Holy Trinity Cathedral, Chicago, Illinois
October 1, 2022
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Beloved brothers and beloved children in the Lord:
‘Today the Virgin stands in the midst of the Church, and with choirs of saints she invisibly prays to God for us. Angels with bishops worship, apostles and prophets rejoice together, since for our sake she prays to the pre-eternal God.’
This hymn, the kontakion for today’s feast, presents us with a striking image: the whole church at worship, and the Mother of God at the center, leading that choir of praise.
On the one hand, this is an image of the celestial liturgy, the ceaseless worship of God in the heavenly high places, where the saints cast their crowns and the angels raise up the prayers of the righteous as incense. All the righteous from the ages, in their ranks and orders, are present, and the Virgin leads them in prayer on our behalf.
On the other hand, in the same way that our earthly liturgy is always an enactment of and participation in that heavenly service, likewise this hymn provides an image of what is happening in this church building today.
Today and whenever we gather together in worship, the most holy Theotokos and all of the saints are invisibly but truly present with us. The holy icons that surround us are a visible reminder of this invisible reality.
And so, the Mother of God is not only in heaven, but she is constantly visiting us, her children, on the earth.
This is, after all, the original motivation for today’s feast. The Theotokos was seen spreading her protecting veil over the church at Blachernae, in Constantinople, showing that she was the invisible but powerful protector of the city.
And down through the centuries, we hear of miracles of her protection. During the Time of Troubles, she protected the city of Moscow. In 1675, during an Ottoman invasion of Galicia, in what is now western Ukraine, she protected the Pochayiv Lavra, appearing over the monastery in the company of angels.
But the protection of the Mother of God is not only manifest in feats of arms. Her miracles down through the centuries also display her tender care for the Christian people, as when a young Saint Seraphim was healed by devout prayers before the Kursk Root icon, or when a noble lady fallen on hard times was reunited with her family and home when she prayed before the icon of the Three Joys.
Lastly, we have also heard miracles of her comfort. It was for the sake of comfort and confirmation that our most pure Lady has sometimes appeared to the great saints, such as Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus, Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, Saint Sergius of Radonezh, and Saint Paësius the Athonite.
But whether the Theotokos is performing miracles of defense, healing, or comfort, it is clear that, through the ages, she protects the Christian people against all sorts of hardship. She prays first and foremost for our eternal salvation, but she is also quick to hear our earthly needs.
As such, we should celebrate the Protection of the Mother of God, and also run to her protection, not just one day a year, but every day, in all circumstances of our lives.
Of course, we do not know what form her protection will take. Sometimes, when we are in difficult circumstances, she may, through her prayers to her Son, solve our problems completely. If we are sick, she may heal our illness. If we have someone difficult in our lives, she may transform that person and soften his heart. If we are worried about a relative or friend, she may intervene and take away that cause for worry.
All of this is possible. It is also possible that her unfailing protection will be revealed, not as a removal of difficulties, but as comfort in hard times, strengthening us to take up our cross and follow her Son and our God. In this case, her protection can help us grow in faith, to become less earthly-minded and to live more eagerly for Christ alone.
After all, a sword pierced her soul also, and during her mortal life, our most holy Queen knew her fair share of sorrows, as we see iconographically depicted in the Seven Swords icon. But just as her faith and her love for her Son and her adoration for God remained constant through her trials, so by her protection she can help us, too, as we seek to commend ourselves and each other and our whole life to Christ our God, even in the most difficult of times.
And so, as we come together in the church to celebrate the Protection of the Mother of God, we know that she is right here with us, in our midst, as the hymn says, and praying for us.
And that prayerful protection does not cease when we leave the doors of the Church. She is always present before the face of God interceding on our behalf. And whenever we call upon her, she is invisibly at our side, full of maternal love.
In times of trouble and affliction and grief and doubt, when we need her protection the most, we should certainly call upon the Mother of God.
But even in times of joy and thanksgiving, such as this day which marks the enthronement of His Grace Bishop Daniel as ruling bishop for the see of Chicago and the Diocese of the Midwest, we should not forget the one who constantly prays for us, whose prayers win us earthly blessings, and, we hope, a place in the heavenly kingdom, where we desire to join that heavenly liturgy, the choir of angels and saints, and stand together with the most holy Theotokos praising the Lord forever, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to whom be all glory, honor, and adoration, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.