St. John Maximovitch - The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God (Orthodox Theological Texts)

Orthodox Theological Texts

No. 1. The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God
by St. John Maximovitch

No. 2. The First-Created Man (The Sin of Adam and
Our Redemption) by St. Symeon the New Theologian

No. 3. The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church
by Fr. Seraphim Rose

THE ORTHODOX VENERATION

OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

ST. HERMAN OF ALASKA BROTHERHOOD
2012

Copyright 1978, 2012 by the St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood
First Printing, 1978
Second Printing, 1982
Third Printing, 1987
Fourth Printing, Second Edition, 1994
Fifth Printing, 1996
Sixth Printing, Third Edition, 2004
Seventh Printing, Fourth Edition, 2012
St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood
P. O. Box 70
Platina, California 96076
www.sainthermanpress.com

Translated from the Russian: Ieromonakh Ioann (Maksimovich), Kak Svyataya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov chtila i chit Bozhiu Mater [Hieromonk John (Maximovitch), How the Holy Orthodox Church has venerated and venerates the Mother of God]. First printed in the Orthodox Calendar for 1933 of the St. Job Brotherhood, Vladimirova, Czechoslovakia.

Front cover: Russian icon of the Mother of God Joy of All Who Sorrow, 17th-century original in the San Francisco Cathedral of the same name.

Publishers Cataloging in Publication
Maximovitch, St. John, 18961966.
The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God.
Translated from the Russian by Fr. Seraphim Rose.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012930661
ISBN: 978-1-887904-26-1

T HE AUTHOR of the present treatise on the Mother of God, Archbishop John Maximovitch (18961966), was a great hierarch and miracle-worker of our times, canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in 1994 as St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco. The translator, Hieromonk Seraphim Rose of Platina (19341982), was a disciple of St. John while the latter served as Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America during the last four years of his life.

Fr. Seraphim Rose, who became a renowned writer of the Orthodox Church, saw in St. John a living transmitter of the mind of the ancient Holy Fathers. Not wishing the English-speaking world to be deprived of the wisdom of this holy teacher, Fr. Seraphim translated many of St. Johns sermons and published them in the journal of the St. Herman Brotherhood, The Orthodox Word . In 1976, to honor the tenth anniversary of St. Johns repose, Fr. Seraphim wrote an article on the theology of St. John and presented it in The Orthodox Word together with St. Johns treatise on the Mother of God. This article by Fr. Seraphim comprises the introduction to the present book.

The original Russian version of St. Johns treatise on the Mother of God was discovered by the St. Herman Brotherhood in a rare Church Calendar that had been published by the St. Job of Fr. Seraphim found that it offered an exceptionally clear and concise treatment of a subject that often proved troublesome to Orthodox converts, especially those coming from Protestantism. In a study that was both historical and theological, St. John showed how the Church has honored the Mother of God throughout the centuries, discussed how false teachings had sought to undermine or change this veneration, and concluded with a summary of what the Church knows of the Mother of Gods earthly life.

In the introduction that follows, Fr. Seraphim writes of a young Western convert who hears a moving sermon by a Russian Abbess. The Abbess in this account is Abbess Ariadna (19001996) of the Convent of the Vladimir Mother of God in San Francisco, who had been a devoted disciple of St. John since his days in Shanghai. The young Western convert is actually Fr. Seraphim (then the young layman Eugene Rose): not wishing to exalt himself in print, Fr. Seraphim wrote of himself in the third person. His memories of St. Johns disciple, Abbess Ariadna, serve to introduce St. John himself as an authentic transmitter of the timeless mind of the Fathers to Orthodox Christians of our times.

The St. Herman Brotherhood published St. Johns treatise on the Mother of God as a separate book for the first time in 1978. On the cover Fr. Seraphim printed the Icon of the Mother of God Joy of All Who Sorrow: the patronal icon of St. Johns Cathedral in San Francisco, and one of the main icons before which he offered up fervent prayers to Her. We have placed this icon on the cover of the present edition as well, with the hope that this book will continue to bring readers into closer contact with the Mother of Godfor, as one Who intercedes with boldness before the throne of Her Divine Son, She is indeed a source of heavenly joy to all who bear their crosses in this vale of tears, on the path to eternal rejoicing in Christs Kingdom.

Hieromonk Damascene
St. Herman of Alaska Monastery, Platina, California