Gesthimani: Name Day

The Most Holy Theotokos, the Virgin Mary who gave birth to God the Word in the flesh, is honored by Orthodox Christians “more honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim.” Her icons follow types the Church received from antiquity: the Hodegetria, “She who shows the way,” pointing to her Son as the path of salvation, and the Eleousa, “Tenderness,” in which the Child presses His cheek to His Mother’s. Her great feasts trace her life: her Nativity, her Entry into the Temple, the Annunciation and her Dormition, and the Slavic churches keep the Protection, when she was seen spreading her veil over the faithful at Blachernae. Orthodox Christians end almost every service crying, “Most Holy Theotokos, save us!” They pray to her for their children, their families, healing and comfort, and above all ask her to pray to her Son for their souls.

What the faithful pray for

• her intercession before her Son for the salvation of our souls (‘Most Holy Theotokos, save us’)
• protection under her veil from enemies visible and invisible
• the health and wellbeing of children
• comfort in sorrow and grief
• a good marriage and a peaceful family
• healing of illness
• guidance on the right path (Hodegetria, ‘she who shows the way’)
• a peaceful Christian death

Protection

• from enemies visible and invisible
• the family and the home
• children and mothers
• from despair
• travelers who ask her guidance

Miracles

• In tenth-century Constantinople, during the vigil in the Blachernae church, St Andrew the Fool-for-Christ saw the Theotokos spread her veil over the people, protecting them from enemies visible and invisible; this is the feast of Pokrov. (source)
• The original Hodegetria, said to have been painted by St Luke, was the most venerated icon of Byzantium; the Smolensk Hodegetria in Russia is held by many to descend from it. (source)

Read the life of the Dormition of the Mother of God