The Protection
Our first official Sunday at St. Elizabeth corresponded to the celebration of the feast of the Protection of the Theotokos. Now, if you are like me, you may not actually know much about this feast and its origins. Fr. Christopher provided some fascinating insights about it. HERE you can read a bit more about it, but of particular interest is the note that this feast is especially celebrated by the slavic churches.
While the article linked above gives one possible explanation as to why the feast is more remebered by the Slavs, Fr. Christopher gave a much more intriguing one: the "barbarians" at the gates of Constantinople were in fact, slavs.
Post conversion, the slavs found reason to embrace this feast and not just adopt it but to also emphasize it far more than the Greeks themselves who had actually been the ones delivered. Rather amazing if you think about it.
In essence the slavs are celebrating their defeat in the face of the protecting veil of the Theotokos. Now THAT'S redemption.
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Comments
Thank you.
In a sense, our own hearts are a microcosm of this ability, demonstrated via the Slavs; in the weakness of the Greeks (and in a sense, the invading Slavs), and in our own hearts, He is made strong.
Thanks!