The Virgin Mary has a special status among all saints, and the Orthodox venerate her as “more honorable than the Cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim.” While the Mother of God is glorified and honored in this way, it is important to note that the Orthodox Church never calls for her to be worshiped as we worship God. The distinction is very clear in the linguistic expression of Greek theology: there is a special word dedicated to the worship of God (Latreia), while there are different expressions used in honor of the Virgin: (Duleia, Hyperduleia, Proskynesis).

Mary is mentioned most often when holding Orthodox liturgical services and is usually called by her full title: (All-Holy, Most Pure, Most Blessed, Glorious, Our Lady, Mother of God, Ever-Virgin, Mary). It is a title that includes the three main epithets that the Orthodox Church dedicates to Our Lady: (Theotokos), (Eternal Virginity) (Aeparthenos), and (Panagia). The first of these titles was granted to the Virgin by the Third Ecumenical Council (Ephesians 431). As for the second title, it was stated by the Fifth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople 553) {At first glance, the belief in Mary’s perpetual virginity appears to be in conflict with the text of the Bible, according to the Gospel of Mark (3:31), which mentions the phrase (siblings) of Jesus. But the Greek word also means a brother from one of the parents, a cousin, or even a relative, in addition to the true meaning of (brother). As for the title (All Holiness), it has not been defined doctrinally, but rather it is accepted and used by all Orthodox.

The name “Mother of God” is of utmost importance, because it is the key to Orthodox worship directed to the Virgin. We honor Mary because she is the mother of our God. We do not honor her separately from him, but because of her relationship with Christ. Thus, the honor that is given to Mary does not detract from the worship of God at all, but on the contrary. The more we appreciate Mary, the more we know about the majesty of her Son, because in honor of the Son we baptize in honoring the Mother.

We honor the mother for her son. The Orthodox teaching regarding the Mother of God stems from her teaching about Christ. When the Fathers of the Council of Ephesus emphasized calling Mary the Mother of God, this was not with the intention of glorifying her, but rather in order to preserve the true doctrine related to the person of Christ. Whoever thinks about all the implications of this basic phrase: (And the Word became flesh), must bow with respect before the one who was chosen to be an instrument of this great mystery. And those who refuse to honor Mary are the same ones who do not truly believe in the Incarnation.

But it is not only because she is the Mother of God that the Orthodox honor Mary, but also because she is “all holiness.” Among all of God's creatures, she is the highest example of the synergy between God's provision and human freedom. God, who always respects human freedom, did not want him to be incarnated without the free consent of his mother. He waited for her spontaneous answer: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). She could have refused. She was not only indifferent, but she participated willingly in the mystery of the incarnation. As Nicholas Capsilas said: (The incarnation was not only the act of the Father, His power, and His Spirit... but it was also the act of the will and faith of the Virgin... And just as God was incarnated of His own free will, so He willed that His mother should conceive Him with her full freedom and consent) {On the Annunciation, 4-5 }.

Just as Christ is the new Adam, Mary is the new Eve, the one whose obedience to God's will created a balance with Eve's disobedience in Paradise. (Thus, what was complicated by Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience. And what the Virgin Eve bound in her unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed in her faith) {Irenaeus, (Against Heresies), 3, 22, 4}. (Death is through Eve and life is through Mary) {Irenaeus, his epistle 22, 21}.

The Orthodox Church calls Mary “all-holy,” just as it calls her “pure,” who is “immaculate.” All Orthodox believe that she never committed any actual sin. But have you also been freed from original sin? In other words, does Orthodoxy agree with the Catholic doctrine proclaimed by Pope Pius The Orthodox Church has never issued an official statement on this subject. But since the year 1854, the majority of Orthodox have rejected this new doctrine for many reasons: it seems useless, and, as the Catholics defined it, includes a mistaken interpretation of original sin, and it is also a cause for doubt because it favors Mary over the descendants of Adam, placing her separately from all the other righteous men and women of the Old Testament. .

But Orthodoxy, which rejects the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, firmly believes in the bodily assumption of the Virgin. Our Lady, like all other human beings, knew natural death, but the resurrection of her body occurred before everyone else. Therefore, she has transcended death and judgment and lives from now on in the age to come. But it is not completely separated from humanity, because we hope to one day share in the glory of the body it already enjoys.

This belief in the Assumption of the Mother of God is expressed unambiguously in the pieces that the Church sings on August 15, the feast day of the Dormition of Our Lady. But Orthodoxy, unlike the Roman Church, has not resorted to declaring the doctrine of the bodily Assumption of the Virgin, and it never intends to do so. The doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation have been declared as doctrines, because they are related to the preaching of the Church, but the glorification of the Virgin is considered part of the internal tradition of the Church: (It is difficult to speak and even more difficult to think about the secrets that the Church keeps in the hidden depth of her inner conscience... and the Mother of God has never been the subject of apostolic preaching. While Christ was preached on the rooftops and proclaimed over the heads of witnesses through a unified religious teaching for the entire universe, the mystery of the Mother of God was announced only to those within the Church... It is more than a display of faith, it is the basis of our hope, the fruit of faith that has matured from tradition. Let us therefore be silent and refrain from introducing glory. The Most High Mother of God in the Scope of Doctrine) {Vladimir Lossky, (Panagia), in the book (The Mother of God), Mascall Publications, p. 35}.

About the book: The Orthodox Church: Faith and Doctrine
Chapter Three: The Church of God
Bishop Callistus Ware