A tempered with cheerfulness, inaccessible to men. Such is that fear which seized you at the unusual salutation of the angel. You were obedient and submissive to your parents. Your mind was humble in its most sublime contemplations. Your speech was pleasant, proceeding from a gentle soul. What indeed else could you be but a dwelling worthy of God? Deservedly all generations call you blessed, as the choicest glory of the human race. You are the boast of priests, the hope of Christians, the most fruitful plant of virginity. For through you the honor of virginity has been spread most widely: *Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.* Those who confess you to be the Theotokos are blessed; those who deny it are cursed.
12. O holy pair, Joachim and Anna, accept this natal oration from me! O daughter of Joachim and Anna, and Lady, accept the prayer of a sinful servant, who yet ardently loves and honors you, and has you alone as the hope of his joy, the president of his life, and also as a reconciler with your Son, and the sure pledge of his salvation. Dispel the burden of my sins, dissipate the cloud and the earthly thickness that obscures my mind, suppress temptations, govern my life prosperously, that I may be led by you to heavenly beatitude, and reconcile peace to the world. To all the orthodox inhabitants of this city, grant complete joy and everlasting salvation, through the prayers of your parents and the whole gathering of the Church. May it be, may it be. Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus Christ the Son of God. To Him be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, unto endless ages of ages. Amen.
VII. Another sermon by the same, on the Nativity of our most holy Lady, the Theotokos.
1. Creation celebrates brilliantly today, taking the Virgin as a new heaven. B A maiden has been born on earth, an animated bridal chamber of the King of heaven. A young maid has come into the light, shining more brightly than the rays of the sun. An infant shone forth from a barren womb, the most sacred sanctuary of virginity. Who would not come to the celebration? Who would not bring festal gifts and offerings dear to the Virgin? The most beautiful gift for those who cultivate virginity is incorrupt integrity; for the married, chastity; for the rich, generosity; for the poor, gratitude; for those who preside, gentleness; for kings, justice; for priests, holiness; and for all in all things, righteousness. Since such are the gifts, and with such ones there is brilliance, come, let us dance with joy. Let us sing songs of thanksgiving, with David: *Let us exult in the Lord, let us cry out to God our Savior.* For the Creator of all, a temple of reception has been built. C D
A For the Word, who is the Creator of all things, a dwelling of hospitality has been prepared; for the Sun of justice a cloud of light has been spread out; for Him who covers the heaven with clouds, a tapestry of divine splendor has been woven; for Him who mixes the seasons with the hours and the years, a bridal chamber has been declared.
β'. Dance, maidens, for the birth is a virgin one. Leap for joy, mothers, for the Virgin is the fruit of a mother. Be of good hope, you who were barren, looking toward her who was once barren and then gave birth to a child of God. Let not the maidens be absent from the dance, celebrating the birth of her who alone is the pinnacle and queen of maidens. Sound the trumpet over the mountains; cry out over the heights; proclaim in Jerusalem, as we are commanded here through Osee. David, ancestor of God, be glad; Isaiah, prince of prophets, be joyful. The former, because from your loins, according to the oath, the queen proceeds, from whom God promised to place upon your throne the fruit of your loins; the latter, because your prophecy has reached its fulfillment: *A rod shall go forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from the root.* The rod is the Virgin, from whom, through an untainted marriage, the flowering and everlasting Christ rises up.
γ'. But why should I attempt to describe the joy by this word or that, and not express the exultation with a comprehensive voice? *Let heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds rain down justice; let the earth flourish, and let mercy and justice spring up together.* Why? Because a tabernacle for the God of Jacob has been revealed; because a holy place has been indicated for the most holy Word. *How terrible is this place,* let the most patriarchal Jacob cry out, *this is nothing other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!* C O ineffable reports! O paradoxes of result! What is this new story? What is this strange and ineffable parable? If the heaven of heaven is not sufficient for you, as the Word says, and what is the natural dwelling place sufficient for Him? *Do I not fill heaven and earth?* says the Lord. And where shall a place be found for such a one, so great and exceeding every capacity of comprehension? For the infinite does not reside in quantity, nor will a place that encompasses it be found. *Heaven is my throne,* he says, *and the earth is the footstool of my feet.* And what house shall be built for Him who asks? Or what place shall be found for His resting? Yet it has been spoken, and it has been revealed. How, and in what manner? This is what is sought. Wait a little, beloved, and you shall receive the solution of what you desire.
δ'. When man was about to be brought from non-existence into being, through the infinite goodness of God, first the heaven was stretched out, the earth was spread beneath, the sea was bounded, and all things that were complementary to both were taken up in the adornment of the whole D universe. Then, finally,
man was placed royally in Paradise as if in a school of virtue; and had he not violated the commandment, he would never have been exiled from that life-giving place. And A had he not been stripped of his garment and set his will against the divine counsels, he would in no wise have fallen into that most pitiable change, whereby, instead of the one God and Monarch, he began to worship many gods. Therefore, to speak summarily, since all things were given over to destruction, God, in His mercy, that His own handiwork might not pass into nothingness and be utterly abolished, fashioned another new heaven, earth, and sea, in which the One who cannot be contained deigned to be contained for the recreation of the race. And this is the blessed and much-celebrated Virgin. O, what a miracle! She is Heaven, as she brings forth the Sun of justice from the innermost treasures of her virginity; she is Earth, as she brings forth the stalk of life from her undefiled loins; and she is Sea, as she brings forth the spiritual pearl from the depths of her womb. B Now, therefore, the new creation of the Uncontainable has appeared. The royal hall of the King of all has been made ready; the rational dwelling for the Incomprehensible has been prepared. How magnificent is this universe! How awe-inspiring is the creation which is adorned with the trees of virtues, which smells fragrant with the blossoms of purity, which shines with the brilliance of contemplations, and which, lacking no other abundant blessings, is—to say it in a word—worthy of God’s indwelling among men! And yet, the former universe is also most admirable; for, as He says, "when the stars were created, all my angels praised me with a loud voice and heralded." But nothing is ever so God-becoming as this blessed and all-wonderful Virgin. And that this is true, hear the very patient Job saying: "Heaven is not pure, and the stars are not blameless before Him." But what is purer than she? What is more blameless? God, the supreme and purest Light, so loved her that, by the descent of the Holy Spirit, He was substantially united with her, and perfect man came forth from her, without any change or confusion of their proper states. C O, the miracle! The most philanthropic One was not ashamed to gain His own servant as a Mother. O, the condescension! The supremely good One did not refuse to be called the offspring of His own handiwork, having fallen in love, as it were, with her who is more beautiful than all creation—having grasped her who exceeds in dignity the heavenly powers. Concerning her, therefore, the most admirable Zechariah says: "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Zion, for behold I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord." And concerning her, the most blessed Joel is also seen, as I believe, to cry out in this manner: "Be of good courage, O earth, rejoice and be glad, for the Lord hath done great things for thee." For she is the earth on which the most holy Moses was commanded to remove the sandal of the shadowy law for the sake of the change into grace. She is the earth on which it was appointed to be founded in the flesh by the Spirit. D
according to the song of him who "foundeth the earth upon its stability" (Ps. CIII, 5). She is the earth that is incapable of seed, and yet nourishes the provider of food for all. She is the earth upon which the thorn of sin did not spring up; on the contrary, rather, through this shoot of hers, it has been plucked up by the roots. She is the earth, not as the former one which was cursed, and whose fruits are full of thorns and thistles; but she upon whom is the blessing of the Lord, and whose fruit of the womb is blessed, as the sacred word says.
5. B But since these things are so, come, let us see whence the ever-verdant branch of virginity took its straight course; who is the father, and who the mother that bore her. Joachim and Anna, the radiant and most celebrated pair of the Word, an harmony more divine than all other unions. For if the branch is more surpassing than all, is not its root also more excellent? Yet for us, a stem so noble and distinguished had as yet been barren of fruit. A most pure fountain, but one bearing no stream. A lamentable calamity; grave and dire circumstances. What then? "The righteous cried, and the Lord heard them, and delivered them out of all their tribulations" (Ps. XXXIII, 18); such as David, long before, by most divine inspiration had signified. "The righteous cried," he says. This pair was seen by me to represent the person of the whole human race. They saw, therefore, humanity destitute of the knowledge of God, the world widowed of faith; since, according to what is sung, "All have turned aside; together they have become useless" (Ps. XIII, 3). The disorder was painful, the barrenness gloomy. The righteous cried out, in their own garden, clearly. For what reason? Because, since the painful sin had gone forth from Paradise, there God, the Lord of all, said to the first mother: "I will multiplying multiply thy sorrows and thy groanings. In pain thou shalt bring forth children, and thy turning shall be to thy husband" (Gen. III, 16). What did they cry? Asking for the fruit of the womb, that is, the abundant fruit of the knowledge of God; and it is likely they prayed thus: C "Adonai Lord Eloi Sabaoth, Thou knowest the reproach of childlessness. Thou knowest the despondency of barrenness. If indeed, looking down, Thou wilt look upon the humility of Thy servants, and wilt give to Thy servants the seed of a child, we will give it as a gift before Thee." And indeed the Lord heard them, who is swift to mercy and slow to anger, giving her who properly bears the name Mary as a ransom so radiant and magnificent in place of Eve. The daughter became a maternal remedy; the new leaven of the divine renewal, the all-holy first-fruits of the generation, the root of the branch spoken of by God, the exultation of the forefather. O the benefit! O the munificence! Does not the sun itself now cast forth more radiant beams, as if sensing the excess of joy? Does not all nature in a way plume itself and exult, hoping for freedom from corruption in the birth of her who, without stain, was to bear the Liberator of the world? D
A Observe also what follows; be a lover of hearing, beloved, and do not weary of searching. Milk, it says, and there shall be butter. This is a place appropriate for the prayer of the just. Having prayed in a garden, they brought forth a garden far more blessed than the former. There, the serpent, whispering, easily deceived the vulnerable Eve. Here, Gabriel the archangel, conversing with Mary, caused her to rejoice, but he did not deceive her. There, the hearing of the serpent brought in bitter death. Here, the persuasion of the angel introduced life, ever-joyful for the human race. There, the sentence full of pain for her who was to bring forth from disobedience; here, the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, bringing gladness to her who had prophetically escaped the sorrowful pangs. O, the change of things being done! O, the newness of the things being accomplished! The old things have passed away (let it be said here too), behold, all things have become new. The beginning of the house, in its most exquisite contemplation, and the solemnity of this present day, shines forth as the inauguration of God’s coming to men.
6. You have, O friend, the solution to what was being sought. You have received the debt of the promise. Come, do you also say with Isaiah the words of Isaiah: O Lord my God, I will glorify you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, a counsel from of old, true. And not long after, you will see the blessed one entering into the Holy of Holies, as already consecrated to B the most holy Divinity: then, she who conceives in the womb Him who cannot be contained. O the wonder! That He who holds all things in His fist should dwell in the small mass of a body. But how is He not circumscribed, O Christ-fighter (if I may momentarily digress)? For though He is, he says, according to us, yet He is also above us. And what is this? For the difference and distinction is not according to the human form, but according to the nature of the Godhead. For example, He was suckled at maternal breasts after the human manner, but He provided life to His mother in a way befitting God. He spoke with articulated voice according to us, but He commanded with divine power above us, from which miracles were performed. He walked with earthly feet according to us; but that He trod upon the back of the sea, this was beyond our condition. He was crucified in the flesh according to us; but by a power superior to us, He bound the opposing powers on the cross. Of these things, some pertain to the nature defined by certain limits, inasmuch as it is like us; others to the uncircumscribed, which is superior to us. So indeed that neither vitiates the natural properties of the other by their substantial union, but each remains within its own boundaries. But you, while avoiding circumscribing, or representing in an image (for these are the same), both confound the natures with the Acephali, and abolish the dispensation with the Manichaeans. Your madness would be less C if you were a Jew, than when, marked with the name of Christian, you rail against Christ. For he, indeed, not admitting that God assumed a body, neither depicts Him, acting consistently with himself; but you, having accepted it, yet not depicting Him, become inconsistent with yourself, incurring ridicule even from the Jew. And thus I speak of the insult, but toward them so... D
A that we have gathered not to discuss dogmas, but to celebrate a feast. We, having briefly greeted the Virgin, and having unrolled those things by which she is named in the divinely inspired Scripture, shall conclude our discourse with these, however unworthily.
7. Hail, Mary, that is, "ten thousand" [myria], because of the infinite abundance of praises. For though one should say ten thousand things about you, he would never attain to the dignity of the subject. Hail, Mistress [Kyria], who, in a manner worthy of a mother, hast received dominion over the Lord of all; and if one were to say that all things are your servants, he would not be shooting wide of the mark. Hail, myrrh of the sea, B who in the salty flow of this life carriest flesh dead to sin, in which there is sweetness and altogether desire, as he says in the Canticles: "I have gathered my myrrh with my spices." Hail, bush, the fire-braided miracle, or rather, the one inaccessible to sin; for you are both an untouched plant and a bush that showed heaven to those born of earth through your divine childbearing. Hail, ark, the divinely-built shelter, the repository of the newly-created world, from whom proceeds Christ, the new Noah, filling the world above with incorruption. Hail, rod, the divinely-planted bough, the only one among all virgins to be a mother, who, without seed being accepted, didst flower forth as a Son the God of all and hierarch. Hail, urn, the golden-wrought vessel, separated from every [other] vessel, from whom the whole world is fed with manna, that is, the bread of life baked in the fire of the Godhead. Hail, tabernacle, the pole of the Godhead, more preeminent than the arches of heaven, from whom God conversed with men in person, and from whom eternal propitiation descended upon the world. Hail, censer, the golden vessel C bearing the divine coal within, from whom the fragrance of the Spirit breathed forth, driving the rotting corruption from the world. Hail, table, the divinely-blessed mixture, full of the participation in all goods of virtue, to him who says in the Canticles: "Thy navel is a round goblet, never lacking a mixture." Hail, temple, the most purely fashioned dwelling of the Lord, concerning which David says: "Thy temple is holy, wonderful in justice"; from whom Christ, building for Himself the temple of His body, shows mortals to be temples of the living God. Hail, sanctuary, the divinely-gushing fountain, full of all holiness, from whom proceeds the Holy of Holies, who cleanses the world from impurity. Hail, place of the Lord, the God-trodden earth, who didst contain Him who is outside every place by His Godhead through your childbearing; from whom He who was simple exists as composite; and He who was eternal, as temporal; and He who was circumscribed, as uncircumscribed. Hail, house of God, the dwelling shining with divine splendors, whose lintel of chastity cannot be removed; you who are full of the glory of the Lord, and more shining in spirit D than the fiery Seraphim. Hail, gate, facing the east, from whom the rising of life dawned for men, diminishing the setting of death; the God-trodden bush, and you who bear the keys of virginity.
A Hail, heaven, the more honorable dwelling-place of the cosmic space; you starred with the radiances of the virtues, from whom the Sun of righteousness rose, having created a day of endless salvation for men. Hail, throne, [(75)] elevated on high in glory, an animate seat, sketching within itself the seat of God, and offering to God a rest superior to the intellectual powers. Hail, Cherubim, the fire-like mind, which, as eyes, is full of divine meanings, flashing forth manifold graces, and through whom the never-setting light is ferried across to men. Hail, Mother unwedded, you who alone among mothers remain pure, and who possess the traits of mothers in a manner proper to virgins, the most novel miracle of all wonders. Hail, Virgin who brought forth, you who alone among virgins are a mother, and who bear the traits of virgins in a manner proper to mothers; the most awesome report of all portents. B Hail, royal seal, impressing the King of all, who took substance from you, upon your maternal body; for as is she who generates, such is, clearly, also the offspring. Hail, sealed book, unharmed by every corruption-producing thought, from whom the Lord of the God-written law is read, in a manner befitting a virgin, by Himself alone. Hail, volume of the new mystery, totally untouched by corruption, in which the formless Word has been painted with the brush of human shape, that is, made flesh, He who became in all things like us, sin excepted. Hail, sealed fountain, the source of incorruption, who poured forth Christ, the stream of life, with the seals of virginity in no way injured. By partaking of Him, we who have been made immortal return to the ageless paradise. Hail, enclosed garden, a fertility never opened by virginity, whose fragrance is as that of a full field, which the Lord, who proceeded from you, blessed. Hail, unwithering rose, which exhales a fragrance never-ending, in whom the Lord, having inhaled, rested, and through whom, having blossomed, He dispelled the stench of the world. Hail, sweet-smelling apple, fruit born of a barren tree, and beautiful as God, you who say in the Canticles: "Stipate me with apples, for I am wounded by love." Christ, having plucked its purity, had an undefiled sweetness of fragrance for the world at the banquet. Hail, lily, whose offspring, Jesus, clothes these lilies of the field; a sweet-breathing rose-garden of the Spirit, from whom Christ clothed Himself in a robe not woven, without seed, which obscures all the ornamentation of Solomon. C Hail, flower, more varied than every dye of the colorists, a seasoning of every virtue, from whom blossoms a flower similar to the similar, accurately mirroring the mother, upon whom the seven spirits rest, as the Word says. Hail, flowing nard, irrigating like the aromatics of the perfumers with the fragrances of purity, the distribution of which is a sweet odor to Him who said in the Canticles: "My nard has given its fragrance." Hail, myrrh, who distilled from the virginal balsam-making for Christ a myrrh of sanctification, that is, of milk, you who sing in the Canticles: "A bundle of myrrh is my beloved D
A in my bosom." Hail, cinnamon, fragrance of the spiritual paradise of integrity, whose odor is sweet to the One saying in the Canticles: "Your shoots are a paradise of pomegranates with fruits of the orchard, calamus and cinnamon with all the trees of Lebanon." Hail, daughter, you priestly maiden, whose sinlessness is lovely, and the world is astonished at the One saying in the Canticles: "How beautiful your steps have become in sandals, O daughter of Aminadab! Your belly is a heap of wheat, fenced with lilies." Hail, sister, namesake of the good Brother and most desirable, whose voice in the Canticles is thus: "You have heartened us, my sister, my bride, you have heartened us." Hail, bride, whose groomsman is the Holy Spirit, B and the bridegroom is Christ, who says in the Canticles: "You are all beautiful, my neighbor, and there is no blemish in you; come from Lebanon, my bride." Hail, ointment, the priceless seal of virtues, breathing with the ointments of perfect purity, from whom the Lord came forth who is namesake to you. For "your name," He says, "is ointment poured forth," from which the royal priesthood has been anointed. Hail, incense, the place of prayer for the whole world set straight before the Lord, you who are filled with the fragrance of the Spirit, concerning whom it is wondrously cried out: "Who is this that comes up from the wilderness, like a branch of smoke perfumed?" Hail, pure gold, C you who were tested in the furnace of God by the fire of the Spirit, and who nowise bear the wrinkle of malice; from whom the lampstand, and the table, and all things that are golden according to the Law, in an allegorical significance, are transferred to you, the gold-named and many-named one. Hail, incorruptible wood, who did not receive the worm of sinful corruption, from whom the intelligible altar was built for God, not of incorruptible woods, but of an undefiled womb. Hail, royal purple, who from your virgin blood wove the cloak for the One saying in the Canticles: "The lock of your head is like purple; a king bound in the corridors. How beautiful you were made, and how pleasant!" Hail, twisted fine linen, who wove the depth of divine thoughts D in your mind, and were unyielding to contrary attractions; "For how," she says, "shall this be to me, since I do not know a man?" By whom the purple and gold-mixed shoulder-piece was woven for the High Priest of the powers above. Hail, hyacinth, the fire-appearing fleece of virginity, from which mystically an encompassing garment was fashioned for God. Hail, light cloud, you who possess the earthly and heavy body in a manner light, as if aerial, and as if on an altar covering the Bread of Life, on which Isaiah prophesied the Lord would sit. Hail, undefiled one, the untouched treasure of virginity, who bore the uncorrupt Word, from whom virginity
shone forth, shortening the world. Hail, pure one, who alone canst boast of having a heart that is pure; the mountain truly acceptable to God, from which the new Israel is sanctified more valuably and more lastingly than the old. Hail, thou who knowest not marriage, bringing forth nuptial childbirth without the work of any man, and in a manner befitting a mother, yielding fountains of milk for the nourishment of the offspring; whence the virginal milk is drawn by Him who nourishes all things. Hail, spotless one, the only one accessible to God for His indwelling, and who from thy birth hast a worthiness for God; wherefore thou art to be worshipped even by all the heavenly Powers. Hail, fleece, the symbol of the victory around Gideon, from which the immortal dew flowed forth typically, He who said in His own words: "Take courage, I have overcome the world." Hail, place of God, who didst contain in thy womb Him who is uncontainable in all things: in whose hand are all things, while He Himself is in thy hands; a thing which, even if expressed in words, cannot be understood, nor, if understood, can it be sufficiently conceived. B Hail, Mother of God, the only handmaid of thine own Son, and yet both by nature; after whom there is no virgin mother, having returned in blessed virginity to the incorruption of old in Paradise. Hail, receiver of God, the luminous element of the divine infinity, in whose feet-sized womb the Infinite was contained, and who containest within Thyself the ends of all. Hail, Mother of God, properly and truly, the fearful point of union for men with God, through whom heavenly things are joined to those on earth, and human things to God, and in turn restoring to man things divine. Hail, nuptial chamber, built with the excellent dowries of virginity for Him who says in the Canticles: "I entered into my garden, my sister, my bride." Of whose commerce with flesh she adds: "Go forth and see king Solomon in the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his betrothal, and in the day of the gladness of his heart." C Hail, ewe, if conjugal union be considered, barren; but if divine conception, a mother: from whom that Lamb of God came, who takes away the sin of the world. Hail, cloud of light, overshadowing the new Israel in this wilderness of life by thy intercession; from whom the decrees of grace were heard, and from whom the sun of righteousness arose, illuminating all things with the rays of incorruption. Hail, lampstand, the golden and firm vessel of virginity, whose wick is the grace of the Spirit, and whose oil is that holy body which was assumed from thy immaculate flesh; from which Christ the lamp that knows no setting shines forth; who indeed didst light up eternal life for those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. Hail, full of grace, more graceful than all joy, and a name; from whom Christ, the immortal joy, the medicine for the sorrow inflicted on Adam, came into the world. Hail, paradise, more blessed than the land of Eden, where every plant of virtue has blossomed, and in which the tree of life has shone; by whose commerce we return to the life of old, with the flaming sword turning its back, as it is written. D Hail, city of the great King, to speak in the words of David,
A a resounding and wondrous dwelling-place, whose stories, in Christ Jesus who through you has become propitious to me, are for all to hear, in both language and thought; and for which I, wretched and poor in speech, have failed and faltered while celebrating your numberless praises. For to Him belong all glory, honor, and adoration, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for ages of ages. Amen. [alt-version omitted]
ADMONITION REGARDING THE THREE FOLLOWING HOMILIES
The three orations of Saint John Damascene on the Dormition of the most holy Mother of God now appear in Greek for the first time, whereas the Latin translations of the first two by Raphael Volaterranus and the very learned Jacques Billius had been published among our author’s works at both Basel and Paris. Combefis reviewed and emended Billius’s translation according to his custom, and published it in the *Bibliotheca Patrum concionatoria*; to these he added a third oration, as it had been translated into Latin by Leo Allatius and sent to him by that same most learned man. I found the Greek phrasing of the three orations in a most ancient and elegant codex of the library of the renowned monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, of which the very reverend father, Dom de Montfaucon, most kindly provided me a copy, owing to his perpetual benevolence toward me and my studies. In the recension of the first two, two Royal codices, nos. 1820 and 2026, along with the Colbertine 977, provided assistance. B Before Damascene, preachers of orations on the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin and her return to life and assumption into heaven included Germanus of Constantinople, Andrew, who was a monk and priest of Jerusalem and Archbishop of Crete, and long before them, Modestus, Patriarch of Jerusalem, the immediate predecessor of Saint Sophronius, whose entire sermon I transcribed from the Séguier codex. In that codex, although Photius declared in his *Bibliotheca*, cod. 256, that nothing necessary occurred in it—C *nothing necessary*—I noted this observation worth making: that there was scarcely any other before him who had delivered a sermon on the transition of the Blessed Virgin. For these words of the most holy prelate undoubtedly signify this: "And concerning her most venerable Dormition, I know not how it is that those who came after have not appeared, or, if they have set it forth, have not happened [to be preserved]. Wherefore, on the day of the Theometorical Dormition, many who are fond of learning—or rather, fond of Christ—and eager to hear, stand agape, and, as people D who grasp divine things, long to learn some secret thing concerning her." And concerning her very venerable dormition, I know not how it came to pass that there were none who afterward expounded it in a sermon. Wherefore many on this day of the Dormition of the Mother of God stand open-mouthed, whoever are eager to learn, or rather, whoever are "taught by God" (Christi docibiles), being well-disposed and sagacious hearers of divine things, that they might perceive even a little of that secret. From these I shall gather that the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos at the time of Modestus, or after the beginning of the seventh century, was either recently instituted or not so solemn that laudatory sermons were delivered to the people; and consequently, that it was different from that celebration in honor of the holy Virgin Mary which, in the age of Saint Theodosius the Archimandrite, that is, at the end of the fifth century, I read in his *Life* to have been most solemn in Palestine, "because this feast was illustrious to the many." Furthermore, Modestus in no way disagrees with John Damascene, just as he does not with Andrew of Crete or Germanus of Constantinople, in those things he expounds regarding the transition or falling asleep of the Mother of God; but all these do disagree with the narrative of the *Transition of the Blessed Virgin Mary* which bears the name of Melito of Sardis. For in that account we read that the Virgin remained near the Mount of Olives after the Lord’s ascension and died on the final day, while all the others report that she died within the walls of Jerusalem and on Mount Sion. But all say that her body was carried and buried in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, on the estate of Gethsemane. It is quite probable that this tradition became established under the authority of Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem. For deep silence on his part indicates that it was unknown to Jerome, who spent the greater part of his life at Bethlehem—not far from the holy city—especially in his *Epitaph of Saint Paula the widow*, in which all the holy sites of Palestine are accurately recounted. Everyone also knows that Saint Epiphanius, a Palestinian by birth who long lived in Palestine, openly declared it unknown whether the Blessed Virgin died or not: "And if she has died, we do not know," he says in *Heresy 78*. The fact that certain learned men not long ago affirmed that she died at Ephesus and was buried in the church which was therefore consecrated in her honor and named Mary, in which the third general synod was held: Epiphanius’s words argue this to be false. To these may perhaps be added that Damascene in his second oration recounts from the *Euthymian History* that the Empress Pulcheria anxiously and fruitlessly sought where on earth the body of the Mother of God might lie buried, specifically so that she could translate it to the church she had built in her honor in Constantinople at the Blachernae. It is wrongly objected that in the fifth century it was not yet accepted that churches should be consecrated in honor of some saint in which the saint’s buried body did not lie. For a witness to this is Sozo-