'O Theotokos, thou art the true vine'

[Ryan]

"O Theotokos; thou art the true vine that hath blossomed forth for us the Fruit of Life. Thee do we supplicate: Intercede, O Lady, together with the holy apostles, that our souls find mercy."

I wonder if this hymn is problematic, because Christ refers to himself as the True Vine as well, in the Gospel.

[Herman Blaydoe]

"O Theotokos; thou art the true vine that hath blossomed forth for us the Fruit of Life. Thee do we supplicate: Intercede, O Lady, together with the holy apostles, that our souls find mercy."

I wonder if this hymn is problematic, because Christ refers to himself as the True Vine as well, in the Gospel.

She is the one human actually genetically related to Christ Himself, she gave birth to the "True Vine". As a hyperbolic and poetic statement, I don't have a serious problem with it.

[M.C. Steenberg]

Dear Ryan, you wrote:


I wonder if this hymn is problematic, because Christ refers to himself as the True Vine as well, in the Gospel.

You raise a good question. But in fact, it is specifically with reference to the passage from St John's Gospel that this prayer is formulated; in other words, it is meant to tie in directly to the Gospel image.

Here is the passage in the Gospel.
'I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

'I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be my disciples.' (John 15.1-8)
I have put into italicised font those portions of the text that directly relate to the imagery of the prayer. The Gospel has Christ announce that those who abide in the Father, who abide in Him, bear true fruit - and in this the Father is glorified. Discipleship in Christ is connected to this 'bearing of fruit'; so Christ says directly: 'that you bear much fruit; so you will be my disciples'.

And it is directly in connection to this image that the prayer says of the Mother of God: 'thou art the true vine that hath blossomed forth for us the Fruit of Life'. All human persons are 'grafted in' to the Vine that is Christ (another potent Gospel image); all have their portion in the 'True Vine' that is Christ Himself -- there is nothing problematic in ascribing this to the Mother of God, any more than there is to any other person. But what is potent is that she is identified as bearing the utmost fruit: the incarnate Christ Himself.

This language is mirrored in the akathist hymn to the Theotokos, where she is hailed, 'true vine, that hast produced ripe grapes, from which floweth a wine making glad the souls of them that in faith glorify thee.' Again, the Gospel imagery is deliberately employed, showing the unique fruit she has borne, in fulfilment of the charge of all human persons to bear fruit in Christ.

INXC, Dcn Matthew