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| On the Annunciation to the Holy Virgin Mary. Discourse Second.
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The Second
Homily.
On the Annunciation to the Holy Virgin
Mary.507
| 507 “The
Encomium of the same holy Father Gregory, bishop of Neo-Cæsareia
in Pontus, surnamed Thaumaturgus on the Annunciation to the all-holy
Mary, mother of God, and ever-virgin.” |
Discourse Second.
It is our duty to present to God, like sacrifices,
all the festivals and hymnal celebrations; and first of all, the
annunciation to the holy mother of God, to wit, the salutation made to
her by the angel, “Hail, thou that art highly
favoured!” For first of all wisdom508
and saving doctrine in the New Testament
was this salutation, “Hail, thou that art highly favoured!”
conveyed to us from the Father of lights. And this address,
“highly favoured,”509
| 509 Or, gifted
with grace. |
embraced the whole nature of men. “Hail, thou that art
highly favoured”510
| 510 Or, gifted
with grace. | in the
holy conception and in the glorious pregnancy, “I bring you good
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”511
And again the Lord, who came for the
purpose of accomplishing a saving passion, said, “I will see you,
and ye shall rejoice; and your joy no man taketh from
you.”512
And after His
resurrection again, by the hand of the holy women, He gave us first of
all the salutation “Hail!”513
And again, the apostle made the
announcement in similar terms, saying, “Rejoice evermore:
pray without ceasing: in everything give thanks.”514
See, then, dearly beloved, how the
Lord has conferred upon us everywhere, and indivisibly, the joy that is
beyond conception, and perennial. For since the holy Virgin, in
the life of the flesh, was in possession of the incorruptible
citizenship, and walked as such in all manner of virtues, and lived a
life more excellent than man’s common standard; therefore the
Word that cometh from God the Father thought it meet to assume the
flesh, and endue the perfect man from her, in order that in the same
flesh in which sin entered into the world, and death by sin, sin might
be condemned in the flesh, and that the tempter of sin might be
overcome in the burying515
| 515 εν τῇ
ταφῇ; others, ἐν τῇ
ἁφῇ = in the touch or union of the holy
body. | of
the holy body, and that therewith also the beginning of the
resurrection might be exhibited, and life eternal instituted in the
world, and fellowship established for men with God the Father.
And what shall we state, or what shall we pass by here? or who shall
explain what is incomprehensible in the mystery? But for the
present let us fall back upon our subject. Gabriel was sent to
the holy virgin; the incorporeal was despatched to her who in the body
pursued the incorruptible conversation, and lived in purity and in
virtues. And when he came to her, he first addressed her with the
salutation, “Hail, thou that art highly favoured! the Lord is
with thee.” Hail, thou that art highly favoured! for thou
doest what is worthy of joy indeed, since thou hast put on the vesture
of purity, and art girt with the cincture of prudence. Hail, thou
that art highly favoured! for to thy lot it has fallen to be the
vehicle of celestial joy. Hail, thou that art highly favoured!
for through thee joy is decreed for the whole creation, and the human
race receives again by thee its pristine dignity. Hail, thou that
art highly favoured! for in thy arms the Creator of all things shall be
carried. And she was perplexed by this word; for she was
inexperienced in all the addresses of men, and welcomed quiet, as the
mother of prudence and purity; (yet) being a pure, and immaculate, and
stainless image516
herself, she shrank
not in terror from the angelic apparition, like most of the prophets,
as indeed true virginity has a kind of affinity and equality with the
angels. For the holy Virgin guarded carefully the torch of
virginity, and gave diligent heed that it should not be extinguished or
defiled. And as one who is clad in a brilliant robe deems it a
matter of great moment that no impurity or filth be suffered to touch
it anywhere, so did the holy Mary consider with herself, and
said: Does this act of attention imply any deep design or
seductive purpose? Shall this word “Hail” prove the
cause of trouble to me, as of old the fair promise of being made like
God, which was given her by the serpent-devil, proved to our first
mother Eve? Has the devil, who is the author of all evil, become
transformed again into an angel of light; and bearing a grudge against
my espoused husband for his admirable temperance, and having assailed
him with some fair-seeming address, and finding himself powerless to
overcome a mind so firm, and to deceive the man, has he turned his
attack upon me, as one endowed with a more susceptible mind; and is
this word “Hail” (Grace be with thee) spoken as the sign of
gracelessness hereafter? Is this benediction and salutation
uttered in irony? Is there not some poison concealed in the
honey? Is it not the address of one who brings good tidings,
while the end of the same is to make me the designer’s
prey? And how is it that he can thus salute one whom he knows
not? These things she pondered in perplexity with herself, and
expressed in words. Then again the archangel addressed her with
the announcement of a joy which all may believe in, and which shall not
be taken away, and said to her, “Fear not, Mary, for thou hast
found favour with
God.” Shortly hast thou the proof of what has been
said. For I not only give you to understand that there is nothing
to fear, but I show you the very key to the absence of all cause for
fear. For through me all the heavenly powers hail thee, the holy
virgin: yea rather, He Himself, who is Lord of all the heavenly
powers and of all creation, has selected thee as the holy one and the
wholly fair; and through thy holy, and chaste, and pure, and undefiled
womb the enlightening Pearl comes forth for the salvation of all the
world: since of all the race of man thou art by birth the holy
one, and the more honourable, and the purer, and the more pious than
any other: and thou hast a mind whiter than the snow, and a body
made purer than any gold, however fine, and a womb such as the object
which Ezekiel saw, and which he has described in these terms:
“And the likeness of the living creatures upon the head was as
the firmament, and as the appearance of the terrible crystal, and the
likeness of the throne above them was as the appearance of a
sapphire-stone: and above the throne it was as the likeness of a
man, and as the appearance of amber; and within it there was, as it
were, the likeness of fire round about.”517
Clearly, then, did the prophet behold in type Him
who was born of the holy virgin, whom thou, O holy virgin, wouldest
have had no strength to bear, hadst thou not beamed forth for that
time518
with all that is
glorious and virtuous. And with what words of laudation, then,
shall we describe her virgin-dignity? With what indications and
proclamations of praise shall we celebrate her stainless figure?
With what spiritual song or word shall we honour her who is most
glorious among the angels? She is planted in the house of God
like a fruitful olive that the Holy Spirit overshadowed; and by her
means are we called sons and heirs of the kingdom of Christ. She
is the ever-blooming paradise of incorruptibility, wherein is planted
the tree that giveth life, and that furnisheth to all the fruits of
immortality. She is the boast and glory of virgins, and the
exultation of mothers. She is the sure support of the believing,
and the succourer519
| 519 Or
example, κατόρθωμα. | of the
pious. She is the vesture of light, and the domicile of
virtue.520
She is the
ever-flowing fountain, wherein the water of life sprang and produced
the Lord’s incarnate manifestation. She is the monument of
righteousness; and all who become lovers of her, and set their
affections on virgin-like ingenuousness and purity, shall enjoy the
grace of angels. All who keep themselves from wine and
intoxication, and from the wanton enjoyments of strong drink, shall be
made glad with the products of the life-bearing plant. All who
have preserved the lamp of virginity unextinguished shall be privileged
to receive the amaranthine crown of immortality. All who have
possessed themselves of the stainless robe of temperance shall be
received into the mystical bride-chamber of righteousness. All
who have come nearer the angelic degree than others shall also enter
into the more real enjoyment of their Lord’s beatitude. All
who have possessed the illuminating oil of understanding, and the pure
incense of conscience, shall inherit the promise of spiritual favour
and the spiritual adoption. All who worthily observe the festival
of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, the mother of God, acquire as
their meet recompense the fuller interest in the message, “Hail,
thou that art highly favoured!” It is our duty, therefore,
to keep this feast, seeing that it has filled the whole world with joy
and gladness. And let us keep it with psalms, and hymns, and
spiritual songs. Of old did Israel also keep their festival, but
then it was with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, of which the
prophet says: “I will turn their feasts into afflictions
and lamentation, and their joy into shame.”521
But our afflictions our Lord has
assured us He will turn into joy by the fruits of penitence.522
And again, the first covenant
maintained the righteous requirements523
| 523 Or,
justifying observances, δικαιώματα. | of a divine service, as in the case of our
forefather Abraham; but these stood in the inflictions of pain in the
flesh by circumcision, until the time of the fulfilment.
“The law was given to them through Moses” for their
discipline; “but grace and truth” have been given to us by
Jesus Christ.524
The beginning
of all these blessings to us appeared in the annunciation to Mary, the
highly-favoured, in the economy of the Saviour which is worthy of all
praise, and in His divine and supra-mundane instruction. Thence
rise the rays of the light of understanding upon us. Thence
spring for us the fruits of wisdom and immortality, sending forth the
clear pure streams of piety. Thence come to us the brilliant
splendours of the treasures of divine knowledge. “For this
is life eternal, that we may know the true God, and Jesus Christ whom
He hath sent.”525
And again, “Search the
Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life.”526
For on this account the treasure of
the knowledge of God is revealed to them who search the divine
oracles. That treasure of the inspired Scriptures the Paraclete
has unfolded to us this day. And let the tongue of prophecy and
the doctrine of apostles be the treasure of wisdom to us; for without the law
and the prophets, or the evangelists and the apostles, it is not
possible to have the certain hope of salvation. For by the tongue
of the holy prophets and apostles our Lord speaks, and God takes
pleasure in the words of the saints; not that He requires the spoken
address, but that He delights in the good disposition; not that He
receives any profit from men, but that He finds a restful satisfaction
in the rightly-affected soul of the righteous. For it is not that
Christ is magnified by what we say; but as we receive benefits from
Him, we proclaim with grateful mind His beneficence to us; not that we
can attain to what is worthy therein, but that we give the meet return
to the best of our ability. And when the Gospels or the Epistles,
therefore, are read, let not your attention centre on the book or on
the reader, but on the God who speaks to you from heaven. For the
book is but that which is seen, while Christ is the divine subject
spoken of. It brings us then the glad tidings of that economy of
the Saviour, which is worthy of all praise, to wit, that, though He was
God, He became man through kindness toward man, and did not lay aside,
indeed, the dignity which was His from all eternity, but assumed the
economy that should work salvation. It brings us the glad tidings
of that economy of the Saviour worthy of all praise, to wit, that He
sojourned with us as a physician for the sick, who did not heal them
with potions, but restored them by the inclination of His
philanthropy.
It brings us the glad tidings of this economy of
the Saviour altogether to be praised, to wit, that to them who had
wandered astray the way of salvation was shown, and that to the
despairing the grace of salvation was made known, which blesses all in
different modes; searching after the erring, enlightening the blinded,
giving life to the dead, setting free the slaves, redeeming the
captives, and becoming all things to all of us in order to be the true
way of salvation to us: and all this He does, not by reason of
our goodwill toward Him, but in virtue of a benignity that is proper to
our Benefactor Himself. For the Saviour did all, not in order
that He might acquire virtue Himself, but that He might put us in
possession of eternal life. He made man, indeed, after the image
of God, and appointed him to live in a paradise of pleasure. But
the man being deceived by the devil, and having become a transgressor
of the divine commandment, was made subject to the doom of death.
Whence, also, those born of him were involved in their father’s
liability in virtue of their succession, and had the reckoning of
condemnation required of them. “For death reigned from Adam
to Moses.”527
But the
Lord, in His benignity toward man, when He saw the creature He Himself
had formed now held by the power of death, did not turn away finally
from him whom He had made in His own image, but visited him in each
generation, and forsook him not; and manifesting Himself first of all
among the patriarchs, and then proclaiming Himself in the law, and
presenting the likeness of Himself528
in the prophets, He presignified the
economy of salvation. When, moreover, the fulness of the times
came for His glorious appearing, He sent beforehand the archangel
Gabriel to bear the glad tidings to the Virgin Mary. And he came
down from the ineffable powers above to the holy Virgin, and addressed
her first of all with the salutation, “Hail, thou that art highly
favoured.” And when this word, “Hail, thou that art
highly favoured,” reached her, in the very moment of her hearing
it, the Holy Spirit entered into the undefiled temple of the Virgin,
and her mind and her members were sanctified together. And nature
stood opposite, and natural intercourse at a distance, beholding with
amazement the Lord of nature, in a manner contrary to nature, or rather
above nature, doing a miraculous work in the body; and by the very
weapons by which the devil strove against us, Christ also saved us,
taking to Himself our passible body in order that He might impart the
greater grace529
to the being who
was deficient in it. And “where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound.” And appropriately was grace sent to the
holy Virgin. For this word also is contained in the oracle of the
evangelic history: “And in the sixth month the angel
Gabriel was sent to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph,
of the house and lineage of David; and the virgin’s name was
Mary;”530
and so forth.
And this was the first month to the holy Virgin. Even as
Scripture says in the book of the law: “This month shall be
unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month
among the months of the year to you.”531
“Keep ye the feast of the holy
passover to the Lord in all your generations.” It was also
the sixth month to Zacharias. And rightly, then, did the holy
Virgin prove to be of the family of David, and she had her home in
Bethlehem, and was betrothed rightfully to Joseph, in accordance with
the laws of relationship. And her espoused husband was her
guardian, and possessor also of the untarnished incorruption which was
hers. And the name given to the holy Virgin was one that became
her exceedingly. For she was called Mary, and that, by
interpretation, means illumination. And what shines more
brightly than the light of virginity? For this reason also the
virtues are called virgins by those who strive rightly to get at their
true nature. But if it is so great a blessing to have a virgin
heart, how great a boon will it be to have the flesh that cherishes
virginity along with the soul!
Thus the holy Virgin, while still in the flesh,
maintained the incorruptible life, and received in faith the things
which were announced by the archangel. And thereafter she
journeyed diligently to her relation Elisabeth in the
hill-country. “And she entered into the house of Zacharias,
and saluted Elisabeth,”532
in
imitation of the angel. “And it came to pass, that, when
Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leapt with joy in her
womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.”533
Thus the voice of Mary wrought with
power, and filled Elisabeth with the Holy Ghost. And by her
tongue, as from an ever-flowing fountain, she sent forth a stream of
gracious gifts in the way of prophecy to her relation; and while the
feet of her child were bound in the womb,534
she prepared to dance and leap. And
that was the sign of a marvellous jubilation. For wherever she
was who was highly favoured, there she filled all things with
joy. “And Elisabeth spake out with a loud voice, and said,
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy
womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should
come to me? Blessed art thou among women.”535
For thou hast become to women the
beginning of the new creation.536
Thou hast given to us boldness of
access into paradise, and thou hast put to flight our ancient
woe. For after thee the race of woman shall no more be made the
subject of reproach. No more do the successors of Eve fear the
ancient curse, or the pangs of childbirth. For Christ, the
Redeemer of our race, the Saviour of all nature, the spiritual Adam who
has healed the hurt of the creature of earth, cometh forth from thy
holy womb. “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is
the fruit of thy womb.” For He who bears all blessings for
us is manifested as thy fruit. This we read in the clear words of
her who was barren; but yet more clearly did the holy Virgin herself
express this again when she presented to God the song replete with
thanksgiving, and acceptance, and divine knowledge; announcing ancient
things together with what was new; proclaiming along with things which
were of old, things also which belong to the consummation of the ages;
and summing up in a short discourse the mysteries of Christ.
“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath
rejoiced in God my Saviour,” and so forth. “He hath
holpen His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy, and of the
covenant which He established with Abraham and with his seed for
ever.”537
Thou seest
how the holy Virgin has surpassed even the perfection of the
patriarchs, and how she confirms the covenant which was made with
Abraham by God, when He said, “This is the covenant which I shall
establish between me and thee.”538
Wherefore He has come and
confirmed the covenant with Abraham, having received mystically in
Himself the sign of circumcision, and having proved Himself the
fulfilment of the law and the prophets. This song of prophecy,
therefore, did the holy mother of God render to God, saying, “My
soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my
Saviour: for He that is mighty hath done to me great things, and
holy is His name.” For having made me the mother of God, He
has also preserved me a virgin; and by my womb the fulness of all
generations is headed up together for sanctification. For He hath
blessed every age, both men and women, both young men and youths, and
old men. “He hath made strength with His
arm,”539
on our behalf,
against death and against the devil, having torn the handwriting of our
sins. “He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of
their hearts;” yea, He hath scattered the devil himself, and all
the demons that serve under him. For he was overweeningly haughty
in his heart, seeing that he dared to say, “I will set my throne
above the clouds, and I will be like the Most High.”540
And now, how He scattered him the
prophet has indicated in what follows, where he says, “Yet now
thou shalt be brought down to hell,”541
and all thy hosts with thee. For He
has overthrown everywhere his altars and the worship of vain gods, and
He has prepared for Himself a peculiar people out of the heathen
nations. “He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and
exalted them of low degree.” In these terms is intimated in
brief the extrusion of the Jews and the admission of the
Gentiles. For the elders of the Jews and the scribes in the law,
and those who were richly privileged with other prerogatives, because
they used their riches ill and their power lawlessly, were cast down by
Him from every seat, whether of prophecy or of priesthood, whether of
legislature or of doctrine, and were stripped of all their ancestral
wealth, and of their sacrifices and multitudinous festivals, and of all
the honourable privileges of the kingdom. Spoiled of all these
boons, as naked fugitives they were cast out into captivity. And
in their stead the humble were exalted, namely, the Gentile peoples who
hungered after righteousness. For, discovering their own
lowliness, and the hunger that pressed upon them for the knowledge of
God, they pleaded for the divine word, though it were but for crumbs of
the same, like the woman of Canaan;542
and for this reason they were filled with
the riches of the divine mysteries. For the Christ who was born
of the Virgin, and who is our God, has given over the whole inheritance
of divine blessings to the Gentiles. “He hath holpen His
servant Israel.”543
Not any Israel in general, indeed,
but His servant, who in very deed maintains the true nobility of
Israel. And on this account also did the mother of God call Him
servant (Son) and heir. For when He had found the same labouring
painfully in the letter and the law, He called him by grace. It
is such an Israel, therefore, that He called and hath holpen in
remembrance of His mercy. “As He spake to our fathers, to
Abraham and to his seed for ever.” In these few words is
comprehended the whole mystery of the economy. For, with the
purpose of saving the race of men, and fulfilling the covenant that was
made with our fathers, Christ has once “bowed the heavens and
come down.”544
And thus
He shows Himself to us as we are capable of receiving Him, in order
that we might have power to see Him, and handle Him, and hear Him when
the speaketh. And on this account did God the Word deem it meet
to take to Himself the flesh and the perfect humanity by a woman, the
holy Virgin; and He was born a man, in order that He might discharge
our debt, and fulfil even in Himself545
the ordinances of the covenant made with Abraham, in its rite of
circumcision, and all the other legal appointments connected with
it. And after she had spoken these words the holy Virgin went to
Nazareth; and from that a decree of Cæsar led her to come again to
Bethlehem; and so, as proceeding herself from the royal house, she was
brought to the royal house of David along with Joseph her espoused
husband. And there ensued there the mystery which transcends all
wonders,—the Virgin brought forth and bore in her hand Him who
bears the whole creation by His word. “And there was no
room for them in the inn.”546
He found no room who founded the
whole earth by His word. She nourished with her milk Him who
imparts sustenance and life to everything that hath breath. She
wrapped Him in swaddling-clothes who binds the whole creation fast with
His word. She laid Him in a manger who rides seated upon the
cherubim.547
A light from
heaven shone round about Him who lighteneth the whole creation.
The hosts of heaven attended Him with their doxologies who is glorified
in heaven from before all ages. A star with its torch guided them
who had come from the distant parts of earth toward Him who is the true
Orient. From the East came those who brought gifts to Him who for
our sakes became poor. And the holy mother of God kept these
words, and pondered them in her heart, like one who was the receptacle
of all the mysteries. Thy praise, O most holy Virgin, surpasses
all laudation, by reason of the God who received the flesh and was born
man of thee. To thee every creature, of things in heaven, and
things on earth, and things under the earth, offers the meet offering
of honour. For thou hast been indeed set forth as the true
cherubic throne. Thou shinest as the very brightness of light in
the high places of the kingdoms of intelligence;548
| 548
ἐν τοῖς
ἄκροις τῶν
νοητῶν
βασιλειῶν.
Others read νότου = in the high places of
the kingdoms of the south. | where the Father, who is without
beginning, and whose power thou hadst overshadowing thee, is glorified;
where also the Son is worshipped, whom thou didst bear according to the
flesh; and where the Holy Spirit is praised, who effected in thy womb
the generation of the mighty King. Through thee, O thou that art
highly favoured, is the holy and consubstantial Trinity known in the
world. Together with thyself, deem us also worthy to be made
partakers of thy perfect grace in Jesus Christ our Lord: with
whom, and with the Holy Spirit, be glory to the Father, now and ever,
and unto the ages of the ages. Amen.549
| 549 The close
is otherwise given thus: To whom be the glory and the power unto
the ages of the ages. Amen. | E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
