РОСА МАТЕРИНСТВА СИРОТАМ

“Ta Mati to all living” (Gen. 3:20). From the city of Sednev, located near Chernigov, Kirillo Davidovich, a local resident, sent an orphan, originally from Poltava, named Tatiana, to the Most Holy Theotokos at the Elias Monastery. She was tormented by an unclean spirit, the kind about which it is written in the Gospel: “Wherever it seizes him, he throws him to the ground, and he emits foam, and grinds his teeth, and becomes numb” (Mark 9:18). This Tatyana, as soon as she was brought into the church, was immediately shaken by that spirit, and fell to the ground, flowing with foam, until, shaking violently, the unclean one came out of her. Come here, all you orphans who have no father, no mother, no friends, gather here! Here is your Mother, the Most Pure and Blessed Virgin, much better than the one who gave birth to you. The Creator once said: “Even if a mother forgets her child, I will not forget you” (Is. 49:15). Oh, how great is the mercy of God! But the Most Holy Virgin can say the same thing, for she became likened to the good God in her compassion. Look how She motherly had mercy on the orphan Tatyana, drove the cruel tormentor away from her and gave her health. And who cannot place hope in Her benevolence, seeing Her, so merciful and child-loving? Have you heard about the tawny owl tearing apart its womb for the sake of its chicks? You see the same thing in the Dove of Paradise, the Most Pure Mother of God. Is her beloved womb spared, I say, sweetest Son? Are you not torn apart by suffering? “All those who passed along the way plundered Him” (Ps. 88:42), so for our sake the Virgin Son was martyred, so that we could be delivered from death. And who here does not call That Virgin Mother to himself, seeing Her Only Begotten Son torn to pieces, so that we may receive adoption, so that we may be “given the power to become children of God” (John 1:12). Who hasn't read about an eagle who is very devoted to his children? “The eagle calls its nest, flies over its chicks” (Deut. 32:11). But our Most Blessed Mother was given “two wings of a great eagle,” we hope that She will cover us “under the shelter of Her wings” (Rev. 12:14; Ps. 60:5). We are informed of Her patronage by Saint Andrew the Fool for God. He saw Her in the Blachernae Church, covering people - such is the diligent care she has for His children. Do not forget me, even though I am worthless, O all-sung Mother! The Mother of the Most Holy Theotokos is kind to us, which means that we also need to be Her not evil sons. We don’t know what kind of person the Lord adopts to His Most Blessed Mother under the Cross on Golgotha: “Jesus, seeing the Mother and the disciple standing here, whom he loved, said to His Mother: Woman! Behold, Your son. Then he says to the disciple: Behold, your Mother!” (John 19:26–27). He gives a virgin to the Virgin, a pure one to the Most Pure One, a beloved student to the beloved Mother for the Son. Remember, if you want to be a son of the Mother of God, these three conditions: purity, discipleship and standing under the Cross. No one can otherwise be worthy of being called Her son unless he tries to be pure, unless he becomes a disciple of Christ, unless he stands under the Cross. And may we be loved, even though we are unworthy sons of our Most Merciful Mother. Let us take care of our sins (according to our strength to cleanse them) and, putting aside all filth, let us live chastely. For this purpose, let us become disciples of God, obeying the commandments of the Lord and keeping them, “for it is not the hearers, but the doers of the law who will be justified” (Rom. 2:13). Let us also stand under the Cross, for in no other place was the holy Theologian of Mary adopted. How to stand under the Cross? Always have the Crucified Lord before your intelligent eyes: “I have determined,” said the apostle, “to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified”: (1 Cor. 2:2). The Lord must be crucified with compassion and mortification of his lusts, and with them his habitual sinful passions. With this we seal our sonship. And the Good Mother of all the world will love us if we die to sin and come to life for God, if we suffer spiritual martyrdom, if by will we become martyrs (see Rom. 6:10-11). For he is not the son of Mary who is not a martyr. Her natural Son Jesus Christ died for us. Her communion son John died for Christ. So we too, if we are Her sons, will voluntarily suffer and die for the Son of God, albeit without blood. Voluntary bloodless martyrdom for Christ can be described this way: An idol's church is a sin-loving heart. Idolater – one who serves sinful passions. Idolatry is passion. Martyrdom is resistance to sin. A tormentor is an evil sinful custom, or a tax on sin. Servants of tormentors have bad thoughts that lead to sin. Various torments - a struggle with bad thoughts. Rejection of Christ is permission to sin. A sacrifice to an idol is the fulfillment of a deliberate sin by deed. He who resists all this for the love of Christ is a bloodless martyr and a courageous ascetic. Such a martyr... oh, how much the Most Pure Mother loves and places in the place of Her Son! A martyr by will, even without blood, Like a son received by the Virgin into eternal blood. In Bononia, a certain girl, serving God in seclusion, one night, seeing a light entering her cell through a crack, was horrified, thinking that it was already day and that she had not performed her usual night prayers. Opening the window, she sees the Most Holy Theotokos, like a shining sun, standing at the tomb of a certain young man who was buried yesterday, and on the grave sits a dove, whiter than snow, which the Most Pure One receives in Her outstretched hands. Seeing this, the girl, although she was overcome with great fear, dared to ask: “Who are you, my Lady?” And She answered: “I am the Mother of Christ, I came here to take the soul of this young man: he was a martyr by will.” And having said this, she disappeared. Do you see who is worthy of Mary’s sonship? Imitate him. You might be interested in: