The world has been filled with many miracles of the Mother of God’s protection—signs of her maternal love. The examples of this protection are countless, beginning from the depth of history to our own days.
The commemoration of today’s feast, the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God, has been observed since the tenth century, when, during a time of troubles for the Greek nation, the whole course of events augured that nation’s inescapable demise. The barbaric Saracen tribe (a race related to modern-day Turks of the Moslem faith motivated by their hatred for Christians) surrounded Constantinople with the goal to destroy its many churches, a large part of which were dedicated to the Heavenly Queen, and to wipe it from the face of the earth, subjecting its inhabitants to cruel executions, selling some into slavery and mocking their faith.
The whole population from the little to the great gathered in the Church of Blachernae. Their despair moved them to turn in prayer to the Mother of God with great wailing and tears. She was their last and only hope. Just imagine how they prayed as destruction and death approached. All things earthly were forgotten; before them was the door to eternity and a violent death at its threshold. The depth of their penitent feelings and contrition over the sins which caused this catastrophe to befall the Greeks was so great that the Heavenly Queen herself hastened to appear to the faithful and console them. Her omophorion (veil), gleaming brighter than the rays of the sun, became her Protection from the approaching disaster.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God (Mt. 5:8).
Not everyone saw the Blessed Mother with their own eyes. Only two, who had given their lives to God, truth and righteousness, whose hearts lay at the Savior’s feet, were astounded by the vision. These were St. Andrew the Fool-for-Christ, who was of Slavic origin, and his disciple Ephiphanius. Two beheld the Mother of God; and all the faithful, who had cleansed their hearts by repentance, were capable of believing them unconditionally. After faith came action—the enemy suddenly, for no apparent reason, abandoned its intention. And all those who cherish the memory of these events in their hearts still sing:
“Rejoice, O Our Joy! Protect us from all evil with Thy omophorion.”
The sovereign Protection of the Mother of God has covered Orthodox Catholic Christians throughout all times. But during this present, difficult time, when faith on this earth has grown cold, is burdened by faithlessness, lawlessness, and ignorance of the knowledge of God’s commandments, has our Fervent Intercessor turned away from us in her zeal for the glory of her Son and God? No, this could not be. Needy children are dearer to a mother. As long as there is at least a “little flock” preserving faithfulness to Christ’s commandments and hoping in the intercessions of the Mother of God, we will not perish.
We must not doubt or lose our faith by all that we see and hear today. May the hearts of the faithful, who know the great power of the intercession of the Mother of God, ever fall at the feet of the Theotokos with heartfelt sighing, with our needs and sorrows, in all trials and in moments of lamentation over sins. She, the Joy of All Who Sorrow, our heavenly Mother, will spread out upon us her sovereign Protection, intercede for us, save us, and have mercy upon all of us!
Hymn of Protection- Rusyn Prostopinije
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