The Nativity of the Mother of God is Joy for Us becoming the Place of Encounter

Between Man and God

On the day of the Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the parish of St. Andrew the Apostle in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Serving along with the bishop were Father Mircea Panciuk (protopresbyter emeritus), Protopresbyter Călin Marincaș, Father Vasile Moise (parish priest), Father Ciprian Pavel Roman, and Father Ioan Cristian Bujor.

At the end of the service, the hierarch shared with the faithful some reflections on the joy and importance of this feast:

“The troparion of the Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God first of all tells us of the joy of this celebration. Joy, because the birth of the Virgin Mary itself prepares for and announces the coming into the world of the Savior, Christ. This joy is echoed and strengthened at the moment of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel says to the Virgin: ‘Rejoice, you who are full of grace, the Lord is with you!’ These words show that God deemed the fullness of time for the coming of His Son. The Mother of God, nurtured and kept pure in the Temple, is chosen to bring forth the Son of God by the work of the Holy Spirit. This birth is altogether special: it does not happen through the union of man and woman, as in our human nature, but by the direct intervention of the Holy Spirit. In this lies the distinction between natural birth, even if blessed - such as that of the Virgin Mary’s parents or of the parents of St. John the Baptist - and the birth of the Son of God.”

“The Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God is, at the same time, a prophecy of the Nativity of the Lord: She is revealed as the one who was to receive into her womb the Son of God, the one who becomes Theotokos – God-bearer, as the Church confessed at the Third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus (431). The person of Christ is a divine person, yet He has two natures: the divine nature, from the Father, and the human nature, from the Virgin Mary.”

The hierarch continued by calling the Mother of God the second Eve:

“Why is this birth so important? Because the Virgin Mary is called by the Fathers of the Church the ‘second Eve’. If the first Eve, together with Adam, fell through disobedience and by desiring to be like God without God, the Virgin Mary chose obedience. She overturns the path of sin by remaining faithful to the word of God.

Although she knew how natural birth works, at the Annunciation she does not doubt the angel’s word, but responds: ‘Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word!’ Her faith is stronger than any human tradition, and by this, the Virgin Mary becomes ‘the second Eve’, the one who by obedience opens to humanity the path of salvation.”

Next, the hierarch recalled several of the symbols which are associated with the Mother of God in Holy Scripture:

“The tradition of the Church also calls the Mother of God the ‘dove of Noah’. As the dove returning to the ark brought the news that the Flood waters had receded and that salvation was near, so the Mother of God, through her nativity, proclaims the approaching salvation brought by Christ.

She is also called the ‘Ladder of Jacob’, because she connects heaven with earth, being the one through whom the Son of God descends to people, and through whom people climb toward God.

Another symbol attributed to the Mother of God is the ‘Burning Bush’. Moses saw this bush burning yet not consumed on Mount Sinai, in the place where the famous monastery is even today. The miracle of the bush shows divine power: the divine fire burns but does not consume. In the same way, the Virgin Mary receives in her womb the fire of divinity, the Son of God, without being consumed by it. She remains Virgin before birth, during birth, and after birth. This is a mystery that remains incomprehensible but is confessed as a wondrous work of God.

The Mother of God is likened to the ‘rod of Aaron’, which budded even though it was dry. Likewise, her parents, Joachim and Anna, though old and childless, after much prayer were granted by God the blessing to give birth to the Virgin Mary – where human power has no hope, faith opens the way for the divine work.

She is also called ‘the golden censer’: just as the censer carries burning coal and frankincense upward toward God, so too she carried in her womb Christ, the ‘burning coal’ which gives eternal life.

Another name given to the Virgin is the ‘enclosed gate’ from the prophecy of Ezekiel. She is the gate through which the King of Heaven entered yet remained sealed.

She is called the ‘Most Holy Queen’, the ‘Holy Mountain’, and the ‘Light cloud’. In the Old Testament, Moses ascends Mount Sinai to receive the Law, and the prophet Elijah climbs a mountain to encounter God. In the New Testament, the Apostles see the glory of Christ on Mount Tabor in the Transfiguration. The Mother of God becomes, by receiving the Son of God in her womb, the Holy Mountain, the place of encounter between man and God.

She is called also the ‘Ark of the Old Covenant’. In the Ark in the Temple of Israel were the tablets of the Law, the heavenly manna, and Aaron’s staff – signs of God’s work for His people. The Mother of God fulfills all these: in her is born Christ, the living Law; she bears the heavenly manna, that is He who gives Himself to us as food in the Eucharist; she becomes the living rod which supports and guides God’s people toward salvation.”

At the end, those present received a blessing and took part in the fraternal agape meal.

(contribution Nun Ana Bulgariu)