Mariam: The Mother of the Lord and Mother of Our Life

By Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou of Essex

The Holy Virgin was the crown of the holiness of all the righteous of the Old Testament, the distillation of the godliness of the Prophets of Israel. She was the fruit of centuries of painful prayer by the people of God who cried out to Him for redemption. In her earthly life, she never sinned. As a result, an unbroken stream of incorrupt and eternal life flowed continuously within her. Not only did she never grieve the Holy Spirit, but she also gave all the space of her heart to the Heavenly King. Thus, her hypostasis shone forth already perfected from a tender age. Even before Christ took flesh from her, the Mother of God bore within herself the universality of her Son. In order to bear the supranatural grace of divine motherhood, she lived in this world ‘as alive from the dead’ (Cf. Rom. 6:13) completely hidden, in the depths of humility, wholly surrendered to the will of God. Yet the death she underwent was transformed into a precursor of indestructible life, since voluntary death for the sake of the commandments brings forth the earnest of eternal life and the inheritance of the incorruptible glory of God.