God is looking for a heart in which he can dwell: IPS Athanasius, pastoral on the Fast of the Dormition of the Mother of Godtranslated

One of the deepest calls of the Fast of the Assumption is to rediscover the altar of the heart, writes Archbishop Athanasius of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the pastoral published at the beginning of the fast.

"The altar is the place of meeting between God and man, the place where God gives Himself to man, and man brings his whole being before God. In this deep meaning, the heart of the Mother of God is revealed as the first living altar of the New Covenant", explains the Father Archbishop.

"The Eastern Fathers call the heart the center of man's being, the place where the mind unites with prayer and where God's grace works mysteriously to shape life. Saint Macarius the Egyptian calls it the palace of Christ, and Saint Confessor Priest Dumitru Stăniloae shows that the true spiritual life begins when man gathers his whole being in the heart and opens it to the presence of God. That is where prayer, peace, discernment and love; there begins the true renewal of man."

The Mother of God - the harbor of the heart From this point of view, the Mother of God offers us the most profound example of opening the heart to God: And Mary...