In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.
Glory to God. Former bishop of this diocese,
Bishop Teacon Fitzgerald, would often, in speaking
to priests about a liturgical homily, would often
say, Don't take people's time at this moment
to just retell the story. He said, we live in
an age of information where you could go on the
OCA website, you could look in the Synoxarion,
you might even try the novel idea of being at
vigil last night, and you would hear in all the
hymnography reinforced over and over again all
the details of this wonderful, wonderful feast.
And he would say, and everyone's capable of accessing
that information. And even if you might be handicapped
in a way that would make that possible, speak
to someone today. If you don't know the story,
ask someone. I'm not going to tell it. It's a
wonderful story. But I want to talk a little
more about why we are here right now. Probably
all of us were... Maybe some different reasons.
I'm sure all really good ones. Probably one of
the reasons we're here is a sense of loyalty.
This is my parish. And this, we know historically,
is the feast day of the little church. This parish
was founded under the protection of the Mother
of God. And this is the altar feast of the little
church, which is still our church. Perhaps in
a sense the mother church even of this large
temple dedicated to the glory of God and Saint
Seraphim of Sarov. Perhaps for us clergy a personal
loyalty. We love this parish. We love Father
Lawrence and his family and the clergy. And we
love the hospitality and the people of this parish.
Here on this probably soon to be hot Indian summer
day, there's nowhere else we would rather be
than with you. But let's not forget ultimately
what should draw us here at this moment in this
place. course is the mother of God. But I know
in our particular culture in America where we've
been influenced, I think very much by the prejudices
against the mother of God that came after the
Reformation, as well as a reaction to some of
the excesses of the piety to the mother of God
of the Latin Church, that sometimes there's a
lack of that really, I'll use the word lovingly,
traditional piety of a love and a closeness to
the mother of God, simply as person and as mother
in a very, very real way. It's really important.
Two of the greatest theologians of the 20th century,
of the Russian church, that is, Vladimir Lossky,
Father George Florovsky, two figures which I
think are undisputedly right there. They really
emphasize, in fact, Lossky says that even though
veneration to the Mother of God is not part of
the kerygma, the kernel of the gospel of the
good news of Christ, Lasky made such a bold statement
as to say, the degree to which we are members
of the body of Christ, of the church, is the
degree in which we are in relationship to Mary,
the mother of God. It's a bold statement. But
that means, what does that mean? That means that
this is indeed the body of Christ. This is indeed
the family of God. This is a household, and that's
the mother. So that's not an outrageous statement,
is it? If we're part of this family, then certainly
we have a relationship with the mother of this
family. Father George Florovsky says something
quite similar. And he writes, in our prayers
to the mother of God, we show the depth of our
Christian love and we show the unity of the church.
When we truly feel her intercession on our behalf,
it strengthens our bonds with each other and
it deepens our faith in the reality of Christ's
incarnation and resurrection. Conversely, Father
George writes, if we fail to sense her presence,
if we fail to sense her help, it reflects a weakening
of our love and our community ties, as well as
it reflects a diminished faith in these foundational
truths. And he continues, the Feast of the Protecting
Veil of the Mother of God symbolizes her constant
prayer for the whole world, surrounded by all
the saints before God. And as the Kantakian beautifully
describes, today the Virgin stands in the church
and with hosts of saints invisibly prays to God
for us. This vision first revealed, as you know,
to St. Andrew, full for Christ, in the church
of Blachernai in Constantinople a thousand years
ago. This reminds us, even at this moment, that
heaven and earth are united today. That there
is a connection between the heavenly and the
earthly church. That we are not alone. It signifies
that even beyond death, the lives of the righteous
and the saints are filled with continuous prayer
and intercession for us and with us. And ultimately,
only love can bind all this together, and the
happiness of the righteous is found in this enduring
love. I want to conclude today with... a short
excerpt from a wonderful and a powerful homily
given by our father among the saints, Cyril of
Alexandria, who was the champion of the Council
of Ephesus, which you know gave us and defined
the term Theotokos, that Mary is indeed the mother
of God. And Cyril preached this homily at the
Council of Ephesus. And allow him to preach these
words to us here today. Cyril writes, back in
the 5th century, I see here a joyful company
of Christians met together in ready response
to the call of Mary, the Holy and Ever -Virgin
Mother of God. Now the beautiful saying of David
the psalmist, how good and how pleasant it is
for brothers to live together in unity, this
has come true for us here and now. And therefore,
holy and incomprehensible Trinity, we salute
you at whose summons we have come together in
this Church of Mary, the Mother of God. We salute
you, for in your holy womb was confined him who
is beyond all limitation. And because of you,
the Holy Trinity is glorified and adored. The
cross is called precious and is venerated throughout
the world. The heavens exult. The angels and
archangels make merry. Demons are put to flight.
The devil, that tempter, is thrust down from
heaven. The fallen human race is taken up on
high. All creatures possessed by the madness
of idolatry have attained knowledge of the truth.
Believers receive holy baptism. The oil of gladness
is poured out. And the church is established
throughout the world. Pagans are brought to repentance.
What more is there to say? Because of you, the
light of the only begotten Son of God has shone
upon us who sat in darkness in the shadow of
death. Because of you, prophets pronounce the
word of God, the apostles preach salvation to
the Gentiles, and the dead are raised to life.
Who can put Mary's high honor into words? She
is both mother and virgin, and I'm overwhelmed
by the wonder of this miracle. Behold then the
joy of the whole universe. Let the union of God
and man in the Son of the Virgin Mary fill us
with awe and adoration. And let us fear and let
us worship the undivided Trinity as we sing the
praise of the ever -virgin Mary, the holy temple
of God, and as we sing the praises of God himself,
her son and spotless bridegroom, and to him be
glory forever and ever. Amen. Spraznikon!