Saint Tikhon’s Monastery
April 20, 2024
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today Saint Paul offers us a sobering reminder: “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”
If we have engaged in the Lenten struggle with even a modicum of authentic effort, then we know, to some small degree, just how sinful we are, just how deserving we are of judgment and condemnation. It is when we struggle to restrain our appetites that we see how monstrous and uncontrolled those appetites are. When we strive to turn away from sin, that is when we can feel the grip it has on us.
However, this Saturday festival also reminds us of the wealth of God’s mercy, the unfailing riches of his compassion.
At the time of our baptism, or perhaps when our baptism was fulfilled and sealed by the sacrament of chrismation, we received the grace of all that is needed for our salvation. Saint Paul speaks today of Christ’s unique sacrifice, that he “was offered once to bear the sins of many.” In baptism, as we enter into Christ’s Death and put on Christ, our sins are borne away in the waters of the font and we receive the fullness of the salvation that he has wrought for us.
We know, though, that we have not lived in accordance with this grace; God has given us everything, a spotless white garment of light and salvation, but we have dirtied that garment through our indulgence in all manner of sins and passions. We have betrayed the grace of baptism and the name of Christian. As St. John the Theologian writes in his first catholic epistle, “He who says ‘I know him’ but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
Still, the Lord, in his incomprehensible mercy, offers us the possibility of recovering, or rather uncovering, the grace that we once received and that remains even now in us, even if it is obscured by sin.
This process begins with confession of our sins and continues with struggle and then the ascent of the ladder of virtues. It ends with silence, constant prayer, and an ever-fruitful, ever-deepening union with God. We might say, then, to paraphrase Sts. Ignatius and Callistus Xanthopoulos, that the object of asceticism, of our entire Christian struggle, is to learn to live in accord with that original baptismal grace.
In the same way that God offers us countless opportunities to confess and repent in order to return to that unique grace of baptism, he has also raised up many mediators to help us along the way back to the gift that comes through our unique Mediator, Christ our true God. And the most important mediatrix in ascetic struggle, the great help and guide to our life in Christ, is the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary.
Though the crown of the year is adorned with many feasts of her life and many celebrations of her wonder-working icons, today is a special day, devoted purely to her praise, not in connection with any occasion or image, but for its own sake. And, as we delight in praising her who is above all praise, we especially celebrate the great treasure that is her akathist hymn, which is a sort of alphabet or dictionary of her glories.
We shower the Mother of God with epithets of honor, calling her a height hard to climb, a depth hard to scan, the beginning of Christ’s wonders, the fulfillment of his teachings, ladder, bridge, marvel, wisdom, dawn, earth, table, loving-kindness, freedom of approach, fold of sheep, protection, key, foundation, deliverance, liberation, guide, joy, restoration, promised land, flower, crown, forgiveness, love, gate, hope, treasury, haven, pillar, provider, tabernacle, ark, fortress, holy of holies, and many other wondrous things.
But even as we praise her, we frame that praise with the words of the kontakion: “set us free from every calamity.”
She is great and wonderful and worthy, and beyond worthy, of every praise with which we adorn her celebrations, and her greatness is often revealed to us most clearly in her loving care, protection, and intercessions.
The most pure Theotokos certainly cares for our bodily needs and the circumstances of our life on earth. But more importantly, she is our victorious leader in the battle with distractions, passions, temptations, and besetting sins.
After all, what is a true calamity for a Christian? We recall the words of Saint Paul, and remember that, first, we all must die, and that, second, judgment follows on death. Therefore, true calamities are those which affect our eternal destiny rather than the exterior circumstances of our sojourn in this world of temporality and corruption. In this sense, everything that separates us from God is a calamity.
And against all these calamities, we have surety of the Mother of God’s supplications. As long as we remain in the fight, she is our leader, advocate, and ally. She is the sole mediatrix through whom we encounter the unique Mediator, and her mediation is with us in every aspect of our spiritual struggle—as long as we ask for it.
Therefore, in every calamity, but also in every joy, we ask for her help and we sing her praises. Today, the Saturday of the Akathist, comes but once a year, but each and every day we should make into a celebration in honor of our loving Mother, who points our way towards her Son, Christ our God, the only Savior, who came not to judge, but deliver us from condemnation by his Passion.
To her be all veneration, and to him, together with his Father and his Spirit, be all worship and adoration, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Most holy Theotokos, save us and set us free from every spiritual calamity!