How Orthodox Christians View Mary (Veneration vs Worship)

Fr. Jesse Robinson is the pastor at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In this video, Fr. Jesse briefly explains the Orthodox Christian perspective on Mary and the widely used term "Theotokos."

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#orthodox #orthodoxchristian #theotokos #mary #christian #christianity #catholic #catholicchurch #Orthodoxy

[tconnelly]

"In her womb, she contains the uncontainable One." Beautifully said, and enlightening. Thank you, Father.

[JacksonScott-oskj]

I am a protestant looking into Orthodoxy. I have an Orthodox study bible. On the initial pages there is a prayer to the Theotokos. The prayer requests the Theotokos to grant penitence, contrition of the heart, and tears of repentance, so that praise and glory may be given to the Theotokos forever. Why does the prayer address the Theotokos in this way, rather than asking the Theotokos to intercede to the Lord so the Lord may grant penitence, contrition of the heart, and tears of repentance, so that glory and praise may be given to the Lord forever?

I understand the title of Theotokos, I am willing to pay great respect to the Theotokos, and I am willing to have a discussion about invoking intercession of Saints, but it is difficult to not view this prayer to the Theotokos located in the Orthodox Study Bible as worshipful. This prayer is not, as many say, asking a friend to pray for you. This prayer directly requests things from the Theotokos as if she grants them, and this goes far beyond paying special respects in veneration.

[mariogonzalez]

I respect and have love for the mother of Jesus Christ. She was important to our faith but I pray to the holy trinity. I’m a Catholic by the way.

[miketacos]

And in case anyone is confused, we don’t pray to Mary, we pray with Mary (and all the saints) to God.

[lindaphillips]

Thank you, Fr. Jesse. Blessed Nativity to you and yours, including your congregation.
Such a beautiful building...

[optimisteprime]

The orthodox icons and mostly those of the Holy Virgin Mary are wonderful ! Thank you Father Jesse ROBINSON for this video...

[maxheinrichliebow]

Thank you Fr Jesse... you are very easy to follow, and covering good ground here. Thank you!

[GeorgieSoldado]

1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

[CHRISTOS-ANESTI]

Orthodox brings such peace to me I am glad I am going to leave Protestant and head to the Fullness of the Truth Orthodox Church🙏🏻☦️

[exysness]

I'm a budding orthodox. This is a stumbling block to me. I used to be doing rosemary as a child and this felt in my heart spiritually null and void. Now as a former protestant I took the leap and prayed for Mary's intercession and even apologised for ignoring her for so long. But no spiritual answer came. It was just spiritual void and emptiness. On the contrary when I pray to Jesus I immediately feel His presence in my soul. Its just too weird. I don't like the state of confusion I'm in and God is not the author of it. Orthodox even pray for Mary to save them. And my cringe is real. I think the devil is meddling in this situation otherwise I think it would be perfectly clear like the trinity and God's sovereignty etc. This is such a point of contagion and I did give it my best shot but it came back as more confusion and struggle. Lord Jesus son of God have mercy on me a sinner.

[johnmarston]

I like the Orthodox Church but these arguments about Mary aren't convincing me. I think she was blessed among women as the scriptures say...but i cant put her up on the throne next to my Lord. Mary didnt die for our sins, Christ did and and no one comes to the Father except through Him. Anyone trying to come through in another way is false.

[bussidomkrnb]

Thank you father for this. Greetings from Serbia

[feeble_stirrings]

These have been great, keep up the good work!

[kmichael]

Listening to you, Father, brings a sense of calm over me. Thank you for the enriching content and the superior audio/video production quality.

I would like to propose a video discussion, if feasible, addressing a query that often comes our way from our Protestant brethren. The question posed is, "Are you saved?" The succinct Orthodox response I've come across is, "Yes, I am saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved in the future." This answer resonates well. However, when people pose this question, the underlying inquiry often is, "If you were to die at this moment, would you ascend to Heaven?" Thus, my question is: can an Orthodox individual ever assert, "Yes, I am certain I will go to Heaven" at any point in their life? If not, how can one find solace if our salvation is contingent, even when living in alignment with His divine purpose—by having faith in Him and partaking in the sacraments?

[Ninjamod]

The moment Christ was on this earth and died on the cross everything changed! We don’t have to go through a high priest or anything else to access Our Father in heaven! Jesus is the tabernacle and resides within us! I love the fact that I can directly pray to Jesus! I don’t have to go through ridiculous things to do so and I don’t have to pray to anyone else for Him to hear me. We do not live under Old Testament law but the New covenant spoke about in the New Testament ❤

[therighteousrighthand]

I think the man nailed it when he spoke about the wedding when "His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”" John 2:5.

Mary tells us today "Do whatever Jesus tells you"..but how do we know what Jesus tells us unless we go to Him?

That's why we interceed with Mary and she will pray for us, but we must spend time with our Lord Jesus Christ to know what He wants us to do.

[dontavious]

I'm a protestant but I am interested in Orthodoxy but I'm a bit confused. In the Bible it mentions the dead do not hear nor know of what happens here on here on earth. Shouldn't that apply to Mary considering she is still a human like us or is there somewhere in scripture where it says she is an exception to that? Would love to know, God bless you!

[prettyhollypolly]

I’m finding the more I revere Mary, the closer I feel to Jesus!

[marshaclaroche]

🔥PROVE IT IN SCRIPTURE IT SAYS TO PRAY TO WAIT😐

🔥STOP BEING LAZY AND READ THE HOLY SCRIPTURE YOURSELF STOP FOLLOWING THE TEACHINGS OF MAN!!!

[steven]

Our blessed mother appeared to me and wash my hands and talked to me. And she also told me what is going to happen in the world. Plus other experiences as well. Too much to text. I suffer much seeing and knowing what I know all by myself. I asked her what am I supposed to do and she said, media. All I can do is wait. I am only a weak and feable human. Until then I have to wait to go to heaven when my job is done. Jesus is waiting for me. He told me so himself. Stay close to Jesus and our blessed mother. The world is so decieved. Even almost everybody at the churches are decieved. The suffering that is coming the people have no clue about. So much to say. No way to say it all.