News | Russian Orthodox Church Protection of Mother of God

Homily on the Feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

Icon of the Kazan Mother of God

The Russian Orthodox people had strong and deep faith in the heavenly mediation of the Mother of God, and often turned to her in their need, sorrow, and grief with warm and heartfelt prayer. Our people love to call the Mother of God by special names appropriate to her heavenly protection and mercy. And the Mother of God has not left this prayer unanswered, but has given speedy help to everyone who has asked. The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God is one of the greatest holy shrines in Russia, the guardian of the Russian people.

Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) stated “The closer, the more merciful and attentive the Mother of God is to us, the more careful we must be concerning our behavior and our faith. The more is given to us, the more we will be called to account. Brothers and sisters, let us cherish the holy union with the Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Pure Mother, Who chose our land as Her portion. Let us keep in mind Who our Intercessor is, Who our Help and Hope is, and let us not break our union with Her—but rather let us strengthen it by our faith, way of life and hope.”

Let us pray unceasingly to the Most Pure Mother of God, because she silently and ceaselessly prays for us to her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Troparion, Tone 4

“O fervent intercessor, Mother of the Lord Most High, thou dost pray to thy Son Christ our God and saves all who seek they protection. O Sovereign Lady and Queen, help and defend all of us who in trouble and trials, in pain and burdened with sins, stand in thy presence before thine icon, and who pray with compunction, contrition and tears and with unflagging hope in thee. Grant what is good for us, deliverance from evil, and save us all, O Virgin Mother of God, for thou art a divine protection to thy servants.”

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Homily on the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos

Покров Пресвятой Богородицы

At the beginning of the tenth century, in year 910 after the birth of Christ, during the reign of the Greek Emperor Leo the Wise and Patriarch Tarasios, in the Blachernae Constantinople church, after the vigil the Mother of God and the angelic hosts appeared to the gaze of two chosen men. Covering the people there with her honorable Omophorion, she prayed to her Son and God for their salvation from the enemies that threatened the capital city with destruction, and the people with enslavement and death. Through the prayers of the heavenly Intercessor the foe was routed, and the people saved. In memory of the merciful protection of the Mother of the Lord also over our own fatherland, the Russian Orthodox Church has from ancient times established the yearly feast commemorating the Protection of the Mother of God.

The Protecting Omophorion is an image of maternal love. It should encourage us to turn to God with prayer. According to St. Ephraim the Syrian: The Queen of Heaven is our first and supreme Advocate with Her Son and God, our vigilant and unashamed Intercession, the Protection of the whole world, the Giver of all good things, our Consolation, Refuge, and Salvation. Let us all run to her powerful protection with pure hearts when we are beset by attacks, sorrows, and sicknesses, and trust in her undoubted hope. Amidst the calamities of life let us prepare ourselves to go to the place where there are no troubles, where there is eternal joy and rest. And the Heavenly Queen will take pleasure in helping us and protecting us from misfortunes, and she will instruct us toward the eternal, peaceful heavenly harbor. O Lady, cover us with your honorable protecting veil, and deliver us from all evil, praying to your Son, Christ our God to save our souls! Amen.

St. John of Kronstadt (1893)

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The Exaltation of the Honorable and Life Giving Cross of the Lord_27 September

History of the Feast

In the first centuries of Christianity, during the years of persecution, the pagans wished to destroy all evidence of the life of Jesus Christ, and the Cross on which He was crucified disappeared. With the conversion of Emperor Constantine the Great, Christians were at liberty to worship openly and build churches. The emperor’s mother, St. Helen, longed to find the True Cross of Christ. She traveled to Jerusalem and was told by a very old Jew that the Cross was buried beneath the temple of the pagan goddess Venus, built in 119 AD by the Roman Emperor Hadrian.

The temple was torn down, and digging in the earth below uncovered three wooden crosses. The small board which had hung over Christ with the inscription ‘ Jesus King of the Jews,’ had long since fallen off, and -there was no way of telling which was the True Cross and which were the crosses of the two thieves crucified on either side of Christ. A sick woman was brought and likewise a dead man who was being carried to burial. The three crosses were laid in turn one by one upon the sick woman and upon the dead man. Two of the crosses had no effect, but through contact with the third cross, the sick woman was healed of her infirmity and the dead man came to life. These miracles clearly indicated which of the three was Christ’s Cross.

Hearing of this discovery, all the faithful desired to see the Cross of the Lord and to venerate it. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, Makarios, took the Cross onto a raised platform and lifted it on high, ‘exalting’ it, for all to see. The people fell to their knees, bowing down before the Cross and crying out repeatedly: “Lord, have mercy!”

To house the relic of the True Cross, St. Helen had s church built over the Holy Sepulchre. The church was consecrated on Sept. 13, 335, an event also commemorated in the service hymns of the Feast. The finding and exaltation of the Cross was appointed to be celebrated annually on the following day.

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