Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the great feasts of the Resurrection of the Lord and the Dormition of the Most-Holy Theotokos, as well as with the end of the Dormition fast!

Today during the Divine Liturgy we heard the familiar words of the Apostle Paul which he wrote in his touching and heartfelt Letter to the Philippians. These words are familiar because they are read at almost all of the feasts of the Virgin Mary. Despite their familiarity, not many of us pay much attention to them and consider why it is that these words that are read on the day of the Dormition of the All-Holy Virgin and on Her other feastdays. Today let’s turn our attention to this Epistle reading and try to answer this question.

The content of today’s Epistle is quite simple. In it we hear that the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, is the form of God and is equal to God, i. e. He is of one essence with God the Father; He humbled Himself, made Himself of no reputation (emptied Himself, abased Himself), became a man and died on the Cross. As a consequence of this abasement God highly exalted Him, that is, all of the God-man Jesus Christ, including Him human body, above all else, so that all would bow before Him and confess Him. As you see here, the Apostle Paul very beautifully and succinctly expounds on the most basic teachings about Jesus Christ. At the beginning of today’s reading, as an introduction, we heard that the mind, “which was also in Christ Jesus,” should also be in us, i. e. we have to emulate His humility, so that later God could exalt us.

Out of all people, the Virgin Mary emulated Christ best of all. She humbled herself more than others. She also participated with Christ, to a certain degree, in His abasement. She gave birth to Him, nourished Him, fled with Him to Egypt, stood by the Cross and wept while He died. Everywhere where He was on the earth, she was close by. As Christ was obedient to His Heavenly Father, so was she obedient in all things to God. Therefore we see that the Lord God exalted her higher than all others, excluding, of course, Christ, who is without comparison.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, on this festive and joyful day, let us pray to the Most-Holy Virgin Mary that we live meekly and always in obedience to God. Through her prayers, may the Lord God not forget us on the day of our dormition, as He did not forget His All-Pure Mother.

priest Alexis