Metropolitan Timotej: Nativity of the Most-Holy Bogorodica (Birth-giver-of-God)
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Sermon of His Eminence, Metropolitan Timotej, at the Holy Liturgy for the feast of the Nativity of the Most-Holy Bogorodica (Birth-giver-of-God), in the Monastery of the Most-Pure Bogorodica in Kicevo, Macedonia
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In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today the whole universe celebrates the appearance of the most perfect creation of God. With great joy the earthly as well as the heavenly Church celebrates the unwedded Bride. The angelic orders rejoice and exult about Her, glorifying Her with the words: “Rejoice gracious One!” Who is this Queen of Heaven, who is the first following God and the first after God? With Her perfections She surpasses the fiery love of the archangels of God. With Her purity and innocence, She transcends the spiritual world, and with Her strength and power She is lesser only to the Almighty God. The Holy Mother of God is born in this sinful world, but Her asceticism and obedience elevates Her to the highest heights, overcoming the obstacles of this sinful world.
The first humans, Adam and Eve, were wonderful, enjoying honour and joy in the Garden of Eden. But everything changed with their fall. They themselves and the world around them have changed. Because of their pride and disobedience, our forebears were expelled from paradise and they were earning their harsh living by hard work and sweat. The history of the fallen human race depicts a picture in which injustices, cunnings, lies, violence, defilements and neglects can be seen. It can be said that such a creation as man is needless and unworthy for the perfect Creator many times deserved to be destroyed. But the ways of God are inexhaustible and unknown to human thought. In this worldly chaos and the world which lays in evil, the Almighty sowed seeds, giving them a pleasant dew and creating such a beauty that even the angelic powers marvelled. With special love, the Lord prepared the ground for the proclamation of the multifarious tree under which many would take refuge. The Lord prepared the way for the One who would be a worthy Virgin Mother of the Son of Man and the Son of God.
Throughout the long period when the world was in sin, God thought and prepared, and sustained a thread ( lineage) of righteous and holy people. In this way He preserved the spiritual treasury in every generation. The crown of this thread were the humble Joachim and Anna who survived the greatest disrespect because of their infertility, but they persevered by obeying the will of God. What an interesting moment is the one in which the archangel told the righteous Anna that she would have a child in her old age. She exclaimed obediently, “The Lord my God is alive.” She promised that if she give birth, she would give the child to the service of the Lord. In these words it is as if the words of obedience were to be heard – which her daughter would later say before the archangel: “Behold the maidservant of the Lord; Let it be to me according to your words” (Luke 1:38). Thus, in a world darkened by sin, the Most-Holy Virgin Mary shone – the new Eve, through whom the Lord predicted (planned) that the head of the ancient serpent, that is, the devil, would be broken.
The first Eve, the foremother of the human race, is the creature poured out of (sculpted by) the hands of the Creator Himself. While she was still unblemished and free from sin, she was an immensely beautiful creature both in body and in soul. But how pleased the wicked enemy of God was when he managed to deceive Eve and turned her against God, and then to make fun of her and the whole human race that evolved from her. Thus, mankind became a playground for sin, sinking into evil and immersing the whole world in it. But the proud prince of darkness did not see the defeat and shame prepared for him by the Almighty God. The Almighty has now prepared a new disgrace for the wicked one, because from the human race the Lord ascended into Heaven the Empress of Heaven, and seated Her exactly at the place of the fallen angel (Dawn (?)).
Today, as we celebrate Her birth, let us not forget that the Holy Bogorodica (Birth-giver-of-God) with Her deeds and obedience to the will of God surpasses all heavenly angelic powers. Her strength and power is needed for all human beings. She has the power and ability to intercede for us and to offer all our pleads and supplications to God the Almighty. Let us pray that She will intercede for the fulfilment of our prayers, for those prayers which we really need and which lead us to salvation. Most-Holy Bogorodica (Birth-giver-of-God), help us.
Amen.
Metropolitan Timotej
21 – 09 – 2020
