👉🏾👉🏾👉🏾The Mystery of #Sunday #Praise of the Virgin Mary
Beloved in Christ, today we gather under the shadow of the Cross and in the brightness of the Resurrection, to learn about the holy mystery of Sunday, the praise that ascends from the Church, and the exalted place of the Mother of God, the Ever-Virgin Mary. Let us attend with careful ears and humble hearts, for what is spoken today is not idle words, but the food of the soul and the drink of the spirit.
The Greatness of Sunday Praise
The day of the Lord Sunday is not as other days. From the earliest dawn of this holy day, our Lady herself is said to have declared: “This day is the greatest of all days, and the praise of this day is the greatest of all praises.” On this day the heavens were opened, death was undone, and the whole creation was renewed in Christ. Therefore, the praise of this day rises higher than any sacrifice of bulls or goats, higher than the smoke of incense in the old temple, for it is joined to the eternal praise of angels.
To honor this day is to adorn the temple of our souls with golden vessels, with bowls filled not with earthly manna but with the remembrance of Christ, and with Aaron’s rod that testifies to the life that springs from what was barren.
Mary as the Fulfillment of the Old Testament
The Church looks to Mary, the Theotokos, through the figures of the Old Covenant. What was given in shadow finds its truth in her.
The Tablets of the Law (Ex. 32:15-19):
As the covenant of God was inscribed by His finger on stone, so too was the eternal Word inscribed in the womb of the Virgin not with ink, not with human seed, but by the Holy Spirit. She is thus the living tablets, in whom the Lawgiver Himself dwelt.
The Ark of the Covenant (Ex. 25:9-20):
Fashioned of incorruptible wood and overlaid with gold, the Ark bore the divine presence. Mary is the true Ark, uncorrupted, bearing within her the Word made flesh. The Wisdom that fashioned the universe deigned to take flesh in her, and greater was this act of wisdom than the creation of the cosmos.
The Manna (Ex. 16:33-34;
You bore within you the true manna, the bread of heaven (Ex. 16:33–34). Not the manna of the wilderness that could not preserve from death, but the bread that grants eternal life (John 6:50). For nine months and five days you carried Him who is the Bread of Life.
Saint Yared sang: “O holy and pure, in the golden bowl you bore the bread of life who came down from heaven, giving life to all who believe.” Abba George declared you the Bethlehem, the house of the heavenly bread. Truly, the manna you bore is Christ, flesh united with divinity.
The Lampstand (Ex. 25:31-40; Isa. 9:1-2; Matt. 4:14):
You are the lampstand of gold (Ex. 25:31–40), bearing the Light of Light. Christ, Light of the Father, shone through you into the darkness, revealing the knowledge of salvation (Isa. 9:1–2; Matt. 4:14).
Saint Yared proclaimed: “You are the lamp not made by hands, bearing the light that dispels darkness from men.” For the Lord said: “I am the light of the world; walk while you have the light” (John 12:31). Through you, He illumined our minds and set us on the path of the Gospel..
The Censer (Ex. 30:1-8): As Aaron carried the censer of incense before God, so Mary bore Christ, the pleasing sacrifice who offered Himself to the Father. In Him, the Father was well-pleased, and through Him, sins are atoned for.
Continues 👇🏾