The veneration of Mary plays a major role in the preservation of Orthodox doctrine, because the honor paid to her is an expression of the Christology or doctrine concerning Christ of the Church. Mary’s most important title is “Theotokos,” which means “God Bearer,” or “Birthgiver of God.” This term, endorsed by the Third Ecumenical Council, the Council of Ephesus in 431, expresses the belief that the son of the Virgin was God from the very moment of his conception. As St. John of Damascus wrote,
“ … she is truly Mother of God who gave birth to the true God who took flesh from her. For the holy Virgin did not give birth to a mere man, but to true God and, not to God simply, but to God made flesh.”
When the Archangel Gabriel spoke to the Blessed Virgin, she could have refused God’s request to bear His Son. Her positive response to the Archangel Gabriel plays an important part in salvation. Mary’s obedience is an example of synergy, or cooperation, with God. For that reason Orthodox Christians sing, “For through her has salvation come to the whole human race.”
We do not “worship” the Virgin Mary; we “venerate” her and show her great honor. Nor have we ever, like the Roman Catholic Church, developed the idea that the Theotokos was born without sin (the Latin dogma of the Immaculate Conception) or that she is a “Co-Redemptor” with Christ (the Latin title of Redemtrix). The consensus of the Orthodox Church rejects such teachings. However, we do believe that the Virgin Mary is an image, as St. Maximos the Confessor says, of the Christian goal of becoming Christ-like, or theosis. Just as the Theotokos gave birth to Christ in a bodily way, so we must, St. Maximos tells us, give birth to Christ in an unbodily or spiritual way. In so doing, we imitate her practical spiritual life, including the purity and humility by which she formed her free will into perfect obedience to the Will of God.
Of this practical image of the Virgin Mary, Archdeacon Basil Kuretich, D.D., has written some words that bear repeating. They present an understanding of the importance of the model which she presents for every Orthodox Catholic believer:
“We…are aware of the part played by Divine Grace in the Virgin Mary’s life and are aware of the perfection of her virtue. However, we cannot lose sight of the importance of free will in the development and expression of her rich personality. After the Annunciation, she kept the secret of God’s plan for her; she faced misunderstanding and accusation from others. She quickly visited her cousin, Elizabeth, not thinking of her own needs, but only the need of Elizabeth to share her joy. She endured the journey to Bethlehem; she humbly prepared for the birth of her Child and obediently accepted the command to flee into Egypt. The Virgin Mary, aided by Divine Grace, carried out these actions in a real world—with real effort and sacrifice. Thus she is for us a model of many virtues.”
The Orthodox Catholic Church calls Mary “immaculate,” and “all pure,” as a manifestation of the Orthodox understanding of salvation as theosis. Thus, through Christ, the Blessed Virgin has become “more honorable than the cherubim, more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim,” for she has been deified and has inherited a place in the Kingdom of God. Orthodox Christians believe that through the grace of God, Mary has been sanctified or made by grace what God is by nature or, as St. Paul wrote,
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another …”
Vladimir Lossky wrote,
“ … the very heart of the Church, one of her most secret mysteries, her mystical center, her perfection already realized in a human person fully united to God, finding herself beyond the resurrection and the judgment. This person is Mary, the Mother of God.”
Orthodox devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is not merely an expression of popular piety. It is much more. The concept of “salvation” in Orthodox theology is more than the forgiveness of sins or justification, but is also the transformation of the believer by the grace of God to become a partaker of the Divine Nature. Orthodox Christians witness the realization of salvation in the sanctification of Mary. Mary shows that the promises of Christ are real, for, through Christ, those who follow Him will share the experience of God’s deifying grace that is manifested by the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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