The Twelve Great Feast Days:
A Verbal Iconography

When we enter an Orthodox Church, we do not encounter images of the 12 stations of the Cross but the icons of the 12 great feast days. This is because we understand that the entire life of Christ, from his incarnation to his resurrection and ascension, are intimately a part of our redemption and salvation. There is a concept that we consider heretical that understands our redemption and salvation as a juridical execution demanded by God.

However, our redemption and salvation are something completely different than this. The Incarnation of Christ is the beginning of our redemption since he took on fully and completely our human nature in order to redeem his human nature from its alienation from the Divine nature. In Himself, Christ, having the Divine Nature, took on our human nature and, in Himself, reunited the human and the divine, a unity symbolized by the “garden of Eden,” which was lost with the fall of mankind.

We had already discussed the icon as Scripture and demonstrated how to read the canonical icon in such a way that it gives us a deeper insight into the Scripture. There is another form of iconography, one that is presented to us by the Church. The events revealed in the 12 great feast days are a form of verbal iconography. The stories of the events presented in these feast days are really presented in an iconographic form, a verbal iconography. Examining the details of the stories presented in the 12 great feast days presents us with this verbal iconography that, like the visual icons, gives us a deeper insight into the mystery of redemption and salvation. The 12 great feasts also help us to maintain the understanding that it is the entire life of Christ and not simply an hour on the cross that is an integral part of the process of our redemption.

The Birth of the Virgin

The birth of the Virgin is really the beginning of the cycle of the 12 great feast days. There is an ancient symbol we use frequently in illustrations called the “Etimasia,” the “preparation of the throne.” The birth of the Theotokos is precisely the preparation of the throne for the incarnation of God. Christ, being divine by nature, took on our human nature literally. It was not a fiction, an image or likeness of our nature, but our complete human nature in all its fullness. He took on our flesh and blood, our human body, and not a mere likeness or image of our humanity.

This necessitated taking on our flesh and the natural way in the womb of a mother, whence we all receive our flesh and blood.

Female Prophets:
Images & Revelations of the Church

There is a further revelation in this. The Cappadocian fathers and the "Shepherd of Hermas” all understand the Old Testament female prophets as images and revelations about the Church. The Church came into existence with the creation of Eve and Adam and was symbolised as “the Garden of Eden.” With the story of the fall of Adam and Eve from Paradise, we understand that the Church fell into barrenness and fruitlessness. An alienation between the Divine and the human nature took place.

The Old Testament female prophets foretold the redemption of the Church and its renewal.
When God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a holy nation, the fulfillment of this promise could only take place through his lawful wife, Sarah. In this, she became a prophetess and the mother of the holy nation. The promise could not be carried out through Hagar and her offspring but only through the lawful wife of Abraham, the prophetess Sarah, for, the promise was equally given to her.

Hannah

When the priests who served in the Tabernacle, the sons of the judge and prophet Eli, fell into corruption and debauchery, the elderly Hannah, an old and barren woman unable to bear a child, but by a miracle of God, gave birth to the prophet Samuel who would become the replacement for the corrupted and degenerate priests. Hannah was a prophetess who, like the others, revealed the barrenness of the fallen Church but, through her miraculous birth-giving, revealed the coming of the true high priest, Jesus Christ, who would perfect and fulfill the priesthood.

Anna 

Anna was the last of these great prophetesses who would be a type of the fallen Church. Barren, unable to produce the fruit of the womb, she would also be touched by a miracle of God. Being unable to produce a child was an especially heavy burden for Anna and her husband Joakim because they belonged to the priestly caste, so it was considered more shameful for them not to have a child.

As a barren old woman, Anna was also a type of the fallen Church. With her miraculous birth-giving, the revelation and prophecy suddenly pass from a barren old women to a young virgin – Mary, the mother of Christ.

Mary

As a fruitful, childbearing young woman, Mary is a type of the Church and, therefore also a holy prophetess. She is a type of the redeemed and restored Church of the living God. She is the one chosen out of all ages and generations to be the "mother of God" in the saving incarnation. It is from her that Christ will take on his flesh and blood and his human nature. She is the "throne prepared from all generations" for God the Word.

It is fitting in the ekonomia of God that humanity should fully participate in its own redemption, and Mary the Virgin becomes the forerunner of humanity’s participation in the redemption of humanity. Christ has presented to us, through his Church, which is called the "body of Christ," the redemption of humanity from its alienation from God.

We are not forced to accept this redemption, but we are called to enter into it freely. Mary exemplifies this when she freely chooses to be the obedient servant of God in the saving incarnation. She is the initial participation of humanity and the work of our salvation. All that follows in the life of Christ begins on this foundation, and every step in the life of Christ is the process of the working of our redemption and salvation.

The incarnation, the birth of Christ, is the foundation of our redemption. The death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ are central but not isolated. The incarnation of Christ in the womb of the Virgin is the manifestation of God's co-suffering love for mankind. This is why the feast day of the "Nativity of the Virgin Mary" is the beginning of the cycle of the 12 great feast days. She is the throne prepared in the will of God from the beginning of the ages for the saving Incarnation. We should celebrate the feast in this context.