Ecclesiological Interpretation of Mariology of Archpriest Sergius Bulgakov

Orthodox theology presents the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God, in the first place, and this glorification always has some correlation with Christ. Also, the Theotokos is correlated with the image of the Church, which is also traditionally Orthodox, but less common. Similar ecclesiological interpretations of the ministry of the Theotokos are found not only in iconography and hymnography, but also in theological works of St. Nicholas Kavasila (†1363/91), St. Gregory Palamas (†1359) and St. Theophan of Nicaea (†1380), who emphasized her active part in the economy of salvation. The Mariology of Fr. Sergius Bulgakov (1871–1944) continued that trend and filled it with new ecclesiological content. Veneration of the Theotokos occupied a very important place in the theology of Fr. Sergius and was not only and not so much a matter of his personal piety, but rather a part of his dogmatic system. In Bulgakov’s theology, the Theotokos is the image of Godmanhood, which, on the one hand, differs from the image of Christ’s God-manhood, and on the other hand, is inextricably bound up with it. Fr. S. Bulgakov reveals the meaning of the pneumatological basis of the divine- human unity that is realized through communion with the Holy Spirit and using His gifts for service.