06 March 2010

Following from requests emerging out of an ongoing thread in the Discussion Community, we have published on-line three texts relating to the patristic veneration of the Theotokos. The first is the second-century Protoevangelium of James (also known as the 'Protoevangelion', the 'Gospel of James', and the 'Infancy Gospel of James'), which is one of our earliest documents on the life of the Mother of God, and one of the key texts that informs the festal hymnography of her feasts in the Orthodox Church. Second is an homily by St Gregory Palamas on the entry of the Theotokos into the Holy of Holies, given on the Feast of the Entry of the Theotokos (21st Nov.), and dwelling upon her residing in the Most Holy Place, as recounted in the Protoevangelion and festal hymns. Finally, an homily by St Andrew of Crete on the Nativity of the Theotokos, which also considers materials from the Protoevangelion and festal hymnography.