The Heart of the Mother

 “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

As we prepare for one of the great feasts of the Church, the Annunciation of the Theotokos I am once again reminded of the courage and the love the Mother of God, showed by accepting the calling that God himself placed upon her.  As the story reads, we find Mary, the virgin from birth in the sixth month of her cousin’s pregnancy herself. Elizabeth six months earlier had become pregnant with John the Forerunner and Baptist.  Through the tradition kept by the Church through the records that have been handed down to us, there is much more to this story than one can find in the scriptures. Though of course the scriptures tell us what we must know for salvation, it does not give us the entire detail of who the Theotokos was what her life was like before and even after this. Today I want to look at the Theotokos more closely and discover the heart of the greatest woman to have ever lived. Come take this journey with me.

Mary, was the daughter of Saints Joachim and Anna of that we can be most certain. Both Joachim and Anna were elderly upon the birth of the Theotokos and had been humiliated and run at the temple. Joachim and Anna went to the very cave that Elijah had several hundred years earlier. There they prayed for the shame and humiliation to come to an end. At that time, an Angel of the Lord appeared to them, blessing them and announcing that they would bear a child who would give birth to the Life of the World. Saints Joachim and Anna then proclaimed they would give the child back to God, and that she would be in service to God her entire life. At the age of three she was given to the Temple and when Zacharias the High Priest saw her he carried her into the Holy of Holies, knowing she would be the New Ark. The New Covenant would be carried through her and she would bless all generations through the giving of her life for God.  As she grew in stature at the temple, she became well versed in the theology of God and the life of a true witness for Christ. At the age of 13, she was forced to leave the temple because of her menstrual cycle according to Jewish law. Thus, enters Joseph into our story. As I previously stated, you cannot find this in the scriptures, but it has been handed down to us through the tradition of the Apostles. Joseph was elderly, around 80 years of age. He himself had been previously married and had several children. These are the brothers and sisters of Jesus that read about in scripture. From there our story continues as Joseph and Mary remained only betrothed and never consummated their marriage. The early church always view Mary as being ever-virgin and it wasn’t until the Protestant Reformation that many came to believe that Mary was not a virgin after her marriage to Joseph. We know from scriptures that Mary and Joseph lived together in their home, and that Mary became pregnant through the Holy Spirit and Jesus was conceived within her womb. Though Joseph sought to divorce her and send her away, he did not. From there she gave birth to Jesus Christ.

After the birth of Jesus Christ we know that Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus traveled to Egypt to hide from Herod who sought to kill the babe. As Mary walked with God through Egypt idols would crumble at her feet, and she was amazed at the power of God that he was showing through her. On their way out of Egypt into the Holy Land once again, a tree that was possessed by a demon bowed at her feet, and the demon was cast out by the mere presence of Christ. The tree is still there by the way and you can visit it. We know from there that Jesus was raised in Galilee and he became strong in stature in the Lord. Mary would ponder often the fate that Simeon had prophesied about her son. She never left his side. She went where he went and traveled where he traveled. We know the story from scripture at this point. Jesus was crucified for our sins on the cross and rose on the third day. While on the cross he entrusted the care of his beloved mother to St. John the Apostle.   From there St. John did not leave her side. Mary became not just the Theotokos but was now the Mother to the Apostles. She and St. John traveled and visited the bishops of the Church and gave them encouragement and comfort along the way. We then know that Mary on one such voyage was travelling to Cyprus where St. Lazarus who Christ had resurrected a week before his own passion was now bishop. Mary and St. John were blown off course by a violent storm and landed on the peninsula now known as Mount Athos one of the holiest places in Orthodoxy. The Lord gave this place to her as his gift and Mount Athos to this day is regarded as her garden. That is why no women are allowed. St. Luke the Evangelist painted the first icon of her during this time and it is still with us to this day. After this, it came time for her repose. Like all humans it is appointed once for us to die. Mary was no exception.

At her repose, all eleven of the apostles, minus Thomas gathered to her side. They knew her time had come and it was good to see their beloved mother one last time. At this point we pick up again with tradition and know from there Mary reposed in the Lord and her funeral bier was carried to Gethsemane. While on their way a man called Jephonias, seeing the funeral bier being carried tried in earnest to push the body of Mary into the dirt to destroy her. The Lord in his righteousness sent the Archangel Michael to defend her body.  Jephonias’ hands were cut from his body and he could not complete his task. Three days passed. By this point Thomas had arrived and was greatly distressed that he had not been there at the moment of her repose. The apostles agreed to open the tomb one last time to venerate her body together.  Upon their discovery of the tomb, there was not a body laying in the tomb. The Apostles believed that someone had come to desecrate her relics and destroyed the body of the Mother of God. At dinner that evening, the Theotokos appeared to them and comforted them, telling them that Christ in his love and devotion to His mother had glorified her earthly body and raised her to his own right hand to be the intercessor for the entire Church. She herself could not be contained by death because she had the Life of the World in her womb. She was sanctified by Christ. 

We learn of the devotion that Mary had for her son, and love she always carried. Many people today try themselves to discredit Mary and bring her lower than she really is. But she is the epitome of motherhood. She never once questioned the plan that God had for her Son. She gave her whole heart and life for Christ. Teaching, comforting, encouraging those around her by her love and compassion. She gave when she should have been given to. Instead of thinking about herself she always thought of others. Mary is the person we should all strive to be. That is the heart of the mother. That is the Theotokos.

Amen.