Слово на Святое Успение Пресвятой Владычицы нашей Богородицы и Приснодевы Maрии. Св. Германа, патриаpxa Константинопольского

May all who seek You rejoice and rejoice in You, Mother of God! and let them say: may the Lord be magnified, who love to magnify Your name, since the lips of Christians are taught of Your righteousness and Your virginity, all day long praising the holiness of Your birth (Ps. 39:17; 34:28). Through You the poor saw the riches of God's goodness (Rom. 2:4), they saw and said: The earth is filled with the mercies of the Lord (Ps. 32:5). Through You sinners sought God and were saved (Ps. 21:6); they said: if the Lord had not helped, having become incarnate from the Virgin, our dying souls would have settled in the all-consuming hell (Ps. 93:17). So, Your help is powerful for salvation, O Mother of God, and does not need anyone else’s intercession before God. You are the real Mother of true life; You are the deliverance of Eve's reproach. She is the mother of dust, You are the mother of light; its lie is corruption, Your womb is incorruption; You are the village of death, You are the transition to life; That child is sorrow, but Your Son is joy of all the people. She, being earth, went into the earth; You gave birth to Life for us and ascended to the Belly; you can give life to people even after death. There is no end to Your greatness (Ps. 145:3). There is no saturation with thoughts of You and constant memories of Your repose, since Your intercession is life and Your protection is unceasing. And if You had not foreshadowed, then no one would have become spiritual, no one would have worshiped the Father in spirit: for man became spiritual when You, Mother of God, became the dwelling place of the Spirit. No one is filled with the knowledge of God except through You, Most Holy One; no one is delivered from dangers except through You, Virgin Mother; no one is redeemed except through You, Mother of God; no one has received mercy unless it is through You, O All-Inclusive One. And who protects sinners like that? Who spares the uncorrected so much? None of those who could help, fearing for us that the tributary fig tree would be cut, would dare to bring a prayer for us to God, so that when the verdict on our infertility was pronounced, the petition would not turn out to be unacceptable; But you, having maternal boldness before God, ask for the grace of forgiveness even for the greatest sinners. And truly, You cannot fail to be heard, since God listens to You above all and through all and in all (Eph. 4:6) - He listens as His true and immaculate Mother. Therefore, the grieving one runs to You with hope, the weak one cleaves to You, and the one who suffers attacks from them opposes You to the enemies. You offer “wrath and wrath and the sending of evil spirits” (Ps. 77:49); You turn away righteous anger and worthy condemnation from the people greatly beloved by You and called by the name of Your Son. Therefore, Your Christian people boldly present to You their petitions to God: He undoubtedly dares to hope, All-Holy One (thanks to Your many good deeds to us, as well as the fact that He often calls on You in prayers), - he dares to hope that God will hear him. Who will not please You for this - the sight of angels that surpasses reason, the wonderful saturation of people, the perception of the Christian race, the constant refuge of sinners? For as soon as a Christian becomes afraid or stumbles his foot against a stone, he immediately calls on Your name for help. So who, glorifying You, is not glorified incessantly, and again begins to glorify You insatiably? In truth, it is impossible to glorify You according to your worth. Whoever wishes to constantly magnify You with ceaseless praise finds that he pays tribute to You. And just as one who owes a lot and cannot pay You anything multiplies thanksgiving, so You multiply patronage: inasmuch as all good gifts, which have no end, both in the beginning and always arouse gratitude to the One who creates good. Who will not marvel at You, unfailing hope, firm refuge, unceasing intercession, unceasing salvation, firm help, unshakable intercession, impregnable wall, treasure of pleasures, immaculate paradise, safe fortress, indestructible fence, haven of the overwhelmed, silence of the troubled, helper of sinners, bringing of the desperate, calling of the exiled, blessing the damned, the dew of spiritual drought, a drop that waters withered grain (for, according to what is written, through You our bones will grow like grass (Isa. 66:14), Mother of the Lamb and Shepherd and renowned Giver of all good things. Your destinies are wondrous and true, justified in their entirety, desirable and sweeter than honey and honeycomb: for we, Your servants, desire it, and in this desire from You there is much reward (Ps. 19:10-12). Who can understand Your mercies (Ps. 107:43)? But, O Precious One, it is enough to praise You that we cannot glorify Your deeds with worthy praises. You have from God great heights for triumph, because from Your flesh you presented the Christian people to Him, and made those like You conform to His Divine and exact image. Therefore blessed is Your name forever (Ps. 71:17). Your light conquers the sun, Your honor and dignity surpasses all creatures. Greater than angelic excellence is Yours. You are higher than the heavens (Job 11:8) and more spacious than the heavens of the heavens. Blessed are You throughout all generations, and in You are all the families of the earth blessed. There is no place where they would not glorify You, there is no tribe from which fruits to God would not grow through You, so that even the people who did not know You in this world at an auspicious time will call You blessed, Virgin Theotokos. For when Your Son comes to judge the world in righteousness (Ps. 9:9), those who did not want to believe that You are the Mother of God will see and weep (Zech. 12:10); and then they will know what treasure they have lost for their evil thoughts. But to us, Christians, who honor You with the Christian faith, grant the mercy of Your immutable intercession: for we consider Your Dormition to be life, and we believe that You are spiritually present with us. And when sorrow is near, then, seeking You, we are freed; when again it is a time of joy, then You are the Giver of it; and since in this we are the subject of Your care, we are convinced of Your presence with us. Just as a thirsty person rushes to the source, so every faithful soul, languishing with thirst, runs to You in order to be filled with Your help; and one more thing: just as the inhalation of air gives life to a person, so the breath of every Christian constantly carries You in the mouth. For we do not receive so much relief from the air as we draw help from Your name, so that what is said is fulfilled in You and in Christ: “You are the breath of our nostrils; in Your womb and shadow we will live” (Job 27:3). What kind of people, besides Christians, received such honor, such glory? Angels boast of their heavenly dwellings, we rejoice in entering the holy churches of God. If in ancient times Solomon’s temple was depicted on earth in the shadow of heaven, then how much more rightly do we extol Your churches as the heavens of earth, after You have become a living church. Just as star lamps burn in the heavens, so too, Thy material icons, painted with paints, O Mother of God, brightly represent to us the generosity of Thy gifts. Every house, city and country reflects Your light from the Light born by You. Therefore, blessed is man, even a sinner, who has received a kinship with You by nature, because through You he has become a sharer of the Divine nature: blessed indeed, and good for him, and it will be even better: for You will not completely abandon those who are worthy of Your intercession. May death depart from You, Mother of God, because You brought life to people. May the tomb move away from You, since You have become the Divine foundation of ineffable height. May the dust be removed from You, since You have become the Lady of those who have decayed in the mire. So, we unconditionally confess that You are with us. If we were not consoled by this, then our spirit would faint in love for You: for the sorrow of the soul when it is separated from the body is not so great as it is sad to lose You, Most Immaculate. Therefore, as it is written, “Though Your body sleeps, Your heart watches” (Song. 5:2); and although You have undergone death, which is inevitable for the human race, You will not sleep, Your eye that guards us will fall asleep below. Your dormition is not false, and Your repose is not unattested. Heaven tells of the glory of what happened to You then; the clouds testify to the honor they have shown You in their service; The angels announce the event that took place at that time, namely, how the apostles gathered to You in Jerusalem (like the prophet Habakkuk, who, being caught up in an instant by a cloud and the angelic right hand from Judea, appeared in Persian Babylon before the den of Daniel). But just as nothing is a drop in the ocean and a beggar’s scrip in the treasures of a rich man, so no one can sufficiently exalt in speech the height of Your praises. You have a song from Yourself, namely, that You appeared as the Mother of God. For You inherited the title “Theotokos” not because our ears heard it from the narrative of Scripture, and not because our fathers announced it to us; but because the work You have done in us is true and not false, and proves that You are the Mother of God. Therefore, it was fitting that Your God-receiving body should not be possessed by the corruption of death, and that the tomb should not accept it as a human mixture - so that, after Your placing from this life to heaven, the tomb would not be found to contain Your body, but Your spirit, by the invisible power of Christ our God, born virginally from You, would be found not separated from dealing with people. Amen 172. Curs. Compl. Patrolog. Migne, series graeca, vol. XCVIII, col. 347–358. You might be interested in: