The Nativity of the Theotokos

According to Tradition, which draws from the Protoevangelium of James, Sts. Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, were childless and in their old age. For a Jewish couple, this was incredibly hard to bear, since children were usually interpreted as a sign of divine favor.   When Joachim went to the temple to sacrifice the High Priest rebuked him for being childless. In great grief and embarrassment, Joachim fled to the wilderness and began fasting and praying to God for a child. Because he did not tell his wife Anne what he was doing or give her any notice of where she had gone, St. Anne assumed herself to be a widow. She mourned and lamented to God for her widowhood and childlessness. Reminiscent of the dual prayers of Tobit and Sarah, God heard their prayers. God sent an angel to each of them, one telling Joachim that his wife would conceive; the second telling Anne that Joachim was alive. They both set out and met joyfully in front of the Temple. St. Anne subsequently conceived and gave birth to a girl, whom they named Mary.

In the icon of this special feast, we see many elements common to the Nativity of Christ. St. Anne reclines after the birth, as Mary does after Jesus’ birth. The infant Mary lies beside St. Anne, wrapped in swaddling clothes similar to Christ’s. The maids in the lower corner perform the ritual washing of the infant, which is identical to the Christ Nativity Icon, even to the detail of their bare arms.   Above St. Anne are several undefiled Hebrew maids, whom St. Anne summoned to assist her. St. Joachim is often shown to the side, leaning in to look from the doorway at Mary’s ritual washing.

A table is sometimes portrayed near to Anne that symbolizes the feast that Joachim invited all the priests and scribes to attend at Mary’s first birthday, one year later. There are often other scenes shown, such as Joachim and Anne embracing at the gates of the Temple, a garden where Anne made her double lament, Mary’s room where she was kept until the time that she entered the temple, and many other scenes from Mary’s early life.

Despite Mary’s exalted beginnings, we still find her quietly working and humbly accepting the angel’s greeting at the Annunciation.   The lesson is clear: no matter what our beginnings or gifts from God, humility is still the prize for which we strive for. It is in this humility that God chose to be born a man and receive a welcome much less than that of his mother.

This icon is meant to point us ahead to the greater event that it foreshadows- the birth of Christ. In the ancient texts from the Fathers on this feast, we see a recurring description of this event as, “the Dawn of Salvation.”   In this moment, we see the first action taken by God on behalf of the Incarnation. In Mary, we glimpse the dawn that precedes the sunrise, which is the appearance of Jesus, the “Sun of Justice.”

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To see other icons of the Theophany, see below (click to enter the gallery).

The Sorrow of the Theotokos

14th century. Transfiguration Monastery, Meteora

If we want to see the full devastation and loss caused by the Cross, we need look no further than the Mother of God. Consider Mary, who gave herself entirely to God in humility, accepting the greatest task ever given to a mere human being- the bearing of God to the world. Jesus came entirely from her flesh and bones, signifying a new creation of humanity that began as Eve came from Adam in the Garden. Mary was with Jesus at every stage of his life, even to the moment of the Cross. She was also without sin, which meant she was closer to Jesus Christ than any other person could ever be. When Jesus hung upon the Cross, Mary felt every wound, every splinter, every nail, every thorn, every agonizing breath.

This icon comes from a monastery in Meteora and is taken from a diptych that pairs it with an icon of the dead Christ (see below). In this icon we find Mary in inexpressible sorrow. Her face and garments are darkened to highlight her mourning. Her eyebrows sag as she gazes at her Son, now dead because of our sins. Her mouth, as is traditional, is shown to be small and closed in as a sign of meditation.

Perhaps the most striking things about this icon are her hands, which bespeak the fullness of the mystery of the Mother of God. Mary’s left hand is curled up and back under her chin, and convulsively clutches at her breast. In many icons, this is the hand that would normally hold the Christ child in her joy. Yet now her Son is dead, and the hand clutches fruitlessly on nothing. We feel her severe loss. Yet in her right hand we find hope. Mary, despite witnessing the death of her Son, still points us to him as the only way in which to find salvation. We see in this gesture her unmistakable trust in the providence of God and faith greater than Abraham’s who “considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead” (Heb 11:19). We even see this hope in Mary’s face, which, despite her sorrow, gazes serenely at her Son, humbly accepting God’s will. We see in her face the awareness of the ultimate truth- the Resurrection.

Thus we see in Mary not only the ability to identify with her Son on the Cross, but the humble surrender to her Son’s sacrifice, actively offering him and herself to the Father in accordance with the Divine Plan. We also find that Mary is not a stranger to the sorrows that we encounter in this life. She has experienced them ever more deeply than we know. Let us turn then to our Mother, who understands our pain and can help us to find our true healer- Jesus Christ.

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Our Lady of Perpetual Help

This icon ranks as my favorite icon of Mary. It has a very special place in my life; my parish and my diocese are under the patronage of this title of Mary and I have a special devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. This icon is perhaps the most copied icon in the world and serves as a visible link between the East and West.

This type of icon belongs to a group of icons called the “Hodegetria,” which means literally “She who shows the way.” It is so named because Mary points with her right hand to Jesus, acting as “Directress” to Christ. This particular icon however, because of its distinct elements, is known as the “Theotokos of the Passion.” It is believed that this icon is a true copy of the original icon of Mary written by St. Luke the Evangelist.

There are a few flaws in this icon. Mary does not have a star on her right shoulder though this seems to be because the artist placed it on her head to the left of the main star on her head. This may have been because he was did not know where it went or perhaps because he did not wish to place it over the folds of her mantle. In some copies of this icon, Jesus and Mary are portrayed wearing crowns, which do not belong in iconography. Perhaps most prominently, Mary is wearing a red dress and a blue mantle over her veil. This is different from other depictions of Mary due to the icon’s Western influence.

Theotokos of the Passion (17 century)

The icon was written in Crete in the 15^th or 16^th century during the artistic decline following the sack of Constantinople and had some Italian artistic influence. In the Western Church, red was traditionally associated with blood and humanity, while blue was associated with the heavens and the divine.  While the color scheme is a clear break from traditional coloring in icons, the intention to portray Mary as a human being overshadowed by the divine presence remains. It should be noted however that all other icons of the Theotokos of the Passion use the traditional Eastern color scheme (see right).  While all of these details are incorrect, the theology is very much preserved.

In this icon, Mary directs our attention to Jesus with her right hand. In Mary’s arms is Jesus, looking visibly frightened. He clutches Mary’s hand tightly. A sandal is slipping off one of his feet. This is due to a tradition in which the child Jesus, while playing, was approached by St. Gabriel and St. Michael bearing the instruments of his Passion. He ran to his mother and was quickly picked up, which is why his right foot is hooked around his left and his sandal is slipping off. His face is shown to be older and more mature signifying that he had a divine intellect and knows that what the angels present to him is a vision of things yet to come. His face is calm and reflective, considering what he sees. Yet his body shows that he is terrified. This is reflective of the reality that Jesus experienced while in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. There, he sought to unite his human will and nature with that of the divine will and that of the Cross. It was an extraordinary struggle that showed both of Jesus’ natures distinctly. We see much of that mystery depicted here for our mediation.

St. Michael

St. Gabriel

Jesus looks at the angels who still bear the instruments of his passion. To the right, in the red clothing, we see St. Gabriel, carrying the nails and the Cross , depicted in the traditional Byzantine way with the sign, cross beam, and place for the feet. St. Michael is to the left bearing the lance and the sponge, which are both in the jar of vinegar that he carries. Both of the angels calmly adore Jesus.  Both carry their objects with veiled hands, telling us that these objects are holy and worthy of veneration. This also tells points to the fact that these objects are not so much symbols of his bloody passion as they are of his glorious Resurrection.

Mary looks not at Jesus, but at us. She considers us carefully. In her eyes, which are half closed, we see an expression of ineffable sorrow at what is to come. Yet we also see a look of compassion for all of us, her children, who are grieving because of our sins and sorrows. She desires us to come to her Son for consolation and joy, he who took the Cross for us. She wants us to seek the will of Jesus and to aid us in accomplishing it. This is why, perhaps, this icon was given the formal title of Our Lady of Perpetual Help by Pope Pius IX in 1865.

This icon, which has produced many miracles through the centuries, represents a beautiful expression of some of the most central mysteries of our Catholic faith and draw us closer to our Mother and to Jesus.

Identifying Mary in Iconography

Panagia Pathous

No person other than Christ is portrayed more than the Holy Mother of God. This should not be surprising since Mary’s entire existence signifies the Incarnation- of God becoming man, which is the central dogma of our faith. Besides this, no other person resembles Jesus more than Mary his mother.

As mentioned earlier, there are clear rules as to how icons are to be written and certain rules as how one portrays particular persons. The Mother of God can always be recognized by the combination of these rules:

 

Her name

Mary’s image can always be recognized because of her name, or rather her title, of Mater Theos (Mother of God) written (usually) in Greek shorthand on each side of her head. This is signified with the letters ΜΡ ΘΥ. However, some icons may not necessarily have this inscription around her head.

Her Clothing

Mary is always shown wearing a blue veil, typical of Jewish women of her day, signifying her humility and piety in the presence of God. Over the veil is a shroud, which is almost always red- a color signifying the divine- and also lays over the top of her dress, which is almost always blue or – signifying her humanity. There are a few exceptions to this, primarily western, in which the arrangement between the color of the veil and the shroud is reversed. This arrangement is the exact opposite of Christ, whose outer garments are blue over red and signify that he wears his humanity over his divinity. The arrangement on Mary calls to mind Gabriel’s words to Mary at the Annunciation: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you.” (Lk 1:35) In icons that include her full length figure, Mary wears scarlet slippers, a type of footwear that that was forbidden by Byzantine law to anyone outside of the members of the imperial family.

Stars

Mary is always portrayed with three stars representing her threefold inviolate virginity- before, during, and after Mary’s pregnancy. This is yet another way of using dogma as an identifying feature of a person’s identity. These stars can always be found on the top of her head and her two shoulders (excepting of course the icons in which the Christ-child covers a shoulder).

The Christ Child

Mary is most often (but not always) portrayed holding the Christ-child and it is this that almost always makes her unmistakable (though not necessarily, as you can see with the icon to the left of St. Anne and the Mary-child).  The way to know Christ is by his halo. In other icons in which Mary is alone, the other details make her known.

All of this serves to point us ultimately to Jesus Christ, in whom Mary’s entire identity is faithfully entwined. Without Jesus, we would know absolutely nothing of Mary, which makes Mary the quickest and most easy way of finding Jesus.

 

Other icons of the Theotokos are below:

Icon of the Theotokos “Odigitria” (“Directress”), painted by the Fathers of Vatopedi Monastery, Mount Athos

Theotokos Life Giving Spring

Mother of the Sign

Theotokos of the Passion

Glykophylousa

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The Dormition of the Theotokos

Today marks the Solemnity of the Assumption in the Western Church, on which day we celebrate that Mary was assumed body and soul to heaven by a special grace granted to her son. Venerable Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical Munificentissimus Deus, defined as dogma that the Virgin Mary “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”   In the Eastern Church, this feast is celebrated today as well, but under the name of Dormition (or falling asleep) of the Theotokos. They teach that Mary died a natural death, that her soul was received by Jesus, that she was resurrected on the third day, and immediately taken to heaven. Her tomb was found empty on the third day due to a curious happening. There is an icon corresponding to this feast (below), which I will now explain.

The Dormition of the Theotokos (16th century)

Sepphora, Abigail, and Jael

Athanios and the Angel

The icon is based in a story from tradition which, for the sake of brevity will only be linked here. In this icon, we find the funeral procession saying their last farewells to the Mother of God. The Apostles and a few bishops are miraculously present. In some icons, the apostles can each be seen in the sky as well, being miraculously transferred to Jerusalem for the passing of the Theotokos.  Tradition holds that these bishops are James the Brother of the Lord, Timothy, Heirotheus, and Dionysius the Areopagite. They are shown wearing the liturgical vestments of bishops in the Eastern Rites.   In front of her body is a candle, lit by Mary when she found out about her soon-coming departure. In some icons the women, Sepphora, Abigail, and Jael, are present. In some icons, the story of the High Priest Athanios is portrayed getting attacked by an angel for his impious act of trying to harm the Blessed Virgin’s body.

The Apostles are shown reverencing the body of the Blessed Virgin. St. Peter and St. Paul are at the head and feet of the Theotokos respectively. St. Peter incenses the body while St. Paul bows low out of great love and respect. In some icons, above the crowd, the Blessed Virgin is shown in front of a mandorla, being assumed (unseen) to heaven.

Yet at the center of the icon is the glorified Christ, in resplendent gold robes of the Resurrection and holding the pure soul of his mother (shown in the form of a babe). The similarity with Christ with his mother’s soul and the typical icon of Mary holding her son is intentional (see right). This is to show that life has, mysteriously come full circle; Mary, as the one who bore God to the earth is borne by God to heaven. Mary’s soul is wrapped in white clothes, symbolizing the purity of her soul.

The point of this icon is not only to convey an event but a reality: this will be our future as well, if we follow God with our whole heart. We too will be clothed in the Resurrection and brought to eternal bliss with our Lord and Savior- and with Mary too. What greater motivation can we need to become saints?

 

Other Icons of the Dormition can be found below.

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