Homily on the Celebration of the Icon of the Mother of God, called “Unexpected Joy” (Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov)

Homily on the Celebration of the Icon of the Mother of God, called “Unexpected Joy”

By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov

(Delivered on December 9/22, 1962)

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

"Rejoice, you who give unexpected joy to the faithful!"

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the feast celebrated today in honor of the icon of the Mother of God, called "Unexpected Joy", reveals to us the bright hope of our unashamed trust in the intercession of the Most Pure Virgin Mary for us, Her mercy to the Christian race - not only to people of impeccable life, but also to people mired in their sins, to people with an unclean conscience, to lawless people. It is not without reason that the Holy Church during the Divine Service in its prayers and hymns first of all turns to the Mother of God, knowing Her ineffable mercy and love for mankind, teaching us by this that in our sorrows and needs we should always resort under the protection of our all-powerful and merciful Heavenly Mother and receive help. You know from history that our ancestors, Russian Orthodox Christians, were very God-fearing people and always had a firm and deep faith in the heavenly intercession of the Mother of God. And the Queen of Heaven did not leave their faith in vain, but always sent help to everyone who resorted to Her with hope.

It is difficult to even point to a disaster or misfortune from which the Mother of God has not delivered, when people turned to Her with faith and fervent prayer. Through Her intercession and protection, those suffering from long-term and incurable illnesses were healed, the dead were resurrected; many were delivered from seemingly inevitable death, from robbers, from drowning, from fire, from freezing; through Her intercession, public disasters were stopped: fires, famine, wars; entire villages, cities and regions were saved from deadly and destructive diseases through the prayers of the Queen of Heaven. Orthodox Christians know many other examples of Her intercession. But what is most important is that She repeatedly prevented the righteous wrath of God on sinners, admonished them and helped them turn from destructive error to the path of repentance and correction of their lives.

One such case is the event we celebrate today, which is depicted on the icon "Unexpected Joy." A certain sinner had the custom of standing daily in his room before the icon of the Mother of God to pray and send Her the Archangel's doxology: "Rejoice, You who are full of grace!" And so one day, getting ready for his sinful deed, he went into the room as usual and stood before the icon of the Mother of God. What did he find? Before his eyes the faces of the Most Pure One and the Divine Infant began to move and appeared before him alive, wounds opened on the hands, feet and ribs of the Infant and blood flowed from them in a stream. Seeing this, the sinner fell down in fear and cried out:

"Oh, Lady, who did this?"

To this the Mother of God replied:

"You and other sinners, with your sins, crucify My Son again, like the Jews."

“Have mercy on me, Mother of Mercy!” the horrified robber then begged.

She answered him:

"Look, you call Me the Mother of Mercy, but you insult Me with your lawless deeds."

"No!" - cried the sinner, - "let not my malice overcome Your ineffable goodness, for You are the only hope of all sinful men. Pray for me to Your Son and my Creator."

Then the Most Blessed Mother of God began to beseech Her Son, saying:

"My most gracious Son! For the sake of My love, remember this sinner and forgive his sins."

To this the Son answered Her:

"Do not be angry, My Mother, that I will not listen to You, for I also prayed to My Father that the cup of suffering would pass from Me, but He did not listen to Me."

Three times the Most Holy Mother of God turned to Her Son with a prayer for forgiveness of the sinner, but He remained adamant. Then She arose, seated Her Son, and would have thrown herself at His feet.

“What do you want to do, O My Mother?!” the Son exclaimed.

“I will lie at your feet until you forgive this sinner his sins,” answered the Mother of God.

"The law commands every son to honor his mother, and justice demands that the legislator should also be the executor of the law; therefore I fulfill Your request, let it be according to Your desire. Now this man's sins are forgiven for Your sake. Let the sign of the forgiveness of his sins be his kissing My wounds."

With great joy the repentant and forgiven sinner stood up and reverently kissed the Most Pure wounds of the Savior, and from that time on he began to live in a way pleasing to God.

Beloved brothers and sisters, the event we are commemorating today testifies, first of all, to the ineffable love of the Mother of God not only for the righteous, but also for sinners, to Her motherly care for Her children, who are drowning in the abyss of sin, but at the same time it reveals to us the greatest evil hidden in sin. Sin is a terrible evil, for the destruction of which the death of the Only Begotten Son of God was required. And with our sins we crucify the Savior again and again and aggravate His wounds. How many such wounds have we caused to our Lord Jesus Christ, living lawlessly and unrighteously! Therefore, let us, my beloved, flee from sin and fear it more than any misfortune, any tragedy.

Each of us can say that he is weak and everywhere around him meets stumbling blocks and temptations that are not easy to avoid. Indeed, we are weak and feeble, and there are many temptations: from our own flesh, which always wars against our spirit; from the world, which, according to the word of God, lies entirely in evil; finally, from the enemy, the devil, who, like a roaring lion, seeks to destroy some Christian soul. But, dear ones, we have a reliable refuge and protection - in the person of the Mother of God. Let us firmly hope that She is with us always, wherever we are and however we live, and that She will not forget us if we resort to Her with fervent prayer. Let us pray today, on the day of the celebration in honor of Her icon, that She would send Her unexpected joy to us, mired in sins and passions, to soften our hearts and fill them with humility and love for our neighbors, so that we, pardoned and saved by Her, would unceasingly send Her doxology: Rejoice, You who did rejoice, Rejoice, Joy of all who sorrow, Rejoice, O zealous Intercessor! Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.