Veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church honors and venerates Ever Blessed Virgin Mary as ‘more honourable than the Cherubim and more glorious beyond comparison than the Seraphim……….’ She is placed first among the saints. Her name is commemorated in every service, and her intercession sought before the throne of God, is frequently requested, in hymns and prayers and at every important moment of our lives. She is given the title of ‘Theotokos’ (Greek – “Birth-giver-of-God), ‘Mother of God’. Mary’s role, rank, identity, and status as ‘Mother of God’ is indispensable, since the One Who was born from Her was and always will be the true God. She has a definite role in Orthodox Christianity and can in no way be considered, an instrument which, once used, was laid aside and forgotten.

The Orthodox Church expresses reverence toward the Blessed Virgin by the many feast days commemorating the various events in Her life. Devotions to and veneration of Mary are far more ingrained and integrated within Orthodox liturgy than in any other Christian traditions. There are significantly far more titles, feasts, and veneration of Mary, as she is the first dwelling-place of God in salvation history. In Mary’s womb, Jesus is the manifestation of God’s wonders, the fulfillment of God’s plan of loving goodness, and the definitive theophany (Lk. 1: 35). At the end of her earthly life, her body did not suffer corruption but was assumed into heaven and became a heavenly body to be seated at the Right hand side of Jesus Christ (Ps. 45: 9). Blessed Virgin Mary is raised above all the saints in glory, she is the Queen of all saints and above all creatures she possesses the highest power in heaven as the Mother of God.

In our Kauma prayers, the Intercession to virgin Mary is included, Peace be unto Mary! Full of grace…. When the Chancel is unveiled for the public celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the priest censes the Altar and recites the Ekbo beginning ‘Mariam Deelethok…’ (Mary who bore Thee; John who baptized Thee, May they be to Thee; supplicants for us; have mercy on us). The first instance of proclaiming our creed during the public celebration of the Holy Eucharist is the hymn” ‘By thy mother’s earnest prayers… In the cyclic prayers (Kukkilion), the first intercessory hymn is addressed to Blessed Virgin Mary, See the royal daughter stand, …. (Ninnaal sthuthiyodu raajamakal-). The fourth Diptychs, we commemorate Virgin Mary, Barekmor, Again we commemorate her, who is worthy, of being called blessed, and extolled of all the generations of the earth, holy, glorious, and blessed, ever virgin and blissful, Mary the Mother of God.

We depend on the Sacred Tradition of our Church, Holy Scripture Ecumenical Councils, liturgical books, and the Writings of the Fathers, for details and the precise definition of the nature of the veneration of the Virgin Mary, there are several passages of the New Testament that really form the basis for our practice. She is given a prominent position not as a matter of popular piety, but the Orthodox devotion to her is an expression of the central teaching of the Orthodox Church, the doctrine of the Incarnation of Christ. Saints throughout history who have attested to the central role of Mary in God’s plan of salvation. She holds a distinct position of admiration and love among Christians, from ancient times of Christianity, because of her great virtues, her help to the needy, and her preeminent role in God’s plan for the salvation of mankind. Jesus and Mary is Son and mother, Redeemer and redeemed, as Mary is seen as contributing to a fuller understanding of the life of Jesus.

The honoring of the Blessed Virgin began from the time when the Archangel Gabriel greeted her with the words to announce to the Virgin, the mystery of the conception of the Son of God and birth of the Saviour: “Hail, O full of grace, the Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou among women!” (Lk. 1: 28). This angelic salutation forms a part of the hymn of the Church most frequently sung in her honor. Elizabeth, the Virgin’s cousin, considered it an honor for the Mother of her Lord to visit her. “And whence is this to me that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? (Lk. 1: 43). “Blessed is the Fruit of Thy womb,” the righteous Elizabeth saluted the pure Virgin. St. Luke explains in his Gospel that the Holy Spirit revealed to Elizabeth that Mary had become the Mother of the Lord, the promised Savior of mankind (Luke 1: 28-42). This honor given to the Theotokos by her cousin is exactly what all generations of the Church do when they call her blessed.  Finally, when Jesus saw His mother and the disciple John standing by the cross, He entrusted him with her care, but He also established a new spiritual relationship between them in saying to the disciple, “Behold thy Mother!”  ^“and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home” (Jn. 19:27). This declaration has immense possible significance, that our Lord made His Mother the Mother of all Christians

Mary is the one who, in the Lord’s words, “heard the word of God and kept it.” “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Lk. 11: 28. Through her personal sinlessness she fulfilled all the hopes and prophecies of Israel.  She figured greatly in the very prophecies, the most important of which is that of Isaiah:  “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel (Is. 7: 14).The Church has always considered the many precursor symbols, by which she prefigures in the Old testament and of the role of the Theotokos in the Divine plan of the Incarnation of God was foretold in the Old Testament. Noah’s Ark is a prototype of Blessed Virgin Mary & Holy Church, Mother of God Who contained Christ and His Church. Jacob’s Ladder (Gen. 28: 12), pre-figures Blessed Virgin Mary. The Burning Bush, (Ex. 3: 2) she bore Christ in her virginal womb as the bush on Mount of Horeb bore God in its flame. The Ark of Covenant (Ex. 25: 10-22). typified, Blessed Virgin Mary, asthe Glory of God dwelt in the Theotokos the Living Tabernacle. The Golden Pot of Manna (Ex. 16: 33) typifies Blessed Virgin Mary. Aaron’s Golden Censor (Num. 16: 46) is a Symbol of Blessed Virgin Mary. Aaron’s rod signifies Blessed Virgin Mary. The Closed Gate in the East (Ez. 44: 1-3) is likened to Virgin Mary the ‘Ever-Virgin‘

There is abundant scriptural evidence of soundness and importance to support and supplement, the traditional Orthodox attitude of reverence and veneration toward the Virgin Mary and the saints. Orthodox theology insists upon the two perfect natures of our Lord Jesus Christ; He was perfect God and perfect Man. The redemption of the humankind was possible, through the union of God and man in Christ. 

As St. John of Damascus wrote, “… she is truly Mother of God who gave birth to the true God who took flesh from her … For the holy Virgin did not give birth to a mere man, but to true God and, not to God simply, but to God made flesh.” The first and fundamental meaning of Mary for the Church is the relationship between veneration of the Theotokos and Orthodox doctrine. For Orthodox Christians, there can be no Church without Orthodox doctrine. The Virgin Mary communicated the humanity of the Incarnate God. We Orthodox do not ‘worship’ the Virgin Mary. We ‘venerate’ her and show her great honor. We do not, believe the idea that the Theotokos was born without sin or that she is a co-redemptor, with Christ. However, we do believe that the Virgin Mary is an image, of the Christian goal of becoming Christ-like, of Theosis. Just as the Theotokos gave birth to Christ in a bodily way, so we must, give birth to Christ in a spiritual way. We are to imitate her practical spiritual life, including the purity, humility, submissive, obedience to the Will of God.