The members of this New Israel are a new, “holy nation, a peculiar people,” an ethnos without tribes or ethnicity, a nation with no abiding or ruling city here. In the New Israel, not only priests and kings but all the people are anointed with a new anointing, the holy chrism and seal of the Holy Spirit, into “a royal priesthood”39 inherited not through “the will of the flesh,”40 not through a family, tribe, or
Mother and symbol of the Church In Old Israel, only the kings and the priests were anointed. The anointing was powerless, prefiguring but not conferring the seal of the Holy Spirit. In the Virgin, the barren church of Old Israel is reborn as the New Israel, and the royal and priestly lines are recapitulated and become one. The fruit of her womb is the one High Priest and King of the New Israel Who, in
Her mediation and Christ’s mediation operate as one in an unceasing, indivisible synergy in Heaven and in the world. Therefore, she remits sins, intercedes, saves, heals, enlightens, sanctifies, guides, guards, protects; she routs demons and barbarian hordes, delivers us from dangers, turns tides, calms storms. A profound vesper hymn clearly distinguishes the unique nature of the intercessions of the Theotokos: “Unveil to us the boundless sea of your mercy and goodness and thereby wash away
The New Testament gives us the following vivid example of the power of her mediation with motherly boldness before the Lord. When the Savior attended the marriage at Cana, the time had not yet come according to the divine plan for His public miracles to begin. Therefore, replying to His mother’s mediation to Him because the host’s wine had been exhausted, He said, “Woman, what hath this to do with Me and with thee? For
One mediation of the Mediator and the Mediatress “She did not mediate only on behalf of certain chosen races, but between God and the entire human race. Standing between both, she made God the Son of Man and men the sons of God. “7 Her mediation is more than a parallel to her Son’s; it is the same mediation because she is the mother of His humanity. And Christ’s mediation belongs to the humanity of
“She came into life for Him, to serve in the salvation of the world so that the ancient will of God for the Incarnation may be fulfilled through her.”1 The Virgin’s mediation, then, is central to the eternal mystery of the Incarnation. She was always the Mediatress. “The communion of God the Begetter of All Things with the creature He formed, and His sharing in its nature”2 came about by the mediation of the Virgin.
When you saw the God so longed-for walking the earth, O First-called beholder of God, you called out to your brother: “Simon! We have found the One we have longed for!” To the Savior you cried out like David: “As the hart longs for fountains of water, so my soul longs for you, O Christ God:”(Vespers of the Feast of St. Andrew, fourth hymn of the Lity) ON THE FEAST OF ST. ANDREW (November 30)
By Daniel Manzuk It would be a gross understatement to say that much has been written about the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos. Yet very little has been written about the fast that precedes it. Every Orthodox Christian is aware and generally knows the reason behind the fasts for Pascha and Christmas. But while they may know of the Dormition Fast, few follow it, and more than a few question why it is
Don’t get rid of the pain until you’ve learned its lessons. When you hold the pain consciously and trust fully, you are in a very special liminal space. This is a great teaching moment where you have the possibility of breaking through to a deeper level of faith and consciousness. Hold the pain of being human until God transforms you through it. And then you will be an instrument of transformation for others. As an
Martha, Mary, and Lazarus of Bethany “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (John 11:5). Martha and Mary of Bethany are well-known figures of the New Testament. The two sisters seem to have had different temperaments, and their characters are often polarized in the retelling of their story. These polarized characterizations are caricatures which obscure the real picture of the women, their faith and their situation. This article looks at some of the information
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