DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Saint Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28 (10/1-10/14) The Protection of the
Most Holy Theotokos
Her Prayers Protect: Saint Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28,
especially vs. 28: “...More
than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God
and keep it!” Repeatedly through the Church year, on
Feasts celebrating the life of the Theotokos, we hear
this Gospel - from her Blessed Nativity to her Venerable Dormition. Unlike other celebrations, the Feast of
her Protection transcends the stream of history, being a reminder of her
intercessory protection in heaven for the People of God. As Saint Demetrius of Rostov says, she
“...guards us from famine, pestilence, and earthquake; she shelters us
from wars and disease; and she preserves us unharmed under her
protection.”
Look at this Gospel.
It is an assemblage of verses from two chapters of Saint Luke that first
records an event that took place during the Lord Jesus’ visit at the home
of Martha of Bethany, and, second, an exchange between our Lord and a woman in
a crowd who had just heard Him teach about spiritual warfare. Surely God the Holy Spirit guided the
Saint who formed these two passages into a single Gospel lection for Feasts of
the Theotokos.
Thus, we need to inquire what the Spirit is telling us through the
record of these two, disparate events.
The reading, as now formed, is about three women, each of
whom made an offering to Christ and so provided occasion for Him to show how
genuine offerings are used for our spiritual growth, whether hospitality,
attentiveness, or recognition (and many other acts). Our Lord’s responses to the three
women reveal that God is ever using the self-offering of the Theotokos for our salvation: like Martha (vs. 38), the
Virgin offered Him hospitality, but of her womb that He might assume our
humanity. Like Mary of Bethany (vs.
39), she attended to all that Christ did and said, from the time of the
Archangel’s Annunciation through the days of her Son’s Passion,
Resurrection, and Ascension. Like
the woman in the crowd (vs. 27), the Holy Birthgiver
knew the blessedness of Christ and “...kept all these things and pondered
them in her heart” (Lk. 2:19). Or as the Lord
Himself states, she is blessed to “...hear the word of God and keep
it” (Lk. 11:28).
These offerings of the Theotokos
were steps through her life that led to her full theosis
and prepared her to be a foremost heavenly intercessor for each and all of us -
our ready help and protection. In
offering her womb and breasts to God the Word, she gained motherly privilege, a
great advantage to any who seek her prayers before Christ. In being attentive to her Son at all
stages of His saving life, she gained unrepeatable knowledge of our Saving and Life-giving God. Like the woman who perceived the
blessing that fell to her as the mother of the Lord Jesus, Mary herself
recognized “...that henceforth all generations will call me
blessed” (Lk. 1:48).
The exchange between the Lord Jesus and the woman in the
crowd who heard Him teaching provides special encouragement to us who seek the
intercessions of the Birthgiver of God. The woman rightly said, “Blessed
is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which
nursed You” (vs. 27). While
the Lord Himself acknowledged the truth of her remark, still, as is typical of
our Savior, He enlarged her vision.
His response points to the blessedness of the Theotokos:
she gave a complete human body to her Son, creating an eternal bond between God
and the whole of mankind, thereby initiating the renewal of our human
nature. She truly and fully was
able to hear “...the word of God, and keep it” (vs. 28) - a most
clear indication of her theosis and the ground of her
unique intercessory role with Christ our God.
Turn to her as an exceeding great intercessor with
Christ. She hears what we ask - our
cries for help, our confession of sins, our confusion, and our needs; knowing the
Word of God intimately, she, above all in heaven, is most apt to present our
needs to Him for relief.
O Virgin, we extol the great grace of thy Protection for
thou dost protect us from the foe.
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