by Fr. Jonathan H. Cholcher
[This article is the fourth of four explaining the Orthodox Christian meaning of important topics and practices commonly misunderstood by the non-Orthodox. The four topics are: 1. Praying to Saints, 2. Prayers for the Departed, 3. The Veneration of Icons, and 4. The Sinlessness of the Virgin Mary.]
From the outset, one must be clear that the Orthodox meaning of The Sinlessness of the Virgin Mary does not refer to an unchangeable state of sinlessness or incapability of sinning pertaining to the Virgin Mary. The Orthodox do not hold to the false Roman Catholic teaching of the ”immaculate conception” wherein the Virgin Mary is said to have been conceived without sin in the womb of her mother Anna. This false teaching is itself an extension of false notions of the nature of sin, that somehow the guilt of sin is passed on in the fallen flesh from parent to child; therefore, in order for Jesus Christ to be sinless, His mother had to sinless herself so as not to pass sin and guilt on to her Son. [N.B. These false teachings also include the notion that because the Virgin Mary had no sin she could not die as fallen humans die; therefore, in Roman Catholic teaching, she was assumed into heaven without experiencing the death of the body.]
The Orthodox have always maintained that the Virgin Mary was conceived and born from her parents Joachim and Anna exactly the same way all of us sinners were conceived and born from our sinful parents. The Virgin Mary carried the original, or primal, sin in her flesh. She acknowledged this reality in her great song: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47; italics mine); she leads the chorus of those whose sins are forgiven (Matthew 1:21). Because the Virgin Mary carried the primal sin, she was mortal like the rest of us sinners and subject to bodily death (see Romans 5:12; 6:23). She fell asleep in the death of the body (Lat., dormition; see 1 Corinthians 15:20) before being assumed bodily into heaven, which is why there is no grave or tomb of the Virgin Mary here on earth.
When speaking of The Sinlessness of the Virgin Mary, the Orthodox mean a kind of sinlessness other than the absolute sinlessness pertaining to God, and that of the holy angels who never fell into sin (Matthew 25:31; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; James 1:13; 1 John 3:5; Revelation 12:9). The Sinlessness of the Virgin Mary refers to the ability of those born with original, or primal, sin to overcome sin in their life. The possibility of overcoming sin and attaining to a sinless way of life is, in fact, the goal of the Christian life of which the Virgin Mary is the prime example.
The Apostle John writes: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us…If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin” (1 John 1:8, 10-2:1; italics mine). Later in the same epistle: “And everyone who has this hope in [God] purifies himself, just as He is pure. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that [Jesus Christ] was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him” (1 John 3:3-6; italics mine).
Jesus Christ the Savior not only takes away, or forgives, sin, but He enables those forgiven not to keep on sinning but instead to practice righteousness. “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as [God] is righteous…For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:7, 8-9; italics mine).
The Christian language of “being born (again)” is a reference to Baptism (cf. John 3:3, 5; Galatians 3:26-27; 1 Peter 1:3, 23; 2:2; 3:21). The Apostle Paul explains the same reality. “Therefore we were buried with [Christ Jesus] through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life…And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:4, 13-14). In the great Resurrection chapter he exhorts: “Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:34; italics mine).
Sinlessness is the goal for every Christian who is a true son or daughter of God. Having been healed of paralysis, Jesus told the man, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (John 5:14). To the woman caught in adultery, the Lord said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more” (John 8:11; italics mine). It is possible for us to stop sinning, that is, to overcome various sins.
The Lord goes on to explain. “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:34). The Orthodox pray in almost every service “that the whole day may be perfect, holy, peaceful, and sinless” (Litany of Supplication); this is not wishful thinking, but the end intended by the Lord to which we strive in faith and love.
The Sinlessness of the Virgin Mary refers to this attainment. By the grace of God, the Virgin Mary was able to overcome her personal sin in the constant practice of the righteousness of God. Thus the Orthodox understand the Virgin Mary not as the great exception, but as the great example of the faith possible to all the faithful in Christ.
The angel Gabriel addressed the Virgin Mary as “highly favored” (Luke 1:28). This is an English translation of the Greek verb kecharitōmenē, literally, she who is gifted with grace; thus the Latin rendering gratia plena, “full of grace.” The angel also tells her “the Lord is with you,” that she is “blessed among women,” and that she has “found favor (Gk., charis, “grace”) with God” (Luke 1:30). “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). The Virgin responded, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Mary was not compelled or forced to conceive and bear God in her womb. She accepted this willingly which is faith in action.
The Orthodox understand the Virgin Mary to be the true Holy of Holies because she became the dwelling-place of the Holy One within her womb. Just as the ark of testimony upon which God made Himself known was kept in the innermost chamber of the tabernacle and temple which God overshadowed (Exodus 25:22; 26:34; 40:28-29; 3 Kingdoms 6:18; 8:10-11), so now the Virgin Mary being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit is the living ark upon whom God the Word makes Himself known by becoming incarnate from and in her. A common Orthodox appellation of the Virgin Mary is Panagia, the All-holy (Holy of Holies).
An Orthodox hymn concerning the Virgin Mary refers to her as “more honorable than the cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim.” Both cherubim and seraphim are kinds of angels (Genesis 3:24; Ezekiel 10:1; Isaiah 6:2). As the living ark, the Virgin Mary has greater holiness than the angels that overshadowed and served the wood and gold ark of which she is the fulfillment (see Exodus 25:20; 3 Kingdoms 6:22f.).
Mary’s superlative titles also include Platytera (Gk.) and Virgin. Platytera means “more spacious,” applied to her because the Son of God whom the universe cannot contain was found contained within Mary’s womb; therefore, she is more spacious than the heavens (cf. Revelation 12:1-6). Mary is usually called the Virgin and ever-Virgin. She is not just virginal in the sense of never having sexual relations with a man. Mary is the Virgin and ever-Virgin being completely chaste and devoted to God in thought, word, and deed (see 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; 2 Corinthians 11:2). She is “the virgin daughter of Zion,” the bride of God (Isaiah 7:14; 37:22; 62:5, 11), the “gate [which] shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it, because the Lord God of Israel will enter by it; therefore, it shall be shut. As for the prince (i.e., Christ), he will sit in it to eat bread before the Lord” (Ezekiel 44:2-3).
The Sinlessness of the Virgin Mary is not a static quality exempting her from the capacity to sin. The Sinlessness of the Virgin Mary results from unbroken communion with God given in Christ and the Holy Spirit, with whom she cooperates in ever-increasing faith and love. In the Gospel we read that “Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19, 51). “All her glory as the King’s daughter is within, adorned and embroidered with golden tassels” (Psalm 44:14). Her inner glory is the Virgin’s Mary’s purity of heart enabling her humbly to contemplate and perceive the things of God in prayer. Her outer glory (i.e., apparel, tassels) are the virtues manifested in the keeping of God’s commandments.
When confronted with a situation of need, the Virgin Mary simply said, “Whatever [Jesus] says to you, do it” (John 2:5). This was the constant attitude of unwavering faith she herself possessed and demonstrated to the other apostles and disciples. After the crucifixion of her Son, the Virgin Mary went to live with the Apostle John (see John 19:26-27). Following the Ascension of Christ she “continued with one accord in prayer and supplication” together with the rest of the disciples (Acts 1:14). Her sinless life was well known to the rest of the faithful and passed on in the tradition of the Church.
“All generations will call [the Virgin Mary] blessed” (Luke 1:48; Psalm 44:18), first because she is the Mother of God the Word in the flesh. She is also blessed because she believed unto her own salvation (Luke 1:45), and the Virgin Mary’s faith is living and active in accomplishing the will of God by overcoming sin and working righteousness. She is blessed because she is the supreme example of attaining what is possible for every Christian in every generation, until we all “come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
