How the Mother of God Saves Us

hey everyone and god bless you on this 11th day of the fast of the mother of god and best wishes for a marvelous celebration of our lady's door mission on the 15th i'm going to finish my initial reflections on the mother of god today if you saw the previous reflection it was on the supreme holiness of the mother of god that was completely dedicated to describing her godliness and constitutes a small explanation for the first part of the most common prayer that we make to her which is most holy failed tokos save us most holy that was our focus in the first reflection on the mother of god now i'd like to focus on the supplication portion the save us most holy mother of god save us what in the world does that mean and i'd like to talk to you about the supreme power of the mother of god's prayers and intercessions and exactly how she saves us so when we say that when christians chant the mother of god as we always have that she would save us this is the most common prayer the most common petition uh in the paralysis that we pray to her this is the most common petition in the akathist when we pray to her most holy mother of god save us what exactly are we saying are we suggesting that the mother of god has become uncreated divinity not at all are we suggesting that she is the fourth person of the godhead not at all absolutely ridiculous we do not worship the mother of god as the fourth person of the godhead we are not suggesting that she has become uncreated but on the other hand we also are not saying that she is just a departed christian just the person who has been saved by christ her son and that we we ask her to pray for us just like we ask other people to pray for us i've heard many uh orthodox christians trying to explain to uh protestant friends this this idea of why we pray to the mother of god and why we have such confidence in our prayers simply along the basis of well we ask people to pray for us and saint james says we should pray for one another etc no no that is of course at some level true at some basic level but the prayers of the mother of god are not just like someone praying for us the prayers of the mother of god are absolutely unique and supremely powerful they do what most christians prayers can't even get close to doing so we're avoiding both of these polls the idea that somehow uh we are treating the mother of god like the fourth person of the godhead that is complete blasphemy or that sh we're approaching the mother of god for her prayers just like we would approach a christian brother or sister and ask them to pray for us of course christians constantly pray for each other and for the world but that is not an adequate description in any way for our requests of the mother of god to save us so exactly how does she save us exactly what does she do the first thing i like to say is of course she does not replace her son christians are saved by god god is the author of our salvation his son our lord jesus christ the god-man is the savior of all men he is the only one who could defeat death he is the only one who could conquer sin he is the only one who could choke out the devil and smash uh the demons and deliver us from our threefold enslavement him and him alone and we bow down and worship the father son and holy spirit for saving us nonetheless that word save has a broad semantic range when we say to the mother of god most holy mother of god save us we don't mean do what the holy trinity has done uniquely for us absolutely not uh but it's still a legitimate word to seek to be saved when someone's drowning and they scream out help me save me they're not replacing christ they're thanking god later no doubt they'll thank god if there's someone on the shore or someone on the boat who can throw the life preserver they'll thank god that in his economy he has granted that person to be there to redeem them paul himself uses this language for his own ministry for his own gospel efforts he says i have striven to become all things to all men in order that i might save some paul was seeking to save men of course by the grace of god and as the servant of christ by bringing them to the savior but he still used that language so don't stumble over the use of that language don't think that you have to somehow change that language so sony moss and make it something else i have been to a number of churches that have have been former protestant churches that became orthodox churches and they actually changed the language of the biblical language that is applied not just to god but to the saints of course not in the exact same way of sevas and they've changed it to mother of god intercede for us or something like that that is a horrible idea uh and not what the text says and and denudes uh the mother of god of her unique prerogatives uh which is a lot more even than just praying for us and her prayer is not just the prayer that you would get from a friend so let me talk a little bit about more a little bit more of that we're not replacing christ in any way but at the same time the idea that god could have saved the world through any young woman he could just grab this woman or that woman it's not really particular to the virgin mary is completely ludicrous and not biblical the mother of god's life uh is absolutely unique her supreme purity her utter and unconquerable holiness was what was necessary for the incarnation to take place for the son of god actually to be born of that woman she is the one chosen from all generations and the one who is full of grace the one who was appropriate to become the agent of the incarnation and without her no incarnation this is not a a unique idea this is the christian teaching from the beginning the idea that god could just or would just use anyone is ludicrous absolutely ludicrous she occupies a central part in the incarnation and although we don't preach the mother of god she's not a constituent element of the gospel of the kerigman but she remains however the mother of the one that we preach so the christ that we preach and exalt is the son not just of god the father but the son of the most pure virgin and his patrimony his inheritance as the son of god uh is extremely important as is the fact that he is the son of the virgin so she's not the core of the gospel but nonetheless we can't understand the son of god who is the savior of all men unless we understand him to be the son of the virgin and and she has that unique place she occupies also a central place in uh the the life of the the spiritual life of the church especially the life of the early church and the apostles she was the very core and center of the apostolic band she was the connection a significant connection to the savior to our lord jesus this is why the apostles related to her as a spiritual mother and why when she reposed in the lord as we were about to celebrate they were so grief-stricken uh the icon of the dormition shows the apostles just weeping and they're so sad to to have lost uh to paradise uh the mother of god that's what she was and just imagine uh the the biblical roots of this and when this this solidification of her role as the mother of the community of the believers of the church uh became evident which is when our savior was upon the cross and there was the mother of god standing uh as her son's support at the base of the cross next to the beloved disciple saint john and what did jesus say uh he cared for her so much that he made her um her own care central to his dying breath he said looking at john behold thy mother and looking at his mother behold thy son and from that moment john though he was not the biological son of the virgin mary accepted the mother of god as his mother and the church understands this as a bequeathal to the entire church not just just to john and to the apostles the apostolic band but to the whole church of the motherhood of the virgin mary she occupies this central place in the church's life as mother she also occupies a central place in the in the church triumphant and in the the heavenly uh triumphant community of believers and she does this because she occupies spies especially close place to her son the image that where we derive this comes from two passages one is from the 44th psalm and another is from uh the account in first kings of king solomon remember that king solomon when he became king he built a magnificent throne in fact his throne was greater than any throne had ever that had ever been built by anyone he had these incredible uh ivory steps and huge lions on all the thrones this was in fact a covenant throne it was the throne of his father david and it was a picture on the earth of the throne of the son of god of the ultimate king of kings at the right hand of god the father where christ lives and reigns now in his complete authority governing the world and the nations and propagating his church to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth that when king solomon built his throne he built a second smaller throne immediately on his right this is recorded in 1st kings 219 immediately on his right and that was for the queen mother the queen regent which was the highest position in the kingdom the most influential position after the king himself this idea this uh eastern concept of uh of royalty with the king and then the queen regent on his right is something that is biblical that we see being expressed in the biblical text psalm 44 describes it as a heavenly reality as something that's going on also with god and with christ his son so jesus we believe is at the right hand of his father on the throne of david and on jesus's right the mother of god sits as queen regent over the whole world praying and interceding uh for not some sort of court intrigue for sinful matter but no bringing to her son constant supplications and exercising her unbelievable influence in his life as she always has done since she is the mother of the king so the centrality of the mother of god in heaven is something that i'd like to point out as well remember also besides the fact that she occupies this unbelievable place uh in in heaven she also uh was allowed to play a key role that is expressive of her power of prayer and intercession in the performance of our savior's first public miracle which is described in john chapter 2 which took place at the wedding feast of cana in galilee and remember what was going on there that beautiful wedding feast had the unfortunate occurrence of the wine running out and the mother of god was particularly concerned uh that the bridegroom and the bride not be embarrassed by this so she approached her son and she called to his attention the fact that they had the wine had run out and he looked at her and said mother my hour has not come why are you why are you telling me this and though he rebuffed her according you know according to the text he rebuffed her request she was so confident in her position uh in her son's life and so confident that he respected her concerns that she simply looked to the attendance and said whatever he says to you do she knew even though he said he wasn't interested in performing this miracle she knew that uh he was going to because she asked and it was important and what happened he chose that as the occasion for his very first public miracle turning water into wine and the best wine this is of course a very important message for marriage and how the presence of christ changes natural marriage into something much greater which is christian marriage which has at its core the presence of the holy spirit who is overflowing uh with rivers of living water in believers and causing christian marriages to advance in sweetness and beauty over time like a fine wine it has a message for marriage but it also has a message for the whole church to see that the mother of god has a central place in the miracles of our savior and as an intercessor at his right hand so she for all of these reasons her prayer is absolutely unique because of her supreme holiness because of her inco incredibly unique in uh prerogatives as the mother of christ and as queen regent in heaven and uh we see that our savior listens to her he listens to her what does she do exactly how does she pray her prayers are because of her unique holiness and her unique relationship to christ the most powerful prayers of the saints period she is the most holy of all the holy ones and she stands as the mother of the church she has the motherly disposition not just to her son but to the fullness of her son and the fullness of her son according to scriptures is not just him but all of those who are united to him the church itself and so she has this disposition and she uses her very influential and powerful prayers for the good and for the salvation of believers especially those who pray to her and ask for help now know this all prayer is not the same all prayer is not the same this is a very important point some people think as long as you have a sincere heart your prayer is acceptable to god well having a sincere heart is one of the reason one of the conditions for prayer to be acceptable to god but it's not sufficient in fact if you have a good intention in your heart but you are living in immorality and you are not repenting of that your prayer is not only not going to reach god and be respected by god or heard it is in fact according to the proverbs an abomination to god the prayer of a wicked man is an abomination to god the proverb says whereas on the other side we have saint james telling us that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective so the effectiveness of prayer is dependent upon the righteousness of the one the condition of heart and life of the one who is actually offering the prayer so just think of the many examples that we have in the scriptures of uh great men great men and women who loved god and that unite that unique relationship to god that profound holiness that they had cultivated with the help of god and through great labors and struggles made their prayer so powerful just think of the great god seer moses this one who became a burning bush himself who was so close to god that his face shone in the uncreated light he was able by lifting up his his hands to route foreign armies that were attacking god's people he could he was more powerful than any gun any weapon any soldier his prayer was uh he also by his powerful prayer was able to bring water out of a rock divide the red sea this is the great gods here moses and his prayer and of course he had his foibles right he had his own mistakes think of the incredible successor of moses the righteous commander of god's peoples and armies joshua joshua by his powerful prayer was able to stop the sun in its course for a full day to give an extra 24 hours to the people of israel to fight their enemies this is how powerful his prayer was think of the prayer of the prophet elias and he was able to raise the dead he was able to call down fire from heaven he was able to shut and alter the natural elements to cause the rain to stop and then to come again all by his prayer by his powerful prayer and yet of course he had foibles he had weaknesses he despaired of his life even and had to be corrected and helped by god and nurse back to reason by an angel think of his glorious successor the prophet elisha who by his prayer was able to call cause an iron axe head which had flown off its handle the handle was being used by one of his spiritual sons to make some housing for the sons of the prophets and it had fallen into a body of water and sunk and by his prayer of deep cough and iron accent to rise to the top of the water who does that only someone with unbelievably powerful prayers the prayers of a godly man the prayers of the holy are extremely effective think of the apostles think of saint peter how is it that saint peter's shadow could heal the sick how could saint paul and his handkerchief drive out demons and sickness from people's bodies this wasn't just anyone's handkerchief this isn't just mine in your handkerchief oh look i have a handkerchief uh pass it over no it's not how it works this was the handkerchief of the man who had suffered more than anyone else just think of that long list of sufferings that he had offered to embrace in his service to christ that's found in second corinthians oh no holiness spiritual accomplishment acquisition of a true heart of a large heart of godliness this makes prayer powerful and yet all of these examples that i've used of these unbelievable prayers which of course blow away every concept of what uh human limitation is just think of the prophet elias elisha how was it that at a great distance miles and miles away from the syrian camp he could see with his spiritual eyes with his divinized eyes he could see the tactical military plans of the syrian king and his general he would see them from miles and miles away he would write down exactly what their plan was there this many soldiers are coming on this day through this mountain pass and he would send it to the israelite king and the king would be waiting there time after time after time to meet and slaughter the forces of the syrian pagan king what's the explanation for that it's called being divinized it's called being in the spirit as the prophets were and even a person like the prophet elijah who was a sinner and had his own sins and foibles was so godly and had pursued godliness so much and was so under the power of the spirit that the normal human limitations simply didn't apply to him just like they don't apply to the glorified saints the divine saints and heavens and especially to the one who committed no sins the one who has a unique holiness and has a unique place at the right hand of her son as the queen regent especially to her prayer her prayers are that powerful they change lives they alter the course of human destiny absolutely and to pray to her uh of course not in place in any way of praying to christ and to his father and to the holy spirit absolutely not in place but in addition to to supplicate the mother of god as our mother is to attach ourselves to she who is mighty in prayers whose faith moves mountains on behalf of the church you know just this last sunday we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the glorification of saint herman of alaska the wonder worker this incredible uh gift from christ to the american church he shared a common spiritual father elder nazarios with saint seraphim of sarov both of those incredible recent saints had a particular devotion to the mother of god of course because that's what anyone who is holy does how can you love christ can't love christ without loving his mother you can't love the church without loving the mother of the church and both of them were healed from near death by the mother of god saint hermann had a huge abscess in his throat under his chin as a young monk and was going to die refused medical treatment and entrusted his entire life into the hands of the mother of god he prayed to her with a a towel on her icon put his whole life in her hands and then laid the towel on himself and went to sleep he dreamed of the mother of god and in the morning he was completely healed she left just a small mark on his neck so that he would always remember what she did for him brothers and sisters we have the same story of course applies a very similar miraculous healing from near death to saint seraphim we have so many cases in every generation of believers and in every place the mother of god is there she's near us she's here to help us and to and to respond to our prayers because that's who she is who she is that's just who she is her prayer is supremely powerful supremely powerful and if you want to know what she can do for you all you have to do is take a copy of the parochial service this nice prayer book we call it the blue prayer book published by holy transfiguration monastery the paralysis is on page 265. a great project a great devotion would be simply read through it with a little piece of paper and write down all the things that we're asking her to do because these supplications reflect uh particular uh answers to prayer that the saints have obtained from her throughout all generations this is simply what she does for us i wrote a few of them down about the things that we pray for just to wet your appetite we pray for deliverance we ask the mother of god to deliver us from the evil one from tyrannizing passions from soul destroying dupont despondency from debilitating illness from distress and more we also pray that she would help us acquire things like divine guidance piloting us into god's sheltered port and the acquisition of holiness this is what she can do this is why we ought always pray to the mother of god the queen of heaven the mother of our savior through whose prayers his miracles abound may your supplications to her be very fruitful god bless you majestic nectar publications is pleased to present our newest series entitled walk in love an exposition of first second and third john st john the theologian is at one and the same time the church's most profound theologian and her most simple and loving pastor saint john's gospel soars to the heights in revealing profound trinitarian theology saint john's apocalypse pulls back the curtain on eschatological mysteries and the epistles of saint john reveal the holy apostles burning heart of love for the flock and his solid and practical counsel to believers on how to live for the lord these letters move between the dual affirmations of divinity that god is light and god is love and call upon the people of god to embrace holiness and love as the distinguishing marks of christian believers for these and other available titles please visit our website at patristicnector.org [Music] you

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Keywords: Prayer, praying, how to pray, Holy Virgin, Theotokos, mary mother of god, rosary, Catholic worship of, catholic worship of mary, praying to saints in bible, praying to saints catholic answers, Patristic Nectar Publications, Patristic nectar, christian vlog, Jesus, Fr Josiah Trenham, Christian Life, Trenham, Orthodox Christian, roman catholic church, dormition of the theotokos, virgin mary, Orthodox Fast, Angels, Most Holy

Id: COtJz5LJJEQ

Length: 26min 16sec (1576 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 11 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Cefalopodul]

Really love these reflections by father Trenham. He can be a bit narrow-sighted when it comes to certain events but he usually speaks words of wisdom.

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