(Immaculate) Conception of the Theotokos

"O Virgin, you gave birth to the Giver of life; from sin you delivered Adam, while to Eve you have rendered joy in place of sorrow. He who was from you made incarnate, God and man, has directed to life him who fell from it." 

(From Matins for the Feast of Conception of St. Anne, Mother of the Most Holy Theotokos)

The Feast of the Conception of St Anne, celebrated on December 9th in most Orthodox Churches (and December 8th by many Eastern Catholics) is an ancient celebration of the Church. It reflects the stories found in texts that are outside the canon of the New Testament though part of Tradition and the belief of the Church itself that Mary's Conception was sanctified and holy.

In the Roman Catholic Church December 8th is called the feast of the Immaculate Conception. In the Constitution Ineffabilis Deus of 8 December 1854, Pope Pius IX pronounced and defined that the Blessed Virgin Mary "in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin."

Orthodox Christians do not have a doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, even though they refer to Mary as Immaculate, without spot, undefiled, Panagia (All-Holy) and Most Pure. This is because Orthodox Tradition identifies original sin as physical and spiritual death, not as the inheritance of Adam's guilt or sinfulness. Yet, the Canon for the feast of Mary's Nativity calls her sinless from her conception and the kontakion by St. Romanos blunty says: "Delivered from the guilt of sin, thy people keep the feast as they sing unto thee." Also, consider the Matins Sessional hymn for the feast of Mary's entry into the Temple: "To the divine temple thou art brought, thyself a Temple, truly divine, innocent from the time thou wast a babe."

Regardless of the different views on original sin, let all Christians of true worship celebrate the feast. Let us thank God for the miracle that began our salvation--the Mother of God in the womb of a barren elderly woman.

Father, the image of the Virgin is found in your Church. Mary had a faith that your Spirit prepared and a love that never knew sin, for you kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception. Trace in our actions the lines of her love, in our hearts her readiness of faith. Prepare once again a world for your Son who lives and reigns with your and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen  
(Catholic prayer for the Solemnity Of The Immaculate Conception)

  

Virgen de Guadalupe

Open to the Holy Spirit

"Mary tells us that we are all called to open ourselves to the action of the Holy Spirit in order to achieve, as our ultimate destiny, the immaculate state, fully and definitively free from evil".
~ Pope Benedict XVI, Feast of the Immaculate Conception 2010

Mary on Pentecost

One of my favorite titles for Mary is "Spouse of the Holy Spirit". At the Annunciation the Blessed Mother had an intimate encounter with the Spirit of God. I'm sure that relationship continued throughout her life.

On the day of Pentecost I'm sure she was the first to recognize the sound of that rushing wind. I imagine the disciples turning to her, "Is this the Paraclete our Lord promised?" then the flame appeared and she spoke in tongues.

Yes, Mary was a tongue-talking Charismatic!

Rejoice, O Queen, glory of mothers and virgins. No tongue, however sweet or fluent is eloquent enough to praise you worthily. Every mind is overawed by your child bearing. Therefore with one voice we glorify you.

~Pentecost hymn to the Theotokos

Our Lady of Guadalupe

I was drawn to this miracle of Our Lady's image not made by hands even before I was Catholic or Eastern Orthodox. I was at the house of the pastor I worked with at an Assembly of God and he had on EWTN (this was in 1994). They were discussing the icon and it's symbolism. Pastor Dan made the comment, "It reminds me of the woman clothed with the sun in Revelation."

My next experience with OLG occured while I was in the hospital for asthma during Lent 2006. Bob & Penny Lord were on EWTN with a program about her and Juan Diego. Hearing the whole story for the first time brought me closer to Mary's visit to America.

In closing, I'll leave you with the Byzantine Catholic Troparion and Kontakion for the feast of the Theotokos of Guadalupe:

When you appeared in the New World, O Theotokos, you fixed your image on Juan Diego's rose laden tilma. All the poor, hungry, and oppressed seek you, Lady of Guadalupe. We gaze upon your miraculous icon and find hope, crying out to your Son concealed in your womb: Hear our plea for justice, O most merciful Lord.

No longer shall the New World lie wounded in useless blood sacrifice, for she who is clothed with the sun has revealed the Son to us. O Mother of the Americas, imprint His Name upon our hearts, just as you wove your image into the cactus cloth. Teach your children to cry out: O Christ God, our hope, glory to you.

Our Lady of Chestochowa

Maryjo, Królowo Polski,
Jestem przy Tobie, pamiętam,
Jestem przy Tobie, czuwam, czuwam.



Mother, with a face black as the earth of Poland
Our Queen, defending shield, pray for us

Live Webcam from the icon chapel at Jasna Gora
CLICK HERE!

Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above

Hail holy queen enthroned above,
Oh Maria.
Hail mother of mercy and of love,
Oh Maria.
Triumph all ye cherubim,
Sing with us ye seraphim.
Heaven and earth resound the hymn.
Salve, salve, salve regina. :|

Bogurodzica

Oh Mother of God, Oh Virgin,
Maria, blessed by God,
Your son, our Lord,
Maria, chosen Mother,
Return to us, bestow upon us.
May the Lord have mercy.

This poem is the earliest known original literary composition in the Polish language

Dormition of the Theotokos

O marvellous wonder! the source of life is laid in the tomb, and the tomb itself becomes a ladder to heaven. Make glad, O Gethsemane, thou sacred abode of the Mother of God. Come, O ye faithful, and with Gabriel to lead us let us cry: "Hail, thou who art full of grace: the Lord is with thee, granting the world through thee great mercy".

Glorious are thy mysteries, O pure Lady. Thou wast made the Throne of the Most High, and today thou art translated from earth to heaven. Thy glory is full of majesty, shining with grace in divine brightness. O ye virgins, ascend on high with the Mother of the King. Hail, thou who art full of grace: the Lord is with thee, granting the world through thee great mercy.

The dominions and the thrones, the rulers, the principalities, and the powers, the cherubim and the fearful seraphim glorify thy Dormition: and those who dwell on the earth rejoice, adorned by thy divine glory. Kings fall down and sing with the archangels and angels : "Hail, thou who art full of grace: the Lord is with thee, granting the world through thee great mercy".

~Stichera from Dormition Vespers (Tone 1)

May 2009

May is Mary's Month

Spend some time this month getting to know Jesus' Mom. She is our Mother too: Mother of the Church. There are two decent books written by Evangelicals about Mary that I reviewed last year.

On May 13th she is celebrated as Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament.

Hopefully you can find a local parish that is having a May Crowning. The ceremony traditionally takes place with young girls dressed in dresses carrying flowers (traditionally hawthorn) to adorn the statue. One of the girls (often the youngest) carries a crown of flowers or an actual golden crown on a cushion for placement by the May Queen (often the oldest girl) on the statue. The flowers are replaced throughout the month to keep them fresh.

O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today!
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.

The Holy Father's Prayer Intentions

Lay Vocation Promoters: That the laity and Christian communities may embrace their responsibility for promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

A Missionary Church: In response to the Lord for the gift of faith, may the younger Catholic communities generously participate in the universal mission of the Church to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Feasts:
Prophet Jeremiah (May 1 Byzantine)
Athanasius the Great (May 2)
Martyrs of England & Wales (May 4)
St. John the Evangelist (May 8 Byzantine)
Sts. Cyril & Methodius (May 11 Byzantine)
St. Isidore the Farmer (May 14)
Ascension of Our Lord (May 21)
Venerable Bede (May 25)
St. Philip Neri (May 26)
Pentecost (May 31)

Sabbath at the Carpenter's House

It's Friday,
just before sundown.
Mother is lighting
the Sabbath candles.

After kindling the fire
she waives her hands
over the flames three times
then covers her eyes.

She chants:
"Blessed art Thou,
O Lord, King of the Universe,
who commands us to
observe the holy act of
lighting the Shabbat candles."

As a devout Jewish mother,
the Blessed Virgin Mary
performed this ritual each week.

I'm sure that to her
it wasn't just an empty custom.
She knew that she brought the
True light into the world,
the Lord of the Sabbath,
her little Yeshua.

Did the words of Holy Simeon
echo in her soul:
"A light for revelation
to the Gentiles, and for glory
to Your people Israel."

The Incarnation of Mercy

In this way, in Christ and through Christ, God also becomes especially visible in His mercy; that is to say, there is emphasized that attribute of the divinity which the Old Testament, using various concepts and terms, already defined as "mercy." Christ confers on the whole of the Old Testament tradition about God's mercy a definitive meaning. Not only does He speak of it and explain it by the use of comparisons and parables, but above all He Himself makes it incarnate and personifies it. He Himself, in a certain sense, is mercy. To the person who sees it in Him - and finds it in Him - God becomes "visible" in a particular way as the Father who is rich in mercy. (Eph 2:4)

~ John Paul the Great, Dives in Misericordia

Hoec ilia solemnis dies (hymn for Evensong)
This is the day, the solemn day,
Which God appointed to convey
Such news as made our sorrows cease,
Glad news of mercy and of peace.

Our parents' guilt, our parents' fall,
To certain death consigned us all:
From certain death mankind to save,
His only Son Jehovah gave.

Yes! He who was th' Eternal's Son,
E'er time had yet its course begun,
Our life of pain and weakness bore,
Nor did the Virgin's womb abhor.

He took on him our mortal state,
That he might bear the sinner's fate,
That so his blood, in ransom given,
Might take away the wrath of heaven.

Yes! He, the infinite great God,
In human flesh awhile abode:
That we might high in glory dwell,
He came as our Immanuel.

Redeemer of the world, to thee
All praise and glory rendered be:
And to the Father, King of heaven,
And Holy Ghost, all praise be given.

~Translated by John Chandler,
1837 Hymns of the Primitive Church

Notre Dame de Lourdes

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, celebrating the first appearance of the Blessed Virgin to St. Bernadette in 1858.

To you, our Champion Leader and Mother of Christ our God, do we, your children, sing a hymn of praise and thanksgiving for your appearance and miracles that you continue to send down on us as showers of Divine Grace at Lourdes. As through the waters of Baptism we were made new in Christ, so through the waters that gushed forth from the grotto of your appearance we are enlivened by the Grace of God, as we sing:

Rejoice, O Radiant Fountain All Immaculate, bedewing our souls with Life-giving Springs!

~First Kontakion from the Akathist to Our Lady of Lourdes by Dr. Alexander Roman.

St. Bernadette was disappointed with the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes when it was finished. It was taller and older than the apparition she saw. When Bernadette visited the shrine of Our Lady of Grace in northern France and saw the icon venerated there she exclaimed, "That is how Our Lady appeared to me! Exactly like that!"

So, the Mother of God at Lourdes resembled the Theotokos as depicted on Eastern icons. That explains why you will often see pilgrims to Lourdes carrying the Byzantine icon of Our Lady of Grace in procession.

Best of 2008 -- Part 2

Let's continue our review of articles from 2008.

This time I've listed articles that discuss the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Again, just click on the title to read the article.

Think About Mary
Mary on Pentecost
What God Says About Mary
His Mother as Helper
Lily Among Thorns
St. John of Damascus: Theotokos
Like Mary at Communion
Our Lady of the Sign, Ark of Mercy
Aspirations to the Blessed Virgin
Mary for Evangelicals

Our Lady of Expectation

“O God who wished that your Word would take the flesh from the womb of the Virgin as announced by the Angel and whom we confess to be the true Mother of God, may we be helped by her intercession.”

Today, in many parts of the world (but sadly not in America), it is the feast of Our Lady of Expectation. One week before Christ-Mass we celebrate the Holy Virgin "great with child".

The feast is kept alive in many countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy and Poland as well as in a few religious orders. In older editions of missals, this feast is still listed as a votive Mass. There are special prayers and novenas to “Our Lady of Expectation” available for women who cannot conceive or bear a child.

The origin of this feast goes back to the bishops of the 10th Council of Toledo, in 656. They felt that the joy of the Annunciation was overshadowed by the somber character of Lent, so they moved the feast to the week before Nativity. Later, they re-joined the rest of the Church in celebrating the Annunciation on March 25th. But they kept this day as a way to celebrate the Virgin with child .

Nightingale Sounds

One of my favorite Christmas songs is the 16th century "villancico" from Spain called "Riu Riu Chiu". Several recordings have been made including a version by the Monkees doing the first two verses (see video below). I post this today because the song mentions today's feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Here's my own moderately literal translation:

Riu, riu chiu protected by the River
God kept our Lady from that wolf the devil
God kept our Lady from that wolf the devil

The rabid wolf attempted to bite the Theotokos
But Almighty God knew how to defend her
He wished to create her impervious to sin
Nor did she embody original sin

This newborn child is the mightiest of monarchs
Christ patriarchal dressed in human flesh
He humbled Himself in order to redeem us
He who was infinite took on finitude

Many prophecies told us about His coming
And now in our days we have seen them fulfilled
God became man on earth do we behold Him
Now man goes to heaven because it is His will

Christ is here giving life to the dead
He comes to redeem the fallen race of Adam
Jesus is the light that shines in the day
He is the Lamb of God John the Baptist prophesied

Now we have received what we were all desiring
Let us go together bearing our gifts
Let us give our wills to the God who was willing
to come down to earth becoming one of us.

St. John of Damascus: Theotokos

Moreover we proclaim the holy Virgin to be in strict truth the Mother of God. For inasmuch as He who was born of her was true God, she who bare the true God incarnate is the true mother of God.

For we hold that God was born of her, not implying that the divinity of the Word received from her the beginning of its being, but meaning that God the Word Himself, Who was begotten of the Father timelessly before the ages, and was with the Father and the Spirit without beginning and through eternity, took up His abode in these last days for the sake of our salvation in the Virgin’s womb, and was without change made flesh and born of her.

For the holy Virgin did not bare mere man but true God: and not mere God but God incarnate, Who did not bring down His body from Heaven, nor simply passed through the Virgin as channel, but received from her flesh of like essence to our own and subsisting in Himself. For if the body had come down from heaven and had not partaken of our nature, what would have been the use of His becoming man? For the purpose of God the Word becoming man was that the very same nature, which had sinned and fallen and become corrupted, should triumph over the deceiving tyrant and so be freed from corruption, just as the divine apostle puts it, For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead (1 Cor. 15:21). If the first is true the second must also be true.

Hence it is with justice and truth that we call the holy Mary the Mother of God. For this name embraces the whole mystery of the dispensation. For if she who bore Him is the Mother of God, assuredly He Who was born of her is God and likewise also man.

~St. John of Damascus (645-749) whose feast is celebrated today

(from "An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith" 3:12)

The Icon of Advent

The Virgin Mary

is the icon of Advent.

Let us call upon her

to help us to become

an extension of humanity

for the Lord who comes.

~Pope Benedict XVI

Mary Enters the Temple

Today in both the East and West we celebrate the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, or the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Kontakion for the Feast, Tone 4

Election Petition to Mary

This excellent prayer to the Mother of God appeared in the Sunday bulletin of my parish, Christ the King, in Ann Arbor:

O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, at this most critical time, we entrust the United States of America to your lovingcare. Most Holy Mother, we beg you to reclaim this land for the glory of your Son. Overwhelmed with the burden of the sins of our nation, we cry to you from the depths of our hearts and seek refuge in your motherly protection. Look down with mercy upon us and touch the hearts of our people. Open our minds to the great worth of human life and to the responsibilities that accompany human freedom. Free us from the falsehoods that lead to the evil of abortion and threaten the sanctity of family life. Grant our country the wisdom to proclaim that God’s law is the foundation on which this nation was founded, and that He alone is the True Source of our cherished rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. O Merciful Mother, give us the courage to reject the culture of death and the strength to build a new Culture of Life. Trusting in your most powerful intercession, we pray… Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, we fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, our Mother. To thee do we come, before thee we stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer us. Amen.