The Fast of St. Mary: A Calling to Courage and Faith
August 7 marks the start of the Fast of St. Mary. This is a two-week fast (fish permitted) that helps prepare us for the Feast of the Assumption on August 22.For Egyptians, St. Mary is a big deal. Many people begin this fast a full week early, to honor her and to thank her for an intercession (nadr). And in Egypt, I've been told, even people of other faiths have been rumored to keep this fast.Many people choose St. Mary as their patron saint. Abouna always told me when we were in college that she's known to be "good with the graders."Our Complicated RelationshipBut St. Mary and I have had a complicated relationship. She's always faithful, always holy, always patient and longsuffering and I'm... not. From birth, I've been obstinate and rebellious and, frankly, a little bit spoiled. If St. Mary is the ideal Christian, the emblem of all we should work towards, the road for me seems so very far from here to there.Even when I was carrying my firstborn and giving birth, asking her for help, I felt strangely separated from the young girl in the manager in my cushy hospital room, with the doctors and the nurses and the adjustable bed.But now, two kids and nine years of marriage later, I'm starting to see ways we can empathize with each other. The terror that grips the heart when you think a child is in the car only to find her back in the city holding court. The self-satisfied contentment with which a mother can ask her son to help solve someone else's problem.She lived a rich, full life. A real life and not a mythical one. A life where an angel asked her to submit to an impossible plan. And a death where angels lifted her away. But in between--dirt and blood, sacrifice and struggle. All the stuff an earthly life is made of. All the stuff your life and my life is made of. Just amplified by extraordinary faith and courage. The kind of faith and courage God calls us all to have.For me, this is the focus of the Fast of St. Mary -- developing in ourselves the spirit required to live an extraordinary life in Christ.
Hymn for St. MaryWe have many beautiful glorifications (tamgeed) for St. Mary and hymns that mention her.I will leave you with my absolute favorite hymn mentioning St. Mary. I love it because it's very physical, very down to earth. The Christ Child is in your lap, the angels bend before hHim, and when we stand to pray, we draw courage from your example. "Ifrahi ya Mariam"(Rejoice, O Mary) which starts like this...Rejoice, O Mary,the maiden and the motherfor the One in your lapthe angels praiseand the Cherubimrightly bow before Himand the Seraphim, too,without ceasing.We have no boldnessbefore our Lord Jesus Christexcept with your prayers and intercessions,O our Lady, the lady of us all,the Theotokos.Resources for an Orthodox Understanding of St. Mary:The Role of the Virgin Mary (video)Veneration the Virgin (essay)Virgin Mary: An Icon of Simplicity (book)
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