By St. John Maximovitch
The Myrrhbearers prepared myrrh to anoint the body of Christ.
They failed to fulfill this, since Christ rose from the dead before they came to the tomb.
Nevertheless, their sacrifice was accepted by the Lord, since He looks at the hearts of people and accepts the intention as if done even though it could not be fulfilled, despite all the zeal and effort.
“A merciful intention will please God,” is sung on the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers.
The Lord "both accepts the deeds, and welcomes the intention, and honors the acts and praises the offering” (Word of St. John Chrysostom for Easter).
There were, however, Myrrhbearers who, not only by intention, but also by deed, anointed Christ with myrrh, and they did this even before the days of suffering.
They were Mary, the sister of Lazarus, the woman who anointed Christ during the supper in the house of Simon the Pharisee, and the woman who anointed Christ two days before His death on the cross.
About the latter, the Lord directly said that she prepared His Body for burial and that it would be announced throughout the world, where the gospel would be preached.
Thus, the Lord accepted the “merciful intention” of the Myrrhbearing women, who loved Christ with all their hearts, who relentlessly followed Him from Galilee and did not leave Him even during the crucifixion. He also accepted the anointing of His feet with the myrrh of pure Mary, about whom He had previously said that “Mary has chosen the good part” (Luke 10:42), nor did He reject the kissing of His feet by a sinner, who from the unclean possessions she had collected in an unclean way, she offered a sacrifice pleasing to God – myrrh, dissolved by tears of repentance.
“Though I am rich in fragrances, I am poor in virtues. I bring what I have to You: Give me what you have and relieve me and forgive me, the harlot cries to Christ." (Canon of Compline on Holy Tuesday).
“My myrrh is perishable, your myrrh is life,” sounded in her soul (ibid.).
And indeed, instead of perishable wealth, the Lord gave her an imperishable gift - He forgave her many sins and raised her soul, corrupted by sins, like the four-day-dead Lazarus from the tomb.
He rewarded and glorified even more the Myrrhbearers faithful to Him, for He appeared to them first and through them announced His Resurrection to the apostles and the whole world.
Thus, the Lord does not remain in debt to anyone and rewards with gifts incomparably better than those brought to Him.
“Remember, Lord, those who bear fruit and do good in Your holy Churches and who remember the poor, reward them with Your rich heavenly gifts,” prays the Holy Church at the offering of the Bloodless Sacrifice.
“Give them heavenly instead of earthly, eternal instead of temporary, incorruptible instead of perishable” (Eucharistic Canon of the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great).
When we bring something as a gift to God, be it a sacrifice to the temple or helping the poor, we essentially do not give, but receive.
We give material treasures, and in due time we will receive spiritual gifts according to our diligence.
The magnitude of our gift to God in His Eyes is determined not by its quantity and value, but by the will of our heart.
“Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had,” said the Lord about the widow who gave two mites to the temple (Luke 21:3–4; Mark 12:41–44).
Likewise, our gifts have value before God, since our love for God, prayers and heartfelt repentance for our sins are connected with them.
The Lord accepts all our material gifts only as an external manifestation of our inner admiration for Him, just like any other external expression of love for Him and His veneration.
Therefore, go boldly, all of you, to Christ, bring gifts to Him, everything you can. Be like the Myrrhbearers, those who stand on the righteous path and have fallen into the abyss of sins.
Bring to Him fervent prayers and repentance from the depths of your heart, and as their external expression let there be gifts to the Church, which is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:23; Col. 1:24), help to His lesser brothers (Matthew 25:40), decorating temples, kissing icons and other sacred things.
The Lord will accept each of our gifts to the Church as fragrant ointment, will not reject our tears and kisses, but will reward for them the remission of many sins to those who have loved much.
The only thing we must take care of is that our gift is truly a pure gift to God, that in our feelings there is no vanity or pride, contempt or hatred of our neighbors, and also that all zeal is shown, so that our gift is pleasing to God, so as not to become like us who said to Christ - “Hail” - in mockery of Him.
Sacrifices are displeasing to God when they are brought with cold calculation, when, having the opportunity to bring the best, we bring the worst (Mal. 1:8-14), when we try not to do something useful for the temple or our neighbors, but to ensure that exactly the way we want.
It is also abominable before Him to kiss holy things when it is done with lips that testify that our attention is directed to our appearance, and, moreover, with lips that defile holy things.
It is not forgiveness, but condemnation that will bring such a fall to God!
“Let us cleanse ourselves, brethren, from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, let us enlighten the lights of our souls with love of poverty, not devouring each other with slander” (Cheesefare stichera), and above all "let us cleanse our senses" and then in our hearts "let us see the unapproachable light of the Resurrection of Christ shining, and rejoice" in the the victory over our sins.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.