The Myrrh-Bearing Women are enduring models of courage, faith and piety in the Church, Patriarch Daniel of Romania said on Sunday at the historic Chapel of St George the Great Martyr at the Patriarchal Residence.
More than this, the Patriarch said, the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women are also teachers of the Church through the very manner in which they embodied faithfulness.
“The Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women are great teachers of our Church, not through a doctrine of faith different from that of the Holy Apostles — for it could not be so — but through the way they expressed faith and courage, humility and reverence toward the Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead,” the Patriarch said.
His Beatitude highlighted the courage of the Myrrh-Bearing Women in contrast to that shown by the Saviour’s disciples.
“The Gospel according to the Holy Apostle Mark shows that in the souls of these women, love and reverence for Christ were stronger than fear of danger. They possessed a remarkable courage which, on the morning of Christ’s Resurrection, His disciples did not yet have,” he added.
Christ Rewarded the Faith of the Myrrh-Bearing Women
Patriarch Daniel said the stone was rolled away so that the Myrrh-Bearing Women might be assured of the Resurrection, for the Lord had already risen without breaking the seals of the tomb.
“Because there was no strong man there to help them, for their courage and devotion toward Jesus, an angel of God descended from heaven and rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb.”
“He rolled it away not so that Jesus might rise, for He had already risen without breaking the seals of the tomb, just as He was born of the Virgin Mary without violating her virginity, and just as, on the evening of His Resurrection, He entered through closed doors where the disciples were gathered, without breaking the doors.”
“Thus the angel rolled away the stone from the tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ, already risen from the dead, so that the Myrrh-Bearing Women might see the empty tomb,” the Romanian Patriarch said.
For their courage and faith, he said, the Myrrh-Bearing Women were rewarded “with the joy of meeting the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, risen from the dead.”
“Rejoice, Do Not Be Afraid”
Through their deeds, the Myrrh-Bearing Women became “Apostles to the Apostles” or “Apostles of the Apostles,” Patriarch Daniel said.
“That is, they were sent by angels to those who would be sent by Jesus Christ to proclaim the Gospel throughout the whole world — the Gospel of His Resurrection, which is the foundation of the general resurrection. The angel brought them the good tidings, and they in turn proclaimed to Christ’s disciples the truth and joy of the Resurrection.”
“The Myrrh-Bearing Women are the first human beings to testify to the truth of Christ’s Resurrection, and the way in which Christ the Lord rewards their piety and faith is wondrous. He grants them joy from the joy of His Resurrection, meeting them on the way and saying: Rejoice! Do not be afraid!”
An Icon of Faithful Women
The Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women represent the model for all faithful women in the Church, whether mothers, wives, or nuns and sisters in monasteries, the Patriarch said.
Together with the Mother of God, the Myrrh-Bearing Women are an icon of all believing women in the Church — women who, throughout history, through faith, courage and sacrificial love, often became martyrs, bearing witness at the cost of their lives to Christ crucified and risen.
“Or they became venerable mothers, monastics and sisters in monasteries, or good Christian mothers in families, who gave birth to children and raised them in the Orthodox faith, proclaiming through their piety, humility and diligence in family, Church and society their faith in Christ.”
“The Myrrh-Bearing Women also represent those women in monasteries and sketes who, through tears of repentance, much prayer, ascetic struggle and early morning worship, became mothers and nuns, bearers of the holy virtues of the Christian faith: piety, humility, obedience and kindness of heart.”
“Thus, as faithful women, the Myrrh-Bearing Women represent at once mothers, wives and daughters in the family, but also mothers and sisters in monasteries,” His Beatitude said.
Patriarch Daniel concluded by noting that this was the first Sunday on which the Romanian Orthodox Church celebrated the Synaxis of the Holy Romanian Women.
Photo: Lumina Newspaper
