Feast of the Protection Fr. Stephan Meholick

In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of

the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.

Glory to God. Former bishop of this diocese,

Bishop Teacon Fitzgerald, would often, in speaking

to priests about a liturgical homily, would often

say, Don't take people's time at this moment

to just retell the story. He said, we live in

an age of information where you could go on the

OCA website, you could look in the Synoxarion,

you might even try the novel idea of being at

vigil last night, and you would hear in all the

hymnography reinforced over and over again all

the details of this wonderful, wonderful feast.

And he would say, and everyone's capable of accessing

that information. And even if you might be handicapped

in a way that would make that possible, speak

to someone today. If you don't know the story,

ask someone. I'm not going to tell it. It's a

wonderful story. But I want to talk a little

more about why we are here right now. Probably

all of us were... Maybe some different reasons.

I'm sure all really good ones. Probably one of

the reasons we're here is a sense of loyalty.

This is my parish. And this, we know historically,

is the feast day of the little church. This parish

was founded under the protection of the Mother

of God. And this is the altar feast of the little

church, which is still our church. Perhaps in

a sense the mother church even of this large

temple dedicated to the glory of God and Saint

Seraphim of Sarov. Perhaps for us clergy a personal

loyalty. We love this parish. We love Father

Lawrence and his family and the clergy. And we

love the hospitality and the people of this parish.

Here on this probably soon to be hot Indian summer

day, there's nowhere else we would rather be

than with you. But let's not forget ultimately

what should draw us here at this moment in this

place. course is the mother of God. But I know

in our particular culture in America where we've

been influenced, I think very much by the prejudices

against the mother of God that came after the

Reformation, as well as a reaction to some of

the excesses of the piety to the mother of God

of the Latin Church, that sometimes there's a

lack of that really, I'll use the word lovingly,

traditional piety of a love and a closeness to

the mother of God, simply as person and as mother

in a very, very real way. It's really important.

Two of the greatest theologians of the 20th century,

of the Russian church, that is, Vladimir Lossky,

Father George Florovsky, two figures which I

think are undisputedly right there. They really

emphasize, in fact, Lossky says that even though

veneration to the Mother of God is not part of

the kerygma, the kernel of the gospel of the

good news of Christ, Lasky made such a bold statement

as to say, the degree to which we are members

of the body of Christ, of the church, is the

degree in which we are in relationship to Mary,

the mother of God. It's a bold statement. But

that means, what does that mean? That means that

this is indeed the body of Christ. This is indeed

the family of God. This is a household, and that's

the mother. So that's not an outrageous statement,

is it? If we're part of this family, then certainly

we have a relationship with the mother of this

family. Father George Florovsky says something

quite similar. And he writes, in our prayers

to the mother of God, we show the depth of our

Christian love and we show the unity of the church.

When we truly feel her intercession on our behalf,

it strengthens our bonds with each other and

it deepens our faith in the reality of Christ's

incarnation and resurrection. Conversely, Father

George writes, if we fail to sense her presence,

if we fail to sense her help, it reflects a weakening

of our love and our community ties, as well as

it reflects a diminished faith in these foundational

truths. And he continues, the Feast of the Protecting

Veil of the Mother of God symbolizes her constant

prayer for the whole world, surrounded by all

the saints before God. And as the Kantakian beautifully

describes, today the Virgin stands in the church

and with hosts of saints invisibly prays to God

for us. This vision first revealed, as you know,

to St. Andrew, full for Christ, in the church

of Blachernai in Constantinople a thousand years

ago. This reminds us, even at this moment, that

heaven and earth are united today. That there

is a connection between the heavenly and the

earthly church. That we are not alone. It signifies

that even beyond death, the lives of the righteous

and the saints are filled with continuous prayer

and intercession for us and with us. And ultimately,

only love can bind all this together, and the

happiness of the righteous is found in this enduring

love. I want to conclude today with... a short

excerpt from a wonderful and a powerful homily

given by our father among the saints, Cyril of

Alexandria, who was the champion of the Council

of Ephesus, which you know gave us and defined

the term Theotokos, that Mary is indeed the mother

of God. And Cyril preached this homily at the

Council of Ephesus. And allow him to preach these

words to us here today. Cyril writes, back in

the 5th century, I see here a joyful company

of Christians met together in ready response

to the call of Mary, the Holy and Ever -Virgin

Mother of God. Now the beautiful saying of David

the psalmist, how good and how pleasant it is

for brothers to live together in unity, this

has come true for us here and now. And therefore,

holy and incomprehensible Trinity, we salute

you at whose summons we have come together in

this Church of Mary, the Mother of God. We salute

you, for in your holy womb was confined him who

is beyond all limitation. And because of you,

the Holy Trinity is glorified and adored. The

cross is called precious and is venerated throughout

the world. The heavens exult. The angels and

archangels make merry. Demons are put to flight.

The devil, that tempter, is thrust down from

heaven. The fallen human race is taken up on

high. All creatures possessed by the madness

of idolatry have attained knowledge of the truth.

Believers receive holy baptism. The oil of gladness

is poured out. And the church is established

throughout the world. Pagans are brought to repentance.

What more is there to say? Because of you, the

light of the only begotten Son of God has shone

upon us who sat in darkness in the shadow of

death. Because of you, prophets pronounce the

word of God, the apostles preach salvation to

the Gentiles, and the dead are raised to life.

Who can put Mary's high honor into words? She

is both mother and virgin, and I'm overwhelmed

by the wonder of this miracle. Behold then the

joy of the whole universe. Let the union of God

and man in the Son of the Virgin Mary fill us

with awe and adoration. And let us fear and let

us worship the undivided Trinity as we sing the

praise of the ever -virgin Mary, the holy temple

of God, and as we sing the praises of God himself,

her son and spotless bridegroom, and to him be

glory forever and ever. Amen. Spraznikon!