The Devotional Life of Greek Orthodoxy
and Catholic Marian Maximalism

N.B.: The following article is the synopsis of a talk Doctor Likoudis gave at a Marian Conference, October 2020, in La Cross, WI, which has a gorgeous Shrine of Our Lady of Guadaloupe.

In his excellent book "Marian Maximalism" Jonathan Fleischmann showed in Chapter 7 how the Greek Church from its beginnings, as part of the Catholic Church in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire, would acclaim the Blessed Virgin Mary as Theotokos (the God-Bearer) and Panaghia (the All-Holy One).

This became manifested in her liturgical and para-liturgical services, and in countless hymns, homilies, icons, and sublime prayers expressive of the unique veneration in which She was held. Thus, was manifested the singular maximal devotion of the Greek Church especially in its Byzantine period (the 6th-15th centuries).

It was only from 1285 A.D. that a formal state of schism or separation of the Byzantine Greek Church from Rome came to exist. The quotations he gives from the Byzantine theologians of the 14th and 15th centuries (Gregory Palamas and Nicholas Cabasilas) manifest the same singular maximal devotion to the Panaghia that is found among the Greek people today. Instinctive to the faith of the Greek people is the belief shared with Catholics that we cannot honor and love the Panaghia enough, because we can never honor and love her as much as She is honored and loved by her Divine Son, the Alpha and the Omega. The Christian is called to:

"exercise a maximal love of Mary, matching her Divine Son's unmatchable love of her... Such unlimited love of the Virgin Mother by her children, the brothers and sisters of Jesus, is needed to attain during their pilgrimage on earth the perfection and sanctity prerequisite for admission to the life to come." (1)

Despite the tragic schism with their Western brethren, which we have noted became all too evident in 1285 A.D., and which separated the Byzantine Greek Church from the visible Unity of the Catholic Church built on the Rock of the Papacy, there was no attenuation of the veneration of Mary and the conviction that the "Mystery of Mary" was intrinsically tied to the "Mystery of Christ".

The "Mystery of Mary" contemplated by devout souls across the centuries was inseparable from the "Mystery of the God-man".

The Adoration of Christ, perfect God and perfect Man, accompanied by the profound veneration of His All-Holy Mother, were essential features of the Christian life itself and would find natural expression in the famous saying "De Maria umquam satis"[of Mary there can never be enough praise]. Jonathan Fleischmann fittingly quoted a great Franciscan theologian Fr. Peter Fehlner (of holy memory) who declared:

"We can never honor her with no fear of excess, because we can never honor her as much as Jesus does, and as much as He wants her to be honored by us". (2)

Thus, is explained the foundations of the profound liturgical piety of the Byzantine Church - both Catholic and Orthodox:

"which never prays to God or Jesus Christ without at the same time also addressing her prayers to Mary, and which constantly praises her who is 'more honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim'". (3)

It is noteworthy that the Byzantine Liturgical Year includes 12 major Feasts in honor of Our Lady, such as:

1. the Nativity of the Virgin - September 8
2. Presentation of the Theotokos into the Temple - November 21
3. the Annunciation - March 25
4. the Dormition or Falling Asleep of the Virgin Mary - August 15
5. the Finding of Our Lord in the Temple - February 2

Among the Lesser Marian Feasts are:

1. the Protection of the Virgin - October 1
2. Synaxis of the Theotokos - December 26
3. the Conception of Mary - December 9

The beautiful prayers found in all these Feasts all resound with the same sublime theme:

"O Mother of God and Virgin forever, through You we were made to share in the divine nature. You gave birth to us in the Incarnate God. Therefore, we all exalt You with great devotion." (4)

Similarly, in the hymns composed by the greatest Byzantine hymnographers, Romanus the Melodist, St. John of Damascus, St. Andrew of Crete, and St. Cosmos of Maioum, we find the truest expression of the Byzantine soul reflecting the rich theology of the Greek Fathers of the Church - namely, that Christ's Mother has an utterly unique place in the economy of salvation and the believer's supernatural life. Indeed, communion with Christ reveals Mary as the secret joy within the Church. States one of her most beautiful Hymns: "In her rejoices the whole creation."

Mary is the very embodiment and reflection of the Church's piety, love, devotion, and adoration of the Holy Trinity. Like the many icons of Christ, the Virgin, and the Saints displayed in every Byzantine church, the All-Holy Mother of God appears as the "icon of Christ" radiating as no other human person could her Divine Son's splendor and beauty.

As a number of Catholic writers have observed, even such Byzantine theologians most opposed to union with Rome (Mark of Ephesus and George Scholarios) professed explicitly the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception or came close to it (Gregory Palamas). Moreover, in their writings (though in slightly different terms) they resoundingly supported the essential content of the doctrines which many Catholics now seek the Church to define:

1. that Mary is Co-redemptress or Co-redemptrix
2. that She is Mediatrix of all Graces
3. that She is the Advocate of the People of God. (5)

Here again, the deep devotion of the ordinary Greek Orthodox coincides with the deep piety of our Catholic people and that of the poet Wordsworth who acclaimed Mary as our "tainted nature's solitary boast". An impressive list of Byzantine Greek theologians from the 14th and 15th centuries to the present day acknowledge that no one was more completely united with the Holy Spirit and more pre-eminent and holy among the members of the Church than Mary, the Mother of God.

The well-known famous Greek artist Fotos Kontoglous has capsuled in a magnificent prayer the faith of the Greek people handed down from their Byzantine forefathers:

"If You, All-Holy Mother of God, have not ceased to magnify the Lord, how much more should we glorify You who changed earth into Heaven, the curse of Eve into a blessing, and us men as mortals into immortal sons of God. Yes, we call You Blessed, and we shall not cease to exalt You, Protector of the poor, Hope of the desperate, Anchor of the sea-borne, the honored and proud boast of Orthodox Christians. Preserve forever your heritage, O Mother of God. Protect our nation, which loves You far more than any other in the world, for we suffer as You did, and your Love is a suffering Love. To You our people have built churches great and small everywhere, in the mountains, on the seacoasts on the islands, in the cities and have placed your Image as a precious treasure. Your pale face appears not merely as a picture to remind us of You but as a wondrous and magnifying Icon, the wood and colors sanctified." (6)

One of those glorious Byzantine churches was, of course, the world-renowned Haghia Sophia in Constantinople with its stupendous structure and incomparable Mosaics, and recently turned into a mosque leading to world-wide protests, including that of Pope Francis. This was the Great Church of Holy Wisdom, the greatest Church in all Christendom and the mother church of Eastern Christendom. Built by the Emperor Justinian, it was said he cried out upon its completion, "O Solomon, I have surpassed thee!" With the Fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453, it became the symbol of 400 years of Islamic oppression and suffering of the Greek people under Muslim occupation until winning their independence in 1828.

Little known, however, is that the last Mass celebrated in Haghia Sophia was a solemn Catholic Divine Liturgy wherein reunited Latins and Greeks paid witness to the Unity of the Church. It was celebrated by a Catholic Cardinal, Isidore of Kiev, in the presence of the last Byzantine emperor, a Catholic, Emperor Constantine XI Drageses who died heroically with his troops in defense of the great city on the Bosphorous. Interestingly, he is venerated as a saint by both Orthodox and Catholics.

Perhaps, the faith and devotion of the Greek Orthodox people (as well as that of other Eastern Orthodox) is best displayed by the many shrines dedicated to the Mother of God and which are found everywhere in those countries. Among the Greeks shines out the famous shrine on the Aegean island of Tinos, often termed the "Lourdes of Greece", for its miraculous healings. Thousands of pilgrims congregate there from all parts of Greece and even from abroad to celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) and the Feast of the Dormition (or the "Falling Asleep of Our Lady") August 15 - equivalent to the Latin Feast of Mary's Assumption. The shrines' sacred Icon of the Blessed Virgin called the "Panaghia Evangelestria", which was considered to have been miraculously discovered in 1823 following a vision to the nun Pelagia. The discovery of the sacred Icon led to the building of the imposing Church-Basilica of Evangelistria with its striking belltower, whose 4 bells resound during major celebrations and great processions.

The same sentiments of profound Marian devotion which I have described so briefly are proof, as if it were needed, that our Greek Orthodox brethren do not wish to take second place to Catholics in honoring the Mother of God, nor do the Russian and the other 12 autocephalous (self-governing) Eastern Orthodox Churches of the Byzantine tradition. Their beloved Panaghia is similarly venerated by her Catholic devotees under her many titles - as Our Lady of Fatima, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of Perpetual Help, and too many to count, but now also as Mother of the Church, and Mother of Unity.

We have so much in common with the faith and Marian devotion of the Orthodox Churches, and as we know, nothing may be said to wound more the Sacred Heart of Jesus as the continuation of an irrational and tragic Schism that keeps 200 million Orthodox separated from the visible Unity of the Church built on the Rock of Peter - a separation which comforts only the enemies of Christ.

It is surely to the intercession of Our Lady, Mother of the Church and Mother of Unity, that we must turn for the growth of love and brotherhood and the "purification of memories" of past hurts which have impeded the will of Our Lord that "All may be One, that the world may believe." (Jn. 17: 21).

 

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FOOTNOTES

1. Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner, "Afterword" to Chapter 7 of Jonathan Fleischmann's Marian Maximalism, p. 195.
2. Ibid., p. 197.
3. Brother John Samaha, S.M., "The Virgin Mary in Eastern Christian Tradition", The Maronite Voice, May 2013, p. 10.
4. Brother John Samaha, S.M., "Mary in Byzantine Doctrine and Devotion" , Ignatius Insight.com, p.3.
5. See: Raymond Etteldorf. "The Soul of Greece" 1963, p. 129.
6. Ibid., pp. 136-137.

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