Whoever goes to the Orthodox
Church will identify that iconographically and hymnographically, Orthodox
venerates and prays to the Theotokos constantly. She plays a crucial role in
our faith, in our understanding of salvation, as is expressed also in Scripture
and the Tradition of the Orthodox Church. How, therefore, do we understand this
liturgical veneration and glorification of the Mother of God?
‘The liturgical glorification of
the Mother of God is theocentric and christocentric. It is always set in the
perspective of the history of salvation but also concerns her personally as one
who possesses the gifts of freedom. Mary is not a passive instrument, not
simply the womb through which the Word passed in taking flesh. Her glory does
not consist solely in the fact that she nursed the Son of God.’[1]
[1]
Behr-Sigel, Elisabeth, The Ministry of
Women in the Church, (California, Oakwood Publications, 1991). p.193.
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