All About Mary (the Mother of God)

HYMN OF PRAISE
The Most-holy Theotokos

Thus spoke the Lord Most-high:
“From thy heart, pure Virgin,
Living water will flow,
That those who thirst will drink Christ.”
— Life bearing source,
— We all boast of thee!

Those who thirst will drink Christ.
By Him, the bitter is sweetened;
By Him, the scales are washed from blind eyes;
And by Him, the grief of those in sorrow is healed.
— Life bearing source,
— We all boast of thee!

Sweet drink sprung from eternity,
The brook filling our arid age:
Once more raised toward heaven,
Our exhausted world becomes refreshed.
— Life bearing source,
— We all boast of thee!

Glory to thee, O Most-pure One!
Glory to thee, O Mother of God!
Thou didst bear for us the Living Christ,
The living water of grace!
— Life bearing source,
— We all boast of thee!

St Nikolai Velimirovic, The Prologue of Ohrid, Volume Two, p.184.

To read the story of the Falling Asleep (Dormition) of the Mother of God, Go HERE.


A couple years ago, after being loaned a book by Max Lucado, I posted a piece entitled ALMOST … All Generations Will Call Me Blessed (now edited) — wherein I lament the “lack of Mary” among our Protestant brethren.

Later I noted …

Regarding my post of July 9th on a book by Max Lucado … yes, I did finish the book. No, I certainly can’t recommend it for Orthodox. But, being fair, for many in the Protestant world, this sort of positive-mental-attitude-for-Jesus collection of meditations is a small form of “therapy.” It’s unrealistic of me to believe that, being Protestant, there’s hope of proper appreciation for Mary, the Mother of God. That being said, there’s a need, I’ve come to believe, within Orthodox America for lighter fare within an Orthodox context. Not everyone is going to become proficient in reading the Church Fathers, Vladimir Lossky, and the like.

You can watch & listen to a sermon on the Dormition of the Theotokos, in Greek & English, by Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Archdiocese by clicking HERE.

To those Orthodox & Catholics celebrating today’s Feast, to those still persevering in the Dormition Fast, and even to those yet to honour the Mother of God … through her prayers, may God grant good health and many years!