Die Schreiben von Schreiber

 This is a combination of a series of Facebook posts I made some time ago: Did you know...Mary is the greatest woman who ever lived. The archangel Gabriel and her cousin, St. Elizabeth both confess in Scripture "Blessed art thou among women." She was chosen by God to conceive, enflesh, birth, nurture, and raise "very God of very God, of one essence with the Father!" He who can not be contained condescended to be contained in her womb. She is the first Christian to receive the Savior, and she did so in ways no one else could ever do. She found favor with the Father, was overshadowed by the Spirit, and gave birth and raised the Son. (Icon: Our Lady of the Sign, depicting Christ's conception in her womb as she says "May it be done unto me." Her arms are open to us in an invitation to also receive the Savior of our souls.) Did you know...Mary is the model of a life of faith. When God's Angel came to her with His amazing message, in faith, Mary respo...

The Angel Gabriel came to the Virgin Mary and said "Χαῖρε κεχαριτωμένη!" "Greetings O Favored One" says the ESV in Luke 1:28. The second Greek word [pronounced ke-char-ih-toe-MEH-nee] is a little deeper than that, tho. "O Favored One" seems like the Angel is using a nice descriptive term to politely address the Virgin; a few words to tell her that God thinks she's cool. But the word is a verb in the perfect tense, which denotes completeness. The mood is participle, which allows it to act as an adjective. My amateur armchair Greek translation would be something like "Greetings to you who are highly-favored by and filled with the grace of God because of your receptivity to Him." This is no ordinary woman! Because she was raised in the Temple (like Samuel), because she was humble and spent her life learning the Hebrew Scriptures, because she loved God, she was already filled with grace. This is why the Archangel Gabriel, who stands ...

• Mary, like Samuel, was born to aging, childless parents as an answer to prayer. • Mary, like Samuel, was dedicated to God from her youth by her parents. • Mary, like Samuel, was taken to the Temple at three years old, where she lived until her betrothal to Joseph at 12 or 13 years old. • Mary conversed with the Archangel Gabriel. • Mary was overshadowed by God the Holy Spirit. • Mary lent her flesh and blood to create God's incarnate body; He who created everything there is. • Mary contained God in her womb; Him whom the entire cosmos cannot contain. • Mary gave birth to God; He who gives life to every living thing. • Mary nursed God at her breast; Him who nourishes all creation. • Mary changed God's diaper and bathed Him; He who cleanses us that we may be whiter than snow. • Mary taught God to walk; He who calls us to and leads us on the path of righteousness and Whose Spirit leads us in the land of uprightness. • Mary taught God to speak; The Word m...

There is a misconception about the honors rendered to Mary by  Orthodox Christians, with some suggestions that she is "almost elevated to a Goddess," or that she is worshipped. This popular misconception thrives but is simply not true, and that fact is clear to any person who does the most elementary investigation into the matter. To give some insight into the matter, I grabbed my "Little Red Prayer Book" from the Antiochian Orthodox Church. This is a popular pocket-sized book with Several sections: Daily prayers and spiritual helps Prayers and Devotions for Confession and Holy Communion The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom as used in the Antiochian Archdiocese Prayers for various occasions. Looking at the first section, Daily prayers and Spiritual Helps, the section used most often, we find 21 pages of personal/occasional prayers, with roughly 45 prayers to God. I say "roughly" because there are doxologies & repetitions that I skimmed...