By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
Every feast of the Mother of God
is a matter of joy for the entire Church, precisely because the Panagia
glorified the human race, by becoming the person who donated her flesh
for the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Word
of God. The Fathers of the Church, the holy hymnographers and the
iconographers compete to present the value of our Panagia, who is the
joy of Angels, the glory of Saints, as well as the protection of all
people who suffer and are burdened from various problems which are
closely related to human life.
Among the many festivals of the
Mother of God, an important position is held for the feast of the
Dormition of the Theotokos, which acquires great importance and value
both in terms of its content, since the Panagia defeated corruption and
death by the power of Christ, as well as the time it is celebrated,
which is why it is called the Summer Pascha.
By participating in this great
celebration of the Mother of God, I would like to present two images
used by the sacred Nicholas Cabasilas to show the most revered, most
pure and holy person of our Panagia.
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| Icon from here |
One image presents the authentic
person and work of our Panagia, which is the image of the eye. Indeed,
the entire human nature, with the Panagia, acquired an eye. "Now has the
nature of man actively received an eye." Before the Panagia was born
and accepted with obedience to become the Mother of Christ, human nature
was blind, it could not see God. Of course, there were the Prophets of
the Old Testament who did see God, but this was temporary, since they
could not overcome death. Thus, in general the entire human nature,
after the sin of Adam, was akin to a blind man, since he wandered to the
left and to the right, worshiping false gods. And this was natural,
since man abandoned the true God and was spiritually blinded. The
worship of idols was a consequence of the loss of the worship and
knowledge of the true God. Hence, that which the Prophets and Righteous
of the Old Testament desired to see were seen by human nature in the
person of the Panagia.
The Panagia is the spiritual eye
of the universe. Just as only to the eye light is given and thereby
other members of the body receive its value, so only to the Panagia was
the true light given, and through her, who is the eye of the universe,
all members, that is all of mankind, was offered light.
The other image associated with
the work of our Panagia is the creation of man. It is known that God
created man after taking soil from the earth and then breathing into it a
soul. The earth contributed, since from there God took matter to form
and build the body, but it did not do it of herself, because the earth
does not have freedom to be asked and to make a decision.
This image is adjusted towards
the recreation of man which occurred through Christ from the Panagia,
but with a difference. Namely, the Panagia is the new earth from which
the new man was created, but while the earth in the first creation of
man did not participate by her will, since she did not have freedom, the
Panagia in the second creation attracted the Craftsman and Creator
Himself with her virtue and her life, and she gave movement to the hand
of the Creator to the regeneration of the human race. Therefore, the
Panagia is the supplicator for us to God, before the Supplicator even
came, that is the Holy Spirit.
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| The icon "Unwithering Rose" |
These two images show the
greatness of the Panagia, as well as the great and significant work she
did for human nature. This is why we at every feast of the Mother of
God, especially at this present feast of the Dormition of the Mother of
God, we attach our love. Through her we see the love of God and deal
with the problems that plague us. Through her we eliminate all our
spiritual blindness and acquire the knowledge of God. Through the
Theotokos God reconstructed the human race, and we of the Church taste
this regeneration. Our life takes on another meaning and context. This
is why our love towards the Panagia is a reciprocation of what she did
and still does for us.
Every person has their story and
problems. For all of these we must flee to the Panagia, who is alive
and hears our prayers. This is not a pipe-dream or utopia, but a
reality. Our people have extensive experience on this subject. We see,
hear and feel the Panagia in the difficult moments of life. This
tradition must be cultivated by us. Because we as a people have
something deeper and more meaningful; we have a living relationship with
God, the Panagia and the Saints. And it is a fact that the whole world
today has need of this perspective, which is the only possible way to
lead us along the one-way streets of this life, and the impasses of the
current unambiguous and therefore tumultuous society.
On the occasion of today's feast
let us pray that we may be found under the protection of the Mother of
God, the Panagia, so that united with her, we can have the spiritual
eyes to see the greatness of God, the tragedy of man, as well as the way
we can effect our restoration and recreation.
See also
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