October: Day 22: Teaching 1: Celebration in Honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

 

October: Day 22: Teaching 1:
Celebration in Honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
 
(What Should We Pray to the Mother of God For?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Russia has seen over itself, throughout its entire existence, the unceasing care of the Mother of God. From the very first times of the illumination of our fatherland by the Orthodox faith, the Queen of Heaven was pleased to choose it as the place of the habitation of Her glory, and since then, as the faith of Christ spread within the borders of our kingdom, the miraculous protection of our Lady also spread, and finally embraced the entire face of the Russian land, so that now, one can say, there is not a single city, in the least remarkable in the annals of our country, where there would not be a visible sign of Her grace-filled help. What do the numerous miraculous icons of the Mother of God mean, throughout the vast expanse of the Russian land, pouring out saving grace to all who come to them with faith, if not obvious signs of the special favor of the Mother of God to us, the unworthy? And it is not in vain that the faithful sons of Russia, in all the needs of the fatherland, flowing into churches with warm prayer, glorify the Queen of Heaven as their fervent Intercessor.

Now, on the ever-memorable day of the triumph of our faith and fatherland, let us not be silent about the intercession of the Mother of God, shown to our ancestors. The years 1612 and the preceding years were the most disastrous time of our national life. The reigning house of Rurik then ceased to exist; the last royal branch of this house fell innocently; the Russian throne began to waver. Imposters and a terrible interregnum came; rebellion spread throughout the Russian land. The capital itself soon fell into the power of enemies and, to complete the disaster, the hostile hand of a foreigner was already reaching out to the royal crown. And here is Russia, like a body without a head, a state without an empire, a kingdom without a tsar, a fatherland without sons!.. At this time, when it seemed that no earthly power could save perishing Russia, the help of the heavenly Intercessor of the Christian race appeared. Moved by a sense of piety, our ancestors prescribed a three-day fast and tearfully prayed under the walls of the Moscow Kremlin before the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God for deliverance from enemies. The messenger of deliverance, Venerable Sergius, soon appeared from the heavenly Intercessor. “Your and our prayers have been heard,” he said in a vision to Archbishop Arseny, “through the intercession of the Mother of God, God’s judgment on the fatherland has been changed to mercy.” The joyful news of the intercession of the Most Blessed One spread among the Orthodox army. Daring in the name of the chosen Commander, the people’s army defeats the enemies, liberates the royal city, and with it all of Russia.

II. May this day which we now commemorate be blessed for ever for us and for our whole fatherland, and may the intercession and protection of the Most Holy Mother of God be blessed! “We shall never be silent, O Mother of God, to speak of Your power, unworthy as we are! For if You had not stood before us in supplication, who would have delivered us from such misfortunes? Who would have kept us free until now?” Truly, it is worthy and righteous to hymn and glorify our heavenly Intercessor from the depths of our soul and from the whole heart, especially since She showed Herself not only in that difficult time of our fatherland as the patroness and protector of our fatherland, but always, as soon as our ancestors abandoned their natural strength and means, as soon as they approached the very edge of disasters and lost all hope except trust from above, the Mother of God, through their ardent prayers, showed Her wondrous help, so that the history of the past fate of our fatherland is also a chronicle of the miracles performed for it by the Mother of God.

Yes, brethren, our pious ancestors in times of public and private disasters always turned with warm, fervent prayer to the Mother of God and thus received from Her intercession and salvation. Let us follow the example of our ancestors.

a) What should we pray to the Mother of God about and what needs might we have? Oh, each of us has many, many needs, misfortunes and sorrows, and even more sins; the body is weak, and our soul is also weak from the multitude of sins: we must all pray for deliverance from them with a contrite heart and with tears.

b) But besides private needs and sins, we have general, modern needs and ailments. The first and most serious ailment in modern society is the impoverishment of faith and the decline of morality. Our ancestors were strong in faith and found in it salvation, joy and consolation in times of trial. The word of God was the main and favorite subject of their studies, and attendance at church services was the most sacred and indispensable duty. At the present time, many listen completely coldly and reluctantly to what is contained in the word of God, or do not listen to this heavenly teaching at all, do not believe much in it and are ready to doubt the most obvious miracles and mysteries. From such unbelief - even the most serious vices are considered unimportant; sacred traditions are violated fearlessly, so that the fast, sacredly kept by our ancestors, remains today known to many only by name, without fulfillment. In the face of such a decline and depletion of faith and morality, one must pray earnestly: “Bold Intercessor, give us faith, heal our social ailments and save us!”

c) The same need for common fervent prayers is revealed by observing what is now happening in visible nature. For our deviation from the paths of truth, the just God also deviates from the order of the course of nature - closes the sky from timely warmth and light, or from timely cold and snow, and punishes us with long-term drought and other similar disasters. Both heaven and earth suggest to us that by violating the moral order we have changed the order in external nature. The earth, burdened with our sins, ceases to grow bread and other products in abundance for the service of people; hence comes the impoverishment of essential life needs, and then famine with its destructive disasters. From such famine and destruction, fervent Intercessor, save and have mercy on us!

d) To this prayerful appeal we must add a contrite heartfelt request to the Mother of God to deliver us from the various epidemic diseases, deadly plagues and unnecessary deaths that are occurring. We often see around us terrible diseases that strike the old and the young, the strong and the weak, the abstinent and especially the intemperate. From here we must learn circumspection, abstinence, especially devotion to Divine Providence and prayer. And the untimely death that is repeated over our neighbors and acquaintances teaches us and inspires us to pray fervently with tenderness of heart and with tears: O fervent Intercessor, save and preserve us from diseases, deadly plagues and unnecessary deaths! And She, the Most Merciful, as the Mother of God and the Mother of all Christians, can always pray to Her Son, our Lord and Savior, for our deliverance and salvation: for a mother's prayer can do much for the compassion of the Master! And truly, to whom should we attribute the boundless condescension of the All-Merciful One towards us sinners? To whom, if not to Her unceasing intercession and protection for us? Only through Her intercession does the righteous heavenly Judge not betray us to utter destruction for the many multitude of our sins. And what would have become of us if we had been deprived of Her maternal intercession? Then we would have perished long ago under the weight of our sins, troubles and sorrows.

III. Having such a great and fervent Intercessor, let us, sinners and humble ones, diligently run to Her. She, the Queen of Heaven, is always ready to intercede for us, if only we would resort to Her intercession with warm and fervent prayer, with firm faith and hope. And then She Herself will not retreat from us with Her mercy, but will preserve and save us from all evil, heeding our prayers.

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.