The Protection of the Mother of God; the protection of our Mother.

This weekend, we celebrate the beloved feast of the Protection of the Theotokos. This service started as a commemoration of the deliverance of Constantinople from the invasion of a Slavic army, but has through the centuries become a service is a commemoration  not only this historical event (truly ironic as it is precious in the hearts of Slavic Churches around the world) but also a commemoration of the intercessions made for us by the most holy Theotokos.

We might not be under the assault of invading barbarians, but we are constantly assaulted by the trials and tribulations of life, that seek to discourage, and separate us from the love of the Lord. Yet through all these assaults, the Virgin Mary and saints intercede with tears and compassion over our situations, and she stretches out her veil of protection on us, as she did over Constantinople those centuries ago.

It is so easy to over-spiritualize the feasts of the Church – which is to say divorce it from any historic reality – or to conversely reduce them to a historic event, with no spiritual significance beyond the details of the feast. Yet as with every feast of the Church, there is a historic and spiritual reality that is conveyed. This feast is no different.

For sure, the feast of the Protection of the Theotokos happened historically (Oct. 1st 911) in the city of Constantinople; yet her love for humanity, and intercessions for us before her Son Jesus Christ, stretches into every age and place – even suburban Winnipeg Manitoba some 1112 years on. 

We see this timeless intercession in the the Icon that Fr. Vladimir (Lysak) painted for my wife a few years ago. In the Icon, there is the Theotokos standing in the center, with her outstretched arms holding her veil over two Churches painted in the lower corners. One only has to look and see that one of those Churches (on the left of the icon as you look at it) is our very own St. Nicholas in Narol. 

To understand her intercession, even over St. Nicholas, we have to recognise that motherly love she offered to her Son (as real and sacrificial as mothers love), is now offered to each and everyone of us through her son; “for as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ” (1 Cor 12:12) . Indeed if we are “His Body, which is the Church” (Col 1:24) her love for us can not be separated from the Lord whom she bore.  Truly in Christ, she is our mother.

What joy and mercy it is to know we have such an intercessor who has a boldness -particular to all mothers-, to advocate on behalf of her children, that is us. For she goes before the Lord on our behalf in the same way she interceded for the Bride and Groom at the wedding in Cana (Jn 2:1-10). Seeking that the tasteless water of our struggles and challenges, might be transformed by the Lord into something richer and sweeter, the joy and thanksgiving at being delivered from necessity.

Indeed this feast manifests that divine and motherly love that brings us the peace of her son and God, and the consolation of His saving victory over death and sin.  By the prayers of the most holy Theotokos and ever virgin Mary, may we have the eyes of faith to recognise the love of God for us, and her unwavering love that reveals it.

Most Holy Theotokos save us!