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The Dormition of the Ever-Virgin Mary Ocala 8/13/06 On Tuesday we shall celebrate one of the Great Feast Days of the year. It is the Dormition, or falling asleep of our Holy Mother, the Ever-Virgin Mary, and her assumption into Heaven, to become the Intercessor for us to her Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The 15 Day Fasting Period for the Holy Mother is sealed on August 15th. Since we cannot celebrate a Divine Liturgy for this Great Holiday, which falls on a weekday, I thought it would be proper for us to chant the specific Hymn in Her honor, which I did during the Entrance with the Holy Gospel, after reading to you the translation in English. The hymn of this great Day is as follows: "In giving birth (to our saviour), You, the Mother of God did retain Your virginity; and in Your Dormition, You did not forsake the world. You have passed on into Life, who in essence, is the Mother of Life, (that is Jesus); and through Your intercessions, You deliver our souls from death." The Holy Mother is the unique and most revered of all humans and for all time. She is unique, because God, the Father chose Her from her tenderest years to enter the Temple and thus become His chosen Vessel, through Whom our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ would receive His human counterpart. In thinking, as I do each week to prepare the Sunday Sermon, I thought that today, instead of concentrating on the Event of the Dormition, about which I spoke last year, I would bring to you, in the form of a spiritual bouquet, some of the wealth of our unparalleled Orthodox hymnology, which alludes to the Virgin Mary, so that you can see the impact She has had down through the ages, in the receptive hearts of the faithful. The Orthodox hymnology is unparalleled. It was the product of an inspired age when the Holy Spirit truly blessed our hymnologists.In our Holy Orthodox tradition there is an unbreakable bond between theology and worship. Our worship, which embraces emotions, is also reflective, intelligent, and essentially theological, because as our Holy Fathers stated, we are the "logical sheep" of Christ. All genuine theology must be a living and vibrant theology, and not an abstract exercise of our intellect. It should be a vision of God's Kingdom, attained mainly through liturgical celebration. Before I put together the spiritual bouquet of our Holy Mother's hymnology, I don't expect you to remember all that will follow, but I think it is very important, when you receive our next week's bulletin to meditate on what I will now quote. Over 800 years before Christ the inspired prophet Isaiah in his book, Chapter 7 verse 14 he states: "Behold, a Virgin will conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His Name Immanuel!" (meaning, God is with us!") And after this prophecy of centuries ago, the Virgin Theotokos is born miraculously of her barren mother St. Anna and her father Joachim, whom we commemorate every Sunday in the closing prayer of our Divine Liturgy. Thus, I will bring to you the main hymn of each Feast Day, that we honor the Theotokos. (That is, the Birth-giver of God.) The main hymn of the Feast Day of the Birth of the Holy Theotokos is: "Your Birth, O Theotokos, has brought joy to all the inhabited earth; for from You, the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, has shone forth. He has loosed us from the curse, and has given us Her blessing; He has made death ineffectual, and bestowed upon us Eternal Life!" The Holy Mother's Birthday is celebrated on September 8th. On November 21st we celebrate the Holy Mother's entry into the Temple, to prepare herself for Her unique mission, of becoming the Vessel through Whom our Lord would receive His human counterpart. The main hymn of this day is: "Today is the foreshadowing of the good will of God, and the proclamation of the salvation of humankind; in the Temple of God, the Virgin is clearly shown, and announces to all the coming of Christ. We also, with the Theotokos loudly declare: "Hail to You, the fulfillment of the Creator's dispensation." Chronologically, the Feast of the Annunciation follows, on March 25th. The glad tidings, were announced by the Archangel Gabriel, that She was the chosen Vessel of God to give Birth to our Saviour. The main hymn is: "Today is the crown of our salvation, and the manifestation of the Mystery, that is from all Eternity. The Son of God, becomes the Son of the Virgin, and Gabriel announces the glad tidings of Grace. Therefore, let us also join him, and cry aloud to the Theotokos: "Hail to Yom who are full of Grace, the Lord is with you." All this spiritual preparation, which was mentioned, in which the Holy Virgin St. Mary was the focal point, started from the Prophecy of Isaiah, Then we learn of the Birth of the Theotokos; Her being offered as a young Virgin in the Temple; and in the fulness of time, as St. Paul mentions in his Epistle to the Galatians, the announcement of the Archangel Gabriel comes to fruition with the Birth of our Lord in the stable of Bethlehem, because, there was no room in the Inn. Now, all the preparation, as mentioned, comes to pass through the Birth of our Lord and Saviour in the stable of Bethlehem, because there was no room for them in the Inn. The Christmas Matins are "Today the Virgin gives birth to Him, Who is ineffable, and the earth offers a cave to Him, Who is indescribable. The Angels with the Shepherds glorify Him, and the Magi are journeying guided by a star. For unto us is born a new Child, the pre-Eternal God. After the Birth of the Lord, according to Jewish custom, there was the 40 day cleansing period of the mother and the presentation of the child before the Altar. This became a Christian tradition from the first years of Christianity, and is still practiced only in the Orthodox Church. As the Holy Mother brought the Infant Jesus in the Temple to be blessed, in like manner all mothers bring their children on, or near the 40 days of birth, and the Priest, in imitation of the Prophet Symeon, who held the Infant Jesus, receives the child, and proceeds before the Holy Altar repeating the very words of the Prophet Symeon, who was well on in years. Symeon, well versed in the Old Testament fervently prayed to God not to take him, until he would witness the Saviour's coming. His wish was granted, and holding the Infant Jesus before the Altar prayed: "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for mine eyes have seen Your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people, Israel." Luke 2:29-32 The Matins of the Feast of the Dormition are replete with Biblically based hymns, which are masterfully poetic. I bring to you one of them: "From all generations we call You blessed, O Virgin Theotokos; for Christ our God, Who cannot be contained, was pleased to be contained in You. Blessed also are we, in having You as our intercessor; for day and night, You do intercede for us, and the scepters of kings are strengthened by Your supplications. Therefore, singing Your praises, we cry aloud to You: 'Hail to You, Who are full of Grace, the Lord is with You'." There are many Services held in Her honor, but one of the best known is the Akathist Hymn, sung during the 5 Fridays in Lent. It was composed in Her honor because the Holy City of Constantinople was saved from the onslaught of the barbaric Avars, in the year 626 A.D. It is a poetic masterpiece, and presents vivid pictures of our Holy Mother, describing Her as: "the Bearer of Him, Who bears the universe." "the Heavenly Ladder, by which God descended." "the Bridge conveying those from earth to Heaven." "the incense, acceptable for intercession." "the pillar of virginity, and the Gate of Salvation." "the Leader of spiritual remoulding." "the Ark, gilded by the Holy Spirit." "inexhaustible treasure of Life, and a precious Diadem of devout kings." "the venerable pride of pious Priests." It isn't by chance that the Holy Fathers St. Basil the Great, and St. John the Chrysostom composers of the Liturgies, placed the Theotokos as the first hymn of our Liturgy. "By the intercessions of the Theotokos, O Saviour, save us." Then, after the Consecration of the Holy Gifts into the Body and Blood of Christ, the hymn honoring the Theotokos is heard right after, as follows: "Truly it is worthy to bless You, the Theotokos. Ever blessed and pure, and the Mother of our God. You, Who are more honorable than the Cherubim, and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim; Who incorruptibly did bear God, the Word, verily the Theotokos, we magnify." There is so much to say and quote on end the incomparable hymns devoted to the Holy Theotokos, which should be a source of inspiration for all Orthodox, but I will conclude with the hymn, chanted by the Priest after the Entrance with the Holy Book of the Gospels, providing there is no major Holiday. In this hymn we see how close we feel to the Theotokos, Who is our protector. "You the Theotokos are the loving protector of the Christians; You are the immovable Intercessor to the Creator; do not overlook the petitions of sinners, but hasten in Your goodness to our aid, who faithfully cry out to You; quicken in Your intercession, and hasten in supplication, You, O Theotokos, Who are the protector of those, who honor You." May the Holy Mother the Ever Virgin Mary be our intercessor at all times. Amen. + Fr. George Papadeas
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