It’s Greek for “all holy” and one of the titles the Orthodox Church gives to Mary, the mother of Jesus. In two weeks we’ll be commemorating the Dormition of the Theotokos (“Mother of God”), which is, the death of Mary. Both of those names should give some idea of how highly she is revered in Eastern Orthodoxy, a reverence that goes back to the Third Ecumenical Council in 431 when Theotokos was recognized by the Church.
The theological significance of the title is to emphasize that Mary’s son, Jesus, is fully God, as well as fully human, and that Jesus’ two natures (divine and human) were united in a single Person of the Trinity. Calling Mary the Theotokos or the Mother of God (????? ????) was never meant to suggest that Mary was coeternal with God, or that she existed before Jesus Christ or God existed. The Church acknowledges the mystery in the words of this ancient hymn: “He whom the entire universe could not contain was contained within your womb, O Theotokos.”
(from Wikipedia)
In the same way, the Dormition of the Theotokos recognizes another mystery: the resurrection of the body. The Orthodox Church teaches that after three days, Mary’s body was no longer present in her tomb.
Thus, this Feast is a feast of hope, hope in Resurrection and life eternal. Like those who gathered around the body of the Virgin Mary, we gather around our departed loved ones and commend their souls into the hands of Christ. As we remember those who have reposed in the faith before us and have passed on into the communion of the Saints, we prepare ourselves to one day be received into the new life of the age to come.
We also affirm through this Feast as we journey toward our heavenly abode that the Mother of God intercedes for us. Through Christ she has become the mother of all of the children of God, embracing us with divine love.
(from GOARCH.org)
That last bit will sound familiar to those who have read Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. I’ll admit, like so many other aspects of the Orthodox tradition, to my born-and-raised-Protestant mind the reverence shown towards Mary is very, very foreign. Over the next two weeks we will fast in preparation (another Orthodox tradition I should write about sometime – thank God for http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/) and maybe by the end, it won’t seem so foreign anymore.
While tradition is important, it should also be based on Scripture. Where does it say in the Bible (or even allude to) that Mary was raised from the dead?
I have to admit, the importance of Mary in Roman Catholic tradition, since I’m more familiar with that, completely scares me. Mary is important, and the saints and Biblical figures are important, as people that we can look up to, but praying to Mary, etc., doesn’t make any sense when we can pray to God directly. My sister’s mother in law believes that Mary was completely free from sin, which even after searching for weeks, I couldn’t find anything to support.
There are two important distinctions to be made:
1)The Orthodox Church doesn’t teach that Mary was sinless. That’s a Catholic teaching, otherwise known as Immaculate Conception. So while we don’t believe she was sinless, we do believe she was holy; after all, she was chosen to give birth to God the Word in flesh.
2) While Scripture is a part of Church Tradition (http://www.orthodoxwiki.org/Tradition), it does not stand alone (a doctrine otherwise known as sola scriptura). After all, the Bible as we know it did not exist until hundreds of years after Christ ascended and the Christian faith had been firmly established. Thus, aspects of Tradition that have been affirmed by the faithful throughout history, yet fall outside mention in the Bible, are still accepted as being a relevent part of Tradition.
I think I came across as more accusatory or mean than I meant, so I apologize for that. I just have a really hard time reconciling Tradition having the same importance as the Bible. I guess that comes from having learned most of my Bible knowledge at a Protestant Christian high school.
20 years as a Protestant and only 10 months (so far) in the Orthodox Church. I totally get where you’re coming from :-)
*meant to add*
Don’t worry about it, I like hearing your questions.
I’m from a Protestant background too and know very little about the Orthodox Church. So this was an interesting and informative read. :-)