My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.
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THE SAINTS
By Father Anthony Alevizopoulos, PhD. of Theology, PhD. of Philosophy
The Church's history, i.e., its universality, refers not only to all its faithful throughout the world, but also to the communion "with all the Saints who throughout the ages were pleasing unto the Lord." Orthodox Christians believe that which Saint Paul declares: "Love never ends" (I Corinthians 13:8); it will never cease to join with a close bond all the members of the Body of Christ, i.e., the entire Church Militant (Church on earth) with all the Saints, i.e., the Church Triumphant (Heavenly Church). For the Orthodox Church both the Christians who carry on their spiritual struggle on earth (the Church Militant), as well as those who with God's grace completed this struggle victoriously (the Church Triumphant), belong to, and together constitute, along with the Angels, the One Catholic Church.
The Orthodox Christians sense the presence of the Saints in their lives, and are bound to them in the bond of mutual love. Through the sacred Memorial Services we entrust both our brothers and sisters who have reposed and ourselves to God's mercy and love. One of the Church's prayers states:
"O Christ, those who were devoured by wild beasts, and those torn asunder by fish, and those who were buried by earthquakes, by chasms and precipices, Do Thou, O Savior, have mercy on them and save the, Most Merciful, from every threat there"
And another prayer states:
"Receive therefore, O Master, our petitions and intercessions, and grant rest unto the fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and children of each of us, and to any others of our kinsmen and people, and all the souls of them that have gone to rest before us in the hope of the resurrection of life everlasting; ...and raise up our bodies on the day that Thou has appointed, according to Thy holy and unfailing promise".
And the prayer continues:
"For there is no death, of Lord, for us, Thy servants, when we have departed from the body and come unto Thee, O God, but rather a translation from things sorrowful unto things better and more delightful, and unto repose and joy. And if we have sinned in anything against Thee, be Thou merciful unto us and unto them; for there is none pure of stain before Thee, even though his life be but for a day...and grant unto them that have preceded us, freedom and rest, and bless us who are here present, granting a good and peaceful end unto us and all Thy people."
The first among all in the Church Triumphant is, according to Our Orthodox Christian faith, the Ever-Virgin Mary. In her person all of mankind gave its consent for the realization of the plan of Divine Economy for the salvation of the world. This came about when she declared: "Behold the Handmaid of the Lord. Let it be unto me according to Thy word" (St. Luke 1:38). In this way the Ever-Virgin Mary became an instrument and collaborator with God in the salvation of man.
With the consent of the Ever-Virgin, the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, purified her and made her to be the suitable "receptacle" of His grace, for the creation of the human nature of the Son and Logos/Word of God (St. Luke 1:35). This is why that which was born of her was not a God-bearing man but "God Incarnate".
The Church does not attempt to approach the Mystery of God's becoming man (I Timothy 3:16), intellectually; for it is beyond reason. Thus, the Orthodox Christian remains ecstatic before it and glorifies God for His inexpressible love. This is to be seen in many of the Church's hymns.
"Hear O heaven, strange things, And thou, O earth, lend thine ear, for a daughter of man, of fallen Adam, has become the Mother of God, her Creator, for our salvation and re-creation".
Another hymn says:
"Thou does give birth without intercourse, to Him to Whom the Father gave birth before all ages, and thou dost nourish Him Who nourishes us! O strange Wonder! O newly seen Miracle, thou O full of God's Grace! Wherefore every faithful soul doth glorify thee".
The Ever-Virgin Mary gave birth to Christ's human nature, not to His Divinity. The human nature, however belongs to Jesus Christ, i.e., to the one and unique person; thus she is, and is rightly called the "Mother of God" i.e. Theotokos (St. Luke 1:43). Man's salvation is founded upon this basic Truth; whoever denies it, rejects salvation in Christ. As Saint John Damascene says, "He who does not confess the Holy Virgin to be Theotokos, is separated from God".
Christ is the new "root" (Revelation 22:16); He is not descended from the root of Adam, because He was born of the Holy Spirit and from a Virgin Mother (St. Matthew 1:20-23; St. Luke 1:35), who even after his birth remained a virgin. And this because that which was used by Christ is unique in its use for it has been sanctified. A new use of course would have been sacrilegious. Through His birth, Christ did not violate His Mother's virginity; she remains a virgin after her birth-giving and Jesus is her only-begotten Son (Prov. 4:3). In Holy Scripture, before the birth of Jesus, the Virgin Mary is called the wife of Joseph (St. Matthew 1:20), just as Joseph is called the husband of Mary (St. Matthew 1:16). In this "legal" sense, Joseph is also characterized as the father of Jesus (St. Luke 2:48), just as Joseph's children are called Jesus' brothers.
The Church honors the Virgin Mary as Theotokos and Ever-Virgin and chants:
"O Virgin, You without experience of man, did conceive for us men, The Logos/Word, Who boundless in His Divinity, did become man".
In the Virgin's womb man's nature was renewed and man became a partaker of divine life. She is the "bridge" which united the earth with HEAVEN. That is why she is depicted in the Sanctuary of the Churches in the apse behind the Holy Table as she who is "wider than the heavens" ("platytera ton ouranon"), uniting heaven and earth.
We honor the Ever-Virgin Mary because God Himself was the first to honor her; He made her "full of grace", "blessed" and "Mother of the Lord". The Virgin Mary herself prophesies that "all generations shall call Her blessed" (St. Luke 1:28, 30, 35, 41, 45).
Orthodox Christians do not place the Ever-Virgin Mary above the Church but within it. They believe that she also inherited our sickly nature and was a genuine child of this world, which she represented and gave her consent to the realization of God's plan. She is considered "All-Holy" (Panagia), not in relation to God, but in relation to God's creatures. She is "more honorable than the cherubim" who "in a circle" surround God's Throne (Isaiah 6:2, Ez. 1:26-28), while the Virgin Mary became herself the Throne of God.
The Lord's Holy flesh was also the flesh of the Ever-Virgin. All we Christians who are incorporated in the Body of Christ are "brothers of the Lord; hence the Virgin Mary becomes the Mother of all mankind. (Source: The Monastery)
(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George