The Catalog of Good Deeds: Orthodox Christian Saints

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On October 9 (old style) the Orthodox Church commemorated a great saint and prophet – Abraham, the Old Testament patriarch and forefather. We all know pretty much about this unique saint. However, I would like to recall the 3 main feats of faith of Abraham, although there were much more of them, and his whole life can be compared with one significant feat of faith.

1. “And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there” (Genesis 11:31). By God’s calling, Abraham left one of the most comfortable and civilized cities of that time – Ur of the Chaldees. Only in the 20^th century, the scientists managed to learn what a great city it was before. More than 65,000 of people lived there, so it turned out that it was a large metropolis with a highly developed culture and economic life. Having left that city and gone barely to nowhere, Abraham and his father Pharra shew their courage and firm faith. Abraham trusted God, Who called him into another life full of wanderings, dangers and fear.

2. At first, Abraham was called Abram, which meant “the great father”. After God had made a Covenant with him, God changed his name and called him Abraham, which meant “the father of many”, since according to God’s promise, numerous tribes and peoples will come through Abraham into this world: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you” (Genesis 17:4-6). Abraham had no doubt in that promise, although his wife Sarah was barren.

3. Finally, the greatest feat of Abraham's faith was to sacrifice his own son Isaac. God said: “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Genesis 22:2). And so Abraham obeyed, he took his son Isaac and went to Moriah. It is impossible to imagine what Abraham felt and how difficult for him it was to follow God’s commandment. Here is what St. John Chrysostom says about it: “When the patriarch heard that address: “Abraham!” (Genesis 22:1), he readily listened to the calling, since he was waiting for another manifestation of God’s mercy. In his mind, Abraham thought about the marriage of his son and the organization of a wedding feast, so that the Divine covenant about the seed and offsprings became true. But let us examine the words of the order itself: “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love”.

You see how these words work, you see how they sting the father and foster the flame of our nature, how they acute the father’s love towards his son by calling him beloved and only at the same time? Go to the land of Moriah and then burn him as a sacrifice on one of the mountains to which I would point. What would you feel after you heard such words? Who of the people, who have children and know how strong our natural love towards them could be, would not be horrified by such an order? Just think about how the father felt, who got the order to sacrifice his only son. Who would not be stunned by that order? Who would not say that he was ready to die himself rather than to fulfill such an order? […] What are You asking me for? What the terrible words I hear from You? Could it be so that You have made me be a father in order to make me be a filicide later? Could it be truth that I have been honored with that wonderful gift of fatherhood in order to become a parable for the whole world? I should kill my son with my own hands? Should desecrate my hands with his blood and become the murderer of my child? So, this is what You want? This is what sacrifices are pleasing for You? You are ordering me to kill my only son, about whom me and Sarah thought that he would bury us? With this marriage I should please him? To light burial fire instead of joyful wedding lights? […] How could I become the father of many peoples by Your word, if You ask me to kill my only son?” (The Homily on Abraham and Isaac)

However, Abraham loved God more than anything and trusted Him as much as children trust their parents. God stopped Abraham’s hand and did not let the worst thing happen. Some time later, hundreds of years later, the event would happen, for which Abraham’s sacrifice became a foretype. Jesus Christ, being the Word of God, trusted His Father and accepted terrible tortures, dishonor and shameful death, so that the ancient condemnation would be washed with His holy blood. The Son trusted His Father, and the Father resurrected His Messiah from the dead: “for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

So let us remember about the faith of our Forefather Abraham and let us teach from him how we should trust our God and stay loyal to Him: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology,
specialized in Biblical Studies.

The Catalog Of Good Deeds

On September 30 (October 13), the Church commemorated a great saint, a missioner and confessor, a bishop of Christ’s Church - St. Gregory, the enlightener of the Armenian people. Thanks to his confessional feat and his work on the field of Christ, the whole people turned to the faith in Jesus Christ. For 2 centuries, Armenian Orthodox Church supported the Eucharistic communion with other local Orthodox Churches. However, unfortunately, it could not accept the doctrines of the 4^th Ecumenical Council and this is why for more than 1500 years is does not have the Eucharistic communion with the Orthodox Church.

Below we will mention some interesting facts about the Armenian Orthodox Church and its founder – St. Martyr Gregory.

1) Gregory was of the family of Parthian kings. His father killed his own relative – the king of Armenia – for authority and the whole tribe of the future enlightener of Armenia was killed for that. Gregory himself was rescued by another relative of him, who later brought him to Caesarea of Cappadocia, where Gregory was baptized and raised in Christian faith.

2) To make amends for what his father had done, Gregory decided to come back to his homeland and join the service at the court of king Tiradath, the son of the killed Armenian king so that he could be his servant.

3) King Tiridath could not stand the Christian faith of his servant and was the one who ordered to throw Gregory into the moat, where he spent 14 years. He ate there the food that one good woman brought to him.

St. Gregory sitting in the moat

4) King Tiridath killed a saint virgin Ripsimia, abbess Gaiania and 35 virgins, after which he lost his mind and could find the cure only through his repentance, to which we was called by St. Gregory.

5) Armenia is the first country in the world’s history that accepted Christianity as its state religion.

6) The Head of the Armenian Church – Catholicos, who has full power. He is the only cleric who can ordain bishops. Other bishops can only assist him during the ordination. The elected catholicos takes his position until his death.

Catholicos Krekin II and Patriarch Kirill

7) Bishops can be chosen only from among single unmarried priests who have a science degree.

8) Before to become a servant, a married priest has to be married at least for a year and has a child.

9) In Armenian Church, the rank of archimandrite is not a position, but a science degree, which can be accepted only by the unmarried clerics.

10) Following an ancient Christian tradition, Armenian Christians celebrate the Nativity of Christ and the baptism of the Lord on one and the same day, which is January 6, and call it the feast of the “Epiphany”.

11) The Armenians use unleavened bread for Eucharist and do not dilute wine with water.

12) Armenian Church did not accept the Council of Chalcedon largely owing to the war against Persia as well as due to the fact that the Byzantine Empire itself denied the Council of Chalcedon back then, and the Armenian Church followed the Byzantine. However, later the Byzantine Empire would accept the decisions of the Council, while the Armenians would not.

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology,
specialized in Biblical Studies.

The Catalog Of Good Deeds

Before his conversion to Christianity, St. Cyprian was a pagan sorcerer who had direct contact with demons. Many people payed him to use his magic in order to get something they wanted, and Cyprian would use his authority among the evil spirits to fulfill these godless requests. One such client was a young man named Aglaias, who desired the virgin Justina, the daughter of a Christian priest.

The sorcerer invoked an evil spirit with a long resume of successful seductions, and this boastful spirit gave him some powder for the youth to sprinkle around Justina's home. Once he had done this, the chaste girl was attacked by lustful thoughts and feelings, but she valiantly fought them off with prayer and dedication to the Lord. When Cyprian saw that all the power of the devil was useless against a young girl who had faith in Jesus Christ, he too repented and was baptized, later even becoming a bishop. Both Cyprian and Justina were martyred by their pagan ruler. Now Christians pray to these saints to protect themselves from sorcery and satanism, which has always lurked around in the dark corners of society but is now showing its disgusting face nearly everywhere we look — television, cinema, and even public parades.

When people want their desires fulfilled without God, because these desires are ungodly, they have in times turned to the devil through magicians and sorcerers. Here are examples of help against witchcraft and sorcery from Sts. Cyprian and Justina in nineteen century Russia and twentieth century Greece.

The devout maiden R. was subjected to the same temptation as was once the holy Martyr Justina: she was pursued by a certain man who, seeing that all his efforts to arouse in her a mutual love for him remained futile, turned to a sorcerer, and with his help began to direct magic spells against her. Being forewarned about this through a faithful servant-woman, and beginning to feel in herself the action of the enemy's power, this maiden had no one from whom to seek help except God, for she had no acquaintance with anyone of spiritual life. One night the above-mentioned servant-woman saw a dream wherein a tall monk entered her lady's room and led her out in a monastic garment. Soon after this, Elder Anthony of Optina visited this family, although he had not known them before. In this important visit was clearly expressed the providence of God for this family, as well as the manifest activity of demons ... When he entered the house (as he later wrote this maiden), "at first I encountered a whole crowd of demons who with abusive language forbade me to enter, but the Lord drove them away ... Even though I did not know the history of your last two years, it was not for nothing that I advised you to pray to the holy Martyr Justina the virgin, for your situation then was very similar to hers, as I recently found out, and with my whole soul I thank God with tears that your holy soul has been delivered from the nets which had caught it!" The servant-woman, when she saw Father Anthony, recognized that it was precisely he that she had seen in her dream.

The Elder understood that the only salvation for this maiden was to go to a convent. But her relatives did not wish even to hear of this, and Father Anthony did not find it possible or profitable to persuade them; and therefore he only prayed for her deliverance from the enemy's nets that surrounded her, and by his letters strengthened her in her torment from the invisible power of demons, which had been brought against her by the sorcerer ... By the prayers of Father Anthony, R's mother unexpectedly gave her consent for her to enter a convent ... However, the sorcerer boasted that he would drag her even out of the convent. And indeed, the young novice continued to feel within herself the action of the enemy's power, having repose neither day nor night; and again she found strength in the prayers and counsel of Father Anthony. The young sufferer received final deliverance from the temptation of the enemy that tormented her through the prayers of the great contemporary hierarch, now reposed, Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow. Once he appeared to her in a dream, read the 60th Psalm, ordered her to repeat after him all the verses of it, and then gave her the command to read this Psalm daily. On awakening, she felt that the temptation which had been tormenting her for many years had completely departed from her.

(Elder Anthony concludes his letter to this maiden, who was then still suffering the effects of her experience:) "Be full of hope. You and I, even lying flat in bed, will be saved by the prayers of the saints for us; for if the prayer of even a single saint can give much help, then when all the saints start to pray for us, without any doubt the Kingdom of Heaven will be ours!" (Translated from Hieromonk Clement Sederholm, Optina Elder Anthony, St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1973, pp. 100-103, and The Letters of Abbot Anthony, Optina edition, 1869, pp. 381-2.)

In twentieth century Greece

From the time when, by the grace of God, our monastery was founded in 1961, our protectors, Saints Cyprian and Justina, have worked many miracles through their intercession, especially for those suffering from satanic influence or the effects of black magic.

A few years ago, after the Sunday Liturgy, while the abbot was still in the altar taking off his vestments, a young man, about 30 years old, came to one of the side doors of the iconostasis and in tears said: "Father, save me, help, my home is falling apart. I have been married 25 days now, but they have done something to me and I can't get close to my wife. We live as brother and sister, and now we're so much in the hold of nerves and quarrelling, that if it continues, we will separate."

The abbot tried to calm him, and advised him that when he and his wife had repented of their sins, they should confess, and after fasting three days, they should come to the monastery so that a Vigil and Divine Liturgy could be served in their name.

They did as instructed, prepared and came; the Vigil was celebrated and prayers of exorcism were read over them, and in the morning they left for home. Next Sunday the young man came to the monastery again, but this time full of joy, and he told with great emotion what had happened. "When we left here on Thursday morning, we returned home and found my father very disturbed. When I asked him what was wrong, he said: 'Something fearful happened last night. While I was sleeping, there appeared before me a tall old man with gray hair and beard, who woke me up and said: "Get up, my child, and dig there (he showed me the exact place) to find your son's magic charm." After that he disappeared. I was so frightened that I stayed in bed waiting for it to get light.'" (It is evident that the tall old man who appeared was St. Cyprian, who went, while the Vigil was being celebrated and the prayers being read, to the couple's house to reveal to his father this demonic business.)

The young man continued: "I asked my father where the old man told him to dig. He showed me, and forty centimeters down I found these strange things." He gave the abbot a white handkerchief with a large knot, which proved when opened to contain the dust of a dead body and the couple's initials. Exorcisms were read over it, and the young man left again. Two days later the abbot saw an old woman kneeling and weeping before the icon of St. Cyprian and St. Justina. When asked what had happened, she replied that she was the mother of the young man from Aspopyrgo, and from the day they had come to the monastery, they had been completely well, and were living in great happiness. She had come to thank the Saints, full of gratitude for the great gift they had given. (By Archimandrite [now Metropolitan] Cyprian of the Monastery of Sts. Cyprian and Justina; translation first published in The Old Calendarist, monthly publication of the St. George Information Service, London, England, June, 1975.)

From The Orthodox Word, Vol. 12, No. 5 (70) (September-October, 1976),

pp. 135-142, 167-176.

Source: http://orthochristian.com/97839.html

A child was born in Varnitsa, Russia, to his parents Cyril and Mary. He was their second child, and they named him Bartholomew. Doubtless they had plans for their son, hoping that he would prosper as they had prospered, and live a comfortable life. God, however, had other plans for the boy. Eventually at the age of twenty-four he would be tonsured a monk, and known to the world forever after as Sergius of Radonezh. He is venerated by those in Russia as one of the great founders of Russian monasticism. But what about those of us who live outside Russia? What could St. Sergius mean to us?

St. Sergius is important because his life reveals the power of humility, and humility is the foundation for all spiritual life, whether one lives in Novosibirsk or New York. The story is told of Sergius’ early years living in a quiet hermitage in the forest. After living on his own for three years, his sanctity became known, and men came and settled near him, asking to live under his spiritual direction. Sergius was unwilling to become their abbot, protesting that he was unworthy to wield such authority. The brethren returned once again to importune him, pleading that he become their abbot. “It is not for me to fulfill the angelic ministry,” he replied, “It is for me to weep for my sins.” The men burst into tears, saying, “If you are unwilling to care for our souls, we will have to leave this place, straying like lost sheep, and you will have to answer for it before God.” This was exactly the way to reach Sergius’ tender and humble heart. He relented, saying only, “I would rather obey than command, but dreading God’s judgement, I will leave this matter to the will of the Lord.”

He then had to obtain the blessing of the local bishop to become their abbot, and even here the humble saint tried to find a way out. Accompanied by two of the brethren, he went to visit the local bishop and asked him to give them an abbot, hoping no doubt that he would pick someone else. When the bishop picked him, Sergius again insisted he was unworthy. The bishop replied, “Beloved, you have acquired all the virtues except obedience.” Seeing no way out, Sergius bowed low and accepted ordination to the priesthood and the task of being their abbot. His career in monasticism had begun in earnest, and would continue to grow. There was now no looking back.

Sergius lived and died in the same unshakable humility, and humility is needed now more than ever in this poor and wretched world. Rich and worldly men extend their private empires, grinding the faces of the poor as such men have always done. Nations vaunt themselves, puff themselves up, boast against their neighbours, and wage war against those weaker than themselves, and the earth shudders under them. Even in the Church some men embark on their own careers, and preen themselves, feeding themselves rather than feeding the flock (see Ezekiel 34:1-6), swelling themselves with pride. Now more than ever we need the example of humble Sergius. He was one who knew what true greatness looks like, and who believed the Lord when He said, “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44). No spirituality can exist that is not built upon humility. No real life or joy can come to men unless they first become like little children. St. Sergius knew this, and lit a light in his native Russia. The whole world may be grateful for this, and strive to walk by its light.

By Archpriest Lawrence Farley

Source: http://www.pravmir.com/sergius-russia-saint-seasons/

July 23/August 5 is the day of commemoration of the glorification of St. Fyodor Ushakov, an admiral of the Russian navy of a brilliant undefeated career who lived a life devoted to the teachings of Christ and the services of the Church, and finished his life in the quiet peace of the Sanaksary Monastery. Below is an account of his life and glorification from Sputnik/The Voice of Russia.

* * *

On August 5th, 2001 at the Monastery erected in honor of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Sanaksar, they glorified the blessed holy warrior Fyodor Ushakov, canonized as a local saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. This was the first appearance of a saint in shoulder-straps—a navy officer—in the Russian church calendar. For what spiritual valor did our Lord thus pay homage to this legendary admiral, who brought glory to the Russian Navy with many a victory at the end of the 18th century? To tell us this is a layman, writer Valery Ganichev, author of a number of books about Fyodor Ushakov, and in actual fact, one who stood at the source of that which led to his glorification. Asked what inspired him to turn to the life story of the great navy officer, Valery Ganichev replied:

“Upon graduating from Kiev University I worked in the town of Nikolaev, a shipbuilding center in the south of the country. This was in the distant 50’s –60’s. These places are linked with the activity of Admiral Ushakov, who participated in the grand-scale epopee of opening up the virgin southern territories—Novorossiya and the Crimea; built up the Black sea Fleet and its base—Sebastopol. In scope, this epopee could be compared to the conquering of the American Wild West or the discovery of Australia.

I was greatly interested in the personality of Fyodor Ushakov. So I started collecting material on him. Working on the books devoted to Fyodor Ushakov, I marveled at his whole-hearted nature, unwavering conformity to the Lord's commandments and selfless dedication to his homeland. I began to see farther than his military valor, recognizing the valor of the spirit, thanks to which he, in effect, became the great navy officer he was.

What kind of a man was Fyodor Ushakov? He was born in 1744 on the Volga, in the family of a military man. He was baptized in the Church of the Epiphany-on-the-Isle, as if receiving from above a blessing to “serve on water.”

His birthday, February 13th, falls between the commemoration days of two warrior-martyrs—Fyodor Stratilat, and Fyodor Tiron. This, likewise, is an omen of Ushakov's military calling. So it is hardly surprising that as a youth, he chose to join the naval corps. By God's will he was sent to the Black Sea, where in battles with the Turks the Russian Black Sea Fleet was born. It was here that his God-given talent as a naval commander was manifested in full measure. For a number of spectacular victories during the second Russian-Turkish war of 1789-1791 Ushakov was elevated to the rank of Rear Admiral and placed at the head of the Black Sea Fleet. The Turks feared him, calling him, deferentially, “Ushak-Pasha.” Finally, in the celebrated battle of Tendre in 1790 he routed the Turkish fleet and thus put an end to the Turkish domination on the expanses of the Black Sea. Thus, Russia was able to hold its own among other great seafaring nations.

In the course of his service, Ushakov participated in forty campaigns and never once suffered defeat. This is unparalleled in world history. To us today this might seem a miracle, an unbelievable stroke of good fortune. Indeed, it was a miracle, but, from the point of view of an Orthodox believer, one worked by God.

Ushakov was a profoundly religious man, always staunchly believing in our Maker's providence, convinced that He granted victory to the Orthodox warriors while all of man's skills were "nothing without divine intervention.” After each victory he ordered a service in church to thank the Lord for yet another victory granted him. Even Ushakov's ships bore names of the Saints—"Saint Pyotr", "Saint Pavel", "The Nativity of the Mother of God", etc. According to the witness of contemporaries, despite an extremely busy schedule Ushakov daily went to the church services and never undertook any activity of importance without first attending the Liturgy. And indeed, busy he was. Ushakov was involved in not only navy matters proper, but in the construction of the naval base Sebastopol. Due to his excellent administrative skills the latter was turned into a real city, with attractive stone buildings, gardens and churches.

A true Christian, Ushakov closely followed the biblical commandment "love thy neighbor as you love thyself" in all of his deeds. It is true he was at times obliged to severely reprimand his subordinates for violating naval discipline, fighting their weaknesses: inclination to heavy drinking, slatternliness, idleness, and idle talk. And yet, there was no other commander in the whole of the Russian fleet who showed such concern for the sailors, their health and proper diet. "An ill sailor will be unable to serve the Navy as he should," he would say. There were times when the fleet experienced great hardships, not receiving money from the state coffers on time, and at such moments the Admiral would dip into his own pocket. History has preserved a decree dated October 18th 1792, where it is written: "Due to lack of funds and in view of a need to ensure the good health of the men, I allot, out of my own means, thirteen thousand and five hundred roubles, of which I order that ten thousand go towards buying fresh meat, and the remaining three and a half thousand be used for the needs of the hospitals.”

We do not know if the generous impulses of the great man were ever fully reimbursed by the state from its coffers, yet Ushakov was indeed repaid for his generosity in the love and complete devotion of his sailors, ready to follow him in the face of any danger...

Read the full article here: http://www.orthochristian.com/81187.html

People who do not go to church have been perplexed by the veneration of the Most Holy Mother of God for centuries. Many of them accuse the Orthodox Christians of some kind of idolatry. Some denominations, such as Evangelicals, refuse to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary altogether. What does the Church have to answer to her opponents? Why does She call upon the Theotokos in prayer so often?

Here is how Saint Ignatius Bryanchaninov (1807–1867) who was one of the most famous theologians and saints of the 19th century, addressed many of these issues.

He even wrote a very detailed treatise on Church veneration of the Virgin Mary because Pope Pius IX had announced a new doctrine of Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. Another reason for writing that treatise were the requests of his contemporaries to provide a definitive rebuttal of the Protestant and secular arguments against the said veneration.

Why Do Christians Venerate Theotokos So Much?

It is because Virgin Mary gave birth to God himself. She was the only person in the world in whom the Creator of the world dwelt. Other great righteous men and women received Divine inspiration thanks to the Holy Spirit, of course, but the Mother of God was the only person who received the Logos so that He could become incarnate.

Saint Ignatius Bryanchaninov writes, “This kind of receiving God is obviously the once-in-history, exceptional, unparalleled phenomenon, unreachable for holy men and for holy angels, and appropriate solely for the Mother of God. The God-man replaced Adam and became the originator of the tribe of the elect; likewise, the Mother of God replaced Eve and became their mother. The God-man is the King of Heaven, of all men and angels; likewise, the Mother of God is the Queen of Heaven, the Queen of all men and angels.”

Why Is Theotokos Honored More Than All Saints?

The high status of the Theotokos is due not only to the fact that She became the mother of the God-man but also to the fact that She was the only person who stayed in close contact with God for such a long time, as Saint Ignatius writes, “The Ever-Virgin is higher than all holy men both because She became the Mother of the God-man and thanks to the fact that She was the most persevering and the most attentive learner of the doctrine that the God-man preached. The first of this qualities was bolstered by the second one, and thus the status of the Mother of God became the most exalted one. This is what the Holy Gospel points out with regard to the Mother of God, ‘Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart’ (Luke 2:19).”

What Is The Greatest Contribution of the Theotokos?

The main contribution of the Blessed Virgin was that She made herself ready for carrying the Savior. It was her personal and voluntary act of self-sacrifice. Her chastity, profound love, complete self-denial, and absolute loyalty to God set her apart from all righteous men and women of the Old Testament.

Saint Ignatius writes: “What the greatest God’s servants aspired to accomplish, the Mother of God actually accomplished, thanks to the God-sent Divine grace. How did she carry it out? At first, her heart and womb were overcome with the Holy Spirit. Then her womb became the Temple of the Incarnate Lord: the spiritual joy pouring from the presence of the Lord engulfed her entirely, according to her own words. As a rule, holy joy engulfs those humans who had been lucky to feel the power of the Holy Spirit, so it is natural that the Theotokos was filled with the divine joy.

As soon as the God-man was born, She was the closest person to him. It was in her lap and in her arms that He spent his early childhood; He was inseparable with her not only during his adolescence but also in his youth and as an adult — up until the beginning of his public ministry, which lasted for three and a half years. There wasn’t anyone who heard the word of God for so long and so closely. There wasn’t anyone who followed the words and actions of the God-man with equally deep and permanent attention and preserved them so meticulously and lovingly."

Why is Virgin Mary Called Mother of God? How Can Anyone Give Birth to the Eternal God?

Jesus Christ born by Virgin Mary is fully God and fully human at the same time. According to the doctrine officially proclaimed at the 4th Ecumenical Council, his two natures — human and divine — are manifest in him unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably.

Saint Ignatius writes: “The Virgin, having conceived and delivered God and man in the same person, became the Mother of God in the exact sense of this word because her offspring was God, while at the same time being a human being. St. John of Damascus exclaims, ‘Having given birth to God who was incarnated through her, how isn’t She the Mother of God?’ The Virgin who became the Mother of God naturally becomes the Lady, the Queen, and the Domina of all sentient beings, on earth and in heaven alike; but at the same time She continues to be a God’s creature and her Son’s and God’s handmaid. By giving birth to the Sacrifice for the sins of the whole humankind, She gave birth to the Sacrifice for her own sins as well, for She is part of the human race, too. Her Son is God, the Creator, the Lord, the Redeemer, and the Savior.”

Why Does The Orthodox Church Refuse to Believe in the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary?

Pope Pius IX of Rome issued an edict on December 8, 1854, which promulgated the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary as an official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. According to the doctrine, the Mother of God was born without the original sin, i.e., She was absolutely sin-free. The Orthodox Church rejects this doctrine and believes that it contradicts the soteriology (doctrine of salvation) shaped in the age of Ecumenical Councils. In fact, Theotokos herself professes Jesus Christ as her Savior in the Gospel according to Luke.

This is what Saint Ignatius writes: “The graceful Ever-Virgin claims that the God She brought into this world is her Savior. The Papists ascribe sinlessness to Her and by virtue of this claim demonstrate their disbelief in God’s omnipotence. On the contrary, the Orthodox Church praises God’s omnipotence and supreme power that made a female conceived and born in sin incomparably greater than the Cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim who have never known sin and who remain steadfast in holiness. My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour (Luke 1:43), the Blessed Virgin said in response to Elisabeth when the latter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, spoke out in the loud voice that the Ever-Virgin was the Mother of God.”

Why Do Christians Address Theotokos As Mother?

During his Passion, the Lord declared Apostle John the Theologian, who was standing by his Cross, an adopted son of Jesus’s Mother, and therefore all members of the Church are also her children. We read in the Gospel, “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home” (John 19:26-27).

“When the Lord had already redeemed the human race,” Saint Ignatius writes, “and was about to seal the act of redemption with his voluntary death on the Cross, there was the Mother of God together with his beloved disciple, Apostle John, standing nearby. The Lord suddenly speaks to the Theotokos who was taking part in his redemptive agony. He entitles her to certain rights concerning the humankind; the rights that She receives from the God-man having earned them for her attitude and relationship with the God-man. He declares her the mother of the beloved disciple, and through him—the Mother of the entire renewed human race, according to the opinion and exegesis of the Fathers.”

Why Does The Church Pray to the Theotokos So Often?

Christians believe that the Mother of God rose from the dead and that God took her into the Heavenly Kingdom after her death. She became our main intercessor and supplicant for the whole Church. It is for this reason that there have never been any kind of relics of the Theotokos in the Church anywhere, even though parts of her robe and belt are considered sacred.

Saint Ignatius writes: “The Mother of God rose from the dead on the third day after her blissful Dormition. She now dwells in the Heaven both spiritually and physically. Not only does She dwell in the Heaven but She even reigns in the Heaven. Being the Mother of the King of Heaven, She carries the title of the Queen of Heaven, the Queen of holy Angels and holy men. She received special powers and special courage to intercede for the human race before God. The Holy Church asks all greatest servants of God, all Angels and Archangels, to ‘pray to God for us’ but asks the Mother of God to ‘save us’.”

By Tikhon Sisoyev

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: https://foma.ru/pochemu-bogoroditsa-pochitaetsya-tserkovyu-vyishe-chem-vse-svyatyie.html

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