ST MARY THE VIRGIN
Although August 15 is not a Prayer Book holy day, it seems hardly
credible that we have no feast in honor of the gentle and lovely woman most
intimately involved in the Incarnation. From
early times, August 15 has been celebrated as her day. It has been marked by various
names. The most ancient and
universal title for this feast is the Dormition of Our Lady. That is an unfamiliar word which means
"falling asleep." It
emphasizes that St Mary was not a martyr, as were most of the saints whose
feasts are kept in the Prayer Book kalendar.
In more modern times, this day has come to be called the Feast of
the Assumption, celebrating a post-Biblical legend that after her death Mary's
body did not decompose but was miraculously transported to the heavens. Before
we reject this pious opinion too quickly, we must acknowledge that the New
Testament gives some tantalizing hints of such a belief. St Paul
wrote (I Thess. 4:17) of those who will be "caught up together in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air," and St John
Even if Scripture is
silent concerning the end of Mary's earthly life, the Church has given her the
title "Mother of God." That appellation still offends many, just
as it offended the heretic Nestorius. He
was willing to call her "Mother of Christ," but not "Mother of
God." "Mother of
God" seems to imply something false, that Mary is the mother of the
Godhead, Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, as if Mary
herself were a Goddess from eternity. Such
a notion would be beyond heresy, a leap into sheer paganism.
When we say, as we must say, that the Virgin Mary was the Mother
of God, we are saying quite emphatically that the One to whom she gave birth
was none other than God in the flesh. Her
Son Jesus Christ was and is Deity Incarnate. So
the title "Mother of God" at bottom line is not a statement about
Mary herself but a statement about the One to whom she was Mother.
From the moment she surrendered herself to the Archangels's
message ("Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy
word") until the day of Pentecost when she was occupying an honored place
amongi the apostles, we see Mary as the most faithful and obedient disciple,
the model for all Christians. Concerning
her we sing, "O higher than the cherubim, more glorious than the seraphim,
lead their praises; thou bearer of the eternal Word, most gracious, magnify the
Lord." LKW
Thank you, Father, for a very judicious and concise essay on the BVM. It often seems that Anglicans dispose of Mary as a knee-jerk reaction of many Romans' and Orthodox over-emphasis. I think you have hit the mark of proper respect toward the Mother of God.
ReplyDeleteor with the great non-juring bishop Thomas Ken....
ReplyDeleteHeaven with transcendent joys her entrance graced,
next to his throne her Son his Mother placed;
and here below, now she's of heaven possessed,
all generations are to call her blessed.
Great message. Thanks Fr. Wells.
ReplyDelete