Archimandrite Theofilos Lemontzis, D. Th.
‘We, though unworthy, never cease from telling your mighty works, Mother of God; for had you not shielded us and interceded for us, who would have delivered us from such dangers’. We raise our voices and sing this in the supplicatory canons, in recognition of the importance of the intercessions of our holy Lady the Mother of God on our behalf. At the same time, we also call her ‘mediatrix’,‘We have you as a mediatrix’ we sing. ‘Unchanging mediatrix before the Creator’, confesses the hymnographer, addressing our most holy Lady, in whom we place all our hope.
‘To mediate’ means ‘to intervene’, ‘to negotiate’ between two people or groups in order to reconcile them or to reach an agreement. ‘To intercede’ means to act as an ambassador, as an emissary. The saints are those worthy members of the Church who, with their boldness before the face of God, mediate and intercede- that is pray to him and supplicate on…
