Last week we celebrated the beginning of a new ecclesiastical year; now we mark the first great feast of the year, the birth of the Theotokos. The outer proclamation of the Gospel began with Christ’s Forerunner, whose conception we celebrate later this month, but the inner mystery of the Church, the Incarnation of the Word, begins with the Theotokos. Through her as through a gate that remained shut, the Son of God has entered into his creation, and henceforth we shall always know him as the Son of Mary. Though her role in our salvation was unique and unrepeatable, it does provide for us a model and a goal. With respect to the goal, we recognize that she bore Christ in her womb so that we could give birth to Christ in our lives and our hearts. With respect to the model, she shows that to bear Christ worthily requires total purity and total humility. By God’s grace and through her prayers, let us seek to repent and be changed.
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