"Joy of All Who Sorrow"

(20th Sunday after Pentecost) (Luke 7:11-16)

In the year 1688, a woman named Euphemia, the sister of Joachim, the Patriarch of Moscow, was suffering from a serious wound in her side. When the doctors were unable to treat her, she “fell down” in prayer to the most Holy Lady Theotokos. Euphemia was told in prayer by the Mother of God to go to the Church of the Transfiguration, and ask the priest there to serve a Molieben before the icon, “Joy of All Who Sorrow.” Euphemia was obedient to this instruction. She went to the church; and, when the priest served the Molieben before the icon, she was completely healed.

What mother who loves her child would refuse that child any reasonable request? So it is for us with the most holy Mother of God. She loves those who love her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; she loves us with a mother’s love. Now, this is a difficult thing to accept, especially for those of us who did not grow up in the Orthodox Church and faith, but came to the Church and faith from a Protestant background. We all need to remember what transpired at the foot of the Cross, when our Lord, seeing His mother and the disciple He loved, gave her into the care of that disciple, and told him, “Behold your mother.” From that hour, we are told, the disciple took her into his own home, and cared for her as his own mother. Who was that disciple? In time and space, the Church tells us, it was the holy Apostle, Evangelist, and Theologian, John. But the disciple loved by Christ is each one of us, who live Him. And this is part of the blessing: His mother loves us, and she does so with the love that only a mother can have for her child. So it shouldn’t surprise us that Euphemia was healed; and it shouldn’t surprise us when we ask for her help, and our request is answered.

Now, what greater sorrow can there be than when a mother must watch her child die? So it was for the most holy Lady Theotokos, who saw her Son put to death on the Cross. What terrible sorrow pierced her heart, as if by a spear, when she saw this child of hers suffer and die? And how great, then, her joy at His resurrection! Because she has known both sorrow and joy in great measure, her love for us carries this experience as well – and so she can truly be the “Joy of All Who Sorrow.”

What makes all of this possible? Love. It begins with God, Who, we are told, is Love. It is the love of God that calls us into being; it is the love of God that sustains all creation. It is God’s love for us that calls us into communion with Him, Who is Three Persons in One Being – a community one in love, as we, also, are called to be. It is love that causes the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, to be obedient to the will of God the Father; and so He became incarnate, which is also a sign of His love for us, for He came to save us from death, and set us free from sin. It was love for God that led the most holy Theotokos to yield herself, in the fullness of her being, to the will of God, allowing our Savior to take on our nature, and enter the world to save our souls, and make us one with God.

Beloved of God, we are also called to love. We are called to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength – with the fullness of our being, as did the Mother of God. We are called to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, as did Christ, Who made us His neighbors by coming into our midst. We are called to love our enemies; as did Christ, Who died for us, even though we deny Him, even though we hate Him, whenever we sin. It is love that heals us; it is love that saves us, it is love that provides for our every need, from the smallest crumb to the greatest joy to the hope of our salvation in Christ.

Brothers and sisters, let us love one another, as Christ loved us, and gave Himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God. Let us love God more than we love the world, and the ways of the flesh. Let us devote ourselves to the service of God, as bearers of Christ within ourselves; and let us show Him forth to the world with the love we have for each other, and for all who are made in the image of God. Let us love one another, to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.

Most holy Theotokos, save us!