Table of Contents

- ^A of those things which existed before her, it would have been by divine counsel that they should exist through her. And indeed, those things which were before her existed through her; and they were, of course, those things which existed beyond measure, which were necessary for future generation, and she alone newly preceded her parents: so much so that the Virgin did not indulge in any of those things which happened to those living before her.

IV. But besides these things, she is also entirely different from all others. For what is there among all created things that approaches near to this admirable work of art, by whose beauty even the ^B Creator Himself was captivated, whence He also bound it to Himself by the closest kinship of all? For indeed, O thing greater than all admiration! He established that she should be His mother, as if thinking that the magnificence of that most innocent one could not be shown sufficiently in any other way, unless the highest relationship of all, namely the maternal, than which we know nothing closer or more honorable among men, should intervene between Him and her. ^C But that she also became a participant in our form, I would say that this was done for no other reason than that she might become a form of holiness and honesty for those with whom she had a common nature: so that just as we have been made planted together in the likeness of that blessed and divine image (for let it be permitted to me, with the kind indulgence of the excellent Paul, to use his words in this matter), so we might also be participants of His graces. Therefore, that this excellent work above the order of nature, that this image shining with new beauty, which proceeded to such a degree of glory that it was constructed as a golden dwelling worthy of God, that the Virgin, I say, was born on this day, this is ^D what we celebrate in a solemn assembly, we keep the feast of her Birthday, announcing to all the faithful the pre-eminent and august mystery, the nativity of the Virgin.

V. And now let us turn our mind to this mystery. When God had created all things, He pronounced them to be very good. Furthermore, He established man as the prince of all these visible and most beautiful things; and not only this, but He also made him superior to death and corruption, and he was also to attain the glory from which he fell through the envy of (the Devil), namely equality with God, as far as he who had been drawn from the mud was capable of it, provided he did not transgress the command imposed upon him. But when he, abandoning his Creator, had subjected himself to the seducer; naked, miserable, captive, alas! he lay prostrate, stripped of all his former nobility; and all those good things and...

very good, when they saw their own master, man, I say, with his hands bound as if behind his back, subjugated by the enemy, according to the sentence of the Lord which cannot be deceived, they had assumed a mournful habit in a way. For the earth, and the sea, and the crown of the stars, and the hills, and whatever else the Prophet invites to praise the Creator ^A, were already silent, and did not return hymns, just as a plectrum, I mean the tongue, is forced by violence to strike a lyre that is foreign. But even the heavens, those heralds of the glory of God, were languishing in idleness, and were forgetting to celebrate and recount the divine wonders. And finally, all good things had put off their beauty, since there was now no cause for them to show themselves as they were of old, after that interpreter, for whose sake they had heard themselves proclaimed good, was serving other affections.

VI.

Late at last, and after many cycles of the returning sun, that new man, the great and truly life-giving element, the heavenly dew, a vessel fit for receiving God, namely the most beautiful girl, the Virgin, shone into life; through whom man is indeed both freed from that calamity, and resumes his former dignity, and mocking his deceiver is established in a royal place, and with the same chains with which he had previously been bound as a slave, he now himself binds that same predator. Creatures, however, show their own beauty ^C again, and eloquently proclaim the magnificence of their Creator. For now they have found a hymnologist, and a wise interpreter of that knowledge which shines forth from them, and now as if ^D [index: entries preserved]

- ^A in a word, the birth of Mary, ever-Virgin and Theotokos, has appeared as the harbinger of regeneration, reformation, restoration to pristine beauty, and renewal for all. Such grace has the Virgin’s birth brought with it! Thus has the day of her nativity heralded joy and victory to all in solemn fashion! To such heights of mystical contemplation does the present festival transport us!

VII.

Of her, it seems to me, the prophet David foretold with wonder, when he cried out: *Who in the clouds shall be compared unto the Lord, and who shall be likened unto the Lord among the sons of God?* For no created being is superior to the blessed Virgin, no one has ascended closer to divine likeness above the height of the clouds. And neither in the future shall there be anyone at all from among all beings who will be elevated to such a sublime height. For she is that most lofty mountain in which *God has been pleased to dwell*. Hence, too, someone might rightly, in my opinion, say of our Queen what the inspired Habakkuk proclaimed concerning the Lord: *His virtue covered the heavens, and the earth is full of His wisdom*. ^C But if, as the divine Luke proclaimed in the Gospels, *that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God*, how high, then, must we consider her—not only above all men, but, I would even say, above the angels—the height of her who drew God down to earth? Wherefore, one might justly and deservedly affirm this most sublime creature to be superior to all others whatsoever, with God alone excepted. And once this is established, we must conclude that she has also come from heaven. For the voice of that greatest theologian echoes everywhere, saying: *He who comes from heaven is above all*. ^D

[II] ^A Sane, when the earth long ago was in an evil state, and was entirely filled with tumult and insane frenzy, and was as it were shaken by sin, and being at a loss in itself as to how it might sprout some remedy to wash away that terrible [state] and cleanse the disease, I would say that heaven remained, and [remained] to stretch out its hand and from its own stores to provide a saving medicine to the suffering earth. Thus, if anyone assuaged that shaking and drove away the unpleasant stench of that terrible disease, this was that brilliant physician, the Virgin, and she might rightly be called heavenly.

For to me, those words of the divine David seem to look toward this: *The earth was shaken, for the heavens distilled* (Ps. LXVII, 10). I think, moreover, that the prophet had need of that specific word, "distilled," in order to show that the heavens were not opened as they were of old, pouring out deadly rains—at which, even the ark, which saved a few seeds of the race, would have been in need of [divine] help, yet after salvation brought forth another succession of troubles, which had its beginning in drunkenness—but rather, as one might say with caution, just as if the heavens were straining out the sweetest flower, they distilled for men this delightful [scent], the All-Pure, like an aromatic ointment.

^B If, however, it is not obscure that God has looked upon us favorably through her, it is clear then that the passage concerning her also refers to this: *The Lord looked down from heaven; He knows all the sons of men from His prepared dwelling* (Ps. XXXIII, 13, 14). But since it cannot be a matter of doubt that this most innocent one is also the temple and throne of God, then it must also be thought that this was said of her: *The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord, His throne is in heaven* (Ps. X, 5). Wherefore, if anyone were to call the Virgin heaven, or the daughter of heaven, such a one, in my opinion, would not deviate the least bit from the truth.

^D Nor indeed should it deter us from affirming that blessed Virgin is both heaven and has come from heaven, [the fact] that her parents were from the clay and originated from the Adamic lineage. For the earth also sends up plants, but it is entirely from the dew falling from above that whatever good fruit it germinates and brings to maturity... [index: entries preserved]

it contributes the gold, but the skill alone contributes the excellence of the workmanship.

^A IX. That the Virgin is indeed far superior to all, as we have said, and that no image similar to her can be found among earthly things, we may discern from the following: for all things which are born have need of those who beget them, and if not for any other reason, certainly for the sake of the generation itself, as both plants and all animals bear clear witness. ^B But Anna, the venerable mother, when she was giving birth, needed her daughter to be regenerated, and when she was bearing her in her womb, she was being carried in the womb in a certain new way. Nor did this mother, who became such through prayer, constitute the only necessity, but even her progenitor had need of her, as it were, as a mother, in order to attain a solid and unshakable formation. For that first mother was of a crumbling constitution, since she was earth and dust, and was driven about by the force of the winds. And not only Adam, but the vast multitude of those born from him, down to this divine maiden, having each rejected their own mothers as having brought forth imperfect and, as it were, blind offspring, sought this common mother who would be most fit to bestow a perfect form upon her offspring and to impart light. Therefore, they were carried and formed in her maternal womb, and then in truth were brought into the light when she, by a new order of things, brought forth my Savior as well into the world from herself.

^C Hence, someone might now dare to utter that excellent saying about her which the thunder-voiced tongue spoke: We have seen her glory, as the glory of the only-begotten Mother of God; full of grace and truth. And not only those who lived in times past and before her have been granted this benefit, so that they were brought into the light by her in the manner we have described, but also for the whole body of the elect who came after her, regeneration and true life and the illumination of light have been bestowed through her. Moreover, the most praiseworthy Virgin will never cease to pour forth such benefits until that great, final, and inaccessible splendor shines forth—that is, He who has become the Son of this most fruitful daughter, and mother, and virgin.

^D Wherefore it is right, with a few words changed, to pronounce concerning her what the blessed Paul says of the Savior: Our life was hidden with her, and when she, our life, appeared, then we also appeared with her in glory.

^A It is not without reason, I think, that someone might adapt to the present matter that word of the venerable Habakkuk: "You have gone forth for the salvation of your people, to save your anointed ones [Christos] you have come." But Zachariah also, inspired by God, said: "The Orient from on high has visited us, to enlighten those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death." For those things of old were truly a shadow, and they differed in nothing from darkness; all of which the blessed Virgin bore in her womb in a wonderful way, even before she herself came forth into the light. But after she was born, she bestowed upon them a true birth and true light—for she could not bear that all others should not be called to a share of those goods in which she herself was supremely rich, namely, the abundance of that light; just as a most excellent ointment imparts its virtue to those with whom it is shared. Hence it clearly follows that, in a certain spiritual sense, the Virgin was distinguished not only by the excellence of her offspring but also by their number, clearly surpassing in this fertility that Achab and Gedeon. Nor should it seem strange that we speak of an offspring so new, and so manifold, produced by the Virgin in that new way, after she gave birth to the Creator and Father of all things, which is the most new thing of all.

^C X. Furthermore, it will be worth our while to consider from whom and in what manner this infant was born, who was wiser than every age, this offspring more vast than the whole earth and heaven, the supernatural and ineffably Virgin Mother.

Joachim and Anna were a pair who, indeed, throughout their long life, were most just; they were precise observers of the Law and lovers of that wisdom which beautifully depicts character and keeps a home peaceful and free from discord. They were very conspicuous, both for these reasons and because they always had at hand what they might distribute to those who were in need of the help of their resources; for they abounded in great riches. Whence, while others offered gifts to the Lord only for themselves, they, by reason of the abundance of their wealth, or rather because of their freedom of mind and charity towards their kinsmen, offered a doubled oblation, as much for themselves as for the whole people. For this reason, they were reckoned among the leaders of that most distinguished tribe of Judah.

^D These people, therefore, although they had long been joined by the bond of marriage, were entirely destitute of the consolation of children; this appeared very grievous, and afflicted their hearts with no small sadness. And so it happened one day, when the most celebrated feast among them was being held, and offerings were being brought to the temple according to custom, that a certain Rubim, who was then performing the service of the priesthood, would neither receive the gifts, and—

^A led by those who were innocently bearing the lamps, and producing melodies and songs about her with joy—offering, that is to say, the services which were appropriate to the dignity of the Bride of God, and rendering them to her most fully. And for this reason, I believe, that blessedness was announced beforehand concerning them: "Blessed is the people that knoweth the joyful shouting." By these preludes they were signifying what was to come: that the radiance shining forth from this living lamp would obscure all other torches, and would fill with jubilation those souls that celebrated her with hymns and sang of salvation.

Moreover, I think that all the orders of angels joined their songs and their splendors to those who were carrying the lamps, and added themselves as companions to those who were accompanying her, clearly so that they might show to men—who were hindered by this flesh as if by an intervening veil, and thus unable to behold the splendor of the pre-eminent Queen—what reverence was owed to her who was being led forward; unless, perhaps, it must be said that this mystery was then unknown to the angels, [she] having kept that providence which saved me and snatched me away from the filthy and tyrannical power.

^C XVII. Therefore, in the manner we have described, they bring to the temple that most sacred living vessel, the receptacle of deific splendors, constructed by God, the urn fashioned by God, the most precious and divine votive offering, to describe the dignity of which every creature is found to be inadequate. But when the high priest, both from the things that were then being seen—inasmuch as even their very novelty hinted at something greater—and also because a divine light within, I think, shone upon his mind more brilliantly than it had either before or since, perceived that the Bride of God had now arrived, there was no part of the temple which he did not make accessible to the Virgin; and if there was any place into which it was not right for others to set foot, he designated this for her to inhabit, rather than for himself. From these things it is clearly shown what great joy he was filled with besides, as if he perceived beforehand how much joy was being prepared for all by the maiden who had just arrived to dwell in the temple.

^D XVIII. Furthermore, I would believe that he addressed to the most pure maiden that which the innocent crowd of children later addressed to the Creator: "Blessed is she who comes, the Queen, in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest." Indeed, he may even have added that most joyful voice—as I think—which the prophet Sophonias once used: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion," of whom the Creator even now rejoices, seeing you rising most magnificently as a most splendid house for Himself, and being aptly fitted together to be dwelt in; but He will rejoice even more vehemently when, to make it manifest that He rejoices in your cohabitation, He will announce to you the joy through an angel, because of whom even the intellects rejoice.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion.

And, says the angel to each, the prayer is heard ^A, and a girl will be born to you, whose glory will traverse the whole world. And in actual fact follows what the angel had announced; and there is born the daughter of God, that new creature, a new and most splendid spectacle for that day, a newly sprouting and most beautiful shoot, a blooming and most delightful shade, a name pervading the whole world, a plant bringing salvation to all.

And it is permitted, then, for those righteous ones to confidently usurp regarding themselves that saying of Isaiah: *For thy fear, O Lord, we have conceived, and have been as it were in pain, and have brought forth the spirit of thy salvation, which we have bore upon the earth.* For this birth was truly the fruit of prayer and of the fear of God, this salvation which was ^B sketched out and adorned with the ineffable beauty of graces by the finger of God.

XIII. Further, that most radiant and divine image having been brought forth, Anna ceased from producing children. For there was no need for this mother that another offspring should be added to her, as if to supply what was lacking in the firstborn, since what had been born was equal to all; nor could she have given birth to another that might in any way approach this one. Therefore, if she had borne another, it might justly have been questioned of which child she was the mother. For it could not be that another offspring should come forth which might in any way approach the most noble excellence of the Virgin; and consequently, that glory would have suffered great injury which now flowed into her from that only-begotten one.

Moreover, neither men, nor angels, nor any other creature ^C desired that another fruit should now be produced by a mother of such a noble offspring. For that mighty and nature-surpassing girl was, by herself, sufficient for the adornment of all created things. For in her are, to speak with the admirable Paul, *all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden* (Coloss. II, 3). For these reasons Anna acted wisely, while she did not care at all about procreating another offspring thereafter. But this also offers itself to me as worthy of admiration: in what manner this appellation was attributed to the parents of the Theotokos, so that, as is evident from the holy liturgical ^D prayers, they are known by the title of "the righteous" by way of excellence.

[alt-version omitted]

^A For we are accustomed to call only these persons together holy and righteous. Is it therefore because, after having provided the necessary means for themselves and for all created things, they produced no further offspring, that they alone were mystically addressed by the name of "the righteous"? Or was it for this reason, or perhaps even for this other reason (as one might reasonably say), that they were so titled because they appeared manifestly to be such, inasmuch as they were—as is evident from the fruit—well-endowed with every virtue? Or was it because the most beautiful daughter, in return for their good parenthood, bestowed upon them this title, as she who alone bloomed forth as the true righteousness among men?

^B XIV. In this manner, then, and from such parents, as the discourse has shown, the most beautiful shoot has been born, which has perfumed the whole world, shaded it from the scorching heat of the passions, and provided as food that which is beyond understanding and unspeakable; the new and extraordinary man, who alone was able, in an ineffable manner, to transform into members of God the human race—which had been wretchedly separated from God, and which neither heaven, nor sun, nor any of the visible things, nor even if all creation were to come together, could either have gathered or even slightly consoled—for He set the Master as the head over His own members.

^C This can be understood in this way. In the beginning, God forms Adam from the earth, and the rib of this man became the mother of his helper [Eve]. But after they had fallen, God, in order to create a new man, did not again take up the earth—for a prohibition stood against the earth as being too unstable—nor any limb of a man, nor anything of this kind at all; for it seems that the man himself, as one diminished by a rib, is passed over. But rather, something that was neither formed from the earth in the first instance, nor lacked any of its members, nor could anything be found among all things more appropriate for this purpose than the Virgin; for she was not from the earth, as we have said, in the way we have spoken of, and she is the most perfect above all creation.

Of the holy and righteous forebears of God, Joachim and Anna

^A it could be a suitable instrument, as the Virgin was; for she was not, if I may so speak, from the earth, as we have already said, and she was the most perfect of all creatures. God therefore takes this new instrument of creation, by which he might restore even that which he himself had once received—that is to say, the rib—with great interest. And hence the new Adam, my Christ, is born not only perfect, but thoroughly and super-perfect from her, who (as far as human condition allows) was born perfect, being both the daughter of God and his Mother, through whom he has made us members of God.

XV. So much for what has been said. Now, all things whatsoever that have been created are necessarily subject to decay or corruption, if you except the incorporeal beings, to whom the Creator, at their very formation, granted that they should never reach an end; a fact that I believe was so designed that his multiform wisdom might be manifest from this as well, in that he created some of those things that have had an origin to hasten toward corruption, while others he established to remain incorruptible forever.

Yet even if no created thing could withdraw itself from this necessity, how could anyone grant that the most innocent Virgin was also subject to this evil, she in whose rising, as has now been shown, the true renewal of creation and true life blossomed forth for all? For just as she is shown to be a partaker of none of those things that are not considered praiseworthy in men, but is alone holier than the angels themselves, so it was necessary that she alone, of all others, should be exempt from the common misery; and this, at the very least, was her due, that since she was born under a unique condition, such that she was, as it were, mother and fountain (as we have said above) of the existence of all, so she should both exist and be proclaimed in perpetuity—however much she is a created being—no differently than the angels themselves, whom she surpasses, who, once created, remain immortal and immune to corruption.

XVI. But the reason why these things were not so is such that it makes the magnificence of the Virgin shine more brightly than the sun. For having received a corporeal nature (this ^B concerns not the Virgin alone, but is a lesson for us), it was necessary that she should also be susceptible to those processes of nature which befall the body, so that by the very fact of death, she might be shown to be of the same race as us, yet in every other way, she remained above the common lot of humanity. ^{C D}

^A For she did not escape the law of human nature, yet she performed actions higher than the nature which is pure and lofty—I mean, of the angels. For if she had been shown to be superior to corruption, she would have seemed to be of an immaterial creation, different from the human one. And it would not have been so wonderful, had those things which were high been performed by one who was all-blameless.

But if the earth that received her most holy body did not consume it, as it does ours, it received it, indeed, because it was of the earth, but it did not keep it for long, so that it might show that it was superior to human bodies, and as it were, quite similar to the Lord’s body, as we show more extensively in the discourse concerning the Dormition of the Blessed One. If, therefore, someone does not wish to admit corruption here for these reasons—I mean, because it was not corrupted like our own—he shall not have us as opponents.

XVII. Moreover, the name of corruption is attributed not only to that which dissolves bodies, but also to that which infects souls. And of the body, corruption must be called the disruption of the order that contains it, and the resolution into those [elements] of which it is composed. But for the soul, corruption would be alienation from God, and an affection contrary to nature adhering to it, which it was not created to enjoy. And this, so to speak, is death for both: the dissolution of the harmonious union ^C—even if, perhaps, one might say that death happens to each in a contrary manner, and in a different way. Since, as we said, for the body, death is the resolution into its elemental and first principle; but conversely, the death of the soul is the withdrawal from Him who truly is the first principle.

Furthermore, with regard to this corruption which is considered in the soul, if anyone did, certainly that most innocent one admitted no corruption. And indeed, no man among humans has existed who was altogether integral from every sin, except that new one—I say the Son of this Blessed One—who alone, ^D as God-man, did not commit sin,

nor was guile found in his mouth. But as regards this immunity from every sin, no one bore a likeness to Christ more than that most innocent one; for it was necessary that the Mother be assimilated to the One born of her more than anyone else. Justly, therefore, is this same most innocent one proclaimed to be purer than all other humans, to a degree that one cannot even express; and it follows that she alone among humans was altogether incorrupt. ^B

As for the angels, indeed, that they were once able to fall into the corruption of the soul—which we mentioned above—is clearly shown by that spirit alienated from God (the devil), who superabounds over all the associates of his madness, and who, being from him and through him a participant in evil, fell from his celestial and splendid dignity and was thrust down to the infernal and shadowy seat. That the angels now remain immutable is believed to have been achieved through the ineffable birth of the Virgin. If, therefore, the most praiseworthy Virgin has appeared more excellent than the one with whom the angels fell, and moreover has conferred upon the rest immutability (as I would call this incorruptibility, following upon what we have previously established concerning the corruption of the soul), she was certainly far more excellent than them, and in this respect, at least, she was more incorrupt. ^C

Notes of Ant. Ballerini

"...in his mouth." But the wisdom of our Fathers does not think so, nor does the sense of mother Church. Behold those two things joined together for you: Christ alone was altogether integral from every sin; and a little later: The only Virgin Mother of God was altogether incorrupt, that is, integral from sin; for it is of this corruption that he speaks. Indeed, from the fact that Christ ALONE was thoroughly integral from sin, you see the author concluding that the Mother of God also must have been the ONLY ONE inaccessible to any sin. Why? He says it is because the greatest possible likeness to Christ had to be present in the Mother of God, and therefore this prerogative of Christ the Lord does not so much repel the holy Mother of God from His fellowship, but rather demands that, insofar as a pure human can be a partaker of those things which are proper to God and man at once, she should have been in common with Him, and that this should have been granted to the Mother of God alone among pure humans, which is reserved to Christ alone, insofar as He is God-man.

(40) As to what the author says, *after the ineffable birth of the Virgin*, I thought it should be translated *through the ineffable birth of the Virgin*; both because the preposition *meta* is sometimes poetically used for what is *propter* (on account of) in Latin, and because, even if you wish to translate it as *post* (after), it can be referred without inconvenience not to the order of time, but of causality. In this way, the opinion is proposed to us here, which is accepted in some Catholic schools, concerning grace conferred upon the angels in view of the merits of Christ, but not the opinion, heard nowhere, of the angels being confirmed in grace before the advent of Christ the Savior.

(41) Why, while restricting the opinion of the Fathers, does he say the Mother of God was AT LEAST IN THIS RESPECT more incorrupt than the angels? The answer is to be sought from the context, in which one can see the doctrine most common to Catholic schools. Indeed, just as the schools focus on purity through a recession from sin, so Isidore, having placed the death and corruption of the soul in sin, defines corruption through a recession from sin. Hence, just as Saint Thomas concluded (1, dist. xvii, q. 2, art. 4, after the reply to 3) ^D from that principle: "Because in the blessed Virgin there was a purification from all sin, therefore she reached the summit of purity," so Isidore pronounced (above): "The Mother of God alone among humans was altogether incorrupt." But if the summit of purity is established as being altogether incorrupt in the absence of any sin, then if there were many who had lacked all sin, they could not, in this respect, be purer or more incorrupt one than the other, since it is absurd to imagine a summit greater than the summit. But the holy angels have never been stained by any sin; therefore, if the criterion is held solely as the actual immunity from sin, since the angels also have attained a summit of purity, it cannot be conceived that anyone is purer than the angels, just as one angel is not purer than another. There is, however, another criterion, on account of which, even among those who have never been infected by any stain of sin, one can be and be called purer than another. For the recession from sin can be viewed not only regarding the act but also regarding the potentiality. And thus, he who remained more remote from sinning and firmer in the good will be purer. Accordingly, S. Thomas (l. c.) says: "The increase of purity is according to the recession from the contrary; and because in the blessed Virgin there was a purification from all sin, therefore she reached the summit of purity; yet under God, in whom there is not any potentiality for failing, which is in every creature, as far as it is in itself." Which same thing he then repeats (1 dist. 44, q. 1, art. 3 ad 3): "Purity is intensified by the recession from the contrary; and therefore some created thing can be found than which nothing purer can be in created things if it has not been stained by any contagion of sin: and such was the purity of the blessed Virgin, who was immune from original and actual sin. She was, however, under God, in as much as there was in her a potentiality for sinning." Therefore, if it must be professed, which ought to be considered most certain, that a firmness in the good, greater than in the angels, was conferred by God upon the Mother of God, and therefore she was preserved more remote than the angels from contracting a stain, by that very fact we have why she can rightly be celebrated as purer than the angels themselves. And this, indeed, is what Isidore contends, and to accomplish this he uses the argument, more immutable and

By all measures, therefore, the all-lauded one is incorruptible, in the manner we have spoken. ^A And not only this, but she ^B also appears as the cause of incorruptibility—which reason has demonstrated—to the intelligible world, just as she is the cause of generation for those things that have been shown to be above this in all respects.

XVIII. But what name, in the end, might someone use to address this most God-bearing and—if one may say—most creative offspring, lest he seem to speak something far below her dignity? Or with what praises might we adorn her from all sides, from whom we have been enriched with such great benefits? If it seems right to you, brothers, as indeed it also seems to me, let us together with the angels—for I am certain that they too sing hymns to the all-pure one—repeat that divine message to the Theotokos: "Hail, full of grace," through whom all creation rejoices; "The Lord is with you," who was present with you even before your life, and at your birth, and before the salutation, and at that time, and in another way after it. But for the benefits with which we have been enriched by her, let us keep ourselves in that newness which we have attained through regeneration; for the most innocent one delights in nothing more than this. May we deserve to attain this by the prayers of the most undefiled and immaculate Daughter of God, to the glory of the omnipotent and holy Trinity, to whom glory is due unto the unending ages of ages. Amen.

SERMON II

On the entry of our most immaculate Lady, the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary, into the Holy of Holies.

I. Just as if someone were to think that the sacred table should be approached only when he believed himself to be accurately keeping all those things which are consistent with such a sublime mystery, he would, I think, never draw near to the divine supper—for how could a man, who (as the divine oracles say) ^C is not believed to be without stain even if he has lived but one day, ever seem worthy to touch that most pure and sublime of all earthly things?—thus, whoever seeks to offer words worthy of the all-pure mother of God the Word, ^D will end up differing in no way from the mute fish; but just as those who trust in the serenity of the Savior [speak], so too those who trust in the ineffable [purity] of the all-pure one...

and know that as a type we may be cleansed by communion, ^A must consider the blessed Virgin in the same way. Therefore, one must speak of her to the best of one's ability, so that by remembering the miracles she has wrought, through which we celebrate her praises, we may ourselves obtain sanctification and the washing away of our stains.

II. But as there is nothing at all of those things which pertain to her that does not convey a sanctifying impression to one who reflects upon it diligently ^B—and, nonetheless, her very entry into the Holy of Holies affords this same thing—this mystery, when pondered in the mind, immediately bestows upon all those who are eager to look more deeply into it that which its name implies. And since we are now attempting to speak of this, may it be granted to us to be sanctified in mind and tongue at the same time, and to be able to utter something consistent with this title, and not altogether discordant with the height of the all-pure one, even if it should happen that our speech falls short of her dignity, as in every way it certainly will.

III. Therefore, that ^C sanctuary which carried the ark, the tablets, and all those venerable trophies and testimonies of Moses, was deservedly celebrated first by the name "Holy of Holies." In it, cleansing was prepared for those who approached, and those wondrous miracles of old were, so to speak, placed before the eyes and recounted. And indeed, of all things contained within the circuit of the earth, there was nothing else that could boast of a power to sanctify or of the title of "Holy" as that divine sanctuary could. ^D Just as the light of a lamp, although very bright and useful as long as the vessel that provides and begins the day is hidden, becomes entirely superfluous and unworthy of the least regard upon the rising of the great luminary, due to the exuberance of the sun's ray; so too the "Holy of Holies"—the place that was once called by this name—has now been hidden from view and blotted out, providing no further benefit to anyone, after another house, which is truly to be called the Holy of Holies, brighter and far holier than the former, has been raised up and has shone forth: I mean the all-pure and most luminous bride of God.

IV. Nay, those former "Holy of Holies"—I [consider] the all-pure one...

^A to be such by a later, yet equally holy, and worthy title; nor is it a thing unreasonable to count it as the "Holy of Holies," even as one might call a mirror "the sun" because of the light it is to receive, or might call that house "royal" which is to be the dwelling of a king, even before he arrives. And just as, in my opinion, such an object, being small in comparison with the great and inexhaustible light, effects a likeness to it, and the name (of light) is attributed to it, and we call it by this name because we first know the other; by exactly the same reasoning, just as the ancient things were called "Holy of Holies," so too, the new "Holy of Holies"—I mean the maiden who is now the author of our sanctification—have been brought to this by those who preceded her.

V. And indeed, these recent "Holy of Holies" are, in a new way, more ancient than those of old. ^B For those would never have been called by this name were it not that they looked forward to things to come from afar, and had these later things in their view, for the sake of which they were also built and possessed the power to sanctify, as a city from its founder reports its name. Therefore, as has been said, they were built and called "Holy of Holies," because they were destined to receive the one who justly and deservedly should be adorned with this name.

VI. But furthermore, just as God, before he fashioned man, made heaven and earth and all visible things for man's sake, in the same way it was fitting that, for the sake of this new creature ^C (the Virgin Mary), who excels the angels, a dwelling place should be fashioned more noble than those preceding. Therefore, there was fashioned that shell, and that title, namely, "of holy things," which no other of the things that were made before it could have attained; for no other among the mansions was worthy to receive within itself the office of sanctification, but this one, I say—this vessel, this most immaculate and innocent relic, the mother of the Word of God—was adjudged to be that sacred temple.

SERMON ON THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

...sea, and greatness of miracles, and ocean of beauty, and treasury of mysteries! The Lord is with thee. Who would not be struck with wonder at the novelty of thy magnificence? What mind would worthily dwell upon these paradoxical sights? What intellect will vie with the heights of these things that now traverse the heavens beyond all flight? What reasoning, flying into these ineffable things and descending to the measure of memory, will be glorified? What tongue, gleaning the flowers of words, and weaving a golden-shining discourse and most delightful diction, will weave a tapestry worthy of the present things? The Lord is with thee, not only as being the sustainer in the rest of the creatures; he will not dwell with thee working miracles as he was with Moses and Elijah and the other holy men; nor will he, having found thee a home suited to himself, illuminate thee for a time, and then, having completed the economy, cease from thee, who art to illuminate all things. But the Lord is with thee in a manner truly strange, which neither eye has perceived, nor ear has opened to, but which is even higher than the ascent of the human heart. For with thee, because of the shining beauty of thy divine soul, he will pour forth the rays of the ineffable divine nature to men; because of the most radiant beauty of thy virtue, he will appear clothed in thy form, which he has loved; and having been united with thy immaculate blood—O strange mystery!—he will become what he was not, from thee, for thy sake, bearing thy whole image, though not knowing what it is to be God. And from thence, divinely and magnificently competing in love, that which he is by nature, the Creator, this he will give back to thee in a new way by grace, and he will remain with thee for ages, resting in the bosoms of the invisible Father, through those things in which he has shared with thee.

And thou shalt paradoxically pour forth milk, since all thy things are full of miracles: thy arrival to men, the abode of thy dwelling, thy growth to this age—not provided for thee in a human manner—this now unassailable greeting, and the new place that will follow this; and thou shalt nourish with milk him who fills every living creature, granting freedom with his hand; [thy] hands will bear him whose hands also fashioned thee, and who brought into being from nothing the visible and invisible world by a mere thought of his mind. But if the Lord is with thee, what need is there to say much? The sun will behold things entirely paradoxical and higher than all intellect, and the ends of the earth will clap their hands because of thee. Rejoice, therefore, O full of grace, rejoice...

^A VII. For the ancient man, as the Prophet says, was compared to the foolish beasts and became like unto them; for this reason he received a habitation common with the irrational animals. For man and the brutes had the earth as a common place of dwelling, nor was there any house that was reserved by necessity for men alone, excluding other living creatures from cohabitation. For although, as men multiplied, it had come into their minds that a place, in some way nobler than common dwellings, ought to be assigned to God, yet these things in the divine counsels were entirely as it were preludes and adumbrations of this most great temple. For God maintains this law, that men are led from the least to the sublime; and of this economy a clear proof is evident to one considering what the old law used to be, and what the new precepts of the Savior are. But since He who was born is not man in the sense of being a little lower than the angels, but one who surpassed incorporeal substances by a vast distance; consequently that divine house, nobler than all things which were upon the earth, was constructed in advance, and, unlike other houses, was not open to every person wishing to enter, but was reserved singularly for Him who was to dwell within it. And this she herself showed, receiving Him alone, as her Lord, the Queen namely espoused to God, into her inner chambers, while she remained inaccessible to others. ^{B C} VIII. And indeed, just as this man, most excellent beyond the mode of nature and a work clearly divine, did not receive nourishment in the common manner of men (for an angel from heaven ministered that ineffable food to the Virgin), so sound reason required that one should speak of another and a sublime, angelic, heavenly, and divine seat, one that does not touch the earth at all if that were possible. For, as my opinion on this matter also holds, the Virgin would have had no need of earthly parents, or the earth which she would tread upon in walking, or any other of the things which are formed and adorned from the earth; but if this were to be inquired into, it would be easily granted to us, for He passes beyond, and not in any way whatsoever, but by an immense interval, so to speak, He passes beyond, so that He is deservedly called most excellent; therefore they do not act rightly who transfer things pertaining to the common condition to Mary, just as to others; and hence it is evident that the Church, when celebrating the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God with religious worship, teaches by the very fact that the oracles of the Scriptures, which we read regarding the fall of the whole human race, do not necessarily pertain to Mary. 2º If the Mother of God is a divine work, and not just any work, but one that is deemed most worthy of divine mysteries, and consequently is deservedly called most excellent; therefore she was endowed with most excellent prerogatives in her very formation. It is alien, therefore, that she should be thought to have risen as one hateful to God and foul with the filth of sin. ^D

Moreover, he provided an invincible argument against those who were to teach wrongly that he had not been made man in reality, namely by the Virgin who gave birth to him. For she clearly appeared earthly, born indeed from earthly parents and from that clay which most evidently proclaimed this most innocent one to be an earthly fruit. From this clay, indeed, she did not fly away; but, just like the rest of the men of the same nature, she was held, I might say, constrained by these fetters to these lowest things. ^A

IX. Since, therefore, it was not expedient for these reasons that the Virgin should obtain a seat far removed from the earth—where, if any of the angels, certainly that blessed one was most worthy ^B—God judged it most equitable that, at the very least, she should, separated from earthly and related things, dwell in a dwelling more noble even than the royal ones, namely the Holy of Holies. And within that divine sanctuary—as it was fitting only for that most innocent one, on whose account it had already received both the title "Holy of Holies" and the power consonant with this name—she would have remained, as I indeed believe, up until the other and final entry of the same into the heavens.

But, so that he might also show us the way, which, according to the voice of the divine Paul, he initiated into the entry of the Holies in the name of Jesus (Hebr. x, 19, 20); and then also that he might pre-sanctify the rest of the earth and the air as well, which the Lord was about to sanctify more perfectly through her a little later—for this, as we have said, is the divine economy, that the step is made from simpler things to more perfect ones—and then, finally, that this sealed book ^C might be handed over to that venerable Joseph, who was skilled in reading books, who could not dwell in the sacred inner chambers, and yet had to interpret that mystical and ineffable volume: for these reasons she went out from that temple, and rendered herself the temple—O thing clearly to be admired!—of the incomprehensible Creator. Wherefore, not only the title "Holy of Holies," but even if any other name more worthy of veneration should occur, ^D