Since the Mother of God also prayed for the chance to take farewell of the apostles, the Lord gathered together for Her repose all the apostles except Thomas, who were brought to Jerusalem on that day from the four corners of the earth by an unseen force, in order to be present at Her blessed passage into eternal life.

Singing divine hymns, the apostles buried Her Most-pure body, and on the third day they opened up the sepulcher, in order to worship the Mother of God once more, together with the apostle Thomas, who had by that time arrived in Jerusalem. But they did not find Her body in the sepulcher and returned to their homes in bewilderment, but during their common meal the Mother of God Herself appeared to them, shining with divine radiance, and told them that Her Son had also glorified Her body, and that now She, being resurrected, stands before His throne. At the same time She promised to be with them forever.

The apostles greeted the Mother of God with great joy and began to venerate Her not only as the Mother of their beloved Teacher and Master, but also as their heavenly help, the protector of Christians, and intercessor for all of mankind before the Righteous Judge. And everywhere that Christ’s Gospel was preached, His Most-Holy Mother also began to be venerated.

The more the faith of Christ spread and the name of the Saviour of the world was glorified on earth, together with the One Who had been worthy of being the Mother of the God-man, the more the hate of Christ’s enemies increased towards Her. Mary was the Mother of Jesus. She manifested an extraordinary example of purity and righteousness; moreover, even after departing from this life, She remained a powerful, though physically unseen, support for Christians. Thus all who hated Jesus Christ and did not believe in Him, who did not understand His teaching or, rather, did not wish to understand it as the Church understood it, who wished to replace Christ’s preaching with their own human philosophies, – all transferred their hate of Christ, the Gospel, and the Church upon the Holy Virgin Mary. They wished to humiliate the Mother, in order to then destroy faith in Her Son, to create a false impression of Her among people, in order to then have the opportunity to reconstruct the entire Christian teaching on other principles. In Mary’s womb God became joined with man; She was the One Who had served as a ladder for the Son of God as He came down from heaven. To strike a blow at the veneration of Her meant to strike at the root of Christianity, to destroy its very foundation.

Even the very beginning of Her heavenly glory was marked on earth by an outburst of anger and hate towards Her on the part of the unbelievers. When after Her saintly repose the apostles carried Her body for burial in Her chosen place in Gethsemane, John the Theologian walked in front, carrying an elysian branch which the Archangel Gabriel had brought to the Holy Virgin three days before, when he came down from heaven to announce Her forthcoming departure for the celestial dwellings.

“When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,” – Apostle Peter began singing Psalm 114, while the entire assembly of apostles and disciples joined in with the “hallelujah.” And while this holy hymn, called by Jews “the great hallelujah,” i.e. the great glorification of God, was being sung, a certain Jewish priest named Athonius rushed towards the bier with the intent to overturn it and throw the Mother of God’s body to the ground.

Athonius’ insolence was punished immediately: Archangel Michael cut off his hands with an invisible sword, and they remained hanging on the bier. The amazed Athonius, in great pain and torment, recognized his sin and appealed with prayer to the Jesus he had hated until this moment, and was healed right away. He then converted to Christianity without delay and confessed it before his former coreligionists, for which he was martyred by them. Thus the attempt to denigrate the honor of the Mother of God served for Her greater glorification.

Christ’s enemies did not dare show their disrespect to the body of the Most-pure with further force, but their hate did not abate. Seeing that Christianity was spreading everywhere, they began spreading malicious slander against the Christians. They had no compunction in involving also the name of Christ’s Mother, and made up stories that Jesus of Nazareth had supposedly come from a lowly and immoral environment, and that His mother was a Roman soldier’s paramour.

Would Christ have been shown respect and allowed to preach in the synagogue if He had been born from illicit cohabitation? Mary would have been subjected to the law of Moses, which commanded such individuals to be stoned to death, while the Pharisees would have been more than glad to rebuke Christ for His Mother’s behavior. But the opposite was true: Mary enjoyed the greatest respect, She was an honored guest at the wedding in Cana, and even when Her Son was condemned, no one dared to mock or berate His Mother.

Jewish detractors were soon convinced that it was almost impossible to discredit Jesus’ Mother, and that on the basis of the information they themselves had on hand they could more easily prove Her blameless life. They therefore left off their slander, which was about to be picked up by the pagans, and tried to prove at least that Mary was not a virgin when She gave birth to Christ. They even said that no prophecy had ever existed about the Messiah being born of a Virgin, and that in vain were the Christians trying to glorify Christ by the supposed fulfillment of such prophecies about Him.

Jewish interpreters appeared who made up new translations of the Old Testament into Greek, and in them they translated the well-known prophecy of Isaiah as “Behold, a young woman shall conceive” (Isaiah 7:14); they asserted that the Jewish word “aalma” meant a young woman and not a virgin, as was written in the holy translation of the 70 interpreters, where that verse was translated as “Behold, a Virgin shall conceive.”

The new translation purported to show that on the basis of an incorrect interpretation of the word “aalma” the Christians were trying to ascribe to Mary something that was totally impossible – giving birth without a husband, while in reality Christ’s nativity was in no way different from other human births.

However, the new translators’ malicious intent soon came to light, since comparisons of different parts of the Bible clearly showed that the word “aalma” precisely meant “virgin.” Moreover, not only the Jews, but also the pagans, on the basis of their traditions and various prophecies, expected the Saviour of the world to be born of a Virgin. The Gospel clearly states that the Lord Jesus was born of a Virgin.

“How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” – Mary, who had sworn to remain a virgin, asked the Archangel Gabriel as he brought Her the glad tidings of Christ’s birth.

After the end of the session the Council’s resolution was immediately announced to the expectant populace. All of Ephesus rejoiced, learning of the defense of the veneration of the Holy Virgin, Who was especially honored in this city whose resident She had been during Her life on earth and whose intercessor She had become after Her entry into eternal life. Joyous glorification of the Holy Virgin and laudation of the Fathers who had defended Her name from heretics were heard everywhere.

The Council had 5 more sessions, during which it affirmed its condemnation of the Pelagian heresy, which taught that a person can be saved by his own efforts, without the need to acquire God’s grace. The Council also confirmed that the teaching of the Universal Orthodox Church was fully and clearly set out in the Creed approved by the 2nd Ecumenical Council, and for this reason it did not compose a new Creed itself and forbad the composition of new creeds or alteration of the existing one.

This latter point was transgressed several centuries later by Western Christians, when the schismatic Church of Rome made an addition to the Creed, stating that the Holy Spirit issues “also from the Son,” which addition has been approved by all the Popes since the 11th century, although until that time all their predecessors, beginning with St. Celestine, firmly kept to the resolution of the 3rd Ecumenical Council and followed it.

Thus the church peace disturbed by Nestorius was restored. The true faith was defended and heresy was denounced. The 3rd Ecumenical Council firmly and clearly confessed the Church teaching on the Mother of God. Previously the Holy Fathers had denounced those who defamed the chaste life of the Virgin Mary, while now they declared the following about those who diminished Her honor: “Whoever does not confess Emmanuel as the true God and, consequently, the Holy Virgin as the Mother of God, since She gave birth in the flesh to God the Father’s Word, Who became incarnate: anathema to him” (i.e. such a person is excommunicated from the church – St. Cyril of Alexandria’s 1st anathema).

After the 3rd Ecumenical Council, Christians in Constantinople and in other parts of the Empire began with increasing fervor to appeal to the Mother of God for help, and their trust in Her intercession was not in vain. She showed Her aid to a multitude of the sick, the helpless, and the unfortunate. Many times She proved Herself to be Constantinople’s defense from external enemies, once even visibly showing to St. Andrew the fool-for-Christ Her wondrous protection over the people praying in the church at Vlachernae.

The Queen of Heaven granted victory to the Byzantine Emperors in battle, and for this reason they had the habit of taking along Her icon into battle. She fortified the ascetics and the fervent adepts of Christian life in their struggle against human passions and frailties. She enlightened and instructed the Church fathers and teachers, including St. Cyril of Alexandria himself, when he vacillated on whether to acknowledge the innocence and holiness of St. John Chrysostome.

The Holy Virgin placed hymns into the mouths of the composers of various church chants, sometimes creating famous singers out of those who were incapable or had no talent for singing, but were pious church laborers, such as St. Romanus the Melodist. It is not surprising, therefore, that Christians tried to magnify the name of their customary Protectress. Feast days were established in Her honor, wondrous hymns were dedicated to Her, and Her images were venerated.

The wrath of the “prince of darkness” provoked the “sons of apostasy” to once again rise up against Emmanuel and His mother in that very Constantinople which now venerated the Mother of God as its Intercessor, just as Ephesus used to do. Unable at first to speak out openly against the Champion Leader, they wished to diminish Her glorification by forbidding the veneration of Christ and His saints, calling it idolatry. Here, too, the Mother of God supported the adepts of piety in their struggle for the veneration of icons, manifesting a multitude of miracles from Her icons and healing the chopped off hand of St. John Damascene, who had written in support of icons.

The persecution of worshippers of icons and saints once again ended with the victory and the triumph of Orthodoxy, for the veneration accorded to icons ascends to those who are depicted in them; and God’s saints are honored as friends of God for the sake of the grace of God that dwells within them, according to the psalm: “Thy friends are exceedingly precious to me, Lord.” Special honor in heaven and on earth has been accorded to the Holy Mother of God, Who even in the days of the icons’ desecration manifested so many wondrous miracles through them, that even now we lovingly remember them. The hymn: “All creation rejoices in Thee, O Grace-filled One” and the icon of the Mother of God of the Three Hands remind us of the healing of St. John Damascene in front of this icon; the image of the Iveron Mother of God reminds us of the miraculous deliverance of this icon from the enemies, after it was thrown into the sea by a widow who was unable to protect it.

None of the persecutions of those who venerate the Mother of God and all that is related to Her memory were able to diminish the love of Christians for the Intercessor. A rule was established, whereby each series of church hymns ends with a hymn in honor of the Theotokos. Many times throughout the year Christians in all corners of the world gather together in church, in order to laud Her, thank Her for assistance received, and ask for Her intercession.

But could the Christians’ enemy the devil, who “as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8), remain an indifferent observer of the glory of the Most-honorable Theotokos? Could he acknowledge his defeat and cease battling against truth through the people who do his will? And thus, when the entire universe was filled with the glad tidings of the Christian faith, when the name of the Most-holy Mother of God was being called upon everywhere, when the world became filled with Her churches, while the homes of Christians became adorned with Her icons, then a new heresy in regard to the Mother of God appeared and was disseminated. This heresy is dangerous primarily because many people are unable to understand right way the extent to which it undermines genuine veneration of the Mother of God.

Christians did not hear of this until the 9th century, when for the first time Abbot Paschasius Radbert expressed the opinion that the Holy Virgin was conceived without original sin. Beginning with the 12th century, this idea began to spread among the clergy and flock of the Western Church, which had already fallen away from the Universal Christian Church, becoming thus deprived of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Nevertheless, by far not all members of the Catholic Church were in agreement with the new teaching. Even the most famous Western theologians, pillars of the Catholic Church so-to-speak, were divided in their opinion. Thomas of Aquinas and Bernard of Clervaux rejected it decisively, while Duns Scotus defended it. The division spread from the teachers to their disciples: the Dominican monks followed their teacher Thomas of Aquinas and preached against the teaching on immaculate conception, while the followers of Duns Scotus – the Franciscan monks – tried to disseminate it everywhere. The battle between these two movements continued over the course of several centuries. On both sides stood individuals who were regarded by the Catholics as the greatest authorities.

The issue was not brought any nearer to resolution by the fact that some people reported receiving revelations from above. The well-known among 14th century Catholics nun Brigitte spoke in her notes about visions of the Holy Theotokos, Who purportedly told her Herself that She was conceived immaculately, without original sin; while the even more famous contemporary saint, Catherine of Sienna, asserted that the Holy Virgin was conceived in original sin, which revelation she supposedly received from Christ Himself.

Thus, neither on the basis of theological theses, nor on the basis of mutually-contradictory miraculous visions was the Catholic flock able to decide for a long time wherein lay the truth. The Roman popes up to Sixtus IV (end of the 15th century) stayed away from these arguments, and only this Pope approved in 1475 a service wherein the teaching on immaculate conception was expressed fairly clearly, while several years later he forbad the condemnation of those who believed in immaculate conception. However, even Sixtus IV was not yet resolved to affirm that such is the immovable teaching of the Church, and thus, while forbidding the condemnation of those who believed in immaculate conception, he also did not judge those who believed otherwise.

Meanwhile, the teaching on immaculate conception gained more and more adepts among members of the Roman Papist church. The reason for this was that it seemed quite pious and pleasing to the Theotokos to glorify Her as much as possible. The people’s desire to glorify the Heavenly Intercessor on the one hand, and the digression of Western theologians into abstract discussions leading to seeming truth (scholasticism) on the other hand, and, finally, the patronage of the Roman popes who succeeded Sixtus IV, – all of this led to a situation whereby the idea of immaculate conception, postulated by Paschasius Radbert in the 9th century, became a universal belief of the Catholic Church in the 19th century. It only remained to conclusively proclaim it as Church teaching, which was done by Pope Pius IX, who announced during a ceremonious service on December 8, 1854 that the Holy Virgin’s immaculate conception was a dogma of the Catholic Church.

Thus the Roman Church added yet another digression from the teaching which it had confessed while it was a member of the Holy Apostolic Church, and which belief the Orthodox Church continues to hold inviolate and unchanged to this day. The declaration of the new dogma satisfied the wide circles of the people who belonged to the Catholic Church, who in the simplicity of their hearts believed that the declaration of the new teaching would serve to the greater glory of the Theotokos, Whom they were supposedly presenting with a gift; the vanity of the Western theologians who had defended and developed this teaching was also satisfied; but most of all the declaration of the new dogma brought benefit to the papal throne itself, because by proclaiming a new dogma through his own power, the Catholic pope thus openly ascribed to himself the right to change the teaching of the Roman Church and placed himself above the testimony of the Holy Scriptures and Tradition. This led to the direct conclusion that the Roman popes are infallible in matters of faith, which the same Pope Pius IX also declared to be a dogma of the Catholic Church in 1870.

Thus was altered the teaching of the Western Church, which fell away from communion with the True Church. It continues to introduce new and new precepts, thinking in this manner to glorify Truth the more, while actually distorting it. While the Orthodox Church humbly confesses the teaching it had received from Christ and the Apostles, the Roman Church dares to supplement it, either from “zeal not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2) or digressing into the vain babblings and oppositions of false reason (1 Tim. 4:20). It could not be otherwise, for only to the true and universal Church has it been promised that “the gates of hell would not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18), while the following words apply to those who have fallen away: “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me” (John 15:4).

It is true that in defining the new dogma it was stated that it is not a new teaching that is being established, but only an existing one that is being formalized in the Church; moreover, one which had been professed by many Holy Fathers, excerpts from whose writing were set forth. However, all the cited references speak only of the Virgin Mary’s great honor and chastity, give Her many appellations defining Her purity and spiritual strength, but nowhere do they mention an immaculate conception. Meanwhile, the same Holy Fathers elsewhere speak of the fact that only Jesus Christ was entirely free of sin; all people, being born of Adam, had a body that was subject to the law of sin.

None of the Holy Fathers say that God miraculously purified the Virgin Mary while She was still in the womb, while many of them indicate directly that the Virgin Mary, like all other people, underwent a struggle against sinfulness, but was victorious over all temptations and was thus saved by Her Divine Son.

Roman Catholic theologians also say that the Virgin Mary was saved by Christ, but they understand it to mean that Mary was preserved from the impurity of original sin on the basis of Christ’s future merit (papal bull on the dogma of immaculate conception). According to their teaching, the Virgin Mary supposedly received in advance the gift which Christ brought to mankind by His suffering and death on the cross. Even more than that, speaking of the anguish experienced by the Theotokos as She stood at the cross of Her beloved Son, and of the sorrows which filled the life of the Mother of God in general, they regard them as a supplement to Christ’s suffering and Mary as our co-redeemer. According to the Roman Catholic theologians, in the matter of our redemption the Virgin Mary stands next to Christ Himself and is elevated almost to an equal status with God. One cannot go any further. Even if this has not yet been officially formulated as a dogma of the Catholic Church, nevertheless Pope Pius IX, having taken the first step, has indicated the direction towards further development of this universally-acknowledged belief of his Church.

Thus, in its attempt to glorify the Most-holy Virgin, the Roman Catholic Church goes along the path of Her full deification, and if at present the Catholic authorities regard Mary as an adjunct to the Holy Trinity, then we may soon see a time when the Virgin will be worshipped as God.

This same path was chosen by a group of religious thinkers, who thus far belong to the Orthodox Church, but who are constructing a new theological system based upon the philosophical teaching on Wisdom – Sophia – as a special force which unites Divinity and creation. In likewise developing a teaching on the dignity of the Mother of God, they wish to see in Her a being that is somewhere between God and man. On some issues they are more moderate than the Roman Catholic theologians, while on others they have, perhaps, even exceeded them. While rejecting the teaching on immaculate conception and freedom from original sin, they nevertheless teach of Her complete freedom from all personal sin, seeing Her as an intermediary between men and God, comparable to Christ. This striving to deify the Mother of God can be observed primarily in the west, where at the same time, on the other hand, great success is enjoyed by various Protestant sects, together with the main branches of Protestantism – Lutheranism and Calvinism, which completely reject any veneration of the Mother of God and prayerful appeals to Her.

But in the words of St. Epiphanius of Cyprus: “There is equal harm in both these heresies, the one that denigrates the Virgin and the one that, on the contrary, glorifies Her beyond measure.” The holy father denounces those who glorify Her as divinity: “Mary should be honored, while the Lord should be worshipped.” “It is not meet to venerate saints beyond measure, but one should worship their Master. Mary is not God and did not receive a body from heaven, but according to God’s promise has been elected to take part in God’s universal design. On the other hand, however, no one should dare to denigrate the Holy Virgin either.”