Sermons & Homilies
Now that we finish celebrating the liturgical cycle of the Lord’s birth, the Church, like Symeon, directs our gaze to the Cross and death of the Lord. She tells us, in effect, that if we want to find rest in God and greet death joyfully like Symeon, then we must embrace the Cross of the Lord. If we want to say like Symeon, “I have enough,” a sword must also pierce our hearts.
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The Mother of God truly perceived the holiness of the place she lived ... she strove to purify her heart in order that it might accord with the holiness of the place she dwelt bodily. Let us do the same.
One thing is absolutely clear, both from the traditional accounts of the Dormition and from the constant experience of the Church throughout the ages—Jesus listens to His mother.
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There is no substitute for the Church and no other way to draw close to God, which equals the Church. And it is here, in the Church, into the Holy of Holies, to which the Mother of God was brought to live and to learn, to be fed by angels and to be taught by God.
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We celebrate today the Feast of Pokrov — the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God — with great faith and heartfelt joy. Though not numbered among the Twelve Great Feasts, nevertheless it is kept as one of the chief and most beloved feast-days of the entire Church year.
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