Mary in Byzantine Doctrine and Devotion

I have previously shared articles written by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.
Here is one he wrote about our blessed Mother in the Byzantine Tradition which I do not think I had read before. It was published at Ignatius Insight.

Mary in Byzantine Doctrine and Devotion

Is There A Byzantine Mariology?

Researching this question leads to a seeming paradox. On one hand we find a tremendous richness of Marian thought in the liturgy, but on the other hand a virtual absence of specifically Mariological studies in theology. In the Eastern Churches the understanding and appreciation of the Virgin Mother of God developed differently, and is not the result of scientific theological reflection. The Mariological experience and piety of the Byzantine Churches—Catholic and Orthodox—seem to be embodied almost entirely in their worship. But we find no prominent theological reflection on the subject, nothing that would parallel the specialized Mariological treatises of the Western Church. Theology manuals contain no chapters dealing with the place of Mary in the economy of salvation. The veneration of Mary, which is so central in Byzantine worship, has not been extensively expressed, analyzed, or evaluated systematically. ..