DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Philippians 2;5-11
(9/8)
Epistle for the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos
Mary, Theotokos: Philippians 2:5-11, especially vs. 11: “...every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Much loved among the
services of Orthodoxy is the well-known Akathist to the Theotokos. The name is derived from the custom of
not sitting - from
“a” and “kathisma,” meaning “not”
and “seated.” The
practice is to stand throughout.
But study the imagery in the words of the Akathist and discover a
‘gold field’ of spiritual and scriptural treasure. The Akathist consists of a series of 13
sets of ‘kontakia,’ or abbreviated songs, and ‘oikia,’
or condensed hymns.
‘Oikos’ means a ‘house.’ As our homes provide for our physical
necessities, so the oikia reveal Mary interceding for our needs spiritually.
The Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos is an
opportunity to find blessings in the Akathist, to unearth treasures laid down
by its authors. We can trace many
of its images to Holy Scripture; and one of those sources is the Epistle
appointed for the Feast. As
Service: to save us, our Lord took “...the form of a
bondservant...” (vs. 7), healing lepers, the blind, the
lame, the grief-stricken, demoniacs, and foundering sinners. In selecting Mary as His mother, Christ
transformed her into His “...maidservant...” (Lk.
1:38), remembered “...in every generation and generation” (Ps.
44:16). The Akathist
describes Mary as the “...heavenly ladder by which God came down”
(Oikos 2). She offered herself for
the Lord’s descent into human life.
And He Who descended to us by Mary the ‘ladder’ is more than
an angel (Gen. 28:12). He is the
very Sovereign of all that is (Jn. 1:51).
How often the Akathist speaks of the Theotokos as a servant! She is named as the “...bridge
that conveyest us from earth to heaven” (Oikos 2), and the
“...laborer that laborest for the Lover of Mankind” (Oikos 3). She serves as a “...ship for those
wishing to be saved” and a “...harbor for the sailors on the sea of
life” (Oikos 9).
Obedience: the Savior reveals unfathomable depths of
‘obedience’ to God the Father; for “...being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of
death, even the death of the Cross” (Phil. 2:8). Likewise, Mary as first among His Saints
is an eternally obedient “...initiate of God’s ineffable will”
(Oikos 2). She submitted to the
Divine message of the Archangel Gabriel: “'Let it be to me according to
your word'” (Lk. 1:38).
Therefore, she shines as a “...radiant token of grace”
(Oikos 4). She obeyed, whereas the
first mother, Eve, disobeyed (Gen. 3:2-6).
Thus, Mary “...didst extinguish the furnace of error” (Oikos
5), becoming the compliant “...guide of the Faithful to chastity”
(Oikos 5).
Exaltation: Christ reigns, exalted “...and
given...the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every
knee should bow...” (Phil. 2:9,10). Also in all generations, the wise and
God-fearing magnify “...the Theotokos and the Mother of the Light,”
whose motherly prayers evoke our magnification as she foretold:
“...behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed” (Lk.
1:48). She is exalted as
“...the King’s throne” (Oikos 1), as “...the all-holy
chariot of Him Who sitteth upon the Cherubim” (Oikos 8). The Akathist honors the Theotokos as the
“...land of promise” (Oikos 6) and the “...flower of
incorruptibility” (Oikos 7).
O maiden Mary, the unwedded bride who didst give birth to
God, the whole universe rejoiceth today at thy birth through which thou didst
undo the first curse of Eve at birth giving.
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