Consuming the Flesh of the Mother of God

Recently, I was accused of putting too much emphasis on the Mother of God and the activity of the Saints.  My response was that my emphasis is important in understanding our relationship with Jesus Christ. St. Macarius said, “human free will is an essential condition, for without it even God himself does nothing”. It is true that our salvation comes from Christ alone, but he would not be here without our consent. This is important for us to realize because our actions do matter. There are wonderful things that God wishes to do with us, but without our participation we end up grieving the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30).

The Greek theologian Panagiotus Trembelas once said, “From the beginning to end, in the work of man’s conversion and sanctification there run side by side two lines: divine grace and human free will. Continually these two lines converge and touch each other, and so together they contribute to our salvation….Yet at no moment and at no point in the development of this work does the one line obliterate and cancel out the other”. In terms of these two lines mentioned there is a whole history of their convergence in the saints of the Old Testament. Without the Old Testament saints, we would not be where we are today. There would be no Church. God set apart certain people and worked with these people in mediating his divine grace into this world. Through them, he was preparing the world for salvation through Jesus Christ.

Just as we can grow in experiencing divine grace, the Old Testament saints could as well. However, their growth was through many purifications and acts of divine condescension, God coming down to our level and bringing us up to his. These purifications and divine condescensions had a purpose and climax. God was creating for himself a most perfect and pure temple in which the fullness of divine grace could enter our world. In other words, God was perfecting our humanity by working with the O.T. saints, returning human nature to its purpose, a purpose that became obscured due to sin. It was through the conception of Theotokos that the purpose and climax of Old Testament sanctity was achieved.

God at any time could have picked anyone to become the Theotokos. However, as St. Macarius said God can do nothing without us. Our choices matter and the Theotokos would not be with us without the response of the saints of the Old Testament. Her conception was the height of what was possible in terms of human perfection. For this reason, the Church rightly honors her as the Immaculate Conception and the Panagia, "the All Holy". As the Russian Theologian Sergei Bulgakov taught, the life of the Theotokos is a series of gifts of grace given to us by the Holy Spirit, beginning with Her conception. She received naturally through her cooperation with God what we all receive now through our participation in the life of the Church.

St. Symeon the New Theologian said that when we partake on the Flesh our Lord, in the Eucharist, we at the same time partake of the flesh of the Theotokos. God took his flesh from the Theotokos. God became what we are through her. He could not have become what we are without us. The fiat of the Theotokos represents a long history of God working with us in order to bring about our salvation. In terms of our salvation, we can now have everything that God is. This is all thanks to the people that have worked with God, which includes both the saints of the Old and New Testaments. Without them we would not be where we are. This is a truth that we need to make our own. God is not done saving the world. There will come a day when God wipes away every tear (Rev. 21:4). This is a day that God is now calling us to work with him to bring about. It’s a mystery, but God truly is trusting each of us with the salvation of the world.

The Myth and the Theotokos

         In the Divine Liturgy we celebrate real history. We don’t celebrate myths, religious ideals, or the wisdom of men. Its a history according to God’s reckoning and one that requires us to have faith. For the majority of those that would attended a Divine Liturgy there might not be any contention with what I just said. If there is, we have unlimited manuals of apologetics that can explain how everything can make historical sense. Even with events like the resurrection, any doubt can be talked down. I bet St. Paul could have used some of the apologetics that we have today. When he came preaching the resurrection to Greeks many of them thought he was nuts (Acts 17:32). The resurrection just did not make any sense according to the way the Greeks understood history. For those that did accept the preaching of St. Paul, they were accepting something they could not explain away. This was a big risk for them, but one that must have been fueled by an authentic encounter with Christ.
        
           The Divine Liturgy is our greatest encounter with Christ. As of such, it should determine our understanding of history even if there is a risk involved. The liturgical feasts that we celebrate in our tradition have changed the World and continue to do so. The feasts are historical and at the same time beyond history. They exist within and outside of time and are the means for salvation of the whole World. As I said, we don’t celebrate ideas but real events that continue to shape history. By celebrating these liturgical events, we the baptized, bring salvation into the World. In fact, I would be bold to say that if we neglect an opportunity to participate in a liturgy the World suffers. It’s a great mystery why God chooses to bring salvation into the world through our participation.    

With all this being said, I will now proclaim a historical fact: If the Theotokos as a child did not enter the sacred part of the Jewish Temple none of us would be saved. I make this statement based on an element of one of the Great Feasts of our Church, “The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple”. Tradition teaches us that the Theotokos was brought by her parents to serve in the temple community and it was there that she was led by the high priest into the depths of the temple, where she became the true Holy of Holies. This event is historically impossible based on what we know about Judaism at the time. It’s just as impossible as a person coming back from the dead or ascending into heaven. At the same time, if these events are impossible, if these things did not happen, none of us would know salvation.

God is always intervening in history. Our Tradition celebrates this intervention and perpetuates it through our liturgy. I know that this, “The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple”, has sometimes been subject to debate. It comes from a non-canonical source and no historical science could verify its validity. On the other hand, it’s part of our sacred Tradition. If you were to call this feast into question, its understandable. However, the next time you attended a liturgy ask yourself what you are celebrating. Is it a Myth, theological ideas, good intentions, or an event that saves the world?  

Defending the Theotokos

     The other day I was challenged to provide a historical foundation for the feast of the Dormition. The person making this challenge believed that my church was in error since there are no historical records concerning the feast until about the 5^th century. I tried to explain that my church doesn’t get its tradition from the availability of historical documents. In my explanation, I demonstrated that there has always been an oral tradition that has preceded anything that was written. Unfortunately, he found my explanation unsatisfactory. According to him it makes no sense to believe in something that cannot be historically proven. In response, I explained that depending on how you understand history, Christianity is not a religion founded in historical satisfaction. In fact, everything that we believe in as Christians is built on oral tradition. I even pointed out to him that the few centuries of oral traditions concerning the Dormition are nothing compared to the oral traditions that came before the bible. For instance, the book of Genesis could be the result of up to 1000yrs worth of oral tradition according to some scholars. Consequently, if I operated by what could be “historically proven” I would have to come to the conclusion that everything in Christianity “makes no sense”. Looking back on this conversation, I guess the point I was trying to make with him was that there is a different form of history at work concerning the Dormition.
     When it comes to our feasts of the Theotokos the Church presents something of its inner life. Of course, these feasts are something that don’t fulfill the standards of some historical methods in terms of their actuality. There is no doubt that in the Roman church the elevation of the Dormition/Assumption to a dogma was in some sense a response to certain historical philosophies at work amongst Catholics. Many of the Eastern churches have to do this day remained critical of Rome’s decision to do this. On the other hand, some of those who remain critical have themselves fallen under the spell of the “historical standard”. In fact, I have heard noted Eastern scholars reduce liturgical feasts concerning the Theotokos to mere ideologies. For instance, the feast of the Theotokos entering the Temple has been reduced by some to a teaching about her holiness instead of an actual real event. To me, such a reduction runs counter to liturgical theology. Our liturgical feasts are not ideas but are in fact real events that we participate in through grace. They might not make the standard that certain scholars use for history but they are from a history that transcends the boundaries of human limitations. I don’t think it’s necessary to make every feast of the Theotokos a dogma. What I do think is necessary is a renewal in the understanding of what salvation history is.
     In our modern world there is no census on how history is done. Today we might believe that Alexander the Great conquered most of the ancient world but 50yrs from now new research might prove something else. Historical events are constantly being subject to the historians and their research. This doesn’t mean that modern history is not reliable but it does demonstrate its limits. One thing for certain that modern history cannot do is to tell us what God has done in the world. For this we need a different form of history and history that has no limits, which is salvation history. In salvation history the mysteries that pertain to our faith are not communicated in the same way we might receive history in a secular classroom. It is not subject to methods, critiques, or chronological presentation. It comes to us through an experience of God and this experience is communicated from person to person. As a result, it would not matter if there was a million years of oral tradition that predated what was written about the Dormition. The history is guided and communicated by God and it is by grace that we can participate in the history of this communication.
     As far as secular history is concerned there are no doubt patterns of data that can be seen as sources for the feast of the Dormition. However, even if the patterns gave detailed accounts going back to the actual events of the Theotokos falling asleep we would not be able to escape the risk of having to put faith in something we can’t prove. Intellectual certitude about any aspect of faith always comes at a price and we must be willing to trust God that He is leading us into truth. As the scripture teaches faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen (Heb. 11:1), it is not intellectual certitude achieved by scientific means. This doesn’t mean that what we believe in is irrational but it does mean that we have to maintain an active hope in the faithfulness of God. In my own life I have heard many arguments that tried to prove my faith wrong. To those that challenged me I think the only real thing I had to offer them was how my life has changed by following what I believe. Most of the time that’s all what people really want to see when they don’t understand our traditions.

The Mary of History

     Several years ago there was a made for TV movie on the historical life of Mary. After watching about 5 minutes of the movie the so called history experts who made the movie demonstrated that Mary was disobedient to her parents. From the point of view of secular history this makes sense, given what we know of the psychology of children.  In addition, there is no historical or scientific evidence that can validate the claims of my Catholic faith that might teach otherwise. Even if secular historians attempted to use Catholic teachings the sources we use can’t escape the limits of the historical critical methods. All we have are the truths that have been handed down through our liturgical traditions to teach us about who Mary was. In these sources there is always a supernatural element that could be rightly said to have no historical basis when using modern historical methods. Based on this, it makes no sense to me when my fellow Catholics dismiss the historical reality of the feast of The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple. They will say it is a theological truth or a product of popular piety but never history. However, they will maintain the historical possibility of other Catholic feasts that involve the Theotokos. What they don't realize is that all feasts concerning the Theotokos come to us from the same source, which is, as I said, our liturgical tradition. This source obviously gives little room for historical accuracy with the tools that modern historians use and for the most part anything with a supernatural element can not be deemed as real history.
     In comparing the high Catholic feasts about the Theotokos, modern historical methods would place the events of the celebrated feast of Mary entering the Jewish temple as more probable. All the other Catholic liturgical traditions rely heavily on a supernatural element but not necessarily this feast. What the feast teaches is that the Theotokos was led into a restricted place, the Holy of Holies, by the high priest.  As compared for instance to The Feast of the Dormition (Mary dying, being resurrected, and taken to heaven), which eludes the methods used to study history, there are many instances in world history where people were led into restricted places by others. So when I hear my fellow Catholics say that this feast, The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple, was a product of popular piety, not history, it makes me wonder if they use the same reasoning for how they understand the rest of their faith. If anything, the feast of The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple has more of a historical basis than any other Catholic tradition concerning Mary.
     In my studies of Catholic tradition I was encouraged to use every method that was available to better understand my faith. In doing so, I also came to realize the limitations of certain methods that are used in the mainstream study of history.  In speaking about these historical methods Cardinal Ratzinger, before he became the Pope, taught that the current historical methods for studying history are excellent to use but each as he says, “contains its own philosophy, which in general—for example when I try to study the history of medieval emperors—is hardly important. And this is because in that case I want to know the past and nothing more. But even this cannot be done in a neutral way, and so there are also limits to the method”. The limits that he speaks of here are no doubt the ones being expressed by my fellow Catholics that deny the feast of the Theotokos Entering the Temple as being historically possible. What they don’t realize is that there is in fact a history taking place but one that does not have the same limitations as the one developed by secular historians.
     The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple is Salvation History. Salvation History is a history that is formed with God’s interaction with man. It is also a history that escapes being limited to certain periods of our contemporary timelines. Salvation History is a history that we can indeed enter into now and we do this primarily in our Divine Liturgy. In each liturgical cycle all the events that bring us salvation are celebrated. However, it is not a mere celebration of a memory, rather through the power of God there is a real participation in the event. In other words, it is as if we are actually there, symbolically, but never the less truly present in the event. Based on this, it really is out place for Catholics to consider the events celebrated in a Divine Liturgy as just piety, theological ideas, or anything less than true events.
     During the Feat of the Entrance of the Theotokos into Temple we Byzantines sing, ”Today is the prelude of God's benevolence and the herald of our salvation; for the Virgin openly appears in the temple of God  and foretells Christ to all Let us also with full voice exclaim to her: Rejoice, fulfillment of the Creator's plan”. I have no doubt that if what this proclaims did not happen there would be no salvation for us today. Every event that we celebrate in our liturgies concerning the life of the Theotokos was for our salvation. As I said, it is Salvation History!  It is unfortunate that today many of my fellow Catholics have lost touch with how the Church Fathers understood the traditions that we pass on liturgically. For some of the Fathers, to say that the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple is not history would qualify one for an anathema.

Panagia

     It is said to be the foundation of all the feasts of the Lord that we celebrate. For in this feast the Lord takes for himself human flesh and changes human nature forever. As you might know by now I am speaking of the feast of the Annunciation of Lord, which the Byzantine tradition celebrates on March 25. In celebrating this feast I am reminded of a special title that my tradition gives to the Theotokos, which is the Panagia (All-Holy).We give this title to her because in addition to being  pure she was also the most worthy of the human race to give our God flesh. In thinking of this we should be filled with wonder because no other person was chosen to conceive our salvation. Her son might have been the one to ultimately grant salvation to all but our Lord chose first to manifest our hope through the Panagia.
     As we know from our traditions when God took on flesh through the Annunciation a complete deification of human nature took place. However, what we may not know from our traditions is that before the Annunciation deification was still possible for human nature but not in a complete way. We first see this in the various holy people of the Old Testament like Moses who's face radiated the divine light or even the Prophet Elijah who was mysteriously taken by God while still alive. However, whatever experience of deification the saints of the Old Testament had it was not enough to overcome death. It would not be until the Panagia that we would find a person with some capacity to silence the grip of death.
     In a way the Panagia was the completion of the work of those that came before her. The fathers before her were also exposed to God’s grace and in such a way that humanity became more and more purified for that moment when God would become man. However, where death held the fathers back the Panagia became the vessel where the Divine Nature would have no barriers. In addition, by being the completion of the flow of grace through those that came before her we find that the Panagia was given a special role in the salvation of the human race. I believe Blessed John Paul the Great emphasizes this when he once said, “Redemption was the work of her Son; Mary was associated with it on a subordinate level. Nevertheless, her participation was real and demanding. (Inseg VI/1 (1983) 1136 [ORE 783:1)”.
     In one way the Byzantine tradition shares the Blessed Father's understanding of Mary's role, which is seen in our feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the temple. This feast specifies that Mary did something that was not normal and has even been dismissed by scholars as myth. For this feast proclaims that the Panagia did something only proper for the high priest by entering into the Holy of Hollies in the temple. Normally it was the high priest alone that would go to such a place to mediate atonement of sin but the Panagia by her own virtue presented herself to God there. By doing this she demonstrated through her actions that she was "Panagia" and the true temple in which sin could ultimately be abolished. Its unfortunate that some have dismissed this feast because it demonstrates the work of God at its climax in saving us from the power of sin. Before this there was no one worthy to fulfill the qualifications that could bring salvation to the human race. It was only through Mary's constant obedience and response to grace that we find for the first time in history someone who was worthy to experience the fullness of God.
     By the time the Annunciation happened we find Mary by her own virtue being the Panagia. She participated in the divinity in such a way that she surpassed what might have been humanly possible for Eve before the fall. Consequently, she was filled with the Grace of God in such a capacity that she only awaited greater perfection, which she received through the Annunciation. It was at this time when she received by her consent to the angle the divinity of the Word of God. In one way it is the same gift of perfection that we also receive through the sacraments. However, for her she received the grace unmediated through God becoming man in her. In fact, her experience of the divine nature from that point became so profound that one of the Byzantine Fathers St. Gregory Palamas called her the boundary between the created and the uncreated. For in her alone there was and ever will be a total and unrestricted access to the divine nature.