The Placing of the Precious Robe of Our Most Holy Lady and the Mother of God in the Church at Blachernae in Constantinople; Verkhrats’ka Weeping Icon of the Mother of God (1688)
Hebrew 9:1-7; Luke 10:38-42, 11:27-28
Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read Luke 10:38-42, 11:27-28
This Gospel which we proclaim today is one that is most typically identified with feasts of the Mother of God such as we celebrate today. We are commemorating the day when the relic of the robe of the Mother of God was placed by the Byzantine Emperor Leo the Great (457-474) in the church at Blachernae, which was near the sea coast by Constantinople. Its presence there made that church a focus of devotion to the Most Holy Mother of God. On several occasions in the ensuing centuries, the clergy and faithful would go to Blachernae to seek the intercession of the Theotokos to protect the imperial city from foreign invasion.
On one occasion, in the year 860, these prayers for the intercession of the Theotokos led to the city being protected from a raid by Prince Askold of Rus’ and his fleet of 200 ships that had been targeting the Black Sea coast. After Askold’s fleet had laid siege to Constantinople, the reliquary of the robe of the Theotokos was taken from Blachernae and borne in procession around the city. The Rus’ prince ultimately lifted the siege and a peace treaty was concluded later that year which led to lasting peace between Kievan-Rus’ and Constantinople. It was this peace that ultimately paved the way for the conversion of Kievan-Rus’ under Grand Prince Volodymyr in 988 and a steady flow of missionaries that brought the Christian faith to the people of Rus’.
Why is all this history important? It is important because it beautifully illustrates the plan of God. The faithful of Constantinople lovingly welcomed the robe of the Theotokos to Blachernae in the 5th century and as a result, grew in their devotion to her and thus in their love for Our Lord Jesus Christ. Out of that love and devotion came a blossoming of faith and confidence that the Mother of God was protecting the imperial city. Yet while the Orthodox faithful of Constantinople sought protection from the invading fleet of Askold of Rus’, God saw what they could not see. He implanted in the hearts of the invaders and their descendants an openness to Him and through the new peace between Kievan-Rus’ and Constantinople the Gospel continued its spread in peace throughout the inhabited earth. Let us too pray earnestly to the Mother of God that through her intercessions God might inspire us to proclaim the Gospel in peace as the apostles did and as those who were inspired to proclaim the Gospel to Kievan-Rus’ did some 1,200 years ago.
Rising from the tomb, and bursting the bonds of hell asunder, You have destroyed the sentence of death, O Lord, delivering all men from the snares of the enemy, appearing to Your apostles You have sent them forth to preach and through them, You have given Your peace to the inhabited earth. O You who are rich in mercy. – Resurrection Matins troparion