By Andreas Christophoros
The Virginity of the Theotokos is not only her physical purity and moral integrity from the bottom of her heart, but above all the fact that she never separated from the Love of the Triune God, from the time of her Conception to her Dormition.
Then, as soon as I admired the modern Saints Porphyrios Paisios, Iakovos, Joseph the Hesychast, Ephraim of Katounakia and others, that they also had this Virginity, I realized that those who repent do not separate from the Love of the Triune God and they do not lag behind in the Life of God, like Saint Mary of Egypt.
During Great Lent the Church especially honors two Women:
The Virgin Most Holy Theotokos with the Salutations and the Repentant great harlot Saint Mary of Egypt, to whom one of the Sundays of Great Lent is dedicated.
In Great Lent, the preeminent period of Repentance, the Most Holy Theotokos with the Salutations and the Akathist Hymn is especially remembered for her Virginity and Saint Mary of Egypt, on the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent, for her Repentance from her prostitution.
The Most Holy Theotokos from Conception is honored as the Most Holy.
She entered the Temple of Solomon at the age of three and became a Temple of God with the Incarnation of the God-man Christ.
Saint Mary of Egypt was a prostitute and she wanted to enter the Temple of the Resurrection, but the Holy Spirit prevented her, because with prostitution, that is, relations outside of marriage, she was separated from the Life of God.
God revealed to Saint Mary what is the fruit of relations outside of marriage: separation from God.
However, she did not remain a prostitute, nor did she try to enter the Temple sideways, but with a long struggle of Repentance she transformed her body from a Temple of Satan into a Temple of the Holy Spirit.
The source of the Teachings of the Church is our Lord Jesus Christ, He is our Teacher, as He preached, and His Teaching is revealed to us in the Holy Gospel.
In the Parable of the Prodigal Son He teaches us that when the Prodigal Repented and returned to his father, he received the Ring of Adoption, wore his First Uniform, that is, the Image of God, but also ate the Fatted Calf, that is, became a shareholder in the Mystery of the Life of the Holy Trinity, which is Humility and Love.
Therefore, with Repentance God restores the Repentant with their daily Repentance to the original First Created Beauty of man as the Image of God and makes them a sharer of His Life!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
Then, as soon as I admired the modern Saints Porphyrios Paisios, Iakovos, Joseph the Hesychast, Ephraim of Katounakia and others, that they also had this Virginity, I realized that those who repent do not separate from the Love of the Triune God and they do not lag behind in the Life of God, like Saint Mary of Egypt.
During Great Lent the Church especially honors two Women:
The Virgin Most Holy Theotokos with the Salutations and the Repentant great harlot Saint Mary of Egypt, to whom one of the Sundays of Great Lent is dedicated.
In Great Lent, the preeminent period of Repentance, the Most Holy Theotokos with the Salutations and the Akathist Hymn is especially remembered for her Virginity and Saint Mary of Egypt, on the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent, for her Repentance from her prostitution.
The Most Holy Theotokos from Conception is honored as the Most Holy.
She entered the Temple of Solomon at the age of three and became a Temple of God with the Incarnation of the God-man Christ.
Saint Mary of Egypt was a prostitute and she wanted to enter the Temple of the Resurrection, but the Holy Spirit prevented her, because with prostitution, that is, relations outside of marriage, she was separated from the Life of God.
God revealed to Saint Mary what is the fruit of relations outside of marriage: separation from God.
However, she did not remain a prostitute, nor did she try to enter the Temple sideways, but with a long struggle of Repentance she transformed her body from a Temple of Satan into a Temple of the Holy Spirit.
The source of the Teachings of the Church is our Lord Jesus Christ, He is our Teacher, as He preached, and His Teaching is revealed to us in the Holy Gospel.
In the Parable of the Prodigal Son He teaches us that when the Prodigal Repented and returned to his father, he received the Ring of Adoption, wore his First Uniform, that is, the Image of God, but also ate the Fatted Calf, that is, became a shareholder in the Mystery of the Life of the Holy Trinity, which is Humility and Love.
Therefore, with Repentance God restores the Repentant with their daily Repentance to the original First Created Beauty of man as the Image of God and makes them a sharer of His Life!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.