By Metropolitan Seraphim of
Kastoria
The period of Holy and Great Lent, which is
preeminently a period of prayer and fasting, gives an opportunity to our pious
Christians to enjoy the liturgical and devotional wealth of our Church, to
approach God, to change their way of life, but also to communicate through
prayer with the person of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The Service of the Salutations is a popular
Service, which brings together with reverence and sacred enthusiasm our
Christians. According to the ancient rubrics it is chanted only on the Saturday
of the Fifth Week of the Fast, in the known Service of the Akathist Hymn. But
now it has become established to be chanted every Friday evening of Great Lent,
along with the Service of Small Compline, the Canon of Saint Joseph the
Hymnographer with a portion of the Service of the Salutations.
This Service gives us the opportunity to:
- approach the person of the Most Holy
Theotokos,
- receive joy from the vessel of joy,
- draw strength and patience for the struggles
of life,
- ask for her maternal intercessions before the
Throne of the Divine Majesty. This is why we chant of her: "A fervent
intercessor and impenetrable wall, a source of mercy and refuge for the
world."1
"Rejoice, fiery throne of the
Almighty."
This image comes from the vision of the Prophet
Isaiah: "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up."2
This image is used by the sacred hymnographers of the Church to present the
ministry and offering of the Theotokos in the mystery of the incarnation of the
Son and Word of God.
The Panagia is a Throne. She is a glorified
throne, in the words of Saint John of Damascus. "Rejoice, throne of God,
glorified and pure; Rejoice, spacious palace."3
She is the "fiery throne of the
Almighty," as chanted by Saint Joseph the Hymnographer.
She is the "living throne of God."4
She is the "cherubic throne", as we
chant in the famous Ninth Ode of Christmas: "Beholding a strange and
paradoxical mystery...the Virgin is a cherubic throne."5
On this throne, which is enflamed by the
energies of the grace of God and is surrounded by the Cherubim and Seraphim,
the Fashioner of Adam, the forefather of the human race, condescended and
rested, even Christ Himself.
God did not seek to dwell in a Temple made with
hands, but in the immaculate womb of the Most Holy Theotokos, in order to
refashion and renew the entire human race.
How the Megalynarion of the Panagia moves us
that is chanted during Great Lent in the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil theGreat: "He made your womb a throne and your belly wider than heaven."
The Panagia is a Throne. Saint Gregory Palamas, interpreting
the words of the Prophet David, "At Your right side stands the queen,
wearing jewelry of finest gold from Ophir,"6 asks where the Theotokos is. He
responds as follows: "She is not merely a companion but she also stands at
God's right hand, for where Christ sat in the heavens, that is, at the 'right
hand of majesty' (Heb. 1:3), there too she also takes her stand, having
ascended now from earth into the heavens. Not merely does she love and is loved
in return more than every other, according to the very laws of nature, but she
is truly His Throne, and wherever the King sits, there His Throne is set
also."7
It is this throne that we approach every time,
leading us to her Son and God. Saint Theophanes the Bishop of Nicaea mentions
the following: Christ is the head of the body of the Church, and from this head
is the source of "every perfect gift". The Theotokos is the neck of
the body of the Church. From this neck comes the gifts from above to the
faithful, the members of the body of the Church. She is the only way by which
the faithful are lifted up and connected to the "head of all rule and
authority and of the entire Church."8
This is why Saint Paisios the Athonite,
following and experiencing the entire love for the Theotokos by the saints of
our Church, advised: "Grab the hand of the Panagia so that she will
securely transfer you to the throne of her Son and God!"
Let her be for each of us the hope and
protection and mighty refuge in these days in which we live, and through her
intercessions may she lead us to her all-merciful Son.
"Richly, therefore, bestow your mercy and
your graces upon all your people, this your inheritance, O Lady! Dispel the
perils which menace us. See how greatly we are expended by our own and by
aliens, by those without and by those within. Uplift all by your might, mollify
our fellow citizens one with another and scatter those who assault us from
without like savage beasts. Measure out your succor and healing in proportion
to our passions, apportioning abundant grace to our souls and bodies,
sufficient for every necessity. And although we may prove incapable of
containing your bounties, augment our capacity and in this manner bestow them
upon us, so that being both saved and fortified by your grace, we may glorify
the pre-eternal Word Who was incarnate of you for our sakes, together with His
unoriginate Father and the life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto the
endless ages. Amen."9
Notes:
1. Kathisma
of the Small Supplication Canon to the Theotokos.
2. Isaiah
6:1.
3. Theotokarion
of Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite, troparion of the first ode of the Canon in
plagal of the first tone for Friday.
4. Ibid.,
troparion of the eighth ode.
5. Eirmos 1.
Ode of the Canon of the Feast of Christmas.
6. Psalm
44:9.
7. Saint
Gregory Palamas, "Homily on the Dormition of the Theotokos".
8. Ιερομονάχου Γρηγορίου, Η Θεία Λειτουργία, σχόλια,
εκδ. Δόμος, Αθήνα 1985, σελ. 98.
9.
Saint Gregory Palamas, "Homily on the Dormition of the Theotokos".
Source:
Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
Labels: Great Lent,
Mariology
See: Theotokos
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου