`The Holy Mother of God is the mother who is always ready to forgive, daring to raise her hands to the Lord with her audacity of Mother and to pray to Him for the poor mortals. The text tells us that the prayer of the Holy Mother of God is very powerful in persuading the Lord. To have the Holy Mother of God as a mother is the priceless gift God made us. He chose her from among the people in order to elevate the people high above to Him. He appreciated her purity and humbleness and rewarded them, giving her as an example to the Christian women. Through her the joy sprang in the world. Through her it was made the beginning of the miracles of Christ, she being a heavenly ladder for the descent of God among men. She is the cloak of the world, wider than the cloud and the bridge taking those who are on earth to heaven. God showed her to us as being the opener of the gates of heaven and the guide of wisdom of the believers.
The Holy Mother of God is the one who mildens the righteous Judge and the shelter of His wisdom. She is the forgiveness of many sinful men and the robe covering those who have no hardihood. Let us bring thankfulness to the One who is the love beyond any desire and the hope of the eternal goods, the One who enlightened the mind of many and who renewed those begotten in sin. Haven`t we felt her love so many times? Could someone else take away our pain as she does?
Let us love the Holy Mother of God and no pain will overwhelm this love! Let us honor the Holy Mother of God and every moment of our life will be filled with hope! Let us thank to the Holy Mother of God for the dignity of calling us Her sons and be her sons indeed! Let us worship the Holy Mother of God before whom the whole earth and sky prostrate! Let us bring joy to the Holy Mother of God fulfilling the commands of her beloved Son and having an overpowering desire for the heavenly ones! Let us follow the Holy Mother of God, the perfect feminine ideal, both for mothers and for nuns! The Holy Mother of God is gentleness itself.
With the power of her innocence and courage, She is the defender of the desperate people, praying ceaselessly for all the sinners, the guilty, the marginalized. She is the mother of the disregarded, of the offended, of the lonely, of those whom nobody loves, for whom nobody has mercy, to whom nobody smiles and for whom nobody prays. As the monk Nicolae Steinhardt wrote, the common people who believe in the Holy Mother of God and in her supernatural help and say `we don`t know any other escape but You`, are not interested in any theological subtleties nor are they concerned by them.
And what could we do more than shedding tears to beg her with ardent faith :
`Be merciful with us the humble because we, who are full of all kinds of sins, have no other escape but You. Have mercy on us, the Hope of the Christians! May the Holy Mother of God make us reach that place high above from Her feet!
Let us love the Holy Mother of God!
We must ponder a few moments upon her role as a mother. We may say without any exaggeration, that no mother was so fully aware of the fact that she serves the whole world and the plan of God fulfilling her humble duties. All the mothers should know how to raise their babies with the gentleness and consciousness of the Holy Mother of God.
They should also know that the refuse to have babies and to raise them is equal with the refuse to collaborate with God, being even a reaction of opposition against Him. To have the Theotokos as a mother is the priceless gift God made us. He chose her from among men to elevate the man to Him. He appreciated her purity and humbleness and rewarded them giving her as an example to all the Christian women. Let us thank to the Holy Mother of God for the dignity of calling us Her sons and let us be her sons indeed! There is a fact which dominates the whole life of the Holy Mother of God, the clear conscience of her solidarity with all people and of her fulfilling the plan of God highlighted in certain moments with a special significance:
- The Moment of the Annunciation. God willing to incarnate Himself as a Man in order to save us asks for the consent of the mankind whose messenger was the humble Virgin Mary. Nobody would ever know what turn would have taken the plan for the salvation of the world if in that unique moment the Holy Virgin had not given her sublime consent: `I am the Lord`s servant, may Your word to me be fulfilled!` (Luke 1, 38). She is aware that by her free consent of being mother of God-The Savior, she brings a service to all the peoples of the earth and for this reason she prophesied inspired by the Holy Spirit: From now on all the peoples will call me blessed.
- The Christmas night when the Holy Mother of God gives birth to God hidden in the body of a human baby. The Holy Mother of God breastfed and raised as a real mother the Man-God, Jesus Christ, the only Savior God gave to the people. She utters her chant now with her inner voice:
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart…` …”(Luke 2, 19). We have to stop for a few moments at her role as a mother. We may say without any exaggeration that no mother was more fully aware of the fact that she made a service to the whole mankind and to the plan of God, fulfilling her humble duties.. All the mothers should know how to raise their babies with the gentleness and consciousness of the Holy Mother of God. They should also know that the refuse to have babies and to raise them is equal with the refuse to collaborate with God, being considered even as a reaction of opposition against Him. To have the Theotokos as a mother is the priceless gift God made us. He chose her from among men to elevate the man to Him. He appreciated her purity and humbleness and rewarded them giving her as an example to all the Christian women. Let us thank to the Holy Mother of God for the dignity of calling us Her sons and let us be her sons indeed!
Father Benedict points out the sublimity of the icon of the Holy Mother of God with the Baby, called `Sweet kiss` : the face of the Virgin Mother from the icon expresses the ineffable love between God and people.
- The moment of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God represents the fulfillment of her serving the mankind. The Holy Fathers say: an inexpressible mysterious reward takes place in the day of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God, between Christ and His Holy Mother. Her body was revived from the dead and taken to heaven in glory as the Body of the Savior before the end of the world and the Second Coming of the Lord! We may say that it is a second Easter: The Easter of the Holy Mother of God! Let us remember the whole service of the Holy Mother of God in the plan of our salvation. She was called to give human body to God and by giving birth to Him she introduced God in the mankind. She helped God become man and be able to die and to come to life again out of His great love for our expiation and transformation and of the whole world. This service and gift were not forgotten by Christ the Saviour. The deification of the man through Jesus Christ, this is the great blessing the mankind owes to the Holy Mother of God.
(Father Constantin Voicescu, one of the great confessors from the communist jails, the preach at the feast of the Birth of the Holy Mother of God, held in the same day when the priest was called to heaven.
