The Purification of Mary

[Nick Cobb]

The Purification of Mary

In the Christian West the festival of the Meeting of the Lord in the
Temple is called the feast of the
Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The accent of the celebration
falls not so much on the
encounter between the Christ Child and the old people who meet Him, but
rather on the fact that
the Mother of Jesus comes to be purified. This aspect of the evangelical
story is not wholly absent
from the liturgy of the Orthodox Church, but it is surely seen to be of
secondary significance. The
biblical law concerning the purification of the mother after childbirth
is read at the service, but no
mention is made of it in the hymns which stress the purity of the
Virgin.

For thus says the Lord God Almighty . . it shall be that a woman who
bears a male child, on the
eighth day shall circumcise the flesh of the foreskin. Then for
thirty-three days she shall not enter
into the house of the Lord to the priest until the: days of her
purification are fulfilled . . And after
this she shall., bring to the Lord an unblemished Iamb one year old . ;.
and if she
cannot afford a lamb, then she shall bring two turtle doves or two
young. pigeons, one for a· burnt
offering and the other for a. sin offering; and the priest shall make
atonement for her; and she shall
be clean. (Lev
12)

We learn from the Church's liturgy that Joseph and Mary were considered
to be poor, since they
did not offer a lamb, but rather the turtle doves, as is depicted on the
icons of the
feast. The Gospel of Saint Luke makes no mention of the possibility of
offering a lamb. We learn
as well that, although the accent of the liturgy is on the meeting, Mary
did in fact come for
purification as the law required. This means that her womb was opened
and that the Christ Child
was born from her in the manner in which all children are born. In this
sense, although the Church
insists that Mary remains forever a virgin, the only miracle in regard
to the Lord's birth is the
virginal conception. There is no teaching of any other sort of miracle
in regard to His birth;
certainly no idea that He came forth from His mother without opening her
womb.
But the question yet remains: What does it mean that Mary came for
"purification ?" It obviously
cannot mean that there was any sin connected to her conceiving the Lord
and giving Him birth as a
man. This is especially so if it is automatically concluded, so to
speak, that the act of sexual
reproduction is always in some way a sin, since in Mary's case the
teaching of the Gospel and the
Church tradition is clear. Mary had no act of sexual union. Her
conception is without knowing a
man. The Lord begins to grow in her by the power of the Holy Spirit. So
what can be the meaning
of her "purification ?"

The answer to this question, which pertains also to the Church's custom
of "churching women" on
the fortieth day after childbirth, undoubtedly has to do with the
biblical un-derstanding of
"purification."1 The scriptures teach that all people are sinful simply
by being members of the
human race. This does not mean that all people are personally guilty for
"Adam's sin," which
Orthodox doctrine categorically denies. Nor does it mean that every
person necessarily and

1The· Orthodox Church presently practices the rite of the churching of
women after childbirth.
This rite is usually performed on the fortieth day after the baby is
born, or at the time when the
woman resumes her normal activities, particularly attending church
services and participating in
Holy Communion. While the prayers of churching stress the sinfulness of
the mother and ask for
her forgiveness and purification, these petitions should never he
understood to refer to the act of
giving birth, and still less to the act by which children are conceived.
St. John Chrysostom teaches
that those who claim that the sexual act of reproduction is sinful are
accusing God of sin, since He
is the author of the act. St. John points out that the sexual act is
sinful only when it is used wrongly,
devoid of love and fidelity within the community of marriage. See John
Chrysostom, - On Titus,
Homily 2.

inevitably sins in a personal manner, deliberately and consciously;
which the Church tradition
surely denies in the case of the Virgin Mary. It means rather that the
entire human race, as an
organic community of persons,is "missing the mark" (to sin literally
mean to miss the mark) of its
calling.
Humanity as a whole is off the track, it is not moving toward its
created goal, which is perfection of
life in com-munion with God. It is mortal, misdirected, fragmented and
fallen apart. It is, in modern
terms, alienated from its true be-ing and estranged from its true
purpose. And the Virgin Mary, like
all mere human beings, is caught up in this fallenness and mortality by
the mere fact of her being
simply human.
In addition, the scriptures teach that all human beings, who are
inevitably caught up in the falleness
of the sinful world, are in need of "purification" when they come into
direct contact with God, and
especially when they are the objects of a direct divine action. God is
always acting in our lives. But
there are times when He acts directly, so to speak, and with particular
purpose. These are the
times of birth and death (and the times when we are in contact with
those parts of our being which
involve life and death, such as blood, menses and semen.) These are also
times of worship, such
as when the priests go into the Holy Place or when they touch the Holy
Objects. Thus, according
to the Mosaic law, mere human beings who were in direct touch with God
through His concrete
divine actions were required to offer signs of ritual "purification" to
express the fact that being mere
mortals and victims of sins (not to say sinners in their own right in
virtually all cases) they had al!
so been the objects of the holy actions of the Most High and Holy God.
If this is the proper understanding of the biblical teaching and
practice of ritual "purification," and it
seems that it is, then it becomes clear why the Blessed Virgin Mary, of
all people, came to be
"purified," and why all who follow in her example will do so as well.
She came not because she
had done anything sinful or wrong; certainly not in relation to her
giving birth to the Savior. She
came rather to show that she, being a mere mortal and in need of
salvation along with the whole of
creation, had been chosen to be the most active
participant in the holiest act of God every accomplished in the world:
the incarnation as a man of
God's very own Son! To be required to participate in such a
"purification" is the act of greatest joy
and thanksgiving. It is also an act which brings the greatest glory and
honor to the one who is
"purified."

O Virgin Theotokos, Hope of all Christians!
Protect, preserve and save those who hope in You.

We the faithful saw the figure in the shadow of the law and in the
scriptures.
Every male child that opened the womb was Holy to God.
Therefore we honor the first-born Son of the Unbegotten Father,
The first-born Son of the Unwedded Mother,

O Virgin Theotokos, Good Help of the world!
Protect and guard us from all necessity and sorrow.

The people of old offered a pair of doves and two young pigeons.
In their place the godly Elder and the sober-spirited Prophetess,
Ministered and gave glory to the Virgin's Child, The only-begotten Son
of the Father, As He is
brought into the temple of God.

O Pure Virgin Mother! That which was fulfilled in You
Is beyond the understanding of angels and mortal men.

You have committed to me the exceeding great joy of Your salvation, 0
Christ!
Simeon cried: Take Your servant who is weary of the shadow,
And make him a new preacher of the mystery of grace,
As he magnifies You in praise!

The Pure Dove, the Mother Lamb without blemish, Brings the Shepherd and
Lamb into the temple
of God.
Holy Anna, sober in spirit and venerable in years, Reverently confessed
the Master freely and
openly
in the temple,
And she proclaimed Mary the Theotokos,
Magnifying her in the presence of all.

O Maiden Mary! Enlighten my soul
Which is grievously darkened by the passions of this life.2


[Taken from, "The Winter Pascha" by Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko,
SVS Press, Available at: 800-204-book.]