Mary, Theotokos: Philippians 2:5-11, especially vs. 11:
"...every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Among the services of the Orthodox Church is the well-known Akathist to the Theotokos. It is so named because of the customary rule of not sitting throughout the service, from the Greek words, "a" and "kathisma" meaning "not sitting." One who takes the time to investigate the imagery of the texts of the Akathist discovers a veritable ‘gold mine' of spiritual and scriptural treasures. The Akathist consists of a series of 13 sets of ‘kontakia,' or abbreviated songs, and ‘oikia,' or condensed hymns. ‘Oikos' literally means a ‘house,' because each one is filled with essentials - as are our homes.
The Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos provides a wonderful opportunity to explore the riches of the Akathist to the Virgin, to dig out some of those treasures that lie buried in its words and to trace them to their sources in Holy Scripture. Since today's Epistle is the well-known passage from St. Paul's letter to the church at Philippi, let us start with three of its themes: service, obedience to the will of God, and exaltation. After all, what the Apostle Paul wrote applies not only to the Lord Jesus, about whom he penned this passage, but also his themes appear in abundance throughout the Akathist to the Theotokos. They are, after all, themes with direct bearing on her blessed, glorious life and are meant to be the themes of our lives.
Christ Jesus, in order to save us, chose to take "the form of a bondservant" (vs. 7). In selecting Mary as His mother, the Lord became a man through one known as His ‘Handmaid' (Lk. 1:38), His quiet maidservant whose name is commemorated "in every generation and generation" (Ps. 44:16 LXX). The Akathist speaks of Mary as the "heavenly ladder by which God came down" (Oikos 2), for she made herself available to the Lord's descent into human life. Furthermore, He Who came down this human ‘ladder' was more than an angel (Gen. 28:12), being the very Sovereign of all that is (Jn. 1:51). Note how the Akathist uses servant images to speak of the Theotokos, calling her the "bridge that conveyest us from earth to heaven" (Oikos 2), and the "laborer that laborest for the Lover of Mankind" (Oikos 3). She served as a "ship for those who wish to be saved" and a "harbor for the sailors on the sea of life" (Oikos 9).
The Savior revealed the unfathomable depths of ‘obedience,' for "being in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the Cross" (Phil. 2:8). Likewise, Mary was the first of His holy ones, of His Saints, among mortals to become an "initiate of God’s ineffable will" (Oikos 2). This she accomplished by her simple submission to the Divine message of the Archangel Gabriel: "be it unto me according to thy word" (Lk. 1:38). Therefore, she shone as a "radiant token of grace" (Oikos 4), for she obeyed, whereas the first mother, Eve, disobeyed (Gen. 3:2-6). Also, Mary "didst extinguish the furnace of error" (Oikos 5), becoming the compliant "guide of the Faithful to chastity" (Oikos 5).
Finally, the Savior was exalted "and given...the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow" (Phil. 2:9,10). In every generation since, the wise and God-fearing have magnified "the Theotokos and the Mother of the Light," whom God exalted. Magnification has been given her as she foretold: "behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" (Lk. 1:48). She is exalted as "the King's throne" (Oikos 1), as "the all-holy chariot of Him Who sitteth upon the Cherubim" (Oikos 8). The Akathist also honors the Theotokos as the "land of promise" (Oikos 6) and the "flower of incorruptibility" (Oikos 7).
O maiden Mary, the unwedded bride who didst give birth to God, the whole universe rejoiceth today at thy birth through which thou didst undo the first curse of Eve at birth giving.
