Daily Devotion to the Theotokos

Fifth Day of the Month

"Now Moses looked after the flock...and he led the flock to the far edge of the desert and came to thee mountain of God, to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in the midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, but it was not consumed.... And called unto Moses out of the bush..." (Exodus 3:1-4)

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What strange wonder is this that Moses beheld, the bush which was blazing with fire, but was not burnt up?

O the mystery of the works and love of God! Can it be that this bush, aflame with divine fire, is also a likeness of you, my Most Pure Lady?

As I contemplate the burning bush, it becomes clear that once again the eyes of my heart are beholding the awesome wonder of the grace bestowed upon you.

For the bush burned with a divine and purifying fire, yet it was not burnt up and consumed. And as Moses trembled in fear, standing barefoot on that sacred ground, the Word of God called out to him, speaking of the freedom of God's people from their bondage.

0 my Most Pure and beloved Lady, Theotokos, my soul trembles before you as Moses once trembled before the bush. How can I not understand that you yourself are the perfect, living bush? Truly, the Divine Fire of the Holy Spirit came upon you, and the fire of God's own presence was kindled in your
virgin womb. Yet, you were not burned up or consumed by the Divine and purifying flame. As the Word of God came forth to Moses from that bush in the wilderness, so God the Word came forth from you to free His people from their bondage.

Who would not quake before that bush of old, and venerate it as a place where the Living God had dwelt? And who will not reverence you as a living temple in which the God of heaven and earth once abode?

I bow down in awe before you, venerating your sacred icon, and pray:

O living bush which bore the Divine Flame, pray to God that I not be consumed because of my sins. Rather, open to me the door of repentance and light my path, darkened by the passions, that I may find the way back to your Son and our God, and be set free of my bondage to the evil-one, for you are the compassionate and merciful Mother of our man-befriending God.

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"Moses beheld the bush which burned without being consumed, and from it he perceived the voice of the Living God coming forth, proclaiming deliverance for His people, and thou, O Theotokos, the living bush, held in thy womb the fire of the Divinity and wast not consumed by it, but the Word of God came forth from thee as a Child for the liberation of those who piously exclaim to Him: Alleluia." (Kontakion Five, Akathist for the Joy of Canada)