The Intercession of the Mother of God is Key to Our Salvation--The Feast of the Deposition of the Most Holy Mother of God

Brothers and sisters in Christ—

Today we celebrate the feast of the Deposition of the Robe of the Most Holy Mother of God in Vlachernae.  Vlachernae is the name of the palace in Constantinople, in which there was a famous church dedicated to the Most Holy Mother of God.  During the period of the Later Roman Empire, the Church of the Most Holy Mother of God in Vlachernae had a very extensive treasury of holy relics and precious items from the history of Christianity.  There, for example, was kept the Holy Shroud of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and also the Lord’s crown of thorns, which the Lord Jesus wore during His sufferings.

     When the relics of the Robe and the Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God first came to the Imperial capital in the seventh century, the people of the city honoured them in the church of the Most Holy Mother of God in Chalcoprateia, the Bronzeworkers’ Quarter.  But later, for the safety of the relics, the Emperor transferred them to the Vlachernae Palace, together with the relics from the other churches of the city.  In the Church of the Most Holy Mother of God in Vlachernae, the relics of the Robe and the Belt of the Mother of God became very important symbols of her special protection of the city.  During many sieges, the people of the city bore the relics of the church’s treasury in procession, and it was during the siege of 806 that the Most Holy Mother of God appeared to the people most wondrously in the Church of the Vlachernae during the All-Night Vigil.  She was seen to stretch out her mantle over the city, as a symbol of her protection.

     Naturally, God is our protection, but the intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God is very important for our salvation.  When the Mother of God prays for us, we can have a special confidence in God, because we have his perfect disciple, whom He cannot refuse.  God is our strength and our refuge, but our key to His protection is her intercession.  Mystically, that intercession is called “robe,” “mantle” and “mercy.” Therefore, we pray “We flee to your patronage of Holy Mother of God, despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin.”