The Theotokos

The Theotokos

(paraphrased from Christos Yannaras, Elements of Faith)

The Church sees in the person of the Most-holy Theotokos the one creature who actually achieved the fullness of purpose for which all of creation exists, that is the fullest possible union with God and therefore to the fullness of true human life.  No one else, of this world or of the spirit world, has ever done what she did.

When Mary said “yes” to the words of the angel Gabriel, and therefore also to God, she was not just simply agreeing with the angel.  She didn’t mean that she would just be available to God.  Rather, or further, she was making herself available to receive and join the Uncreated with the created.  She was willing to share her natural energy, that is, all she was as a female human being (meaning, for example, her will and her potential motherhood) with God, contributing all of what she was in order to see the conception and development of Jesus in her womb.  She gave His body to Him, and helped develop His soul as any mother does.  He was not separate from her any more than any other child within the womb is separate from their mom.  She supplied all the nourishment He required and with her caring for Him brought Him to the place of birth as any other child is developed and brought to birth.

Mary did not just have Christ living within her as a sort of alien presence; she did not lend her body to God, but rather she nurtured Him and, in the normal way of things, developed Him from conception to the moment of birth, and then by her continuing motherly care helped Him as He grew, nursing Him, caressing Him, cooing to Him, helping Him with language, learning the names of things and people, helping Him in His awareness of others and all the other things that go into helping a child grow.

Jesus did not simply take flesh from the Theotokos, but His soul developed within her and then, after birth, by her input and love.  Therefore we say that He was totally and fully human, with all His faculties and actions.

Mary, therefore, can be seen to be the one who brought together the Uncreated and the created, and so all of creation looks to her as the gate to true life, that is, life with God, the fullness of theosis.  We sing: “In her all creation rejoices, the company of angels and the race of men.”  And we use many symbols and pictures to try to represent who she is and what she has done.  We call her “heaven”, “fertile earth”, “unhewn rock”, “rock giving drink to those who thirst for life”, “flourishing womb”, “field bringing forth atonement”, and so on. The Church represents her in a variety of ways on icons to try to bring out the meaning of her “yes”.

The Theotokos is the new “Eve”, choosing to bend her will to the will of the heavenly Father rather than to be autonomous and independent.  The autonomy and independence of our forefathers, Adam and Eve, led to nonlife and inevitable death.  When Mary chose to say yes to God, she began to participate in the divine, transcending nature and moving into eternal life, true and full life.

When we, as faithful Christians, ask for Mary’s intercession for us, we do not seek some sort of legal mediation, but we are asking that our ineffective and weak wills will be contained within her own life-giving will, “her will which affirms the saving love of the incarnate God.”

So let us imitate Mary and ask for her intercessions in all we do.