Rebuild Your Relationship with the Mother of God
Today is the Feast of the Nativity of the All-Holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. It is one of the Twelve Great Feasts. In fact, it is the FIRST of the Great Feasts celebrated every year. We open the year celebrating the creation of the one who would be our bridge between heaven and earth. Her birth ushered in a new reality. She was chosen by God to be His vessel, His Tabernacle on Earth. Through her free will Life was allowed once again to enter into humanity.
Your birth, O Theotokos, brought joy to the whole world, for from you dawned the sun of righteousness, Christ our God. Freeing us from the curse, He gave us His blessings. Abolishing death, He granted us eternal life.
Apolytikion of the Feast
According to the Old Testament readings at Great Vespers for the Feast the Church teaches us who she is. She is Jacob’s Ladder by which God descends to the Earth.
Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
Genesis 28.10-17
She is the Temple Gate through which God enters the world. She is Ever-Virgin
When these days are over it shall be, on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar; and I will accept you,’ says the Lord God.” Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces toward the east, but it was shut. And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. As for the prince, because he is the prince, he may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way.” Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the [a]temple; so I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord; and I fell on my face.
Ezekiel 43.27-44.4
She is the Temple in which God lives.
Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars; She has slaughtered her meat, She has mixed her wine, She has also furnished her table. She has sent out her maidens, She cries out from the highest places of the city, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, “Come, eat of my bread And drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake foolishness and live, And go in the way of understanding. “He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself. Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.
Proverbs 9.1-11
I invite you to study what the Church has to say about her. She is quite special. Even the Gospel of Luke says that all generations were call her blessed. ALL GENERATIONS…. That is quite special. Unfortunately, many Christians today refuse to honor her. Many think, incorrectly, that honoring the Mother of God with prayers and hymns is worship.
Honoring her isn’t worship. It is love. We love our earthly mothers. We sing to them. We talk to them. We spend time with them. We kiss them. We do all these things for our earthly mothers, and they only gave birth to us, not God. Would we be accused of worshiping our mothers because we love them?
Today is a great day to rebuild our relationship with the Mother of God. Pray to her, asking her to pray to God for you. She loves us and will pray for us.
