15 August 2008

St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord

Today our Synod commemorates St. Mary, the Mother of Our Lord. The title of the feast recalls the words of St. Elizabeth in greeting the Virgin. She is truly Mother of Our Lord and thus in fact Mother of God, as our Symbols joyfully confess. This day commemorates her dormition, her falling asleep in death, and her going to her Son, who is the Victor over death.

By all Your saints in warfare,
For all Your saints at rest,
Your holy name, O Jesus,
Forevermore be blest!
For You have won the battle
That they may wear the crown;
And now they shine in glory
Reflected from Your throne.

We sing with joy of Mary,
Whose heart with awe was stirred
When, youthful and astonished,
She heard the angel's word.
Yet she her voice upraises
To magnify God's name,
As once for our salvation
Your mother she became. LSB 518:1,22

"Arise, O Lord; You and the ark of Your covenant!"
at

3 comments:

  1. William Weedon9:45 AM

    Scott,

    The Lutheran Church neither affirms nor denies her assumption; for us it is in the area of what God has not chosen to reveal to us - i.e., none of our business. Thus we consider it sufficient to rejoice in Mary's sharing in her Son's triumph over death and the grave in whatever manner He chose to do for her.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dennis Peskey3:20 PM

    Scott;
    It is a known fact the old Adam is a proficient swimmer; what is less advertised is he is a poor speller. Repent, rejoice in your Baptism and your ability to spell will improve dramatically.
    Peace

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chris9:25 AM

    Fr. Weedon,

    YOu wrote: "The Lutheran Church neither affirms nor denies her assumption; for us it is in the area of what God has not chosen to reveal to us - i.e., none of our business. Thus we consider it sufficient to rejoice in Mary's sharing in her Son's triumph over death and the grave in whatever manner He chose to do for her."

    God has revealed this to us, through the Church and our holy fathers. It is nowhere contradicted by Scripture, so why go for the cop out of the "neither...nor"?

    But you are right that we should rejoice because Mary partakes of the REsurrection of Christ as we hope to do. In that way, she is the great example to be emulated by Christians today and not to be discarded as just some woman.

    ReplyDelete