Sometimes the lectionary reading chosen for a particular feast can give us an unexpected insight into what our Church Fathers thought was important. The reading for today’s Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos is one such reading. It was from Luke 10:38-42, the famous passage about Martha’s anger that Mary was listening to our Lord Jesus rather than helping in the kitchen. The final two sentence say, “‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.'”
But, this is the Feast of the Dormition. And the Mary mentioned is not Mary, the mother of Jesus! Why not use one of the passages that does talk about the Virgin Mary? My personal favorite to use would have been the Magnificat, “my soul magnifies the Lord, and my Spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. . .” Certainly that passage, with its mention of God’s exaltation of Mary would have been a good one as we remember her life. Even the original announcement by Gabriel, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you . . . ,” would have been a better one in my mind. But, that is not what the Fathers chose as the lectionary reading. Why not?
I am convinced that, in the midst of our honoring the Virgin Mary, the Fathers wanted to make sure that we did not confuse our priorities. And to do that, they used the other Mary as a comparison with the Virgin Mary because the message of that particular passage is very clear. Even in the midst of our remembrance of the life of the Virgin Mary, even in the midst of calling her Blessed (as the angel prophesies will happen), even in the midst of asking for her intercession, even in the midst of seeing the woman in Revelation 12 as being a type of Mary, we are to keep our mind on the fact that listening to Our Lord Jesus Christ and sitting at his feet is “what is better” and what shall not be taken away from us.
By giving us this Gospel as our Scripture for the Dormition, the Fathers remind us that we are to be Christ-centered in all that we are and do.
Is 100% Agreement. In Slavic Lectionary (in Greek too?) the same reading is assigned for *all* Marian Feasts except Annunciation, I think? I would imagine the focus is always the same. Mary is supposed to point us to Jesus.
Interesting that you pinned this selection on “the fathers”. I don’t know if I agree or not with that… but it has wakened in me a desire to read a history of the development of the ER lectionary! (Ah… Church Geek that I am).
Actually, if you find that this lectionary tradition comes from later than the commonly-accepted period for the Fathers, it makes the reading even more impressive. Among detractors of Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, the “accepted” critique on Mary is that a more pagan view of Mary was accepted as a result of the association with the Roman Empire. That is, syncretism crept in, and Mary started to become a type of “goddess.”
However, if the lectionary tradition is actually a later one, it tends to show that the Church was much more resistant to that type of syncretism than the critics assume. So, it is my fervent hope that you find that this particular lectionary tradition is a medieval one. Given your mention of the Slavics, it might well be.