Dormition of St Anne: The Mother of the Mother of God

“But he said to them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it’” (Lk 8:21).

“Brothers, have no fear of men’s sin. Love a man even in his sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on earth. Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.”
— Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, VI.3.G.

Today the Church celebrates the Dormition (“Falling Asleep,” or death) of St Anne, the Mother of the Theotokos. In this feast, we turn once again to the family of Jesus Christ, and remember that we too are a part of that family. We are of the family of Jesus Christ, that is, we are of the family of God.

This means we are called to act like we are members of that family. In the Gospel reading which the Byzantine liturgical tradition gives for this feast (Luke 8:16 -21), we learn what this means. Like Jesus’ immediate family, we are called to do the will of God. And this will is to love – to love God our Father, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, because in Christ we are united with our neighbor in the one human family.

Let us not misinterpret this text, as some people do. We must not forget that this text tells us something about Jesus’ immediate family. If we believe Him to tell the truth when He speaks, then we must believe that His Family, that is his Mother (the Theotokos), and his step-brothers followed God’s word. We should not see this text as if Jesus were rejecting His family; instead, He is asking us to follow their example. Indeed, Jesus is able to use a literal truth for our own spiritual gain: His family serves as our example as to what it means to be His disciple. The Theotokos, above all, is the example of human piety, of the one who fully said yes to God. St James is known by Jews and Christians alike as the righteous because he too followed through with a yes to God’s call in his life. The Epistle we have in his name shows us the love we are to have: it is the love which calls sinners back into the family of God: “My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20).

Troparion
O godly, ever-blessed Anne,
Thou didst bear the pure Mother of God who conceived Him Who is our life.
Thou hast now passed to heaven and art rejoicing in glory,
Asking forgiveness for those who faithfully honour thee.

Kontakion
We celebrate the memory of the ancestors of Christ and faithfully ask their help;
That all may be delivered from every affliction who cry:
Be with us, O God, for it pleased Thee to glorify them.