👉🏾👉🏾👉🏾The Mystery of #Saturday #Praise of the Virgin Mary
Beloved brethren in Christ, on this blessed Saturday, the Church raises its voice in honor of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord, to interpret her praises as the Fathers and Scriptures have handed down. Let us meditate deeply upon her dignity, for in exalting her, we glorify Him who was born of her.
I. The Purity of the Virgin
Mary is called pure and light. Pure in her body, pure in her soul, pure in her speech, and pure in her inward being. St. Ephrem the Syrian, in his commentary on the Diatesaron, declared:
“The body of Mary is a temple on earth. In this temple, the angel Gabriel came to sow the seed of blessing instead of sin, death, and barrenness. Elizabeth’s greeting confirmed this: ‘You and your mother alone are pure in every way. O Lord! There is no blemish in You; there is no mark in Your mother.’”
Thus, the Virgin is both temple and sanctuary, where heaven touched earth, where God clothed Himself in our humanity.
II. The Name of Jesus
When the Archangel Gabriel greeted the Virgin, he announced: “You shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus” (Luke 1:31). He did not say, “He who is called Jesus,” but directly: “You shall call His name Jesus.”
The Fathers teach us that this signifies not a borrowed title, but the true identity of the Word made flesh. For Jesus in Hebrew means Savior. Thus it was revealed: “For He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).
Through Mary, the Savior entered the world, and through Him we have reconciliation with the Father.
III. The Choice of the Father
Abba Hiriakos bears witness that God the Father searched the whole earth the east and the west, the north and the south and found none like the Virgin. He delighted in her purity and chose her as the dwelling place of His only-begotten Son. The Holy Spirit overshadowed her, and the Son of the Most High took flesh from her, without diminishing His divinity.
Through her obedience, the Word became man and saved us from sin in the flesh.
IV. The Word Made Flesh
Mary is the descendant of David, the chosen vessel through whom the eternal Son took human flesh (Luke 1:32). The Apostle says: “He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7).
This does not mean that His divine nature was altered, but that He humbled Himself to lift us up. He clothed Himself with our weakness, that by His grace we might be clothed with His glory.
V. The Sun of Righteousness
From the Virgin shone forth the Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2), who came to dispel the cold of sin and illumine the whole world. St. Cyril of Ethiopia proclaims:
“O heaven, who gave birth again to the Sun of Righteousness, the light of the saints…”
Thus she is called the Second Heaven, for within her womb the Creator descended without change, without cause, and without corruption.
VI. The Tabernacle of God
The Virgin is praised as the Tabernacle of God:
The golden tabernacle,
The dwelling place of the High Priest,
The true Ark of the Covenant.
As Abba Giorgis of Gasǝččäm taught: “O Tabernacle of Light, dwelling place of the Great High Priest, rejoice!”
Just as Solomon’s temple was adorned with gold and filled with the glory of God, so Mary was adorned with purity and holiness. Yet her glory is far greater, for she bore within herself not the shadow, but the fullness the living Word of God, Emmanuel.
Continues 👇🏾