Protection of the Mother of God (Part 2)

A medieval bas relief in Venice of the Mother of God protecting the faithful gathered under her veil.

An archway atop a small pedestrian bridge in Venice depicts the Mother of God protecting the faithful with her veil.

Western Christian depictions of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God are often called “the Virgin of Mercy” and are sometimes associated with Christ’s remarks that He “longed to gather your children [the people of Jerusalem] together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings….” (Matthew 23:37) The Mother of God is shown with the faithful of many social ranks and classes gathered on their knees beneath her outstretched cloak. As she is the bridge that unites earth to heaven, having nurtured Christ in her womb and giving birth to God-made-man, her image is frequently seen near bridges. (The Latin word for “priest” (pontifex) comes from the Latin for bridge-builder because priests also act as bridges between Heaven and earth, divinity and humanity.

Probably the oldest Western version of this image is a small panel by Duccio of c. 1280, with three Franciscan friars under the cloak, in Siena. The Franciscans seem to have been devoted to the idea of the Virgin’s protecting veil and were important in spreading this form of iconography, which remains important in much of Latin America.

The image of Our Lady in Walsingham was not the Virgin of Mercy with her protecting veil but the shrine of Walsingham did celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Mercy as its patronal feast day. The popularity of the Walsingham shrine led many to call England “the dowry of the Virgin” and thus celebrate the Virgin of the Dowry on the same day as well.

The importance of the Virgin’s mercy and protection underlines the communal nature of Christianity and the dependence of the faithful on each other–as well as on particular saints–in times of adversity. In the gospel, it is rare that a sick person is healed because of their own faith; usually the sick are healed because their friends had the faith to approach Christ and ask that He heal the sick or cast out the demon(s) from the possessed. It is the faith of their friends which heals and saves those most in need.

Protection of the Mother of God (Part 1)

A medieval icon of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God from Novgorod, currently in Moscow.

The Protecting Veil (or more simply, the Protection) of the Mother of God is one of the most popular festivals of the Slavic churches. Known as “Pokrov,” is celebrated on October 1. It commemorates a 10th century vision at the Blachernae church in Constantinople where several of her relics (her robe, veil, and part of her belt) were kept. On Sunday, October 1 at four in the morning, St. Andrew the Blessed Fool-for-Christ, who was a Slav by birth, saw the dome of the church open and the Virgin Mary enter, moving in the air above him, glowing and surrounded by angels and saints. She knelt and prayed with tears for all faithful Christians in the world. The Virgin Mary asked Her Son, Jesus Christ, to accept the prayers of all the people entreating Him and looking for Her protection. Once Her prayer was completed, she walked to the altar and continued to pray. Afterwards, she spread Her veil over all the people in the church as a protection.

St. Andrew turned to his disciple, St. Epiphanius, who was standing near him, and asked, “Do you see, brother, the Holy Theotokos, praying for all the world?” Epiphanius answered, “Yes, Holy Father, I see it and am amazed!” In the icon of this event, we see the Mother of God standing in the midst of the church with her arms reaching out in prayer and her veil stretching out between her hands. The angels and saints surround her. Below, St. Andrew the Fool for Christ is depicted, pointing up at the Virgin Mary and turning to his disciple Epiphanius.

According to the Primary Chronicle of St. Nestor the Chronicler, the inhabitants of Constantinople called upon the intercession of the Mother of God to protect them from an attack by a large Rus’ army (Rus’ was still pagan at the time).

The Pokrov icon may be related to the Western Virgin of Mercy image, in which the Virgin spreads wide her cloak to cover and protect a group of kneeling supplicants (first known from Italy at about 1280).

Deposition of the Sash of the Mother of God & The Visitation

A 17th-century Russian icon of the Deposition of the Sash of the Mother of God.

July 2 has long been a feast day of the Mother of God in both the Eastern and Western Churches although the feasts each had a somewhat different emphasis.

According to legend, the Mother of God died and was buried by the apostles in a tomb in Jerusalem. Three days later, Thomas the Apostle, who had been delayed and unable to attend the funeral, arrived and asked to have one last look at the Virgin Mary. When he and the other apostles arrived at Mary’s Tomb, they found that her body was missing. According to some accounts, the Virgin Mary appeared at that time and gave her belt (also called sash or cincture) to the Apostle Thomas. Another version of the story recounts how the Mother of God gave her sash to one of the women tending her as she was dying and the sash was passed down in that woman’s family from generation to generation.

Traditionally, the sash was reportedly made by the Virgin Mary herself, out of camel hair. Whether it was given to St. Thomas or the woman tending the dying Virgin, the sash was kept at Jerusalem for many years. It was brought to Constantinople in the 5th century, together with the robe of the Virgin Mary. The robe and the sash were both deposited in the Church of St. Mary at Blachernae. The sash was embroidered with gold thread by the Empress Zoe, the wife of Emperor Leo VI, in gratitude for a miraculous cure. The anniversary of this deposition of the sash of the Mother of God at Blachernae is celebrated every year by the Orthodox Church on July 2.

Later, the Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (1347–1355) donated the sash to the monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos, where it remains to this day. (I was given a relic of the sash on Mt. Athos by a good friend of mine; I highly prize it. I have also been given a small stone from Golgotha by a parishioner and a small stone from the tomb of the Mother of God in Jerusalem as an ordination gift.)

July 2 was the traditional date for the Western Church to celebrate the Visitation of the Mother of God and St. Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist (Luke 1:39-57). Feeling the presence of his Christ in the womb of Mary, John, in the womb of his mother Elizabeth, jumped with excitement. Elizabeth greeted her cousin Mary as “the Mother of my Lord,” realizing that the baby was not just kicking in her womb for no reason. (Many western Christians moved the Visitation feast to May 31 in 1969.) Keeping the Visitation on July 2, however, strikes me as a fitting way to promote unity between Eastern and Western Christians and to foster goodwill among the adherents of a common, “mere” Christianity.

Read more about the Visitation here and here. You can read more about the Deposition here. See Mere Christianity here.

A contemporary icon depicting the Mother of God giving her sash to St. Thomas the Apostle after her Dormition (Assumption).