Clergy Reflection: Friday Of The First Week

Friday of the First Week

On this night in most parishes there is a beautiful prayer service dedicated to the Theotokos, the Lord’s Mother, who continues to give us all such a great witness of faith through the accounts of her life in the Scriptures. As the first among all the Saints, the Virgin Mary is the perfect example of what we are all called to be: Christ-bearers.

During this service and in a beautifully poetic expression of honor and veneration, the faithful sing praises to her and recount her entire life as one complete movement toward Christ. This aspect of her life, her complete devotion to her son as her God, is precisely the reason for our veneration.

We see in her life also a model for intercessory prayer as she asks her son, Jesus, to do something about the lack of wine at the wedding in Cana. Be- cause of this and because we believe that all the Saints are truly alive and worshipping Almighty God in heaven, we continue to offer our own supplica- tions to them even as we pray to God ourselves for mercy, life, peace, and salvation.

If you haven’t been to this service of the Salutations to the Theotokos, make it a point to go this evening and experience the joy that only God gives.

Fr. Christopher Stamas