Synaxis of the Theotokos

On the second day of Christmas, the Church celebrates the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos. It is here that one of the differences between Orthodoxy and the Roman Catholic Church becomes apparent.

In the Roman Catholic Church, the second day of Christmas is dedicated to the commemoration of Saint Stephen, the first martyr mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. We do not know who was actually the first to be killed for Christ after Pentecost, or at least that remains a matter of debate. But according to the Acts of the Apostles, Stephen is the first martyr.

The judges of the Sanhedrin saw in his face “the face of an angel,” and the face of an angel is the face of Christ. The Book of Isaiah calls Jesus the “Angel of Great Counsel.” The celebration of Saint Stephen immediately after Christmas establishes this direct sequence: Christ and His martyr—that is, as the word “martyr” literally means, His witness—Stephen. It is impossible to become a martyr of Jesus without first becoming the “face of the Angel,” that is, without entering into a close relationship with the Messiah.

The logic of Orthodoxy is exactly the same. It is simply that Mary occupies Stephen’s “place.”

This is theology. History, however, tells us that on that day in Constantinople, at one of its principal shrines—the Church of Blachernae—an extraordinarily solemn liturgy was celebrated in honor of Mary.

We ask God that, just as Mary received the great gift of the Holy Spirit, He may establish within our hearts, our bodies, our souls, our minds, our actions, and our consciences a new and renewed unity of communion between us and Him, between us and Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, by the intercession of Mary and the saints.