Theotokos

St. Mary is the Mother of God; Veneration of St. Mary as Theotokos; Role of St. Mary in Incarnation and salvation; Rejects the immaculate conception theory of St. Mary, First member of Holy Church, Without knowing Mary as Theotokos, we can't know Jesus Christ as God.

Teacher Training and Resources

Reference Materials

A reference is a referral to another's text or information and can refer to written sources (books, reports, articles), videos, Internet sites, images, etc. It can also refer to personal communication in the form of letters, e-mails or interviews. A reference is synonymous with a literary citation or citing a source.

The following materials are offered as sources for information and ideas but please remember to properly give credit if material is used in your writing! If you forget to use references, or your references are incomplete, your work can seem like an empty postulation or create suspicions of plagiarism.

Articles

  1. St. Mary the Mother of God by Dr.Yuhanon Mar Dimitrios Metropolitan (MOSC)
  2. Icons of the Mother of God, (A Reader’s Guide to Orthodox Icons)
  3. The Symbol of Faith:The Incarnation, by Fr. Thomas Hopko (OCA)
  4. List of Typology for the Theotokos
  5. Venerating the Virgin: Orthodox Christian Reflections for Protestants, Jodie Anna Boychuk (Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy Blog, AFR)
  6. Nativity of the Theotokos, Fr. Thomas Hopko (Church of the Mother Of God, Mays Landing, New Jersey)
  7. The Ever-Virginity of the Mother of God, Fr. John Hainsworth (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America)
  8. The Meaning of “Till” in St. Matthew 1:25, Rev. Fr. Dr. Jacob Mathew

Videos

  1. God's Mother, Our Mother, Steven Christoforou (Be The Bee, Greek Orthodox Church)
  2. The Ladder Episode 5 The Theotokos, Fr. Shawn Thomas (Northeast American Diocese)
  3. Qolo of Saturday, Evening | St Mary - The Burning Bush (Graphē)
  4. From Mary Back to Eve: Finding St. Mary in the Old Testament (Uhro)
  5. Mary, the Mother of God, Seminarian Pradeep Chacko (presented at St. Luke's Mission)
  6. Journey to the Dormition Feast, Rev. Fr. Abi Chacko, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)
  7. Theotokos,Rachel Aby, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)
  8. Holy Virgin Mary, Reena Mathew, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)
  9. Mary's Humility, Betty Gladstone, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)
  10. Mary's Faith, Nisha Kuruvilla, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)
  11. Mary at the Cross, Smitha Mathen, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)
  12. Mary's Role in the Early Church, Susamma Kuriakose, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)
  13. Mary as a Model of Virtue, Jinu Varghese, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)
  14. Veneration of St. Mary, Lisha Johnny, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)
  15. The Magnificat, Smitha Ninan, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)
  16. Mary as a Textbook for Jesus, Anita Mathew, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)
  17. Mary's Example of Motherhood, Blessey George, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)
  18. Dormition Reflection, Rev. Fr. Thomas Mathew, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)
  19. Dormition Reflection, H.G. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Yulios, ('Am Bthsultho Qaadeeshtho (With the Holy Virgin) Series, St. Gregorios Orthodox Church - Elmhurst, IL)

Podcasts

  1. The Gate Facing East, Fr. Thomas Hopko (Ancient Faith Radio)

Scripture

In order to help our children grow in the Orthodox Faith in North America, a decision was made to standardize all materials to the Orthodox Study Bible (DSWA Kalpana DSWA/C/016/2010, October 28, 2010). Please continue to pray and support the development of a fully approved translation based on the Peshitta, and our textbooks will educate on the various translations and historic development of Scripture.

  • [Isaiah 7:14]

    "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Immanuel."

  • [Luke 1:28]

    "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

  • [John 19:26–27]

    "When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home."

  • [Luke 1:42-43]

    "Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

  • [Luke 1:28-48]
  • [Matthew 7:15]
  • [Hebrews 12:1, James 5:16]
  • [Revelation 12:1-2, 16-17]
  • [Genesis 3:15]
  • [Hebrews 9:4, John 6:41]

Biblical Stories

Liturgical Resources

The Ministry of Liturgical Resource Development (LRD) was created in July of 2015 (DSWA Kalpana DSWA/C/10/2015, July 24,2015) to promote the translation, versification, and publication of vital English liturgical resources. Today most of our Sacramental offices are available and the "Service Book of the Holy Qurbono" and "Shehimo: Book of Common Prayer" are available in print. Wherever possible references will be made using LRD resources given the easy access to these materials to the faithful in North America.

Holy Qurbono

  • Nicene Creed
And was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of the Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and became man;
  • Ma'nitho of Mor Severus (Service Book of the Holy Qurbono, pg. 158)
The Only-Begotten Son,
Word of the Father,
Immortal in His nature
And who by His grace
Descended for all mankind
To bring life and salvation
For our fallen human race;
Who did become incarnate
Of the pure Virgin,
The holy and glorious Theotokos;
He became man without change
  • Quqlion to the Theotokos, Qolo Option 3 (Service Book of the Holy Qurbono, pg. 482)
Virgin, chosen to
Be the Mother of God


Glory to the Pow'r
Who left the Cherubim
And the Seraphim,
Descending to dwell
In the Virgin's womb;
And He took flesh from her
To save Adam's son
From Death and Satan

Other Hymns

  • Qymotho - 6th Hour Qolo (Service Book of the Holy Qurbono, pg. 148)
Mount Sinai trembled - at Your presence, Lord
Yet the Bless'd Virgin
Carried You, Lord, who carries
All of the heights and the depths
She conceived You without man
And brought You forth wondrously
Magnify - her mem'ry, O Lord.
  • Sleeba - 3rd Hour (Service Book of the Holy Qurbono, pg. 464)
Bless'd is Mary the Mother
Who did bring forth God the Word

Other Prayers

  • Annunciation to the Theotokos - Concluding Hymn (Service Book of the Holy Qurbono, pg. 250)
The archangel
Announced to Mary, "Peace be with You,
The Lord is with You" (Lk 1:28)
O Mary, you
Carry in your womb Him Who carries
The whole creation
  • Dormition of the Theotokos - Post-Gospel Hymn (Service Book of the Holy Qurbono, pg. 273)
Heaven received your body
Which had carried Christ our God

Promeon and Sedro

  • Feast of the Nativity of our Lord - Promioum (Orders of the Prayers of the Major Feasts (MOSC), pg. 15)
The prophet Isaiah saw this holy child and cried out:
'Behold the Virgin shall conceive and hear a son
and He will be called Wonder', for He is God and man

Quotes

Patristic Quotes

  • [St. John of Damascus] “The burning bush is an image of God’s Mother . . . If, therefore, the ground where the image of the Theotokos was seen by Moses is holy ground, how much more holy is the image itself?”
  • [St. Ignatius of Antioch] "He who is devout to the Mother of God will certainly never be lost."
  • [St. Gregory of Nazianzus] "Anyone who does not admit that holy Mary is the Mother of God is out of touch with the Godhead. Equally remote from God is anyone who says that Christ passed through the Virgin as through a channel, without being formed in her in a manner at once divine and human - divine because without the agency of a man; human because following the normal process of gestation."
  • [St. Cyprian of Carthage] "You cannot have God for your Father unless you have the Church for your mother. If you could escape outside Noah's ark, you could escape outside the Church."
  • [St. Ireneaus of Lyons] "Becoming disobedient, Eve became the cause of death, both for herself and for the entire human race; but Mary, engaged to a man but still a virgin, yielded obedience and so became the cause of salvation, both for herself and for the whole human race .. This is also how the knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by the obedience of Mary: what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief the Virgin Mary set free through Faith."
  • [St. John Chrysostom] “And when Joseph had taken her, “he had no relations with her until she had borne a son.” Matthew has here used the word until not that you should suspect that afterward Joseph did know her but to inform you that before the birth the Virgin was wholly untouched by man. But why then, it may be said, has he used the word until? Because it is common in Scripture that this expression is used without reference to specific, limited times. Here are three examples. First, in the narrative of the ark it was said that “the raven did not return until the earth was dried up,” yet the raven did not return even after that limited time. Second, when discussing God the Scripture says, “You are from everlasting to everlasting,” but there is no implication here that some limit is being fixed—rather the opposite. Third, when preaching the gospel beforehand and saying, “In his days may righteousness flourish, and peace abound, until the moon be no more!” it is not thereby setting a temporal limit to this beautiful part of creation. So then here likewise, it uses the word until to make certain what was before the birth, but as to what follows, it leaves some further inference to be made. So it is necessary to learn what Matthew teaches: that the Virgin was untouched by man until the birth. But the rest is left for you to perceive, both as a consequence of the previous narrative and what was later acknowledged: that not even after having become a mother and having been counted worthy of a new sort of travail and a childbearing so strange, could that righteous man ever have permitted himself to have sexual relations with her."

Other Quotes

  • [Fr. Alexander Schmemann] "The veneration of the Virgin Mary is a necessary component of our faith: The image of the Virgin Mary, the Virgin Mother, stands [as] the image of infinite humility and purity, filled with beauty and strength; the image of love and the victory of love. The Virgin Mary, the All-Pure Mother demands nothing and receives everything. She pursues nothing and possesses all. In the image of the Virgin Mary, we find compassion, tender-heartedness, care, trust, humility. We call her Our Lady and the Queen of Heaven and Earth, and yet she calls herself "the hand-maid of the Lord." .. Christ said, 'Do not be anxious. Seek first the Kingdom of God' (see Mt 6:33). Beholding this woman - Virgin Mother, Intercessor - we begin to sense, to know not with our mind, but with our heart, what it means to seek the Kingdom, to find it, and to live by it."
  • [Fr. Thomas Hopko] "She is, in every aspect of her life, as Father Alexander Schmemann so often said, not the great exception, but rather the great example. From her conception to her dormition, that is, her true and real death, she shows how all people must be when they are sanctified by the Holy Spirit as servants of God and imitators of Christ."

Lives of the Saints

Syriac and Greek Words

  • Yoldath aloho (Syriac) - "the one who is delivering God" or "God-bearer"

Icons

These icons are either approved for publication or the Curriculum Committee is in the process of gaining approval. If you do not see the icon you'd like to use for your writing, please submit the image to the Committee so that we can do the necessary follow-up.

Stephane Rene Theotokos.jpeg Mother-of-god-with-christ-child-icon-002723 39943.1541619817.jpg Theotokos the Burning Bush.jpeg

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