In a message occasioned by the Dormition Fast, Assistant Bishop Atanasie of Bogdania spoke about the help the Most Holy Theotokos granted throughout history and the importance of prayer to the Mother of our Life.
“The first half of August is a blessing for us, an opportunity to move away from everyday wear and tear; an opportunity to spend day after day in prayer, talking to the Mother of our Life about the problems that trouble us.”
“Many Christians take advantage of this period by visiting the historic monasteries in the country or abroad that are under the protection of the great feast of the Dormition,” noted the Assistant Bishop to the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy.
His Grace pointed out that the pandemic taught us to appreciate the help that the Mother of God can give us.
“Through the obligation to stay in our homes, the Lord allowed us to learn from and long for Her, starving and thirsting for Her, and even suffering painfully from Her absence.”
“The pedagogical order of the Lord who ordains all for our benefit (Heb. 12:10) has done nothing else but offer us a privilege by this deprivation of Eucharistic and fraternal communion, that privilege of suffering a little injustice for the sake of Him: For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for Him (Philippians 1:29).”
“We should thank the Lord for this opportunity, for this privilege to understand even more that without Him we can do nothing (John 15: 5), that He, the Light, came into the world, into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness” (John 12:46) and that “our brother is our life” (St. Silouan the Athonite).
The Mother of God was always together with humans in the decisive moments of their life, even in the least decisive ones, the Assistant Bishop explained.
“Let us remember the very beginning, in the Cana of Galilee, when He noticed and cared even for a simple (but important) detail: that the wine of the wedding guests had finished, praying and urging the Lord to perform a miracle, to prevent the sorrow of the diners and to bring them joy, but also to raise their minds from the worldly to the spiritual, to prepare them for the true miracle: the transformation (change) of man.”
“The Theotokos is constantly praying for the whole world, especially when she is struck by pain, suffering, and trouble. Just like a mother! Leaving the transient world to the beautiful and fully enlightened kingdom, together with her Beloved Son, surrounded by all the living beings of Heaven who have pleased the Lord forever, the Mother of God remains an unceasing intercessor with God for the whole Christian nation and a giver of all goodness.”
Photography courtesy of Basilica.ro Files
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