August 11, 2013 - The First Fifteen Days of August, Our Loneliness and the All-Holy Virgin

August 11, 2013

The First Fifteen Days of August, Our Loneliness and the All-Holy Virgin

Those that actively participate in and experience the period of “dekapentavgousto”* have less loneliness in their sicknesses and difficulties because the All-Holy Virgin Mary’s presence prevails in them. She is:   

• the hope of those in despair
• the joy of those who are in great sorrow
• the protection of those that are treated unjustly
• the food of those that are hungry
• the visitation of the sick
• the shelter and comfort of those who have been brought down by pain
• the anchor of those that have been tossed by the sea
• the mother of the orphans
• the staff of the blind
• the painful joy of Orthodoxy.

The All-Holy Virgin is “a tower adorned with gold” and our guide who directs us toward “the city surrounded by twelve walls”, which is the Church. In this City, we cannot be isolated in exclusive relationships or addicted to them, but it is essential that we be united, as brothers and sisters, around the Mother of the Word who brings her children near their Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, in the spirit of love.  

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*“dekapentavgousto” (translated: the fifteen days of August) are the first two weeks of August dedicated to the Virgin Mary as a preparation of the Feast of her repose, celebrated on August 15^th.  It is a period of fasting, highlighted by special services of supplication for her protection and help in sickness and all suffering.

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