Dear servant of God, and most unworthy monk, Maximos,

Slava Isusu Christu !

Today is the Feast of the Deposition of the Venerable Cincture of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Can you please help this poor spiritually undernourished Carpatho-Rusyn and please explain what this feast is all about? What exactly are we celebrating today? What is the meaning of this feast?

Joe Prokopchak
archsinner

Dear Joe,

Glory to Him forever!

Like so many of our feasts, no one is absolutely sure when the Deposition of the Holy Cincture of the Theotokos was instituted. According to tradition, the MOther of God left the apostle Thomas her belt after her Dormition as a token of her love and concern. This garment was kept in Zela of Cappadocia and probably taken to Constantinople during the reign of the Emperor Arcadius (395-408). It was kept in the Church of Blachernae. Centuries later, the sacred relic was layed upon the Empress Zoe, wife of Leo the Wise (886-912). The Empress was suffering from a psychological illness which was cured through the relic. It is probably the memory of this cure that is kept on August 31.

Whenever we remember these kinds of miracles, we should remind ourselves of the constant protection offered us by Christ, His All-holy Mother and the Saints. Thanks to the saving work of our Lord Christ, there is no longer a gulf between heaven and earth: "No longer does the flaming sword guard Eden's gates" as we sing in the services. Indeed, the Saints walk freely between earth and heaven, for our protection and salvation. God is not remote. The tokens of his loving kindness fill the earth. And the memory of so many of these tokens fills our Church calendar, thanks to the wisdom of our fathers.

In Christ
monk Maximos, sinner