On this article, i would open up about why i am praying to the Theotokos's intervention rather than to pray to her directly.
First, who is the Theotokos and is she different from what Roman Catholics think? I would answer, no. Same in name but different Mariology. First of all, the Orthodox way to represent the Bogorodice is not Immaculate, like what most Catholics do. Catholicism is making the Bogorodice as a demi-God and not what the Church fathers included in the seven ecumenical councils. The Orthodox church believes that the Bogorodice died and her body was flown into heaven by the angels and the feast day of the Dormition is August 15. And to know what particular council was held to make sure that the Theotokos should be used is the third one, at Ephesus.
Here is a short overview of the Council at Ephesus:
The use of
Theotokos was formally affirmed at the
Third Ecumenical Council held at
Ephesus in 431. The competing view, advocated by
Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople, was that Mary should be called
Christotokos, meaning "Birth-giver of Christ," to restrict her role to the mother of Christ's humanity only and not his divine nature.
Nestorius' opponents, led by
Cyril of Alexandria,
viewed this as dividing Jesus into two distinct persons, the human who
was Son of Mary, and the divine who was not. To them, this was
unacceptable since by destroying the perfect union of the divine and
human natures in Christ, it sabotaged the fullness of the Incarnation
and, by extension, the salvation of humanity. The council accepted
Cyril's reasoning, affirmed the title
Theotokos for Mary, and
anathematised Nestorius' view as
heresy. (See
Nestorianism)
In letters to Nestorius which were afterwards included among the
council documents, Cyril explained his doctrine. He noted that "the holy
fathers... have ventured to call the holy Virgin
Theotokos, not as though the nature of the
Word
or his divinity received the beginning of their existence from the holy
Virgin, but because from her was born his holy body, rationally endowed
with a soul, with which [body] the Word was united according to the
hypostasis, and is said to have been begotten according to the flesh" (Cyril's second letter to Nestorius).
Explaining his rejection of Nestorius' preferred title for Mary (
Christotokos),
Cyril wrote: "Confessing the Word to be united with the flesh according
to the hypostasis, we worship one Son and Lord, Jesus Christ. We do not
divide him into parts and separate man and God as though they were
united with each other [only] through a unity of dignity and
authority... nor do we name separately Christ the Word from God, and in
similar fashion, separately, another Christ from the woman, but we know
only one Christ, the Word from God the Father with his own flesh... But
we do not say that the Word from God dwelt as in an ordinary human born
of the holy virgin... we understand that, when he became flesh, not in
the same way as he is said to dwell among the saints do we distinguish
the manner of the indwelling; but he was united by nature and not turned
into flesh... There is, then, one Christ and Son and Lord, not with the
sort of conjunction that a human being might have with God as in a
unity of dignity or authority; for equality of honor does not unite
natures. For Peter and John were equal to each other in honor, both of
them being apostles and holy disciples, but the two were not one. Nor do
we understand the manner of conjunction to be one of juxtaposition, for
this is insufficient in regard to natural union.... Rather we reject
the term 'conjunction' as being inadequate to express the union... [T]he
holy virgin gave birth in the flesh to God united with the flesh
according to hypostasis, for that reason we call her
Theotokos... If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is, in truth, God, and therefore that the holy virgin is
Theotokos (for she bore in a fleshly manner the Word from God become flesh), let him be anathema." (Cyril's third letter to Nestorius)
So, while the Orthodox church strictly follows the third council, the Roman Catholics don't even respect it and made their own Mariology, seperate from what Cyril of Alexandria did.
Even when i made that step to be an Orthodox Christian, my prayers to the Theotokos's intercession was made much deeper and stronger. Because for myself, a true Christian is nothing without the Theotokos. Whether i pray the prayer to the Theotokos or Bogorodice Djevo, i know God will make a way for me through her prayer's and intercessions.
Here are sample names of the Theotokos:
Greek:
Θεοτόκος/Theotókos
(Syriac-Aramaic): ܝܳܠܕܰܬ ܐܰܠܳܗܳܐ /Yoldath Alloho
Serbian: Bogorodice/Богородице
Russian:
Богородица
Romanian: Theotokos
Japanese: 生神女
Arabic: الدة الإله
Georgian: ღვთისმშობლის
Ukrainian: Богородиця
And this is the prayer i am mentioning to during my nightly prayers. It is in Serbian and reads as Bogorodice Djevo.
Latinica
Bogorodice Djevo
Raduj se Blagodatna Marijo,
Gospod je s Tobom;
Blagoslovena si Ti Među ženama
i Blagosloven je Plod utrobe Tvoje,
Jer ci rodila Spasitelja duša naših, AMIN
Ćirilica
Богородице дјево,
радуј се благодатна Маријо,
Господ је с тобом;
благословена си Ти међу женама
и благословен је Плод утробе Твоје,
јер си родила Спаситеља душа наших.
АМИН
