. For such a Virgin to speculate about her own widespread glory would be too unnatural. Was not her conjecture about future glory based on the fact that the Virgin Mary’s destiny as the Mother of the Messiah was foretold to her? But if Mary pondered this not under the influence of the Spirit of God but only according to the spirit of her time, and was only conjecturing about the establishment of the kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6), then, in this spirit, how could she expect universal glory for herself? Blessed is the memory of Abraham, the father of believers; glorious is the name of David, the King of Israel; and are their mothers’ names known to anyone? No.
Thus, undoubtedly, it wasn’t from the mind and heart of humble Mary that the thought of future glory arose in her. The Holy Spirit revealed the future to her, and by His inspiration she spoke of the lot that awaited her in the universal Church of Christ. If this is so, if the words about the future glory of the Virgin Mary were uttered by the inspiration of the Spirit of God, then whose will do those who bless the Most Holy Virgin Mary fulfill? The will of the Spirit of God. As for those who refuse to honor the Holy Virgin Mary—who are they disobeying? The Spirit of God.
If a Jew doesn’t bless the Mother of my Lord, that’s understandable—he doesn’t believe in the Gospel, he doesn’t know the Spirit Who speaks in the Gospel. But if a Christian doesn’t honor the blessed one, I don’t know what to call him. It’s sad, painful, and difficult to see such a Christian!
From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Who? The one from whom was born Jesus called Christ (Mt. 1:16). Jesus is no simple man, but the God-Man. According to the teaching of the Gospel, in the Incarnation of the Son of God, humanity united with the Person of the Son of God just as the soul and body are united into one person in us. Pure, sinless humanity united with the true God in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The Lord is with thee (Lk. 1:28), the angel said to Mary. The Lord is with thee—not only in the presence of grace, but in essence within you by His Incarnation. Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16). There’s no honor, and it’s impossible to imagine an honor greater than that which she, the Mother of the God-Man, was vouchsafed. The One Whom the Father begot before all ages, the Consubstantial Son of the eternal Father, the Creator of all things visible and invisible, received human nature in the womb of Mary. Wondrous is the condescension of the Son of God! Wondrous and incomparable is the majesty of the Virgin Mary! She is truly more honorable than the Cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim!
From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. And how could not all generations bless her when all generations are saved by her Son? Why did the Son of the eternal Father become her Son? In order to renew sin-corrupted human nature by the power of the Godhead; to save man from the terrible curse of righteousness that weighed upon mankind; to offer the willing death of the God-Man as a sacrifice to the Father of eternity for the rebellion of mankind. Mary is the God-chosen instrument of human salvation; an instrument appointed by the eternal counsel of God for the work of God.
If the Virgin Mary was honored by God’s highest election to be the Mother of the Son of God and Savior of the world, why was this done? Because of the special grace of God? I don’t dispute that it’s certainly a special grace. But can the grace of God contradict the righteousness of God? If the Virgin Mary was honored by the grace of God with the highest election, it was undoubtedly not in contradiction to the righteousness of God. She was exalted above all by this election, but because she was worthy above all for this election. A treasure ship won’t dock on the shore if the shore has no dock. And the mystery of Heaven would have returned to Heaven if the Virgin Mary hadn’t been worthy of accepting this mystery. The Savior didn’t appear before the God-chosen Mary appeared.
Do you think there was no connection or correlation between these two things? In human affairs, deeds may be disconnected, but not in the ways of God. Consider what was required for a vessel worthy of God the Word to arise from sinful humanity. Didn’t humanity need to be purified and sanctified through generations of Patriarchs and saints before it could reach, in Mary, the perfection required to become a vessel of God? Thus, by Mary’s birth the barrenness not only of Joachim and Anna, but of the entire human race, was lifted. Mary is the purest among the pure lambs of God—both holy men and women.
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? (Lk. 1:34), Mary said to the one who announced to her the birth of her Son. If she knows not a man, although she was already betrothed, if she knows not a man even to the point where she considers the birth of a son impossible, then it’s clear that this is a virgin who has consecrated herself as a bride to the one Lord. Mary, by her own consciousness, is a pure virgin, a virgin who has dedicated her virginity to the Lord. The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee (Lk. 1:35), the Heavenly messenger told Mary. And thus, according to the angel’s testimony, Mary is a pure virgin. According to the revelation of the messenger of God, this birth by Mary is an unprecedented, unique birth by a woman without a husband; a birth by the work of the Holy Spirit. Let us revere the unparalleled Virgin; let us revere the mystery of God’s Spirit.
Some say that the Evangelists tell us little about Mary. Is it possible to say anything higher than what the announcing angel says about the Virgin Mary? He points to her angelic purity and innocence; he speaks of her as a vessel of the Spirit of God, as the Virgin Mother of the Son of God. If the Evangelists speak of the holy Virgin as filled with the deepest humility, do they not thereby say that all the glory of the daughter of the King is within (Ps. 44:12), that her majesty is especially great because it was hidden in the depths of her spirit? Having regarded the low estate of His handmaiden, Mary testifies before the face of God in a state of inspiration from God. And her entire evangelical life is in accord with this. She didn’t seek to partake in her Son’s glory when the people glorified Him for His miracles, when they met Him with exclamations of delight: Hosanna to the Son of David! (Mt. 21:9).
But when those who are blind dishonor the Son of Mary, crying out: He is beside Himself,[1] then we see His Mother with Him. (Mk. 3:21, 31). She stands at His Cross before His bitter enemies, when His closest disciples had abandoned Him. Is this not a path to Heavenly glory? Do not the Evangelists say more about the high qualities of the Virgin Mary with their silence than they could with words? In silence, she kept all the words of her Son, the Son of God (Lk. 2:19). Before He revealed His glory through miracles and before His disciples believed in Him (Jn. 2:11), she already so believed in His miraculous power that she convinced Him to work the first miracle in Cana of Galilee. Thus, the Mother of God believed in and knew Him earlier and more perfectly than others—and yet, with her deep humility, she remained largely unnoticed. What extraordinary majesty of humility!
Blessed is the womb that bare Тhee, and the paps which Тhou hast sucked (Lk. 11:27), the woman cried out in ecstasy of spirit, delighted with the words of Christ. What does this mean? It’s clear praise for the Mother of Jesus Christ, and praise noticed by the Evangelists! Of course, no one will say that the words of the woman who was listening to the Savior were anything but the fruit of a pious heart; no one will say that these words don’t have any edifying meaning in the Evangelist’s narrative. On the contrary, considering the words of the reverent woman alongside the prophetic utterance of the Virgin Mary about her future glory, we see in these words the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophetic words about the universal glory of Mary.
Thus, the Evangelists hid neither the high qualities nor the glory of holy Mary. They precisely fulfilled God’s will concerning the Mother of the Son of God. If the Son of God considered it necessary that His glory on earth not be spoken of until humanity was glorified in Him with Heavenly glory, all the more should this have been the case with regard to the Mother of the Son of God.
After her translation from earth to Heaven, the prophetic word of Mary was naturally fulfilled in all its fullness: From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. How can we not bless her now when, abiding in the glory of her Son, she intercedes for us as the Mother of all who believe in her Son? She loves us as brothers in Adam, as children in her Son Jesus Christ. She intercedes for us before her Son by right of being His Mother, and entreats the Heavenly Father by right of her and His love for the poor pilgrims of earth. The Son loves her as His Mother. He showed her His love even on earth, when amidst the very sufferings of His death upon the Cross He cared for her and said to the beloved disciple, Behold thy Mother (Jn. 19:27). He fulfills her request—as a Mother to whom He was subject in the days of the flesh (Lk. 2:51).
How could she not be a strong intercessor for sinners in Heaven? If the angels pray for us and thereby incline the Lord to hear our prayers, then how can the intercession of the Mother of the Son of God not be heard before the throne of God? Oh, how undoubted is her intercession for us! Who has resorted to her and not been heard? Who has not experienced her mercies? How many signs of her Heavenly help! How many icons—instruments of her miracles! There’s no city, no village in our Orthodox homeland where Her benefactions aren’t glorified, where churches haven’t been erected in her honor. In the depths of the north, amid the ice, she warms faith with her benefactions. Every day, faith experiences her help, here or there, openly or secretly, in the family circle and in the depths of the solitary soul.
Let us therefore turn to our Mother with fervent faith, with childlike hope. Mother of God—Mother of all who hope in Thee! In Thee do we hope, weak children of Orthodoxy—abandon us not in the days of our sorrows and save us by Thy mighty intercession.
Amen.
[1] Meaning “out of His mind,” as the New King James Version translates it—Trans.
