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The Holy Virgin was the crown of the holiness of all the righteous of the Old Testament, the distillation of the godliness of the Prophets of Israel. She was the fruit of centuries of painful prayer by the people of God who cried out to Him for redemption. In her earthly life, she never sinned. As a result, an unbroken stream of incorrupt and eternal life flowed continuously within her. Not only did she never grieve the Holy Spirit, but she also gave all the space of her heart to the Heavenly King. Thus, her hypostasis shone forth already perfected from a tender age. Even before Christ took flesh from her, the Mother of God bore within herself the universality of her Son. In order to bear the supranatural grace of divine motherhood, she lived in this world ‘as alive from the dead’ (Cf. Rom. 6:13) completely hidden, in the depths of humility, wholly surrendered to the will of God. Yet the death she underwent was transformed into a precursor of indestructible life, since voluntary death for the sake of the commandments brings forth the earnest of eternal life and the inheritance of the incorruptible glory of God.

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The Mother of the Lord and Mother of Our Life

EnglishEPUB reflowable92 pagesReprinted 20241st editionSee all details ↓

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Book details

AuthorArchimandrite Zacharias Zacharou

LanguageEnglish

FormatEPUB reflowable

Print length92 pages

PublisherThe Stavropegic Monastery of St John the Baptist

Edition1st edition

Publication yearReprinted 2024

ISBN978-1-918281-56-9

The Mystery of the Most Holy Mother of God

The Garment of Humility of the Mother of God, the Pattern for Monasticism

The Mother of God as the Eschatological Event of the Human Race

But how can we honour and express our gratitude to our Most Holy Lady, we the last of Christians, the poor, the offscouring of all time? How can we fulfil her prophecy? How can we give value to the hymns and prayers that we send up to her either when we are alone or in our common church services?

The only way to honour the Mother of God is by following her path unwaveringly, humbling ourselves and continually giving thanks for all things, ‘more especially’ for the ‘great things which He that is mighty hath done to her’ (Luke 1:49).

Though poor, our thanksgiving will be our entrance ticket into the wondrous choir of ‘the rich among the people’, into the host of virgin souls from all ages who shine with inner purity and who ‘are brought with gladness to follow behind her’ to the King of kings, into the heavenly Holy of Holies.

— Excerpt from: Mariam: The Mother of the Lord and Mother of Our Life • The Mystery of the Most Holy Mother of God (p. 21-22)

With the incarnation of the Son of God, a new time of God’s good pleasure dawned in the history of mankind. At the Annunciation, the Body of Christ, the Church, manifested itself in history for the first time. This Holy Body of the Son of God, wherein ‘dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead’ became the inheritance of ‘a chosen generation’? This inheritance and all the gifts that ensued, were made possible through the marvellous instrument of God, the Most Holy Virgin Mary. She is therefore rightly called ‘the fulness of time’ that brought the Kingdom of God down to earth.

— Excerpt from: Mariam: The Mother of the Lord and Mother of Our Life • The Garment of Humility of the Mother of God, The Pattern for Monasticism (p. 25)

A correct understanding of the virginity of the Mother of God before, during and after giving birth, grants us insight into the mystery of holiness. Her virginity before giving birth is apparent and witnessed to by Holy Scripture. Her virginity during birth is understood through our knowledge of God: whatever God touches He never wounds but only heals, perfects and sanctifies. A birth bringing forth God could only have procured a miracle in which ‘the order of nature is overcome,’ in which the supernatural divine order prevailed. Finally, her remaining virgin after giving birth was a consequence of the supernatural events that preceded. Virginity for the rest of her life was a categorical imperative of her spirit in order to preserve the unique grace she had been given.

— Excerpt from: Mariam

The fall of our forefather did not bring to nought God’s will for the creation of His reasonable creature. For centuries God looked down from heaven to see if there was one person who would ‘do righteousness’ and cooperate with Him as His minister in the great work of the salvation of mankind. He needed someone whose spiritual state corresponded as closely as possible to the divine state, which is the prerequisite for grace to dwell in the heart of man. Such was the state of the Mother of God. Her utter purity and selfless love for God was commensurate with the unfathomable measure of grace that would come to dwell within her. When God perceived the supernatural humility and purity in the godly child Mariam, ‘He bowed the heavens and came down.’

— Excerpt from: Mariam