From today, the first Sunday of August, we enter into the festal period of the first fifteen days of August. From today our churches celebrate and sing the Sacred Services of the Small and Great Paraclesis, which are dedicated to the Most-holy Theotokos and Mother of our God. We shall solemnly sing those wonderful hymns which our inspired hymnographers composed to glorify her name. These hymns were devoutly written by enlightened musicians and chanters to praise the honoured person of the Virgin Mary, who is the subject of profound love and respect and sacred contemplation for Christians, greater in honour than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, as the hymn-writer of the Church categorically puts it. In this encyclical I wish not only to emphasise the unique offering of the Mother of God, the Daughter of Nazareth, who contributed to the crowning moment of Divine Economy for the salvation of the human race. The worshiping and praying Church has devoutly contemplated, studied and theologised about this with its philosophy and music since the first days of Christianity, as the sacred Evangelist Luke reminds us. He characteristically writes of the Virgin Mary, when she went to visit her relative Elizabeth following the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel: “Elizabeth cried out with a loud voice and said: blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb”, and our Lady responded, “My soul has magnified the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour, for He has looked upon the lowliness of His servant. From now on all generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1:42-28).
And so Christians of every era praise the Mother of God and in a variety of ways honour her person, daily seeking her aid and intercession. On the lips of every one of us is the name of the Mother of God as “the protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame”. We believe beyond all doubt that she hears our prayers, that she is considerate of our tears and receives our supplications. For this reason kings and rulers have sought her aid and protection, and the average Christian sees her as his own, and she is the hope of all Christians. The Virgin Mary is ready to hear the sighs of our heart, to uphold us and to alleviate our pains and troubles in times of struggle and to deliver us from all adversity and calamity. In the Paraclesis of August are to be found hymns of lofty poetical value and theological inspiration and profundity, full of humanity and divine peace. In the letters and spirit of those hymns are reflected and revealed our own problems and our own inner fears and struggles; and at the same time, our sacred hopes and expectations that our prayers to our Lord Jesus Christ and Saviour of our Souls will be heard.
As I said, the Small and Great Paraclesis are poetic prayers, masterpieces filled with faith and grace, inspiring sacred peace and calmness of soul. They are imbued with blessed hope which, like a sure anchor, keeps us firmly rooted in the safe harbour of faith and trust in the Triadic God. The prayers are addressed to the Virgin Mary because she is the “Tabernacle of the Word”, the “Container of the Un-containable”, the “Sacred Palace of the glory of God”. She is the Ark of Him who descended the “heavenly ladder” and dwelt among us, the Son and Word of God, Who granted us the unique, God-given opportunity to participate in His glory and divinity. Thus we are able to ascend to heaven, and to become inheritors and sharers of His Kingdom, as the Evangelist characteristically teaches us: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). This truth is proclaimed in countless hymns which have been written throughout the centuries and continue to be written until today by Christian authors of every language and race. The Church has treasured these wonderful prayers, and we chant them with devotion and joy during the first fifteen days of August, when we prepare to celebrate the Dormition, the assumption of our Lady the Mother of God into heaven to be our unfailing intercessor before God’s throne.
And so, do not neglect to attend these services of the Paraclesis. Sing them both privately and in church with the priests and cantors. Do not forget that the Paraclesis is a blessed medicine and a spiritual weapon to help us to be in communion with Christ, to pray more frequently, more devoutly and without ceasing, as did the Saints of God before us. Christ our Master, during His earthly life, gave us a prayer that has been uttered by Christians ever since, the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be hallowed, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven...” (Matt. 6:9-13). And St James the Lord’s Brother reminds us of the value, power and uniqueness of prayer and of our communion with God. He says, in his own distinctive way: “Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest”. (James 5:17-18).
In conjunction with our supplications to Mary the Mother of God, let us fast and prepare to receive the Most-pure Mysteries for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And so with joy and gladness let us celebrate the “Summer Pascha”, as Orthodox Greeks today astutely call it - the Dormition of the Mother of God. And so let us sing again: “Immaculate, who through a word gave birth to the Word beyond explanation in the last days, make intercession, as you have a mother’s freedom to speak”.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son and Word of God, Saviour of the world, have mercy on us and save your people, for you are good and merciful and you love mankind. Amen.
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