An Orthodox View of the Virgin Mary

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A Protestant preacher recently said that = devotion to the=20 Mother of God is the cause of all bad in the world, since = she was=20 not a virgin after she gave birth to Christ and was just = another=20 woman. This really has upset me. Why do we worship the = Virgin Mary=20 and how do we answer those who say that she was nothing but = another=20 woman? What significance does she have for us Orthodox? = (B.W.,=20 TX)

One cannot react to every opinion and idea about = Christianity. At=20 some point, common sense must prevail. In the first place, = the idea=20 that devotion to the Theotokos, or Bearer of God, = is the=20 cause of the world=E2=80=99s ills is a ridiculous = proposition. One must look=20 at such an idea with the same passivity that we show towards = so-called scholarly attempt to prove that Christian devotion = to the=20 Virgin Mary derives from the pagan cult of the earth = goddess. It=20 does not deserve a response. Secondly, while non-Orthodox = Christian=20 denominations may differ with regard to their assessment of = the=20 significance of the Mother of God, this does not explain the = views=20 of those who would like to believe=E2=80=94an incredible, if = not demonic=20 thing=E2=80=94that a woman chosen by the God of the universe = to bear His=20 Incarnate Son would simply return, after this miraculous = event, to=20 the world of the flesh. If St. Paul praises the chaste life, = if=20 Christians are called to become eunuchs for the sake of the = Kingdom,=20 and if, at least in the Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, and = Lutheran=20 Churches, monks and nuns are called to uphold the standard = of=20 virginity and purity,* how could any rational person suggest = that=20 the woman called to bear the Son of God would be exempt from = such a=20 pious commitment?

We will not, here, comment on the mistranslation and = misuse of=20 Scripture by which some heterodox try to claim that the = Virgin Mary=20 was a virgin only "up to the time" of the Virgin Birth and = not=20 after, or by which they rather na=C3=AFvely understand the = children of=20 St. Joseph (the Virgin Mary=E2=80=99s step-children) and = their cousins to be=20 the literal "brothers and sisters" of Christ. The = Fathers=20 of the Church have written at length on these matters. = Suffice it to=20 say that ancient Christian tradition supported the idea that = the=20 Mother of God was ever-virgin, just as Church Fathers and = Councils=20 condemned heretics in the early Church who, like their = counterparts=20 today, questioned the spiritual eminence of the = Theotokos.=20

As for the very eminence of the Mother of God, let us = turn to=20 Scripture. Going to the house of Zacharias, the Virgin Mary = greeted=20 his wife, Elizabeth. "Filled with the Holy Spirit," St. = Elizabeth=20 cried out, "Blessed art thou among women..." (St. Luke 1: = 40-42). In=20 response, the Theotokos observes that = "...henceforth all=20 generations shall call me blessed." It would, again, suggest = a=20 psychological or spiritual problem of no small dimensions = for anyone=20 to believe that, after these statements, the Virgin Mary = would=20 simply return to the life of the flesh and set aside her = spiritual=20 role in the salvation brought to mankind by Jesus Christ. =

Finally, we Orthodox do not "worship" the Virgin Mary. We = "venerate" her and show her great honor. Nor have we ever, = like the=20 Latins, developed the idea that the Theotokos was = born=20 without sin (the Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate = Conception)=20 or that she is a co-redemptor with Christ (the cult of the = Redemtrix=20 in the Latin Church). The consensus of the Church Fathers = rejects=20 such ideas, and the Orthodox Church adheres to that = consensus.=20 However, we do believe that the Virgin Mary is an image, as = St.=20 Maximos the Confessor says, of the Christian goal of = becoming=20 Christ-like, of theosis. Just as the = Theotokos=20 gave birth to Christ in a bodily way, so we must, St. = Maximos tells=20 us, give birth to Christ in an unbodily or spiritual way. In = so=20 doing, we imitate her practical spiritual life, including = the purity=20 and humility by which she formed her free will into perfect=20 obedience to the Will of God. Of this practical image of the = Virgin=20 Mary, one of our readers, Archdeacon Basil Kuretich, D.D., = has=20 written some words that bear repeating here. They give us a = clear=20 picture of the importance of the model which she presents = for every=20 Orthodox believer:

"We...are aware of the part played by Divine Grace in the = Virgin=20 Mary=E2=80=99s life and are aware of the perfection of her = virtue. However,=20 we cannot lose sight of the importance of free will in the=20 development and expression of her rich personality. After = the=20 Annunication, she kept the secret of God=E2=80=99s plan for = her; she faced=20 misunderstanding and accusation from others. She quickly = visited her=20 cousin, Elizabeth, not thinking of her own needs, but only = the need=20 of Elizabeth to share her joy. She endured the journey to = Bethlehem;=20 she humbly prepared for the birth of her Child and = obediently=20 accepted the command to flee into Egypt. The Virgin Mary, = aided by=20 Divine Grace, carried out these actions in a real = world=E2=80=94with real=20 effort and sacrifice. Thus she is for us a model of many = virtues."=20

*Although they may be familiar with monasticism in the = Latin=20 Church, most Americans do not know that monastic = brotherhoods and=20 sisterhoods survived in the Lutheran and Reformed movements, = despite=20 the generally polemical attitude towards the monastic estate = that=20 marked the Protestant Reformation. Over the years they have=20 decreased in number or have been absorbed into Roman = Catholicism, as=20 is the case in Sweden, where most of the Lutheran monastic = houses=20 have succumbed to the widespread proselytizing of German = Jesuit=20 missionaries in that country.

From the "Question and Answer" section of = Orthodox=20 Tradition, Vol. IX, No. 4, pp. 8-9. Originally titled = "The=20 Theotokos." For more on the evolution of the term = Theotokos=20 and its central significance for upholding Christianity, see = the Documents of = the Third=20 =C5=92cumenical Synod. It is worth pointing out that = though many=20 Protestants realize this Synod was about the condemnation of = Nestorius's teaching, few know that the arguments centered = around=20 the use of the term Theotokos, or "Mother of God," = for the=20 Blessed Virgin Mary. This was so much the case that Bishop = Kallistos=20 (Ware) has written: "The same primacy that the word=20 homoousion occupies in the doctrine of the Trinity, = the=20 word Theotokos holds in the doctrine of the = Incarnation."=20 (The Orthodox Church, p. 25) So why do Protestants = not use=20 the term Theotokos, let alone even honor the Virgin = Mary?=20 In not doing so, they in practice deny the Incarnation and = fall=20 under the anathemas of the Third =C5=92cumenical Synod. Food = for=20 thought.

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