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Homily for the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos

By Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky)

As the great Abba of Russia Abroad, His Blessedness Metropolitan Anthony, once pointed out, the festive celebration of the feast of the Protection of the Theotokos by the whole Russian Church testifies that spiritual roots stood above all else for the Russian people. For the feast of the Protection of the Theotokos reminds us of an event that took place long ago, and an event in which our ancestors suffered defeat against the Greeks, who were under the Protection of the Theotokos. It turned out, however, that the Greek Church celebrates this feast very little, hardly marking it at all, while the Russian Church and the Russian celebrate the Protection of the Theotokos so festively, that it reminds us of the celebration of the twelve feasts, the greatest feats in our church year. Of course, the reason for this is the calming and encouraging character of the feast. The Theotokos protects the people praying in church. We know this from the great saint and witness of spiritual mysteries, Saint Andrew the Fool for Christ, who testified that the Queen of the heavens did not separate the bad people from the good and the pious: She covered all those standing in the church with Her goodness. That is what the Russian people believed, that She, the All-good Mother, covers all with Her Protection.

Life is now difficult. It was never easy, but now it is especially confusing and it has in many ways lost its Christian roots. Everywhere man is suffocating in today’s atmosphere. Sometimes it may even seem to him that he is alone, that there is no help, and that spiritual demise inevitably awaits him. But the Church sings in one of its best chants: “To the Theotokos let us run now most earnestly, we sinners all and wretched ones, and fall down in repentance calling from the depths of our souls: O Lady, come unto our aid, have compassion upon us.” Help us, showing compassion unto us!

That is Who stands guarding people from misfortune and from sorrow–She, Who lived through suffering and sorrow more than anyone else. For when She, having already suffered greatly, stood at the Cross of Her Son, then the foretelling of the righteous Simeon the God-Receiver on the day of the Meeting of the Lord rightly came true in reality: Her purest and holiest of souls was pierced through by a weapon. We cannot even imagine what Such a Mother went through seeing the incredible and superhuman sufferings of Such a Son. Her powerful and patient heart would not have withstood this suffering; it would have been torn apart, if the Lord Himself had not strengthened Her with His grace during Her torment at the Cross, which was greater than any other suffering of any mother. So She, who suffered thus Herself, understands human troubles and especially a mother’s sorrow, along with whom She suffers. That is why She is considered the defender of every suffering mother. But She cares for everyone and raises Her hands to the Lord of Glory and to Her Son on everyone’s behalf, and She covers everyone with Her All-Powerful Girdle. When one mother, who had many children, was asked which of them she loves the most and which of them she would grieve over most if she were to lose one, the mother answered: “Whichever finger you cut off, it will hurt.” The Most Pure Virgin could have answered thus, because when the Lord Jesus Christ left Her as the Mother of Saint John the Theologian, She adopted all of mankind, and She is considered the Mother of the Christian race.

Can a mother not hear her children? All the children have to do is not abandon their Mother! One spiritual father told his spiritual daughter, who was sorrowing: Pray to the Theotokos, but pray so that She can hear you! And what Mother will not hear her child and try and help?

Let us remember this. Joyous is the day of the Protection of the Theotokos. It reminds us that we sinners, upon whom the righteous anger of the Lord should come crashing down, are covered by Her saving Protection. And when the Lord, angered by our sins, turns His holiest of eyes, He sees the Girdle of His Mother. She has covered us. Let us never despair, regardless of our sorrows and trials, but always call on the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of the Christian race, that She not take away Her Motherly care. Amen.

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The Principles of the Orthodox Faith

Bishop Alexander (Mileant)

Edited by Donald Shufran

What is the Creed?

The word creed comes from the Latin credo, which means “I believe.” In the Orthodox Church the Creed is usually called the Symbol of Faith, which means the “expression” or “confession” of the faith.

A person without faith is like a blind man. Faith gives man spiritual vision by which he can see and understand the essence of all that surrounds him: how and why everything was created, what is the goal of life, what is right and what is not, and ultimately what one must strive towards.

From earliest times, the Apostolic-period Christians have used the Creed to remind themselves of the principles of the Orthodox Faith. In the ancient church there existed various short creeds. But in the 4th century there appeared false teachings about the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. Thus it became necessary to complete these short creeds and more accurately define the Church’s teaching.

A Historical Survey

The Nicean Creed was composed by the Fathers of the 1st and 2nd Ecumenical Councils. The first seven articles of the Creed were drawn up at the 1st Ecumenical Council, and the last five were drawn up at the 2nd Ecumenical Council. The 1st Council met in Nicea in 325 A.D. to confirm the true teachings about the Son of God and to oppose the false teachings of Arius. Arius believed that the Son of God was created by God the Father. The 2nd Council met in Constantinople in 381 A.D. to confirm the true teaching on the Holy Spirit and to oppose the false teachings of Macedonius. He rejected the divine origin of the Holy Spirit. The Creed is named the “Nicean-Constantinopolitan” after the two cities in which the Fathers gathered for the 1st and 2nd Ecumenical Councils. The Creed consists of twelve articles. In the 1st article we speak of God the Father; from the 2nd though 7th articles we speak of God the Son; in the 8th article about God the Holy Spirit; in the 9th about the Church; in the 10th about Baptism; and in the 11th and 12th about the resurrection of the dead and eternal life.

The Creed

I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light: true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father; by Whom all things were made: Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man; And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried; And arose again on the third day according to the Scriptures; And ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; And shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life; Who proceeds from the Father; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spake by the prophets. In One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, And the life of the age to come. Amen.

We begin the Creed with “I believe.” This is because the essence of our religious convictions depends not on external experiences but on our acceptance of God-given truths. Surely one cannot prove truths of the spiritual world by any laboratory experiments. These truths belong to the sphere of personal religious experience. The more a person grows in the spiritual life – the more one prays, thinks about God, does good – the more his inner spiritual experience develops, the clearer the religious truths become to him. In this fashion, faith becomes for him a subject of personal experience.

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